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Romanovs and Revolutions: Difference between revisions
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People sometimes make the mistake of assuming that the Bolsheviks overthrew the Tsar. Not the case. There were in fact two steps in the process and two Russian Revolutions. If you count 1905 as one, there are three.
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* The Revolution of 1905: Covered here.
* The February Revolution: The overthrow of the Tsar. Covered in [[Red October]].
* The October Revolution: Covered in [[Red October]], a name sometimes given to it. The communist takeover.
Due to the fact that the Russians were still using the Julian calendar at the time, these revolutions took place for the rest of the world in March and November. We will use the Julian dates, with Gregorian ones given where appropriate.
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A number of political parties had been set up, despite this being illegal. They fell into four groups:
* The Populists: They tried to incite the peasants into revolution. When this didn't work, some of them turned to terrorism. One group, "The People's Will", were responsible for assassinating Alexander II.
* The Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs): Grew out of the previous lot and split between moderates and terrorists. The latter dominated, and assassinated about 2,000 people for political reasons.
* The Social Democrats: Marxists. Would split into two groups in 1903, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. More on that later.
* The Liberals: The two major parties after 1905, the Octobrists (supporters of the October Manifesto) and the Constitutional Democrats (better known as the Kadets).
* The Anarchists, though not a political party as they opposed electoralism on principle, were also highly influential, mainly in peasant quarters where they were close to the Populists, but the rising industrial sphere as well.
Alexander III (1881-1894) managed to either stabilize or improve situation in many respects, both in economy (support of domestic industry, Siberian railway construction begun) and military (unification and upgrades) spheres, so by the end of his rule internal conflicts somewhat cooled down (not that his customs policy pleased ''everyone'', but it worked). Then he died and Nicholas II came to the throne. According to his diaries, Nicholas didn't really feel up to the task. He was a bit insecure, mistook his stubborness for resolve and he had been raised to believe that the autocracy was the best method of government (having trained as a soldier, he didn't have a lot of skill or experience as a statesman, which is why he was enthusiastic about the last part).
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== ''The Great Games: Russian Foreign Policy'' ==
In 1890, the new Kaiser of Germany, William II sank the career of Bismarck by sacking him. Bismarck would predict later on that the next war in Europe would start over the Balkans. He was very much right.
This meant Germany became increasingly assertive and teamed up with Austria-Hungary. With the Ottoman Empire in trouble, Austria-Hungary could increase its influence in the Balkans. This concerned Russia for two reasons. One, the area was populated by Slavs, the ethnic group that Russians belong to who traditionally looked up to the Tsar as their protector. Two, the Dardanelles was a vital link from the Black Sea to the Med.
Russia was also involved in a contest of influence with Britain in Central Asia; the "Great Game", as [[
Russia wanted to expand into the Far East to compensate for its declining European influence. It also need a Pacific port that was ice-free all year round -- Vladvostok was summer-only.
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In 1897, the Russian Navy arrived, the Chinese lent them the place and they started to fortify it. The Japanese weren't too happy about that. They concluded an alliance with the British that if anyone joined the Russians in an attack on the Japanese, the UK would join in.
It's noteworthy that Nicholas II probably also had an abiding grudge against the Japanese, owing to the [
=== ''The Russo-Japanese War'', or ''Lesson One in Far Eastern Politics -- Don't Underestimate the Japanese'' ===
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This was a national humiliation, and made Europe take notice; it was the first defeat of a (semi-)European power by an Asian one in modern times. Though the most bitter irony of it all was that Russia admitted defeat in a war that it was actually ''winning'' -- while suffering from several serious tactical defeats like Mukden and Tsushima, the strategic Russian position was virtually unassailable. The Siberian Railroad allowed it to supply its army by land, out of the threat of Japanese Navy, Port Arthur could be held almost indefinitely, and Vladivostok was widely considered so impregnable that it was never actually attacked -- the only action there was one token shelling that killed a couple of cows.
In Japan, on the other hand, the situation was so dire that the kids and the geezers began to be drafted, the food reserves were running historical lows, the government debt skyrocketed and the country was actually on the brink of collapse. However, the indecisiveness of the generals, the defeatism of the press (it was controlled by liberal intelligentsia that in Russia had a history of vitriolic hatred to ''any'' government) and general remoteness of the action meant that the war was begun to be ''perceived'' as lost in Russia.
In short, Russia simply threw up a fight -- and a guy who surrendered Port Arthur was later court-martialed for treason, but acquitted for political reasons. The peace talks were also dominated by Russian so much, that one of the Japanese envoys famously wondered who actually won there. However, war did much to bring the populace trust in the government to a historic low.
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In Moscow and St. Petersburg, workers soviets (the word "soviet" literally means council in Russian) were set up.
The government bought off the liberals with the October Manifesto - which granted some democratic concessions, including the establishmennt of an elected legislature (the Duma) - and the peasants via cancelling mortage repayments (redemption fees) which had caused them problems, which distracted everyone long enough to send in the army to destroy the soviets.
If the opponents of the tsar thought the autocracy was weakened by these concessions, they were in for a disappointment. Almost immediately after the October Manifesto was promulgated, the Tsar passed the Fundamental Laws - which basically eliminated the legislative powers of the Duma by giving the Tsar and his cronies on the State Council a veto - and negotiated a substantial loan from the French that secured the regime financially. So, some changes had been made, but not enough yet to threaten Tsar Nick's supreme position too badly.
The revolutionaries... were pretty much nowhere to be found. Only Trotsky played a noticeable role in the whole thing.
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== '''1905-1917''' ==
=== ''Rather [[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation|"Felonious" Monk]], and his possible toadies'' ===
Whether or not he was Russia's greatest love machine is a subject for historical speculation, as is his precise role in the whole revolution. He certainly played a role though, albeit inadvertently. From historical records, however, it seems he at least has a serious case for the title of "greatest love machine". Grigori Rasputin's force of will and unique personality seemed to endear himself to many a noble lady who should have known better, and his willingness to blend sex and Christianity may have been enough to convince his would-be lovers that it was God's will.
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And yes, Alexandra did turn out to be a carrier. Whether any of her daughters would have been carriers as well will never likely be known, but her son Alexei Nikolaevich suffered from the disease. Enter the faith healer who would help him: Grigory Rasputin. The common way to treat haemophilia of the time was aspirin, which as a potent blood thinner was one of the worst things to give to a hemophiliac. Rasputin may have advised against its use, so Alexei got visibly better.
Although it's vanishingly unlikely that Rasputin and Alexandra ever had a sexual relationship, their enemies spread libels about them using every method at their hands. Of course, one of the tricks in the bag of any republican revolutionary is to make the queen out to be a scheming foreign whore. (Worked with Marie Antoinette too.)
Nonetheless, Rasputin's ability (or sheer luck) in keeping Alexei alive quickly made him intimate with the Imperial family, and he was very good at taking advantage of this to insert himself (har, har, har...) into high society. The aristocracy was not on board with this development, of course. When World War I started, his power grew even bigger due to Nicky being hen-pecked (and willingly so), Alexandra more than willing to give marching orders to her husband, and Rasputin having Alexandra's ear in pretty much everything. It eventually came to pass that if you wanted to get an exemption from military duty, or any other favor from the Tsar, you went to Rasputin, who would give advice to Alexandra, which would more than likely get the Tsar to do what you asked, even if it meant violating the laws he set down. Absolute power is nifty, isn't it?
Eventually, Prince Felix Yusupov, a rather peculiar and somewhat... [[Camp Gay|delicate]] noble, decided that enough was enough and that Rasputin had to be dealt with. He and a group of conspirators eventually managed to convince Rasputin to come to his house to meet his wife and engage in some partying. When Rasputin arrived, despite warnings not to attend, he was told that Yusupov's [[The Beard|wife]] was still entertaining guests and that he could wait downstairs. Felix fed him some cakes with potassium cyanide inside.
When the poison did not take effect (which could attest to Rasputin's inhuman endurance, the carbohydrates of the cakes slowing the process down, or perhaps poor planning in choosing such a bizarre and untested poison), Yusupov eventually lost patience and shot Rasputin. Apparently, ''this'' did not kill Rasputin either, as he regained consciousness once more. After some more shots and a swift kick to the head, it seemed as if he was finished, and the conspirators proceeded to dispose of the body. There is good evidence at this point to suggest Yusupov, who was quite upset at how far from the plan the assassination had gone at this point, proceeded to beat and, perhaps, castrate the corpse. Finally, at around 5:30 in the morning, the body was disposed of over the Petrovsky bridge.
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Hilariously enough, once the body was found and an autopsy was preformed water was found in the lungs, which may have meant that Rasputin was ''still alive'' until he drowned in the river. A recent study concluded that the third shot (to the head) was what killed him.
Yusopov and his conspirators were found and exiled, and the investigation was still ongoing when the revolution occurred and put paid to investigating anything about the Imperial family.
As a final note, Rasputin claimed that if he was killed by a member of the royal family, said royal family would follow him shortly. When he died and Nicky and his family refused to drop dead, this was considered the final proof that he was nothing but a faker. 18 months later, however, they were executed as a matter of tying up loose ends, and the rest is history.
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Another Duma was elected, meeting in February 1907. The Kadets had discredited themselves through their association with Stolypin, leading extremists on both sides to dominate the situation.
Stolypin, despite his repression, was willing to deal with the Duma on reforms. He implemented a land reform policy, allowing peasants to leave the commune and have patches of consolidated land (like Western Europe) rather than engage in strip farming, as well as encouraging voluntary resettlement in places like Siberia. Wanting to preserve tsarism, he called this a "wager on the strong", hoped that it would de-revolutionise the peasants and said that it needed 20 years to work. Stolypin was assassinated in 1911, and the [[First World War]] meant it got eight, and it wasn't working anyway. Peasants were reluctant to leave the commune for uncertain individual farms and only 10% of land was consolidated by 1914.
Some historians have since pointed to the gradual development of a slightly more prosperous class of peasants known as kulaks as evidence that the wager on the strong may have worked eventually, but without Stolypin's influence, nobody in the government had much interest in making it work. In any case, the kulaks were eventually purged by Stalin twenty years down the line.
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=== ''The Third and Fourth Dumas'' ===
Compared with their predecessors, these Dumas were not exceptionally notable, mostly thanks to the effects of Stolypin's rigging the vote to ensure that parties sympathetic to the Tsar made up a majority. Perhaps for this reason, these Dumas lasted a bit longer than the first two because the Tsar had less reason to object to them.
=== ''Firing The Guns of August'' ===
When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo and Austria made a move on Serbia, Russia made a move on Austria. Slavs United and all. Germany then made a move on Russia, decided to make a move on France via Belgium, so Britain moved on Germany. This all started [[World War
Speaking of moving, there was far more movement on the Eastern Front than on the others. In the early stages of the war, Russian successes led to Germany having to move two divisions over to that front, leading to the stalemate on the Western Front.
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=== ''Mir, Kleb, Zemlya! (Peace, Bread, Land!)'' ===
To top it all, there was a famine developing in Russia. With food being diverted to the front, rotting in the sidings or being forcibly requisitioned by the army, popular unrest was growing.
=== ''The February Revolution'' ===
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Hollywood History]]
[[Category:Dirty Communists]]
[[Category:Useful Notes/Russia]]
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