Impact of Russian Revolution
Answers
The problem is that Nicholas and Alexandra were the two stupidest people ever to try and govern a major country. Even at that they may have survived if it wasn’t for the entry into WW 1. This resulted in severe hardship and famine at home and an unsustainable number of casualties at the front. The people wanted “Bread and Peace” and the government was giving them famine and war.
The next major causes came about because the autocracy led by the czar refused to share power with a rising middle-class. In Russia, power had always been in the hands of the nobility but as the country began to modernize it gave rise to a new “capitalist class” whose standing was based on wealth rather than land and coming from a noble family. As a sop to this growing class, a duma or parliament was formed, but was essentially powerless and existed at the pleasure of the aristocracy.
After the czar was forced to abdicate, the duma was able to seize power and formed a liberal government under Kerensky. Unfortunately, they did not understand the importance of withdrawing from the war, which paved the way for Lenin and the Bolsheviks who were willing to make peace at any price.
After the Bolsheviks seized power, a civil war broke out between them and the nobility. (The Reds and the Whites). Armies from the western allies were sent to intervene on behalf of the whites; but to no great effect except to cause years of mistrust and enmity between the new Soviet Government and the Western Powers.
The Reds won the war because the whites were just as ineffectual as the czar had been. The Reds would go into an area and redistribute the land from the nobles to the peasants. When the whites came in, they would take the land away from the peasants and give it back to the nobles.
This is a very broad outline of these events. There are many excellent books on the subject and if you are interested, I would recommend that you read three or four of them to get a clearer and more detailed picture of these events.