. The nature of the Tsarist regime The nature of the Tsarist regime contributed much to the outbreak of the Russian revolutions.

CAUSES

1. The nature of the Tsarist regime
The nature of the Tsarist regime contributed much to the outbreak of the Russian revolutions. It was characterized by dictatorship, oppression, repression, conservatism, religious intolerance and corruption.
The Tsars were insensitive to liberal demands for constitutional and parliamentary reforms, press freedom, equality of opportunities and before the law, improvement on the conditions of workers and peasants. Tsar Nicholas II himself was the law and no law could come into existence without his approval. He was so determined to maintain conservatism that he openly declared on his coronation ceremony that I will preserve the principle of autocracy as firmly and unswervingly as my late father. He dismissed liberal ministers and appointed conservative, incompetent and corrupt ministers who shamelessly took bribes and embezzled public funds. This made the liberals under the leadership of Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky to mobilize the Russians against the government through political parties, strikes, demonstrations and the Bolshevik revolutions of 1917.
2. The character and Personal weaknesses of Tsar Nicholas II (1894 -1917)
Tsar Nicholas II was physically weak and not ironic (strong) like his late father. He was a rigid. Inflexible and conservative king who was obsessed with divine rights rather than people's rights. The Tsar failed to settle the social, political and economic problems faced by the Russians prior to 1917. He could not be firm in his decisions since he was too fearful for his life after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. In 1905, Tsar Nicholas II promised a number of reforms that made the Russians who had revolted following the Russo- Japanese war and bloody Sunday to cool down. He had promised amongst others;
Political and religious freedom, trial by jury, dismissal of oppressive officials and freedom to non Russians. However, by 1917 the Tsar had either ignored or forgotten his promises when he resorted to conservative and autocratic policies. This led to general disappointment and resignation of some capable politicians. Political parties, Liberals, Nihilists and socialists exploited such disgruntlement to intensify their activities against Tsar Nicholas II and his government leading to the outbreak of the 1917 revolutions.
After the outbreak of World War I, Tsar Nicholas II resorted to witchcraft in an attempt to win the war. He took courage and went to the frontline on August 15^ 1916. This identified him directly with the failure of the Russian soldiers and the sufferings caused by the war to both soldiers and civilians. Interestingly, when he went to the frontline, the Russian affairs were left in the hands of the unpopular evil monk who caused a lot of unnecessary cabinet Reshuffles.
This was a serious mess in state affairs that called for a revolution.
NB. It appears as if Tsar Nicholas II believed that Rusputin was immortal (could not die). This was because after the murder of Rusputin in 1916, he spent two months trying to contact the evil monk through witchcraft.
ii) The fact that Nicholas II inherited a peaceful reign meant that his personal weaknesses as the last Tsar partly explain why the Russians went revolutionary in 1917 and not before.
3. The role of Tsarina and Gregory Rusputin
The negative influence of Tsarina and Rusputin in Russian politics prior to 1917 made the outbreak of the revolutions inevitable. Tsarina was the Russian Queen of German origin and Rusputin was a traditional native witchdoctor who became prominent in the royal family after healing Tsar Nicholas II's son Alexis, who was suffering from a blood disease known as haemophilia. Rusputin was considered by Tsarina as a friend and a "Devine counsellor" yet he was suspected to be involved in adultery with several women including Tsarina herself. Tsarina and Rusputin were anti reforms and unsympathetic to the Russian problems. They gave poor and fatal advice to Tsar Nicholas II not to enforce reforms. It should be noted that
Tsarina and Rusputin became the uncrowned empress and the king of Russia respectively from 1916 when Tsar Nicholas II went to command Russian soldiers in World War I. They caused unnecessary cabinet, Reshuffles and disorganized the Russian economy more than ever before. This became a serious mess in state affairs that called for mass action hence the revolution of 1917.
4. Weakness of the Dumma (Russian parliament)
The weakness of the Dumma (Russian parliament) left the Russians with no option other than the dual revolutions of 1917.The Dumma had limited powers and became a rubber stamp of Tsar Nicholas II and his cabinet. The Dumma was over influenced by the Tsarist government and could not pass any law without government's approval. It was also denied powers to approve and vet ministers. Above all, the Tsar had powers to dissolve the Dumma any time at his will. Tsar Nicholas II and his Prime Minister P.A Stolypin used this power to disband the second Dumma that was dominated by opposition MPs in 1907.
Thereafter, they manipulated the election of Tsarist diehard supporters (sycophants) who dominated the third Dumma. From then onwards, the parliament became an institution to promote the dictatorial, oppressive and corrupt regime of Tsar Nicholas II prompting the Russians to revolt in 1917.
5. Effects of industrial revolution
By 1917, industrialization had created socio-economic discontents that climaxed into the revolutions. It rendered many people jobless and caused rural-urban migration. This led to urban congestion, mobs and mob justice that made the situation in Russia to be very revolutionary. For the few who were employed, the working conditions were extremely bad. Their payments were very low yet the average working hour per day was between 10-14. The huge factories of St. Petersburg were poorly lit, poorly ventilated, had fast moving machines yet there were no protective guards for workers. The government provided no practical solution to this situation. These grievances were expressed through strikes, demonstrations and protests on several occasions. However, this forced the unemployed citizens and workers to stage a revolution as the last resort in addressing their problems.
6. Grievances of the middle class
The grievances of the middle class conditioned them to actively participate in the revolutions of 1917.
They included professionals like journalists, lawyers, teachers, doctors, engineers etc who were discriminated in spite of their high levels of education and qualification. They were particularly against special privileges that were given to the nobles and clergy in the political, social and economic structures of Russia. Besides, Industrialization led to the rise of a new middle class (wealthy and powerful businessmen) who hated the Tsarist government dominated by the old aristocrats. These new middle class and other professional middle class financed and mobilized the peasants for the revolution most especially of march 1917.
7. The rise and influence of Socialism
The rise and influence of socialism in Russia by 1917 greatly contributed to the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolutions. Socialist ideology was adopted from the teachings of Karl Marx and Eagles who taught against capitalism, private ownership of property, social class inequality and advocated for the rights of workers, fair conditions of work, state ownership of property and abolition of special privileges of the nobles and clergy. Karl Marx, in his book "Das capital," analyzed the disadvantages of capitalism and private ownership of property and advocated for a revolution as the only solution to exploitation and inequality. The socialists were influenced by these teachings to form the Social Democratic Party in 1898 and Social Revolutionary Party in 1900 as a vehicle to advance socialist ideology. They condemned the Tsarist regime for its failure to address the problems created by industrial revolution such as unemployment, poor condition of work, exploitation and inequality. This created a revolutionary mood in the Russians and made it easy to mobilize the masses through strikes and demonstrations that climaxed into the dual revolutions of 1917.
8. The role of writers and the press
Other than Karl Marx, other writers and intellectuals like Tolstoy, Bikini, and Crooking etc. were also influential in spreading revolutionary ideas in Russia. They condemned the unfair social, economic and political policies of Tsardom and advocated for mass action that inspired the Russians to adopt socialist ideology and revolt by 1917. Writers and intellectuals like Lenin, Trotsky and .Stalin founded a revolutionary newspaper "Pravda" that they used to spread attractive propaganda against the Tsarist regime. The news paper was effectively used to sensitize and mobilize the Russians against the injustices of the Tsarist regime through strikes, demonstrations and the revolutions of 1917. Although the newspaper was banned after the exile of Lenin and arrest of Stalin and Trotsky, it had already -caused popular discontent amongst the Russians against Tsar Nicholas 11 and his government.
9. The role of foreign powers
The support from foreign powers such as Finland, Sweden, Poland, Switzerland and Germany greatly encouraged the Russians to revolt by 1917. Finland and Poland supported the revolution against Tsardom because they wanted to disorganize the Tsarist regime and regain their independence. It should be noted that revolutionary leaders like Stalin and Lenin who were exiled before 1917 mobilized funds, manpower and arms from such anti- Tsarist countries. Germany also supported the revolution in order to destabilize Russia so that she withdraws from participating in the war (World War I) against her. This explains why
Germany directly supported the revolution by smuggling Lenin in a disguised train up to Berlin in 1917.
This is because Germany wanted Lenin to overthrow the provisional government and pull Russia out of the war in order to weaken the allied powers.
10. The contribution of Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin
The role played by Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin made the outbreak of the revolutions inevitable. These were ambitious and revolutionary leaders who decampaigned the Tsarist regime and mobilized the masses against the government through strikes, demonstrations and the revolutions in 1917.Theycondemned the political unfairness, economic grievances and social injustice of the Tsarist regime and mobilized the Russians and foreign powers against the government. Trotsky became the leader of the Mensheviks party that mobilized the Russians in the first revolution against the Tsarist regime in March 1917.0n the other hand; Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks party who led the Russians to rise against the provisional government in the second revolution of November 1917.
11. Land policy
By 1917, feudalism was still practiced in Russia yet it had been discarded in other parts of Europe. Land was a monopoly of a few landlords while the majority of the Russians were either squatters or serfs.
Although the 1861 emancipation act freed the peasants from serfdom, nevertheless it imposed a heavy emancipation fee to the freed serfs. This was paid to their ex-landlords to compensate them for their lost labour. It forced the peasants to sell their land to clear the lump sum redemption fee. Consequently, they became landless at the end of it all. The peasants regarded the 1861 emancipation policy as an illusion which gave them legal freedom and not economic freedom. This was why Lenin's ideas of nationalization of land sold like hot cakes to the majority of peasants. The revolution was therefore provoked by the need to abolish the capitalistic feudal system of landlordism promoted by Tsar Nicholas II.
12. Effects of Natural Disasters
Natural disasters like bad weather led to poor harvest, famine and starvation, which made no small contribution to the revolutions. Besides, Epidemic diseases like cholera, typhoid, influenza and dysentery invaded the major towns and cities like Petrograd making the political, situation more complicated.
Surprisingly, Tsar Nicholas closed his eyes and ears to such burning issues. This forced the Russian's into the revolutions of 1917.
13. Chain Reaction/External influence
External influence also played a role in the outbreak of the revolutions. Prior to 1917, Europe had experienced periodic revolutionary changes such as the 1789 French revolution, the 1830 and 1848 revolutions in Europe. The revolutionary principles of equality, liberty, nationalism and constitutionalism were adopted and preached by the radical Russians to the oppressed masses. This led to the rise of anti- Tsarist societies like the Bolsheviks under Lenin and the Mensheviks led by Trotsky. They were the mastermind behind strikes and demonstrations that spread revolutionary spirit amongst the Russians.
14. Nihilism
External influence especially western influence led to the rise of Nihilists and Nihilism in Russia. Nihilists were lawless and hardcore (diehard) individuals who valued their brainpower more than anything else.
They believed in testing and approving every human institution and customs through reasoning. By 1917, Nihilists had established the Nihilist Revolutionary Party with ambitions to overthrow Tsar Nicholas II through force and terrorism. They had a list of oppressive governments' officials who were systematically assassinated one after the other. Bukunin, one of their leaders advocated for the immediate destruction of the social, economic and political structures of Russia for the betterment of the Russians. This called for a revolution in 1917.
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15. Russification policy
The Russification programme that involved russifying the conquered states (making them Russian through assimilation) contributed to the revolution of 1917.This was based on Tsar Nicholas II's political philosophy of one Tsar, one church and one Russia. Consequently, in Finland and Poland, Russian was made the official language while in Estonia and Litovinia, German (language) was banned yet they were Germans. The Jews were discriminated and persecuted because it was suspected that one of the assassins of Tsar Alexander, 11 was a Jewish girl and partly because of religious differences. They were denied land, right to vote, high government positions and freedom of trade. These mistreatments undermined nationalism in the conquered states, denied Tsar Nicholas II support from such states, Jews and the Russians who never wanted the policy of Russification. This explains why the Jews and conquered states greatly participated in the revolutions of 1917.
16. The Russo-Japanese war (1904 -1905)
Russian's advancement in Asia made her to clash with Japan in the famous Russo-Japanese war. In the war, Japan thoroughly defeated Russia leaving her with 90,000 casualties and taking about 40,000 soldiers as prisoners of war. This was crowned up by the humiliating Parthsmouth treaty through which Russia surrendered Korea, Munchuria, Port Arthur and the surrounding Peninsula to Japan. The humiliation of Russia in the war was a disaster not only to the Russian forces but also to the government of Tsar Nicholas II. It provoked disorder from all comers of Russia. It led to the assassination of a number of nobles, clergy and government officials. For example, Plehve the Minister of interior was murdered in 1904 and his uncle in 1906. These became a preamble for the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolutions of 1917.
17. The Red/Bloody Sunday.
The massacre of the red Sunday also contributed to the outbreak of the Russian/Bolshevik revolutions of 1917. The humiliation of the Russo-Japanese war led to a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg on Sunday January 22nd 1905. It was a demonstration of about 200,000 Russians under the leadership of a youthful priest. Father Gapon. The demonstrators demanded for political freedom and better working conditions amongst others. The peaceful demonstration turned violent when soldiers guarding the Tsars' palace used force to disperse off the demonstrators leaving 92 dead and 333 injured. It intensified protests throughout Russia and consolidated the influence of socialism over the workers. This undermined the popularity of Tsar Nicholas II leading to the outbreak of the 1917 revolutions.
18. Role of Political Parties
Political parties played a great role in bringing about the Russian revolutions of 1917. They criticized the Tsarist regime and promised to provide solutions to the problems of the Russians. For instance, the Social Revolutionary Party aimed at improving the conditions of the peasants, the Liberators wanted more freedom and parliamentary democracy and the Social Democratic Labour Party wanted a communist Russia as prophesized by Karl Marx. By 1917, these parties had transformed themselves into the Bolsheviks majority party and Mensheviks minority party. The leaders of these parties most especially Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin mobilized workers through strikes, demonstrations and the revolutions of 1917.
19. Effects of World War I
The Tsarist regime was finally brought to its 'knees' by the repercussions of the First World War. From the start, the war was poorly planned; the soldiers were also, poorly facilitated, led and armed.
Three soldiers were to share two guns and others were sent to the battlefield with instructions to use weapons of fallen comrades (killed colleagues). Russia was disastrously defeated and her total casualties equaled to those of her allies put together. The Russian soldiers were fed up with war yet Tsar Nicholas 11 could neither improve their conditions nor withdraw from the war. When they were ordered to suppress the revolution, they mutinied and supported the revolution. Throughout Russia, soldiers joined the revolutionaries and their representatives were appointed to the various workers committees (soviets), which made the revolutions inevitable. Betrayed by his only survival mechanism. Tsar Nicholas II had to abdicate the throne on 15tli March 1917.
The First World War also contributed to economic hardship in Russia which made the revolutions inevitable. It led to conscription of peasants into the army, which deprived agriculture of labour and led to severe famine. Besides, the Germans and Austrians dismantled industries, airports, communication lines and blocked the Baltic Sea, which made it impossible for Russia to trade with the rest of the world. The destruction of Ukraine wheat field led to acute food shortage where prices were hiked by 5%. These resulted to inflation, unemployment, redundancy and rural urban migration, which led to the creation of mobs in St. Petersburg and Moscow. These mobs were behind the rampant strikes and demonstrations that resulted into the revolutions.
A number of scholars have concurred that the First World War played the greatest role in the outbreak of the Russian revolution. This can be supported by the following arguments. In the first place, the war made the Russians to take Lenin's ideas seriously. Otherwise, before the war, he was very unpopular and his revolutionary ideas were dismissed as "selfish and opportunistic". Secondly, by 1914 the fall of Tsardom was not yet a foregone conclusion because it was still popular. This was witnessed when thousands of Russians attended the celebration to mark the 300 years of Tsardom in 1913. Thirdly, the Russian declaration of war against Germany in 1914 was greatly supported by the masses. All these means that the war that lasted from 1914- 1917 played a much more serious role in the revolutions.
The political, economic, social and military weakness of Tsarist government provoked a revolution that started from St. Petersburg on 8th March 1917. Tsar Nicholas II fled to exile and this gave way to a provisional government led by Prince Lvov with Milyakov as foreign minister and Kerensky as the minister of war. However, the provisional government learnt nothing and forgot nothing from the causes of file March revolution. They failed to address the causes of the revolution, which provoked another revolution in November. The most outstanding issues that made the provisional government to fail were that;
20. It insisted on participating in World War 1that had devastated the Russian economy. This made the Bolsheviks who demanded for unconditional ending of the war to get foreign support from Germany and become more popular than ever before. Things were blown out of proportion when it was realized that Milyakov (foreign minister) had sent a letter to the allies informing them of Russia’s determination to fight until Germany and her allies were defeated. This provoked a hostile demonstration with the slogan "Down with Milyakov" which forced Milyakov, Kerensky and even Lvov to resign.
21. The provisional government failed to improve on the socio-economic conditions of the masses. Bread quos, inflation, unemployment, poor working conditions and discrimination were still the evils of the day.
Internal reforms like redistribution of land to peasants were postponed till the end of the war. These made the masses to do away with the provisional government in November 1917.
22. The middle class who dominated the provisional government were inexperienced and not influential in Russian politics. They were few and had no wealth and prestige compared to the French middle class.
They therefore commanded little support from the workers and peasants who refused to recognize their leadership. Besides, they delayed elections to the constituent assembly just because they feared they would lose to the opposition. This made them to lose the support of the masses and rendered them vulnerable to the Bolshevik revolutions of November 1917.
23. Lastly, the return of Stalin and Lenin from exile made the outbreak of the November revolutions inevitable. They returned with a ringing call for the establishment of a socialist government of the workers and peasants. Lenin vigorously mobilized the Russians against the Provisional government with three catchwords of "peace, bread and land." His vow to end the war, provide food and land popularized the Bolsheviks party amongst the workers and peasants. Within a few months, the Bolshevik party became very popular with the workers accounting for 60% of the increased membership. Having gathered enough popularity, Lenin confidently lamented; History will not forgive us if we do not take power now and to delay is a crime. Consequently on the night of 6^ November 1917 the Bolsheviks troops occupied all public buildings. They announced the overthrow of the provisional government and the establishment of a new provisional government on 8"^ November 1917. Lenin became the chairman of the new government and Stalin was responsible for foreign affairs.