Post on 16-Dec-2015
Recap
World War OneAnd
Rasputin
St. Petersberg Petrograd
Reasons for going to war in 1914
• Victory = Popularity for the Tsar
• Allied with Britain and France they had the upper hand.
• Expectation that it would be a short war.
Defeats instead of Victories
• Russia had been slow to modernise compared with the industrialised, resourceful Germany.
• Couldn’t cope with mechanised war.
• Early defeats – Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes.
• Economic problems – cost of the war – borrowed money – increased national debt.
However..
• All of the allies suffered economic difficulties.
• It was the impact of this on the unique Russian social/political system that proved explosive.
• The process of industrialisation in Russia gained pace in an attempt to keep up with the demands of war.
• Populations in towns and cities ballooned.
• Strain on working/living conditions.
• Food shortages.
• October 1916 – wave of strikes.
Tsarina Alexandra
• German background• Eccentric• A lack of intellect:
‘a will of iron, linked to not brain and no knowledge’ (Paul Benckendorff)
• Obsessed with Russian Orthodoxy• Tendency towards mysticism and spiritualism
Tsarina and Rasputin
• Belonged to a Sect.• Faith healer.• Strong friendship meant he was able to
influence her choice of ministers and appointments.
• Dismissed ministers she saw as a threat e.g. Minister of War Alexei Polivanov.
Were they really to blame?
• In reality the Tsar made all of the crucial decisions but he was influenced by his wife and Rasputin.
• At the time, Rasputin’s influence was taken seriously.
• A leading noble, Felix Yusopov murdered Rasputin in 1916.
• By 1917 the Tsar was feeling optimistic:
‘I know the situation is very alarming…(but)…..soon, in the spring will come the offensive and I believe that God will give us victory, and
then moods will change.’