The 1917 Russian Revolution and the Collapse of Tsarism

The 1917 Russian Revolution and the Collapse of Tsarism
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Introduction
The Russian Revolution in 1917 began with the occurrence of numerous conflicts and social issues in Russia. This involved the initial overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy and later on the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government. This led to the creation of the Soviet Union whereby the Provisional Government was directly governed by the Bolshevik Party and the rise of socialism within the region. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was mainly rooted in a significant history of atrocities and human oppression. This history, coupled with incompetent leadership and also the entry of Russia into World War 1 set the stage for massive change.[McMeekin, Sean. The Russian revolution: A new history.]
The paper will discuss the causes of the overthrow of the Russian monarchy in 1917, highlighting the main issues that led to this change. It will also examine the origins of the first Russian Revolution during World War 1 that led to the collapse of the Tsarist regime.
Analysis
In the nineteenth century, Russia was a massive empire as it stretched from Poland to the pacific. It was an empire of around one hundred and sixty-five million people of various cultures and languages. For the leaders, it became a challenge to rule such a massive state, and the issues within Russia led to the revolution in 1917. This revolution mainly focused on sweeping away the old regime, which was profoundly lacking in leadership. These causes include:
Poor living standards for peasants
In 1916, peasants that lived and farmed in small villages comprised of almost three-quarters of the Russian population. In 1861, the living condition of peasant families was much better since they were freed and issued with pieces of land for their livelihood. However the monarch established a policy whereby they had to pay a specific tax to the government. This only led to several peasant families wallowing in debts to the monarch.[Ibd.]
The state of agriculture in Russia was poor as most farmers utilized outdated techniques and had little hope of improving, which was mainly due to lack of capital to invest and highly illiteracy levels. As most families moved to central Russia, the population increased, which led to land becoming scarce. The life led by peasant families was a significant contrast to the wealthy landowners that held almost a fifth of the land in massive states and these individuals were mainly members of the upper Russian class.[Engelstein, Laura. Russia in Flames: War, Revolution, Civil War, 1914-1921. Oxford University Press, 2018.]
In the vast Russian Empire, both the western and southern regions were different as most peasant families worked in commercial farms. Engelstein (2018) stated that by 1917, many dissatisfied peasants became angry due to the increased attempts by the Russian Monarchy to control them and their earnings. The typical peasant mindset was firmly against this type of rule and desired autonomy, which played a huge factor in the overthrow of the Russian monarch.
 Lack of safety regulations for the growing politicized workforce
In Russia, the industrial revolution arrived significantly later than in other parts of Europe. This period marked the emancipation of most people from lower classes, whereby they were allowed to seek employment ventures in other parts of the country. Many families left their lands out of financial necessity as they needed work and could not support themselves from farming.[Trotsky, Leon. History of the Russian revolution. Haymarket Books, 2008.]
In Russian cities, factories paid low wages, which was lower than in Western Europe and offered no safeguards for their workers. The Russian monarch was reluctant to implement any regulation, such as bans on children working in factories. The urban workforce was closely linked to peasants in most Russian cities, and most of these individuals became aware of the harsh living conditions that they experienced and also poor housing problems.[du Quenoy, Paul. "The Last of the Tsars: Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution." (2018): 126-127.]
Due to the population increase in urban areas, the government became more afraid of developing the urban class and also driving away foreign investment. Ultimately, policies were implemented that restricted night work for children and women, and the average workday was limited to no more than eleven hours. However, smaller workshops were wholly exempted from such regulations as these enterprises, employed the majority of Russian workers, specifically Russian women. These smaller workshops could continuously opt to utilize abusive labor policies.[Trotsky, Leon. History of the Russian revolution.]
There were numerous safety concerns at several factories such as unsafe working conditions, lack of insurance coverage to safeguard workers against injuries, and also, workers lacked the right to strike over deplorable working conditions. The Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905 was an event whereby massive protests by unarmed Russian workers were carried out against the monarchy and were wounded or killed by the monarch's troops. This massacre played a considerable role in the rise of dissatisfied workers who then responded with various strikes that cripple the entire country. These measures were highly effective compared to other parts of Europe. In 1917, politicized socialist workers played a huge role in the abdication of the Russian monarch since workers became more aware and empowered through protests against harsh working conditions.[McMeekin, Sean. The Russian revolution: A new history]
 Russification and Nihilism
The policy of Russification was established by Czar Alexander III and was mandatory for all regions of Russia. This system declared that One Czar, One Church, One Russia for all individuals. Steinberg, (2017) stated that this system of the Czarist rule highlighted that the Czarist regime was the only actual regime and the Catholic religion must be practiced by all people and the Russian language was to be used in every part of Russia. Even in areas such as Poland and Lithuania which were under the Russian monarch, Russification was established. Students from these region were however restricted from studying in Russian educational institutions. The Russification Policy, which was even further practiced by Czar Nicholas II, only led to the creation of an unstable environment throughout Russia.
The policy only led to the emergence of Nihilism which heavily influenced the direction of the 1917 Revolution. Most Nihilists were against the current rulers, the harsh living conditions that the citizens were being subjected to and also the Catholic region to establish a new administrative system. The primary goal of Nihilism in Russia was the abolition of Russification. Nihilist preachers influenced the citizens mainly through their organizations in a bid to bring down the current monarch, which led to the establishment of the means necessary for an uprising.[Engelstein, Laura. Russia in Flames.]
Long-term causes of the first Russian Revol...