The Fall of the Romanovs

The fall of the Romanovs
Tsar Nicholas plays the most significant role in his own downfall and the downfall of the Russian monarchy. Nicholas, who was ill prepared for tsardom wrote his own death warrant with his action as ruler, his disconnection from and strangle hold over the Russian people and his inability to accept and instigate change within his empire and bend to the needs of his people and parliament which led to revolts among the people and instability within the country. But the final blow to Nicholas’s rule came in the form of the First World War, which was the final straw for the people of Russia who fought back against Nicholas and his terrible and fatal economic and strategic decisions during the war, and brought down the monarchy in a violent and bloody civil war.
Nicholas was ill prepared for his ascension to the throne. He admits as much when he inherits the throne in 1894 ‘I am not prepared to be tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling. I have no idea of even how to talk to ministers.’   Nicholas believed that it was his god given right to be ruler and even though he had reservations about being tsar he held fiercely onto his autocracy until 1905 when the October manifesto was introduced. His reluctance to release any of his powers meant that any problems involving the country could be directly blamed on him. Thus giving the people a single person to blame.
Russia’s push for industrialisation meant that thousands of workers were moving into cities from the country to find work in factories. In St. Petersburg alone there was a population increase of 55% between 1881 and 1900 by 1900 Russia had 2500000 workers within its urban surrounds. Here is where Nicholas’s problems occur. The Russian workers were living in close unsanitary quarters unfit for living and often working 12 hour shifts, it was not uncommon for workers to die from these conditions. But because of Nicholas’s regime and rigidity the people had...