THE ROLE OF WORLD WAR 1 IN THE FALL OF THE TSARIST REGIME
World War 1 was the final, and arguably most significant factor in the decline and fall of the Romanov dynasty. Despite an upsurge of patriotism that came with the announcement of the war, by 1914 Russia was on the cusp of revolution. The catalyst with the most extreme consequence was Nicholas leaving Alexandra in charge while he went to lead the troops at the front. Already disliked by the Russian public, hostility towards her grew during the war due to her German background and she became a scapegoat on whom all the failures of the war were blamed. Furthermore, the Tsarina was perceived to be strongly under the influence of Rasputin and the people were unhappy with his ‘position of power’ within the government. As a result, Nicholas lost his biggest supporters, the upper class, who then worked with the middle class to try and demand changes in the Duma that would allow the public more influence over decisions made regarding the war. Combined with this opposition, Nicholas also lost the support of the military. With such opposition, and in failing to return from the front to deal with it, Nicholas was forced to abdicate and Russia had its last Tsar.
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