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The History of The Fall Of The Russian Empire
Before that, we must first understand the reasons for how everything happened and it all started back during the communist rule in 1917. For hundreds of years, the wealthy Tsar elite family ruled over the Russian empire in which a big portion of its citizen comprises the farmers class.
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It all ended during the revolution in February 1917 which was initiated by numerous important factors some of which were economic, social, and political problems. But all of these problems were rarely told since the failure of overcoming these issues was due to the obsessive love of the ruler towards his own wife.
When the Russian empire was first involved in the First World War, more than 15 million people were forced into the army causing a deficit of workers in the manufacturing and agricultural sector. This ultimately affects their essentials and food supply.
When all the necessities become hard to obtain, the price will definitely skyrocket and not long after that, the people of Russia experienced starvation all over. Riots among the lower class start to rise especially when the workers are forced to work for 12 to 14 hours a day with such low pay and not to mention the safety and healthcare not being provided.
Riots and strikes can be seen happening everywhere and the situation at the farm becoming much worse. For decades, a group of rich landowners owned a big amount of workers giving them rights when in reality they were all bound to the land they owe turning the workers into slaves.
In 1961, Tsar Alexander II freed the farmers and most of them were given a piece of land to work on. The small piece of land was clearly not enough to provide the essential needs and food for every family and for this reason a big riot took place in the countryside.
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| Tsar Nicholas II |
The big question is what did the heir of Alexander II and Alexander III, Nicholas II do? What is the reaction of Nicholas II towards all the hardships that are being experienced by his people? The answer to that is basically nothing. But what he did do was he chose the path of violence by ordering his army to end the riots and rebels happening around.
His popularity quickly drops and in 1915 things turn from bad to worst when Nicholas decided to go to the front lines to increase the morals of his army during the First World War and abandon his responsibility towards his beloved wife.
Stories like this did not only happen to the Russian empire but also to the Chinese civilization which has been witnessed fall many times due to love and not to mention the Roman Empire as well as the Turkish empire when the woman loved so much by the Sultan that a prince was sacrificed by his own father.
All of these must be taken as a lesson to now obsessively love someone to the extent that the responsibilities being held are neglected especially when it involves leading a country.
Background
Tsar Alexandra Feodorovna or the name before becoming a tsarina of the Russian Empire, Alix of Hesse is the granddaughter of Queen Victora. She refused to be matched into marriage due to political reasons and instead she chose to marry the man she loved. She fell in love with Grand Duke Nicholas, the heir to the throne of the Russian Empire, and Nicholas also fell for her.
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| Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna or Alix of Hesse |
Queen Victoria was quite reluctant to bless the marriage as she did not like Russia and believed that Alix will not be safe living with Nicholas and the royal families. Nicholas' father on the other hand was anti-Germans and they also did not agree with the marriage.
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They did try finding the right partner for Nicholas but Nicholas simply states that he rather be a pastor than marry a woman that he did not love. Later in 1894, Nicholas' father's health was deteriorating. To ease up the process of handing over the throne in case he passed away, he was forced to allow Nicholas to marry Alix.
Alexander III later passed away on November 1894 and Nicholas was enthroned to become Tsar Nicholas II. Alix also followed the teachings of the Orthodox church and was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna and the two royal pair held their marriage on 26 November 1894.
The 4 children being born by the two royal pair were all girls and this worries the Russians as there was no prince to be the next heir to the throne. Therefore, the pair starts to change to the traditional way to get a baby boy.
In 1904, the dreams of the Russian Empire became a reality as Prince Alexei was born. Unfortunately, Alexei was found to be having hemophilia. Hemophilia is a genetic abnormality that prevents the coagulation of blood. The patient will usually die at a very young age since their body cannot stop the bleeding.
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| Grigori Rasputin |
The genetic mutation that causes hemophilia is located on the X chromosome. Generally, the woman will be the carrier for this genetic mutation and normally the man will have this abnormality. Alix was the carrier of this mutation that she got from her grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Alix starts to become obsessed with their health condition of Alexei. She was so desperate that finally, she seek help from a well-known Siberian mystique, Grigori Rasputin. Through the works of miracles, Rasputin managed to save Alexei's life many times with his mystique techniques.
in 1915, Nicholas II moved to the front lines to increase the morale of the Russian army as his army was on the brink of losing the First World War. He left her wife, Alix that is the next person in line to rule the empire.
During Nicholas' absence, Rasputin used his influence on Alix to change most of the government's officers. For instance, Alix had appointed four prime ministers in just 6 months. Rasputin's influence on the Russian empire caused the people of Russia to hate Tsar Nicolas II's rule.
The same thing can also be said about Alix as the people interpret the Queen's behavior which is shy and quiet as egoistic and arrogant. In fact, Queen Victoria herself also advised her to amend her reputation but Alix feels that the loyalty of the Russian is the Gift of God.
She is more willing to spend more time with Nicholas and her kids. The people of Russia felt that Alix who was the former princess of Germany has a hidden agenda to oppose the Russian empire.
To make things worse, the queen also influenced Nicholas II to prevent the democratic process in Russia and to keep on ruling autocratically. There was even speculation that claims Alix was having an affair with Rasputin which was the starting point of the fall of the Russian empire.
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| October Revolution became the new era of a communist country |
Nicholas II ruled the Russian empire but it was as if his wife was ruling over it. The problem was that his wife was giving a different perspective of what is truly happening and turning Nicholas II from the true reality that Russia was currently facing.
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The high death rate in the First World War, economic depreciation, and starvation among the Russians is among the reason for the spark of the revolution which lasted from February until October 1917. In the end, Nicholas II was forced off his throne and in 1918, Bolsheviks (a new government under communist rule) assassinated Nicholas II along with his family.
The Bolshevik was definitely in a rush to conclusively end the First World War in 1918 and are more focused on the civil war fighting against the resistance which they won later in 1922. With that, the Soviet Union, the first communist country in the world was born.
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| Last family of Romanov Dynasty |
Nicholas was said to be less assertive, has no will to rule, and is too blinded by love. It all made things worst when he freely follow his wife's perspective without having a slight thought. The impact is not only on Nicholas himself but also on the Romanov Dynasty as a whole.
He got married on the basis of love and lived happily with his family. But the price to pay was when the emperor himself was not being thoughtful in decision making which cost him his life and the fall of the whole empire.
Source:
- Massie, Robert K. (2012). The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. Random House.
- King, G. (1999). The Last Empress, Replica Books.
- Pipes, Richard (1997). Three “whys” of the Russian Revolution. Vintage Books.
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