Autocracy & Political Structure
Explain how the tsarist system limited Russia’s political adaptability.
Rigid autocracy, lack of representative institutions, reliance on Okhrana.
Identify one major military defeat and its impact on Russian morale.
Tannenberg, Masurian Lakes; panic, loss of confidence
Identify two ways industrial workers suffered in Russia before 1917.
Low wages, overcrowding, long hours, unsafe working conditions
Identify the two main Marxist factions in Russia before 1917.
Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
Who was the leader of the Bolsheviks in 1917?
Lenin
Analyse the significance of the Duma in the years 1906–1914.
Limited power, Tsar could dissolve, frustration of liberal reformers
Analyse how Nicholas II’s personal command of the army influenced perceptions of the monarchy.
Directly blamed for defeats, tied him to military failures.
wartime inflation contributed to urban unrest
Prices rise faster than wages; bread shortages; strikes
one key ideological difference between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
Party structure; timing of revolution
Explain how Rasputin’s influence damaged the monarchy’s credibility.
corruption, Alexandra’s decisions, alienation of elite and public
Evaluate the effectiveness of the 1905 reforms in preventing revolution
October Manifesto; limited franchise; temporary concessions; long-term grievances
Evaluate the role of military defeats as a catalyst for the February Revolution
Short-term trigger; army disillusionment, desertions, loss of discipline
the link between food shortages and popular protest in Petrograd, February 1917
Women workers, queues, riots; spread to general strikes
why socialist parties gained support during World War I.
War hardships, anti-war sentiment, failure of Tsarist regime
Alexander Kerensky’s early role in the Provisional Government
Moderate reform, failure to address war issues, inability to maintain army loyalty.
Explain how the Tsarist regime’s use of censorship and secret police contributed to political instability
Suppression of opposition led to radicalisation.
Explain the connection between World War I and the breakdown of soldier loyalty by February 1917.
Casualties, poor leadership, supply shortages, influence of revolutionary propaganda
how economic collapse and social discontent interacted with political discontent to produce revolution.
Inflation & food shortages
Hyperinflation during WWI (1914–1917)
Bread queues & riots in Petrograd (February 1917)
2. Overcrowding & poor urban living conditions
Rapid industrialisation and war migration led to crowded, unsanitary housing.
Disease and poor working conditions added to worker anger
3. Strikes & worker unrest
Mass strikes in early 1917 in factories, particularly in Petrograd.
Workers protested wages, food shortages, and working conditions.
4. Peasant hardships
Peasants faced food requisitioning for the army, high taxes, and scarcity of resources.
5. Link to political discontent
Economic hardship exposed the Tsarist regime’s inability to address crises.
Workers and soldiers lost faith in leadership, bridging social grievances with political action.
Evaluate the role of revolutionary propaganda in undermining Tsarist authority by February 1917.
Newspapers, leaflets, speeches; connection to strikes and mutinies
Evaluate Nicholas II’s decision-making in the years 1914–1917.
Cumulative errors, impact on military and civil unrest
To what extent was the Tsar personally responsible for the failure of political reform before 1917?
weighing Nicholas II’s decisions vs structural and social pressures.
Appointing himself the leader of military
Left Tsarina Alexandra to run Russia
World War I was more significant than long-term structural weaknesses in causing the February Revolution.
Military defeats and morale collapse
Impact: Early losses undermined confidence in the Tsar and army leadership; rumours of incompetence spread among civilians.
Nicholas II takes personal command (1915)
Impact: Directly ties the Tsar to ongoing military failures; leaves government in the hands of Alexandra and Rasputin’s influence, damaging credibility.
Soldier shortages and desertions
Many soldiers mutinied or refused to suppress strikes in Petrograd, e.g., Petrograd garrison joins protests in February 1917
Impact: Military disloyalty removes a key pillar of autocratic power, directly enabling revolution.
4. War exacerbates economic and social crisis
Inflation, food shortages, and transport collapse caused by war effort (1914–1917).
Urban unrest grows, particularly in Petrograd, with bread riots sparking strikes.
Link to WWI: These short-term pressures acted as the immediate trigger for mass action
To what extent was Russia’s economy inherently unstable by 1917, even without WWI?
Industrial backwardness
Poor transport & logistics
Agrarian inefficiency & peasant problems
Peasants used outdated farming methods, producing low yields.
Labour & social unrest before WWI
Structural weaknesses of Tsarist governance
Revolutionary groups were ready to seize power by February 1917.” To what extent do you agree?
preparedness, organisation, popular support, and external conditions
Assess the significance of individual leadership vs structural factors in causing the February Revolution.
political, military, social, and economic causes