The Tsar and the rest of the Romanov family played a major role in causing the Russian Revolution. It was the Tsar's weak character as a ruler, which helped precipitate the Revolution. Although the revolution would have most likely occurred regardless of the person acting as ruler, Tsar Nicholos lacked the necessary skills to prevent it. The social preconditions for the one hundred and fifty years prior to the revolution only seemed to worsen as the population in the countryside increased by over two hundred percent. The aftermath of the Russo-Japanese war left Russia with a loss, and a huge economic downswing. World War I also contributed to the revolution as Russia lacked supplies and only had poorly planned war strategies. Nicholos II displayed no traits his father, Alexander III was believed to have had. Alexander III was a firm believer in resorting to force and was "a giant of a man" as depicted by Richard Piper's The Russian Revolution who saw Alexander III to be this great autocrat who had a lust for power and was a perfect fit for an Emperor of a country. Compare this to the character of Nicholos II who "...lacked the intelligence and character to rule yet insisted on playing the autocrat." (57 Piper) This constant though
t of Nicholos II, which he believed he had complete authority over one hundred and twenty million subjects did not match his "soft" tsar personality. He was known to be a very quiet and shy person and preferred to spend hours in the company of his wife and children rather than deal with political matters, especially when it will lead to his eventually downfall. The Tsar's character became a greater problem when opposition began to arise towards the ideal he inherited from a long line of ancestors. Many revolutionaries resented the autocratic rule and power the tsar had. But the tsar could do little to prevent a popular revolt. Joel Charmichael stated in his book, A History of Russia was that the tsar "...was sadly outmatched by circumstances." Although his weak character did influence the leading up to the Revolution even a monarch with a powerful and passionate ruler would most likely have failed to restore order after constant demonstrations with the tsar as the burden. But the position the tsar had inherited still required a person to cope with it, but the tsar couldn not only cope with it, "He seemed unable...to understand what was happening." (232 Charmichael) The tsar had no idea what was going on outside of the palace due to his role as a father and husband he preferred despite the role he was expected to play. "Bloody Sunday" was an outcome of popular unrest. Fathe
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