Throughout the course of history of the Russian state and Russian empire, it was marked by terror and numerous executions. Part four of the documentary film "Russia, Land of the Tsars" depicts the Tsarist-era of free hand and absolute power of Ivan the Terrible, that was the time when no one had the right to question the Ivan's dark disorder and the representatives of opposition had to pay with their lands and their lives. After the Time of Troubles, otherwise referred to as Russian Smutnoye Vremya, Russia defended its independence and entered a new stage of its development. In actual fact, it was the end of medieval history of the Russian state.
One century later, against the background of the tumultuous events of the first quarter of the XVIII century, Russian history was marked by fundamental reorganization of all sectors of national life, as well as by public administration reform and reform of the political system, which conferred unlimited and absolute on the Tsar. In 1721 Tsar Peter the Great took the title of Emperor of All Russia. As a result, Russia became an empire and its ruler became the emperor of one of the most powerful states, on par with the great world powers of the time. Then, there were years of ruling of Empress Catherine the Great and other emperors.
The end of the Russian Empire came in 1917 with the February Revolution, also known as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin. According to the lecturer of University of California, Berkeley, it was "the turning point in the history of Russia" and the entire world (qtd. in YouTube.com). The February Revolution was caused by numerous internal as well as external factors and short-term and long-term causes, including weakness of the supreme power and total corruption in it, exacerbated and aggravated socio-economic problems, protracted war with Germany, etc.
One of the major long-term internal causes contributing to the fall of the Russian Empire and the February Revolution was the continuous and permanent worsening of the workers' socio-economic position. In the end of the 19th century, "Lenin's idea was that "The worst things are - the better things are" (Tumarkin, "Vladimir Lenin: Voice of Revolution"). In other words, Vladimir Lenin believed that revolution would only be possible if people were driven to despair and extremity.
Another fundamental cause of the February Revolution was the continuous weakening of the supreme power of the Russian tsars. In 1825, for instance, the death of the Emperor of Russia Alexander I, triggered a secession crisis which revealed the weakness in the Russian monarchy. Consequently, a group of 3,000 soldiers, known as Decembrists, took advantage of the government disorderliness and chaos in order to demand reforms. This weakening was accompanied by complete inability of the government to resolve the urgent problems of the country's development. In other words, the Imperial Russia's failure throughout the course of the middle and late 19th and early 20th century to modernize its obsolete and archaic social, economic and political structures in the meantime maintaining the stability of its monarchical system was the major cause of the February Revolution of 1917.
Consequently, the defeat of the Russian empire in the Russian-Japanese war, which is a short-term cause of the fall of the Russian empire, led to first Russian revolution in 1905. The revolution was also triggered by failures of the Russian military forces during the First World War. Speaking from the perspective of other events in Europe, which made the Russian Revolution likely, the historians place special emphasis on the loss of Russian Poland during May to August 1915. Other significant events that contributed to the February revolution were the major defeats of the Russian empire in the course of the WWI, including The Battle of Tannenberg and The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes.
Therefore, all of the above-mentioned events and causes led to the February Revolution of 1917, which in its turn led to the formation of the new order and the new Soviet government. This new system developed and introduced by Vladimir Lenin incorporated the ideas of socialist and communist ideology. In the opinion of Vladimir Lenin and his associates, the October revolution was accomplished for the sake of building a new social and political system based on the principles of socialism. The key ideas of socialism incorporated into the new Soviet government included the denial of private property, high progressive taxation, centralization and monopoly of all transport and transportation system in the hands of the state during the dictatorship of the proletariat as well as increase in the number of state factories and instruments of production. The new Soviet government system also provided for the incorporation of the key ideas of communist ideology. These ideas included labor obligations of all individuals without exception, especially in the field of agriculture, abolishment of the principle of inheritance and legacy transfer, disposition of the property of immigrants to the state, general tuition-free education for children and educational activities combined with the production process, prohibition of child labor at factories, and association of agriculture with industry. Taking into consideration that the "country needed engineers and technicians for the new society", another crucial idea incorporated into the new Soviet government was the "idea of equality of men and women" in industries (Maupin , "Soviet Women Remember Socialism").
Works Cited
"History 5 - Lecture 24: The Russian Revolution." UCBerkeley. YouTube, 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB23G_WoZ30&list=PL724BE4B9629BDCDF&index=21>.
Russia, Land of the Tsars - Part 4. Perf. Edward Herrmann, Grand Duchess Anastasia, and Grand Duchess Marie. Hollydan Works, Partisan Pictures, 22 May 2009. Web. 14 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuyHoh2XSrs>.
Vladimir Lenin: Voice of Revolution. History Empire, 29 July 2014. Web. 14 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9pPc8abyJg>.
Maupin, Caleb. "Soviet Women Remember Socialism." YouTube. YouTube, 7 July 2009. Web. 14 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=933jsB5ChlA>.
