Causes Of WW1 And The Russo-Japanese War

The February Revolution began with spontaneous rioting through Petrograd and led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Many historians disagree as to whether the February Revolution had one true cause or was caused by an accumulating amount of events. In answering this question, one will consider WW1 and the Russo-Japanese war, the autocratic policies Tsar Nicholas II enforced, the peasant revolt and the influence of Rasputin on Tsarina Alexandra.
 
 
 
Many historians argue as to whether WW1 was the deciding cause of the Russian revolution 1917. In 1915, the Tsar took personal control of the army; he felt his leadership could inspire his troops. However, he was inexperienced as a leader and this led to the humiliation and defeat of the Russian army. In 1915, Germany launched a series of offensives against Russia, they were beaten and large areas of Russian territory were over run. The Tsar taking charge was seen as him taking personal responsibility for the military disasters inflicted upon Russia. For example, in 1916, for a period of time Russia did win some victories against the Austrians and regained some territory, but then due to the German army attacking in support of their Austrian ally, Russia was overpowered and defeated.  Morale across Russia was low and the people were looking for someone to blame- this was the Tsar. During WW1, 2 million soldiers were killed during WW1 and similar numbers of civilians were killed also. The Tsar’s attempt to raise moral and to