Answer:
(a) Causes of the Russian Revolution. The Russian Government was still feudal in nature. The Tsar still believed in Divine Rights of king while the Russian people were influenced by developments occurring in Western Europe and wanted a change. All sections of the Russian people were discontented. Though Serfdom was abolished in 1861, the peasants found their economic condition only marginally changed. The land they received was too little for their needs and the amount of money to be paid too much. Their position was further worsened by a series off amines and bad harvests which occurred in the years before 1917. Therefore, land hunger and discontentment of the peasants made the peasants ready to support any movement which promised them relief from their misery. Industrialization helped in the emergence of two new classes, the workers and the capitalists. The former worked in appalling conditions, toiling for long hours and were paid very low wages. Living in unhygienic conditions where crime was rampant, the workers were denied political rights and did not have the right even to form trade unions which could improve their conditions. The middle class wanted some form of representative government to be formed where access to high posts would be given on the basis of ability and not on the basis of birth. The non-Russian nationalities were angered by the imposition of the Russian language and customs. The Russian people were greatly influenced by the writings of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgbev and wanted political reforms on western lines. Others influenced by the writings of Marx and Bakunin turned to Socialism and Anarchism. Political parties representing all sections of society came up. The Socialist Revolutionary Party voiced the demands of the peasantry. The workers supported the Workmen's Social Democratic Party. Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese war led to widespread disturbances. Its entry into the First World War was disastrous for her as she was not equipped to fight a modern war. All these factors coalesced to bring about the Russian Revolution. (b) The Second Russian Revolution, With the Ouster of' Kadets' from the Provisional Government, the moderate socialists known as Mensheviks under the leadership of Alexander Kerensky came to power. Kerensky?s government failed to meet the demands of the people, i.e., peace withdrawal from the war, land to the tiller, control of industry to the workers and equal status for all non-Russian nationalities. The Mensheviks sought to usher in political democracy through constitutional methods while the Bolsheviks under the leadership of Lenin wanted to establish a socialist government at once, even by taking recourse to violent means if necessary. They thus, campaigned against the war and wanted to bring about peace on the basis of no annexation and no indemnities. The German advance after taking Riga threatened Petrograd itself. This paved the way for the rise of the Bolsheviks who came to control the Petrograd Soviet. Finally, in November 1917, they staged a coup and overthrew the Provisional Government of Kerensky. This is known as the October Revolution and was the Second Russian Revolution to take place.
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