The Fall of Tsarist Russia Essay Example

The Fall of Tsarist Russia Essay The Fall of Tsarist Russia, The Rise of the Soviet Union. â€Å"To the very end, through its inflexibility and ineptness, the autocracy had been the principal architect of its own downfall. -Christopher Read Russia, prior to the rise of the Communist powers, was a simple country, with the Romanov bloodline at its helm. The country, with its sprawling landmass and spread out population, was perhaps one of the least developed countries in Europe. Bruner) While the rest of the world changed and adapted post industrial revolution, Russia failed to play catch up, relying on its conservative leader, who preferred the old world rather than the developing. The modernization of Russia, with its vast territories simply could not be supported by an autocracy successfully. Though the seeds for industrial development were placed in heavy industry, the lack of social rights and liberties, as denied by the Tsars, kept the working class in an unacceptable level of poverty. Ramage) The sudden outbre ak of World War One provided a catalyst to effectively bring down the Tsarist rule of Russia, inspiring the rise of the Soviet Union . It is argued that had Russia retained from fighting in the First World War, the Bolsheviks would never been able to rise above and form the U. S. S. R. Tsarist Russia, already riddled with social and developmental problems had no capacity to take part in a global affair such as the First World War. Tsarist Russia, already in a frail state, was not prepared for fighting in the First World War. The Tsar, who relied on a superficial relationship with the people, managed to isolate himself further from the people then they were willing to follow. The war ravaged through Russia’s economy and resources causing constant unrest for the people. The originally strong spirited war effort had fallen into shambles, under incompetent leadership, causing loss of hope and trust in the government. Nicholas II, the ruler of Russia during the dawn of the 20th century, saw the end of autocratic rule and gave way to the spread of communism. The only thing keeping the country together was the superficial relationship the people had with the tsar. Nicholas the II failed to realize this, his first mistake being his isolation from the people. â€Å"By the end of 1916 the Court was virtually isolated from all educated society, from all the power elites in military, commercial, political and even governmental circles. † (Stavrou 37) â€Å"Nicholas II and  Alexandra  disliked St. Petersburg. Considering it too modern, they moved the family residence in 1895 from Anichkov Palace to Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, where they lived in seclusion. (Bruner) Removing himself and his family from one of the few developing cities in the country closed his mind, secluded him from the people, and provided a even larger gap between the working class and the ruling party. The Tsar often did not see what was happening on the streets of his cities, as he had secluded himself from them. â€Å"The conservative philosophy of the Tsar underlay all his actions, public or private; he continued to be unreceptive to any suggestion of changes that might limit his authority. † (Stavrou 8) â€Å"The first meeting of the  Duma  took place in May 1906. We will write a custom essay sample on The Fall of Tsarist Russia specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Fall of Tsarist Russia specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Fall of Tsarist Russia specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Several changes in the composition of the Duma had been changed since the publication of the  October Manifesto. Nicholas II  had also created a State Council, an upper chamber, of which he would nominate half its members. He also retained for himself the right to declare war, to control the  Orthodox Church  and to dissolve the Duma. The Tsar also had the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. At their first meeting, members of the  Duma  put forward a series of demands including the release of political prisoners, trade union rights and land reform. Nicholas II  rejected all these proposals and dissolved the Duma. †(Bruner) Nicholas was not willing to break years of tradition, and though superficially he provided the illusion that he was giving a voice to the people, in reality he made sure that he had the power to shut down any development that he did not like. The tsar created an image where he did not trust the people, and in return the people stopped trusting the tsar. The tsar had successfully jeopardized his rule and trust of the people, prior to the beginning of the Great War. In September 1915, Nicholas II assumed supreme command of the  Russian Army  fighting on the  Eastern Front. This linked him to the countrys military failures and during 1917 there was a strong decline support for the Tsar in Russia. †( Bruner) â€Å"The tensions brought about by the war, of five million dead or wounded, of the armys bread ration being cut by a third between December 1916 and February 1917, of the shortages of f ood in the towns, burst to the surface. †(Ramage) The military, already under a technological disadvantage, were suffering the worst casualties of the nations involved in the war. When the tsar took over the military all the blame for the Russian Armies failure landed on him. The people were furious at his inability to lead the country to victory, but worst of all, while the tsar was busy with the war effort he successfully neglected ironing out the infrastructural problems created by those before his rule. Russia of the early 20th century had no capability of fighting in the war. With the undeveloped infrastructure and industry being turned over for military production, resources were sparse, the country was too large and did not have a developed enough transportation system to successfully supply the war, shortage of food ravaged cities, the ever decreasing standard of living brought on the desire for revolution. â€Å"The clamor for rapid industrialization became more intensive. After the great military defeats of the spring and summer of 1915, the gap between resources and political ambition was wider than ever – not only in the view of immediate emergency, but for the long pull as well. (Stavrou 147) â€Å"Every shell that exploded on the battlefield helped to reduce the production of more shells back home in the munitions factories. In other words, the Russian economy could not support both war production and the railways, steel mills, factories, and mines that made war production possible (not to mention the continuing needs of the civilian sec tor of the economy, particularly of agriculture). † (Stavrou 146) The country did not have developed the resources required to run the country and the war together. Poverty levels climaxed and workers began to strike, in hope of reform. Not only was the country not prepared for the war, its economy still recovering, the standard of living worsened as the war went on. Crucial resources being sent to the war front caused strikes and hindered production on the home front; Tsarist Russia’s undeveloped rail system failed to provide Russia’s needs. â€Å"The inadequacy of railroads – which both directly and indirectly contributed significantly to the desperate food shortage, an essential factor in the revolution in February – and the comparable deficiency in industry, which undermined provision of military supplies and of urban facilities, were both symptoms of economic backwardness. (Stavrou 36) The infrastructure failed to transport enough resources causing inflation, starvation, and caused thousands of strikes. â€Å"In 1916 there were 1,284 strikes, involving 952,000 workers. Troops fired on strikers in Kosruma, and the swollen industrial workforce of Moscow and Petrograd became increasin gly susceptible to radical socialist agitation. † (Cawood, Bell 103) â€Å"On March 8, International Women’s Day, women textile workers in Petrograd’s Vuborg District joined those already on strike and poured into the streets demanding more bread. Other Petrograd workers soon joined them, and within two days more than 200,000 strikers, plus many students and other sympathizers, brought everyday life to a standstill. † (Moss 186) Tsarist Russia was ripping itself apart from the inside; the political bodies were unable to seize control of the people, while the military that was supposed to end the riots joined them instead. The focus on the war, and lack of political, social and economic reform brought Russia on its knees. The country needed change to survive. The Russian war-effort brought forth the downfall of Tsar Nicholas II. The campaign was not faring as well as the tsar had hoped, the large Russian army was up against a technologically advanced adversary, with causalities high and resources running out, the cities were ripe for revolution. â€Å"On 31st July, 1914, Sazonov advised the Tsar to order the mobilization of the  Russian Army  even though he knew it would lead to war with the  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary. † (Bruner) â€Å" World War 1, a war perceived by many Russians as a foreign imposition that did not serve Russia’s interests , evoked significant support among many nationally conscious Russians, as well as from the a-political peasantry exhausted by the travails of war. † (Prizel 183) The initial mobilization of the army, brought forth potential hope and patriotism, but as the war expanded, the causalities increased and the resources diminished, the people became restless, and open to new concepts and ideas, they were no longer aligned with the tsar, but with the country, they saw the tsar as a pest to the country. The unity of the nation produced at the beginning of an imperialist war is really only a mask. As war drags on, it exposes all that is rotten in society, sharpening all the social contradictions. † (Ramage) â€Å" the reasons for the Russian army’s defeat were not just to do with quantities of guns, men, resources and foodstuffs. The fact was that the old regime was incapable of waging a modern total war† (Cawood,Bell 126) The people had no initial desire to be part of the conflict, the superficial democratic systems placed by the tsar were over ruled by his desire for the expansion of Russia. The tsar united the cities and the country in order to maintain the war effort, but in doing so he had neglected to provide for the countries needs, uniting it against himself. † (Pearson 6) â€Å"Fifteen million, overwhelmingly peasants, were drafted into the army, where they faced a uniformity of misery which made them open to the ideas of the working class. By 1917 over 800,000 workers were concentrated in defence industries in Moscow, and 300,000 in Petrograd, mainly in huge factories employing thousands. In contrast with previous struggles in Russia, the cities and countryside were brought together in their determination to be done with Tsarist autocracy. † (Ramage) A crucial flaw of the tsar’s plan was unifying the Russian country and cities for the war effort, exerting all resources into the war, and creating havoc in the cities. By this time the Bolshevik takeover didn’t need to go to the streets, the streets had come to the Bolsheviks. The fate of the Tsarist rule of Russia was visible to everyone but the tsar and his family. The seeds of collapse were placed long before, with Russia’s inability to catch up economically, socially and politically. The tsar’s incapacity to maintain his image as the caring, paternal leader of the motherland, gave people reason to doubt and criticize him. Russia’s overall underdevelopment, riddled with economic, industrial and social nuisance, and most importantly the denial for adaption and improvement into the modern world by the Tsar crippled Russia chance when the war began. The military failures of the Red Army, under incapable leadership, a technological disadvantage and depleted resources called for a new system. Communism provided a bright light to the war-weary, exhausted and overworked people of Russia. The First World War provided the mechanism for the fall of a thousand year old empire, inspiring the rise of communism and one of the greatest social and political experiments.

Essay Samples For Financial Scholarships - A Brilliant Idea?

Essay Samples For Financial Scholarships - A Brilliant Idea?If you want to come up with an impressive scholarship application essay, you should look at essay samples for financial scholarships. Scholarships are awarded to the deserving students by federal and state governments. A student's academic performance is never a guarantee that he will get a scholarship; there are a number of factors that also have to be considered.There are many essay samples for financial scholarships online available. There are good ones as well as bad ones. The important thing to note is that your essays will be evaluated by the school administrators and selection committee members, which make it even more crucial to choose the right essay samples for financial scholarships.Proper use of grammar and spelling is the first and foremost thing that should be taken care of while writing a persuasive essay. Use the correct format of your essay when you compose it, avoid using the term 'your'my' in places where you would naturally replace it with 'they', the terms they and their will be considered ambiguous.The next thing that needs to be remembered is to make sure that the essay is written in a way that it can grab the attention of the reader without making them feel that you are unnecessarily vague on what you are going to say. Be very sure that you are not bringing yourself into the discussion because that would put your essay in danger of not being considered. Make sure that you do not write in such a way that your essay will appear trivial to anyone who reads it.The last but most important thing that you need to remember is that a winning essay must have a strong theme or topic. It is all too easy to slip into a completely different topic after getting a good deal of attention, so you should make sure that the theme of your essay is clear from the very beginning.Your essay should be able to grab the attention of the readers at any educational level. You should not rely just on high sc hool or college level for your essay; you must be able to write effectively at even elementary levels. One important point to remember is that an essay for financial scholarships is meant to promote your interests in life and to make yourself more knowledgeable and specialized in your subject.A scholarship essay is something that is expected of you to write because you want to promote yourself, while also helping others in the process. Keep these guidelines in mind and you will find yourself ready to write and submit an essay.

Free Essays on Singapore

Republic of Singapore History The Republic of Singapore was under British control from the early 1800’s until Britain made Singapore a separate crown colony in 1946. In 1959 Singapore had it’s own government, but Britain still responsible for it’s defense and foreign affairs. Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, which included Malaya, and the Borneo territories of Sabah, and Sarawak. This relationship between the members of he federation and Singapore soon dissolved due to political and economic differences with the rest of Malaysia. In turn Singapore withdrew from the federation and became a sovereign, democratic and independent nation. Independent Singapore was admitted into the United Nations on September 21, 1965. Singapore became a republic on December 22, 1965, with Yusof Bin Ishak as the republics first president. In 1967 the British government decided to withdraw its armed forces from Singapore by 1971. Singapore set out to build it’s own defense forces. The Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute was established in 1966 and compulsory national service was introduced in 1967. A Singapore Air Defense Command and a Singapore Maritime Command were set up in 1969. In August 1967, Singapore joined Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phili ppines and Thailand to form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With The Republics new independence there were new challenges. Singapore had to figure out how not only to survive, but also how to prosper on it’s own. What Singapore planned to do was take advantage of its strategic location and the favorable world economy. The new government set forth a plan for massive industrialization. In 1968 the Economic Development Board was developed. In 1970 the Monetary Authority of Singapore was established to formulate and implement Singapore’s monetary policies. These polices are very favorable to the financial industries such as Fleet’s. The Republic of Singapore is politi... Free Essays on Singapore Free Essays on Singapore Republic of Singapore History The Republic of Singapore was under British control from the early 1800’s until Britain made Singapore a separate crown colony in 1946. In 1959 Singapore had it’s own government, but Britain still responsible for it’s defense and foreign affairs. Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, which included Malaya, and the Borneo territories of Sabah, and Sarawak. This relationship between the members of he federation and Singapore soon dissolved due to political and economic differences with the rest of Malaysia. In turn Singapore withdrew from the federation and became a sovereign, democratic and independent nation. Independent Singapore was admitted into the United Nations on September 21, 1965. Singapore became a republic on December 22, 1965, with Yusof Bin Ishak as the republics first president. In 1967 the British government decided to withdraw its armed forces from Singapore by 1971. Singapore set out to build it’s own defense forces. The Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute was established in 1966 and compulsory national service was introduced in 1967. A Singapore Air Defense Command and a Singapore Maritime Command were set up in 1969. In August 1967, Singapore joined Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phili ppines and Thailand to form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With The Republics new independence there were new challenges. Singapore had to figure out how not only to survive, but also how to prosper on it’s own. What Singapore planned to do was take advantage of its strategic location and the favorable world economy. The new government set forth a plan for massive industrialization. In 1968 the Economic Development Board was developed. In 1970 the Monetary Authority of Singapore was established to formulate and implement Singapore’s monetary policies. These polices are very favorable to the financial industries such as Fleet’s. The Republic of Singapore is politi... Free Essays on Singapore As you may well know, Singapore is a social-democratic country. What this worked out to in terms of the economy would be a strong hand from the Government in terms of economic direction, infrastructural support and even participation in commerce and trade, but the spirit of free economy is still dominant. In practice, there had been instances of over-zealous managers exceeding the bounds of their responsibilities and giving rise to complains of government intervention or monopoly of certain sectors in the private sector. Such complaints are being reduced as both sides come to understand their symbiotic relationship and focus on their own activities. Let's look first at the role of the Government and then our role in the private sector THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT Economic and trade policies in Singapore are managed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). It may be unknown to many in Singapore that MTI do more than just set trade and economic policies. It is an active participant in ensuring the economic competitiveness and business continuity of Singapore. We hope the following statements, taken from the home pages of MTI, would provide a better picture of the role of MTI and, through her various agencies, a better understanding of how MTI is assisting local businessmen get a bite of the world economy. Vision : for Singapore to become an advanced and globally competitive knowledge economy within the next decade, with manufacturing and services as its twin engines of growth. Management : Economic management is undertaken at the macro level to identify problems or opportunities, and to set broad growth directions and strategies....

Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy - Essay Example Among the concepts or theories are social exchange theory, operant conditioning, behavioral exchange theory and social learning theory. However, the central goal of Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy is to extinguish undesired behaviors while encourage positive behaviors that sustain healthy families. Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy has made significant contributions to the field of Family Therapy. One of the contributions relates to the concept of operant condition, where consequences govern and regulate behaviors. Families are systems made of structures and subsystems regulated by interrelationships. Different members have different behaviors and characters. Some of characters are bad and unwanted, and needs to be subject to control. Elaborate consequences for each negative behavior established by the highest authority in the family system are the main decelerators of the dysfunctional behaviors (Nichols, 2013). From that view, Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy provides therapist with idea that they should analyze effectiveness of consequences against particular negative behaviors. Another important contribution of Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy to the field of Family Therapy relates to introduction of Social Exchange Theory. According to Social Exchange Theory, human beings struggle to maximize rewards and reduce costs in relationships. Healthy families are those that mutually maximize rewards (Nichols, 2013). Unhealthy families on the other hand are those that members protect themselves from hurt to consider ways to please each other. This concept can help in efficient analysis and study of family systems and structure, and eventual identification of underlying problem to ease and shorten therapy process and time. Consideration of Behavioral Exchange Theory is another contribution of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to

Ethics of Stock Option Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics of Stock Option - Case Study Example The stock option was based on the company shares thus resulted in an increased urge to the executives to raise the stock’s price. Some of the executives chose foul ways of raising the stock prices such manipulating of companies financial statements, firing of employees and closing of plants to increase the company income. The executives thus looked for ways through which they could engineer the stock prices for their own benefits. The grant date for the stock option was also chosen by the executives which meant they could do it in a way that favors them; for instance when the market share price was lowest to benefit the recipients. Stock price manipulation also resulted in increased salary gap between the highly paid employees and the lowly paid employee in the company. During market downturn due to stock price manipulation, investors suffered as a result greedy character of the executives while the executives were being awarded for the failures of the company. (Raiborn, et al ., 2007). All these ethical issues of stock option handling needed to be looked upon for a moral reason. Due to the many shortcomings of the old ways through which stock options were handled, new changes were made that could reduce the unethical issues that arose and enhancing of doing the right things for the right reasons. The changes included new laws of reporting stock option grants within two days of issue, â€Å"synthetic† re-pricing and the indexing stock options. The changes had a great impact on the ethical issues as they enforced rational stock option awarding. (Raiborn, et al., 2007) Manipulation of the stock prices reduced and the employee received what they deserved. Even so, new ethical issues arose from the changes as the adoption of the Spring- Loading and Bullet-Dodging by some companies which benefited some of the participants of the company which was unethical. Stock option handling in the past raised some ethical issues. These were reduced by the recent changes even though more ethical issues arose.

Study skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Study skills - Essay Example Excessive swaying occurred as the number of people crossing the bridge grew. It was then decided to limit the number of people crossing it at a time. The problem of swaying, however, persisted. The swaying was severe enough for people on it to stop walking and hold on to the rails for support (Newland, David E). While the number of people on the bridge swelled, the bridge began to sway and twist in regular oscillations and the worst movement occurred on the central span where the deck was moving by up to 70mm. The engineers insisted the bridge would not fall down but people were left unnerved. Finally, the engineers closed the bridge completely when limiting the number of people failed to make any difference (Millennium Bridge (c), 2000). It was closed to public on 12 June 2000 for re-examination and remedial work. It was later re-opened on 27 February 2002 and now forms part of London’s many architectural marvels (Millennium Bridge (a)). The solution to this problem â€Å"involved installing dampers under the deck and between the deck and the river piers. This has provided an excellent solution as it does not detract from the aesthetic impact of the bridge as originally designed† (Millennium Bridge (e), London, 2007). The bridge is now used by thousands of people and cyclists every day. It is a key pedestrian link and is a simple concept that has achieved a simple form via a complex and innovative design. The bridge is accessible throughout the day. The nearest underground stations are Blackfriars or Mansion House on the Circle line as well as the District line. The bridge affords breathtaking view of panoramic London. The view of St. Paul’s Cathedral majestically towering over other structures is the major attraction. There is also the fresh, cool breeze that wafts onto all those walking across. One cannot help feeling a bit of elation at the crossover without any fear of bumping into some

Televisions Impact on Health :: Television Health Eating Essays

Television's Impact on Health In our society, television has become quite the vigorous activity. Sitting up is exhausting so most people lie down while watching television. If you were to eat at a fast food restaurant, and then head home for a bowl of ice cream for desert, oh, and then not to mention that bag of chips while you watch your favorite Reality TV series, you are asking for something that you are not going to be happy with. What is it that you are asking for? It is called obesity. I have found myself eating at McDonald’s on countless occasions. The reason I am not obese, however, is the fact you will only find me at a fast food restaurant when I am pressed for time and I am on my way to a three to four hour practice. Obesity has very little to do with what we eat because the true problem behind obesity is none other than the fact that our society does not do anything after eating unhealthily. In Europe, people eat seven to eight meals a day and somehow, the majority of Europeans look fantastic. There is a reason for this. After dinner, they do not sit down on the couch for the 1,000th episode of Fear Factor. Instead, they go out for a long walk around the park with their families. David Zinczenko’s, â€Å"Don’t Blame the Eater,† proposes a situation where there is nothing else to eat but fast food. He proves this by saying, â€Å"Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants,† he explains, â€Å"Now drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit.† It is true that this statement has much truth. I am sorry to say, sadly, that it has no legitimacy. It seems that Zinczenko is using diction that not only parents can understand, but one that the general public, including those that are uneducated can understand. He uses a variety of sentence structures to lure in his readers and to make his research appear striking. The most appealing part of his essay was the way he spoke in a first person perspective and gave hope to those obese teenagers by telling them that to lose the weight form eating at McDonald’s, they are going to need to join the Navy Reserves or a similar program.