Six months of disaster

Six months of disaster

Six Months of Disaster

The 1917 took the world by storm.   A new form of warfare caused generals to re-think centuries of military theory, an isolationist United States traveled across an ocean to fight for freedom, and a dynasty fell in the once powerful country of Russia.   When Nicholas II attempted to abdicate, no one was willing to take the reigns of the war torn country, and the Romanov dynasty fell in mere hours.   With no form of government, Russian officials created a provisional government in order to weather the storm of anarchy.   It is seen quite often in modern society; the use of a mediatory for temporary solutions.   Interim had football coaches and chief executive officers of companies, all are designed to temporarily take control until the people or a committee can decide for a more permanent solution.   Most times it is successful, so what went wrong in Russia?   In eight months, the country fell into another revolution, one that would cause incredible amounts of blood shed and years of bitter civil war.   Figes paints a vivid portrait of the state of Russia when he claims, “If 1917 proved anything, it was that Russian society was neither strong enough nor cohesive enough to sustain a democratic revolution.   Apart from the State itself, there was nothing holding Russia together.”(Figes 360)   Logistical problems, divided power, new freedoms of social groups and the inability for the government to satisfy the aspirations of the multitude of social classes all caused the provisional government to crumble getting a chance to stabilize itself.  
The Russian Empire was far too vast and technologically inferior to conduct a well-organized war effort, much less achieve a democratic election while fighting the largest war the world had ever seen.   A decade before, the bureaucracy witnessed what a large-scale modern war requires.   The government was not prepared for the Russo-Japanese war, and in turn, was forced to surrender territories in Manchuria....