This would have lowered morale of the troops, who were already largely uncommitted and the fact that it resulted in huge bloodshed (4,380 killed and 5,917 captured in the Battle of Tsushima alone) convinced many that the government was incompetent and were prepared to accept collateral damage in the form of it's citizens lives.
The Effects of War.
The more profound effect of the War was the shift in Russia's, and most importantly the Tsar's, reputation. Losing against a second-rate power (with an army of 2,000,000 Russians versus the meager 400,000 Japanese soldiers) led to a loss of prestige which discredited the government and led to an overwhelming lack of faith in the Tsar's rule. Aside from this, many aspects of Russian life were affected by the War. It was economically unprudent to partake in such a War at a time of austerity for most Russians. On top of this, the ineptitude of Russian system caused food shortages throughout Russia which only served to encourage Russian's that radical change and revolution was necessary- disproving my original hypothesis that that War was not the most important cause of the revolution.
Industrial backwardness had been seen in Russia for many decades, and although Witte's policies went some way to tackle this, it was undeniable that Russia weren't as equipped for a War as they needed to be. General Dragomirov said: "The Japanese are beating us with machine-guns.which goes to show how, if even the Russian generals were admitting under-developed weaponry, that there was a serious problem that needed to be dealt with if Russia was ever going to compete with the likes of Germany.
Other Causes.
Aside from the Russo-Japanese War, there were lots of other underlying issues in Russia and the Tsar's ignorance and overlooking of these were arguably the driving force behind the revolution. .
Bloody Sunday.
Bloody Sunday, on the 22nd January 1905, was the event that changed many Russians' opinions on the Tsar, or else cemented the idea that he was ill-suited to the role.
The Russian Revolution of 1905 began in St. ... The spark of the 1905 Revolution was ultimately Bloody Sunday. ... Many long lasting factors contributed to the 1905 Revolution. ... Bloody Sunday was the official start of the 1905 Revolution. There were long-term, short-term, and immediate causes of the 1905 Revolution. ...
The Russian Revolution of 1905 began in St. ... The spark of the 1905 Revolution was ultimately Bloody Sunday. ... Many long lasting factors contributed to the 1905 Revolution. ... Bloody Sunday was the official start of the 1905 Revolution. There were long-term, short-term, and immediate causes of the 1905 Revolution. ...
The tsarist regime was able to the 1905 revolution for a number of key reasons such as the support of the armed forces and key point that the opposition's aims were not to overthrow the tsarist regime itself. ... The first key factor in why the Tsar survived the 1905 revolution was the support of the armed forces. ... Overall the armed forces lead a key role in the defeat of the revolution. ... Even though Russia had lost the war with Japan and there had been shortages of food and poverty the war was now over. ... However by 1917 Russia had been stuck in a losing war for 3 years. ...
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was the result of a combination of different issues that plagued the Russian Empire in 1905 and the years leading up to it, although the key reason, from which many of these problems stemmed from, was the poor leadership of Tsar Nicholas II. The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a social and political uprising against the government of the Tsar, manifested largely through strikes leading to production grinding to a halt. ... The unpopularity of the Tsar was exacerbated by the humiliation in the Russo-Japanese war, and ultimately the spark that started the active par...
More and more peasants by 1905 were competing for the land available. ... The people blamed the Tsar for losing the war with Japan. ... Prices rose in the cities as the war caused shortages of food and other goods. ... Bloody Sunday started the 1905 revolution. ... These changes were brought about in the 1905 revolution. ...
The causes of the 1905 revolution in Russia can be traced back as far as 1861. ... When war with Japan was impending, Nicholas saw it as an opportunity to rally loyalty to the empire once more. ... The defeat in this war and the expense it incurred were direct causes of the revolution which occured just a few weeks later. A general strike in Russia occurred in 1905, with both urban and rural owkers protesting together. ... This massacre was the spark that started the 1905 revolution. ...
The First World War exploded in 1914. If we treated the other facts which caused the revolution like bombs, the First World War must be the blasting fuse. ... After the First World War, the revolution exploded, the depressive people couldn't bear Tsar anymore. To generate 1917 revolution, there was still a big factor, the revolution of 1905. ... In addition, The First World War played a crucial role in the factor to cause the 1917 revolution. ...
There revolutions of 1905 and 1917 are both significant episodes in the history of Russia. ... However, the Revolution of 1905, though not entirely successful, did bring about significant change to the tsar and his authority. The problems building up to the revolution of 1905 centered on political and economic conditions. ... The revolution of 1917 was quite similar to the revolution of 1905. ... The actions taken by the tsar following the revolution of 1905 did not go far enough. ...
Perhaps the best way of explaining this is to look at why the 1905 revolution was not successful and state the changes that occurred since then. ... The formation of soviets, a factor which had greatly stirred revolution in 1905, also helped the 1917 revolution to be successful because it joined together the opposition against the Tsar and organized it. However after the revolution of 1905 most soviet leaders had been exiled or forced to live abroad. ... However what really caused the 1905 revolution to fail and the 1917 revolution to succeed was the fact that in 1905 the army ha...
