the Bolsheviks, who claim that “these hard-core workers were the backbone of urban political and social unrest.” This not so large, yet quite turbulent sector of the population was often overlooked by Nicholas II, who was assured that the Russian peasants were the key to the survival of the monarchy. When indeed it was the peasant himself who was leaving his home in the village and becoming the urban worker.Another important element that played a crucial role in the deterioration of the Russian Empire, and largely contributed to the cause of the Revolution of 1917, is the actual Russian government itself. It doesn’t matter whose perspective you want to look on the situation from, Lievens or Reads, because despite their different opinions on the actual role that the government played, one thing they do agree on, is that it played it inadequately. Many believe that the fall of the Romanov dynasty, and the Revolution of 1917, was initially caused by Alexander III, who during his reign reversed the liberal reforms that were initially put in effect under his father, Alexander II. That is certainly the position that we see defended throughout Christopher Read’s book. And while that could have surely enough contributed to the overwhelming distaste that the masses held towards their government and their monarch, we also need to take into account that during the reign of Nicholas II the country was almost irreversibly, marching towards disaster. “It was the misfortune of Nicholas II that fate made him responsible for guiding his country through one of the most difficult periods in its history. Nevertheless what we are presented with in Imperial Russia, is a government whose departments where divided amongst each other, and therefore produced actions that were uncoordinated and tentative, causing the regime’s opponents to become more confident and optimistic in the governments inability to perform mu...
