European History in Perspective
3 total works
This book explores the long-term reasons for the demise of Imperial Russia, examining the failure of the autocratic state to strengthen its own political position while economic change transformed society. It seeks to explain its debilitating internal tensions and to link these to the pressures exerted by Russia's repeated failure in war and by the empire's continuing expansion. Lastly, it analyzes what lead to Russia being governed, only eight months after the collapse of Tsarism, by the Bolsheviks' revolutionary regime.
The Tsarist Empire posed unique problems to its rulers. Peter Waldron examines the challenges that faced them in terms of geography, culture, finance and military power, analysing the sources of the Russian Empire's strength and the reasons why the tsars were able to maintain their unlimited power for so long.