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Structural Problems, Personal Failure or Just Contingency? The End of the Russian Empire

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The End of Empires

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Abstract

In his paper Matthias Stadelmann takes up the often asked question why the Russian autocracy, considered being one of the greatest, mightiest and most stable empires of its time, collapsed overnight in 1917. While reconsidering the main approaches of historiography in summing up the arguments of structural social history and ruler-focused political history the article briefly sets forth the decisive developments of Russia at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Pointing out that Russia’s breakdown was neither structurally pre-determined nor inevitable the author emphasizes the banal contingencies of World War I which put an end to a slow, at times sluggish, but nevertheless successful transformation process of the Russian monarchy. If the disastrous war hadn’t been, no Bolshevik revolution would have taken place—instead Russia in a medium term would have taken paths of promising evolutionary developments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Influential contributions to this argumentation: Haimson (1964a-1965, b-1965), Laue (1965), Geyer (1968), Hosking (1974), Geyer (1977), McDaniel (1988), Waldron (1988), Haimson (2000), Cf. also Bonwetsch (1991).

  2. 2.

    For an overview on the history of Russia in the nineteenth century see i.a. Hildermeier (2013): 695–1346; Lieven (2006), Polunov (2005), Saunders (1992), Schramm (1983); With a rather pessimistic approach: Seton-Watson (1954), Seton-Watson 1967; Rogger (1983), Hosking (2003).

  3. 3.

    For the paradigm of “backwardness” in Russian history see e.g. Gerschenkron (1966), Gatrell (1986), Hildermeier (1987), Löwe (1987), Gregory (1994), Hildermeier (2013): 1313ff.; Feest and Häfner (2016).

  4. 4.

    As a representative example: Mints (1966).

  5. 5.

    Hildermeier (2013): 1133; Neutatz (2013): 133; See also Gatrell (1986), Moritsch (1986), Shanin (1985–1986), Löwe (1987), Moon (1999).

  6. 6.

    Cf. among others: Johnson (1979), Engelstein (1982), Bonnell (1983), McKean (1990), Puttkamer (1996), Hildermeier (2013): 1183ff.; Pearl (2015).

  7. 7.

    Cf. Emmons and Vucinich (2011), Porter (1991), Baberowski (1996), Gaudin (2007), Schattenberg (2008).

  8. 8.

    Cf. Ascher (1988–1992), Hildermeier (1989), Neutatz (2008), Hildermeier (2013): 962ff.

  9. 9.

    Cf. Stadelmann (2008), Verbitskaya (2010), Stadelmann (2011a), Rogger (1983), Zaionchkovsky (1976).

  10. 10.

    Cf. Lincoln (1990), Eklof et al. (1994), Nikolaev (2005), Carrère d’Encausse (2008), Lyashenko (2010), Stadelmann (2011b), Stadelmann (2012).

  11. 11.

    Cf. Lieven (1993), Ferro (1991), Troyat (1992), Carrère d’Encausse (1998), Massie (1992), Stadelmann (2008): 213ff.; Erickson (2001), Moynahan (1997), Smith (2017), Moe (2011).

  12. 12.

    Cf. Gregory (1982), Gregory (1994), Gatrell (1986), Mironov and Eklof (2000), Hildermeier (2013): 1139ff.

  13. 13.

    Cf. Weber (1906).

  14. 14.

    Hildermeier (2013): 1336; Cf. also Hagen (1982), Neutatz (2008), Leontovitsch (2012).

  15. 15.

    Hildermeier (2013): 1338.

  16. 16.

    Cf. Hausmann (2002), Hildermeier (2003), Häfner (2004), Goehrke (2003): 290ff.; Koshman (2008), Hildermeier (2013): 1157ff.

  17. 17.

    Neutatz (2013):64ff., 76ff., 125ff.; Ascher (2001), Williams (2006).

  18. 18.

    For Russia in the First World war see: Gatrell (2005), Engelstein (2018), Hildermeier (2013): 1059ff.; Haimson (1964a-1965, b-1965), Haimson (2000).

  19. 19.

    For the revolution of 1917 and the civil war see e.g. Hildermeier (1989), Altrichter (1997), Altrichter et al. (2016), Steinberg (2017), McMeekin (2017), Wade (2017), Engelstein (2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Geschichte, Lehrstuhl für Neueste Geschichte und Zeitgeschichte, Erlangen, Germany

    Matthias Stadelmann

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  1. Stiftung Universität Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany

    Michael Gehler

  2. Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Robert Rollinger

  3. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Philipp Strobl

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Stadelmann, M. (2022). Structural Problems, Personal Failure or Just Contingency? The End of the Russian Empire. In: Gehler, M., Rollinger, R., Strobl, P. (eds) The End of Empires. Universal- und kulturhistorische Studien. Studies in Universal and Cultural History. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-36876-0_25

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