Introduction
Russia began to get ready for a military confrontation. Germany told Russia to step down and when Russia refused, Germany declared war on Russia. Russia’s timing to enter World War 1 was awful because of the struggles the country was going through during that time. The people of Russia became very angry which generated their demand for change which led to a revolution. The events that occurred throughout the revolution can be represented by the fever curve through the stages of incubation, symptomatic, crisis, and convalescence. Three years into World War 1, Russia’s regional problems spread throughout the country and became big national problems. Russia’s economy was struggling, its citizens were becoming desperate, and the government wasn’t making the much needed changes and improvements.
Due to the lack of weapons, equipment, and supplies, thousands of Russian soldiers were being killed every day in the war, and the news that Russia was losing spread throughout the country. To keep their numbers up, more young Russian men were drafted into the army, which left fewer and fewer workers to produce the country’s essential resources, such as food and fuel. As a result, starvation grew across Russia and people began to lose hope. To try to solve the situation, Russia’s leader, Tzar Nicholas II instructed the country’s landowners to drive their workers harder to increase productivity. This led to dangerous and oppressive working conditions and the people began to revolt. This stage represents the incubation stage because Russia’s failing economy, food and fuel shortages, and political trouble represent the growing and spreading “virus” or “bacteria”. Russian citizens began to come together, organize, revolt, strike and demand change. In February 1917, workers all over Russia went on strike and filled the streets, demanding a 50% wage increase so that they could buy the necessities they needed to live. Instead of getting the pay raise, 30,000 workers lost their jobs.
In addition, Nicholas II refused to order the release of emergency food supplies even though the civilians were starving. Instead, he demanded that the riots be shut down, but the Russian government disobeyed his orders. Shortly after, during the International Women’s Day Festival in St. Petersburg, instead of celebrating women and their rights, the event turned into a huge political event as angry women began to protest food shortages and the war. Over the course of the next few days, almost all of the city’s workers, women and men, went on strike. Instead of the police punishing the strikers, they joined in with them. Realizing that he had lost his authority and control, Nicholas II resigned from his duty as Tzar and gave up his throne. This stage represents the symptomatic stage because the “immune response” is the organized assemblies by the Russian workers and citizens that required the government’s intervention.
Crisis Stage
The crisis stage ignited when two dominant political parties; the White and Red Armies, began to claim power and maneuver their way into political position after the fall of Tzar Nicholas II which led to military action. The Russian government established a provisional government to stray away from the system when there was an autocratic rule by Tzar Nicholas II. They set up the new government and elected a new set of rulers and government officials. However, the provisional government continued to support the wants of the rich, which was unacceptable to the rising revolutionaries. The main political group in Russia was the Social Democrats, which consisted of the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin while the Mensheviks were led by Georgi Plekhanov and Julius Martov.
While these two groups of the Social Democrats disagreed about how the new government should be established, they agreed on the basic idea that capitalism had to be destroyed. This political view put the Social Democrats in opposition to the monarchs and capitalists. By the end of 1917, these two political groups began to organize into military forces known as the Red Army (the communists) and the White Army (the monarchs and capitalists). This stage represents the crisis stage as the Red Army (team A) and the White Army (team B) began to fight each other. The convalescence stage started after five years of fighting between the Red and White Armies and several other groups, as the Red Army declared itself the victor, began to govern, and eventually restored stability. Soon after the start of the Russian Civil War, in which seven to twelve million people died, many of whom consisted mostly of civilians, Lenin arranged terms of peace with Germany and he was quick to remove Russia from World War 1.
Conclusion
By the end of the Russian Civil War, which the Red Army won and Russia’s borders had been redefined. Lenin appointed himself the leader of Russia and the Bolsheviks became the ruling political party. His leadership began a new era in Russia that impacted countries all over the world. The new government system caused a change in Russia’s social structure, economics, education, culture, international relations and industrial development. The revolution invited Russia to enter the industrial age. This stage represents the convalescence stage because a stable government was established. In conclusion, the fever curve works as a model for the Russian Revolution.
The incubation is modeled by the struggle of the citizens by starvation, loss in population, and bad working conditions. The symptomatic stage is the organized strike by the workers and the strike by the women. The crisis stage is represented by the establishment of a provisional government and the military action between the Red and White Armies. Finally, the conclusion to the Civil War, the detachment from World War 1 and the new government system and rulers models the convalescence stage.
