Page:Michael Farbman - The Russian Revolution & The War (1917).djvu/11

 T must be left to the future historian to paint the complete picture of Russia before the Revolution. Russia at this moment is too engrossed with actualities, too interested in the present to turn her eyes back to the past. But for any clear understanding of how the Revolution came about, and what were the reasons that created the Revolution and why Russia took this course, it is necessary to point out, even if only in a general way, the main features of Russian public life at the moment of the fall of the Monarchy.

It seems to be the popular idea that the Revolution was caused by the pro-Germanism of die Court and Government. According to this notion the army and the people, full of anger at the shameless betrayal of the national cause, arose and swept the Monarchy away from the path to national victory. Now there can be no doubt that the pro-Germanism of the Court and the Government's treachery did in fact hasten the catastrophe. But it is equally beyond doubt that the old régime fell, not merely because of its pro-Germanism and its intended treachery to the