JCC: bolsheviks and breadlines: the tsar’s entourage

APPROXIMATE COMMITTEE SIZE: 25 delegates

The deposition of the Tsar proved particularly difficult for members of his Okrujenie (or “Entourage”), a close circle of family, military aides, and advisers with deep ties to the existing order. Divisions have emerged between those determined to preserve the monarchy through military force and those who were increasingly skeptical of Tsar Nicholas II’s leadership. Having regrouped after escaping the protests in Petrograd, these elites must determine how to preserve their influence in a rapidly changing political landscape, weighing the merits of defending the monarchy against the realities of compromise, reform, or collaboration with emerging political movements. The committee must debate how to preserve what little power the aristocracy has left while navigating the pressures of a collapsing regime and a war increasingly tilting toward defeat.

CRISIS MANAGER: Ava manaker

ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Issue 1: Governmental Structure: Both sides of the JCC will be locked in a power struggle for who maintains power in the new order dawning in Russia–will the nobles and elites can retain dominance or will the Proletariat masses take over the state and establish a new system relegating those elites to positions of equality with the common man? In the wake of the blank slate created by the February Revolution, delegates must design the new governmental systems in Russia.

Issue 2: Economic Crisis: Russia’s economy was already in crisis after WWI and the collapse of centralized authority has only exacerbated these problems. Inflation is soaring, industrial production has fallen, and widespread unemployment and labor unrest destabilized urban centers. Delegates must address these problems if they want any institutional change to endure.

Issue 3: Food Shortage: Harsh weather, a decline in planted acreage, and the breakdown of transportation networks have combined in a perfect storm, leading to acute shortages and long bread lines. As one of the agitators behind the February Revolution, how will Russia’s next government solve the food crisis and the instability it caused?