I believe that throughout history, the Tsars felt threatened. They then reformed in order to stay in power, and to stay in for power alone. However, this mindset only had an effect when the Tsar's power was threatened. Nevertheless, I believe that to find the factors that had an effect on the Russian system of government, one must look for the reason why felt threatened. Here war was an important factor, however it was not the only factor. Otherwise reform would not have occurred without war. I believe that if these other aforementioned factors were important enough to cause political change, then they must rank alongside war in terms of importance.
However it was not "the locomotive of history". i Together with discontent in the populace, and its manifestations (strikes, revolutionary activity, and assassinations), I believe War invariably changed the Russian political system.
…
