I find it extremely important to understand the underlying causes of particular historical outcomes. For example, Doctor Zhivago is based on a very real conflict, the Russian Civil War, that completely transformed the country in the span of roughly three years (1918-1921). But what factors lead to this momentous event? Geoffrey Swain writes in detail about the causes of the Russian Civil War in his novel, Origins of the Russian Civil War. In doing so, he clarifies the social context of the film. Swain starts from the very beginning of the revolution. On March 2, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II finally abdicated the throne of Russia after repeated popular demonstrations. The masses cheered in ecstacy over their newfound glory. They established a quick and provisional government with the expectation that their democratic needs, for which they had been fighting since the end of World War I, would be met without fail. However, by April, the joyous rhetoric and euphoric sentiment came to a screeching halt. The newly-elected members of the provisional government realized that their individual visions of democracy were very different from each other. Politicians of the former Duma, the national assembly establshed by the Tsar after the 1905 revolution, wanted a government that imitated the British parliamentary system, but without an active monarchy. This type of government would allow them to retain their wealth and priveleges. However, "Soviets" longed for a system of democracy that was more geared toward the commonfolk. They wanted something that, essentially, would be more representative of the people of Russia; a system that would render wealth, privelege, and aristocracy a thing of the past. When the conservative side realized that the Soviet platform was gaining momentum, they quickly established a pre-cursor group of Whites, or counter-revolutionaries. Their first military attack on the Reds took place during a rowdy, yet "peaceful", demonstration in front of Mariinski Palace. David Lean includes a similar scene in Doctor Zhivago when Pasha leads a mass of Reds in front of a aristocratic restaurant (where Komarovsky and Lara are dining). The mob is massacred by the government army soon after. In fact, many scenes in Doctor Zhivago accurately represent real happenings during the Civil War. However, without prior knowledge of these historical events, the film becomes a confusing mix of politics and romance. Through Geoffrey Swain's novel, I have been able to gain a proper understanding of the political factors that form the historical context for Doctor Zhivago.

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    Peter Gatrell's novel, Russia's First World War, provides a detailed account of how Russia became inolved in World War I, its alliances during the conflict, and the psychological ramifications of such a historical atrocity. However, what separates Gatrell's novel from the others is that he approaches this topic from the perspective of the economic situation in Russia. He explains the ways in which the war had a profound economic impact on the country, and how this lead to inevitable revolution. Gatrell begins his novel by describing Russia's entrance into the war. Although many contibuting factors initiated the first world war, he claims that there was one in particular that lit the fire; the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28th, 1914. The assassin was later discovered to have been a member of the Serbian terrorist regime, the Black Hand. In response to this, Austro-Hungary immediately declared war on Serbia. Russia reluctantly mobilized the nation due to a long-standing alliance with Serbia. This process took roughly six weeks, and by the middle of September, 1914, Russia was fully engaged in warfare on the side of Serbia, and against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The rest of the countries joined the war in a similar fashion, by fulfilling alliances or treaties with nations already involved in the conflict. But Peter Gatrell focuses on the war in the context of the economic hardships that ravaged Russia during this period. He writes, "The buden of overseas debt that Russia had accumulated by 1917 would inevitably saddle any post-war regime with enormous balance of paymetns difficulties."(Russia's First World War, pg. 254). To exacerbate the problem, no country was willing to write a blank check for the Russians in order to pull them out of debt. In other words, Russia's extraordinary expenditures during World War I forced them to lay a heavy tax burden on the citizens, which in turn stimulated the call for a revolution. Civil War broke out, and the new rulers of Russia promised a more conscious economic policy in the future, and the empowerment of the Russian masses. Russians unquestioningly placed their faith in the Communistis. Gatrell's economic explanation for the first world war and revolution helps to illuminate much of the social commentary in Doctor Zhivago. Throughout the film, David Lean subtly hints at the poverty that plagued Russia during this time of strife. As Lara walks to the Christmas party, she is surrounded by street beggars, peasants, and drunkards. Similarly, when Zhivago travels across the Urals by train, he does so in a carriage fillled with homeless vagabonds. Furthermore, when Zhivago returns to his home after directing the veteran hospital for a few years, he finds several impoverished families living in it. Without doubt, Lean does attempt to portray an accurate respresentation of the socio-economic crisis that plagued Russia during and after the war. But its presence in the film is subtle. If the viewer is uninformed of this historical context, David Lean's social commentary is lost upon him.

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    Film is a media that will always respond to global events. But the way in which films represent these events may change over time. One aspect of Doctor Zhivago that fascinated me was its particular stance on the Great War, as the film depicts it. David Lean portrays the First World War in a very grim manner, and suggests that the Russians simply used the conflict as a tool to spark a revolution at home. Michael Paris's novel, The First World War and Popular Cinema, sheds light on international cinema's changing perception of World War I. In chapter three, entitled Enduring Heroes: British Feature Films and the First World War, Paris explains how British filmmakers changed their portrayal of the Great War in cinema between the years of 1920 and 1970. I found this section of the book particularly applicable to the making of Doctor Zhivago, because it was filmed with a largely British cast, and most importantly, by a British director. Paris begins by stating that in the 1920's, a large amount of the World War I literature being published depicted the conflict as a justified event, and one that would provide another glorious page for Britain's history books. And so filmmakers followed suit with these beliefs, often putting memoirs to film. In fact, British audiences loved the idea of war films. Many people wanted to know what it had been like on the Front, and their falsely romanticized impressions of the Great War heightened their curiosity. Films such as Comradeship (1919) and Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1926) were extremely successful among British audiences, and internationally as well. But as with any social movement, there arose a backlash against the conventional portrayal of the War in film. Independent directors argued that popular culture was emanating a false impression of the Great War, and they began releasing films with a more realistic interpretation of events, and films that stressed the futility of the war. In response to this, audiences started to question the actual motives for the first world war and by the 1960's, films began to break away from the traditional portrayal of a noble hero in an inevitable war. Instead, directors began pointing fingers to corrupt politicians and British imperialism as the causes for the war. This notion is reflected in David Lean's portrayal of the first world war in Doctor Zhivago, which was filmed in the midst of this 1960's, anti-war movement. Instead of heightening its importance, he refers to it as a result of a corrupt national agenda. At one point, Yevgraf even states "The ones who got back home at the price of an arm, or an eye, or a leg, these were the lucky ones...even comrade Lenin underestimated both the anguish of that 900 mile long front, and our cursed capacity for suffering". In Doctor Zhivago, the politicians are blamed for the futility fo the war, and this view is precisely in line with Paris's study of 1960's British film. The First World War and Popular Cinema clarifies David Lean's particular stance on the war in his film.