1. Russia in 1917 Flashcards
What problems were there of ruling Russia
Empire was huge Size made it hard to govern Communication was difficult Roads were unpaved and slow New railway only connected a fraction of the country
Population of Russia in 1897
Census showed 125.6 million people
Only 55 million spoke Russian
Large majority were peasants
What were the social problems?
Census showed terrible SOCIAL INEQUALITY
Over half of peasants had no land/ homes of their own
Farmland was poor quality- farmed old fashioned
Population was rising, more moved to cities/towns
More food was need= food shortages
1/125.6 million owned land and were not hungry during food shortages
What is the population of the peasants?
93.7 million
Population of Moscow?
1.8 million (most industrialised city)
Just under 50% of all factory workers worked there
Life as a factory owner?
Made huge profits by paying low wages
Spent very little on improving living or working conditions for their workers
Who is the tsar?
Ruled Russia- made all the decisions
Advised by council (consists of his friends in the nobility)
Russian Orthodox Church
Chosen to rule by God
Who is Nicholas II?
Became tsar in 1894
Indecisive man
“I’m not ready to be Tsar. I know nothing about the business of ruling”
Censored books/newspapers
What were the Okhrana?
Tsars secret police
Looked for opponents of the Tsar
Those who opposed were exiled to Siberia
What happened in the 1905 revolution?
Crowd of peaceful protests fired at the Tsars Winter Palace
This produced more strikes and unrest
St Petersburg strikers formed a soviet- a workers’ council to organise strikes
Work in city stopped
Soviets organised in more cities/towns
Took over in some places, replacing the Tsars government
What were the Duma?
A parliament with two houses
One elected by the people, to advise him
What did the Tsar do with his second chance?
Set up a Duma
Allowed public to advise him
Tsar agrees to set up political parties and trade unions (previously illegal)
People can hold meetings and discuss politics openly
Who were the Tsars opposition?
Constitutionalists
Revolutionaries
Why were the Constitutionalists against the Tsar?
Wanted Tsar to have limited power
Wanted parliament
Most important were Constitutional Democrat part (the Kadets), Octobrists and Progressionists
The first Duma (before a Tsar changed the voting rights) came from these parties
Who were the monarchists?
Supported the Tsar
Wanted a return to the rule of the Tsar
Advised by few nobles
