Living and working conditions under the Tsars Flashcards
At the end of the 19th century what percentage of the Russian population lived in towns and cities
15%
How many died of a Cholera outbreak in St Petersburg in 1910
100,000
What change in 1911 improved urban conditions in St Petersburg
Installation of a sewage system
What did rapid urbanisation result in
-Increase in public health problems
-Houses erected cheaply and quickly so we’re poole quality with inadequate drainage, sanitation and water
-Demmand of housing outstripped supply leading to overcrowding and disease
What were urban conditions like at the start of the First World War
-Over 1000 towns
-Half of buildings constructed from wood so prone to fire damage
-74 Towns has electricity and 35 had gas
-200 had piped water and 38 a sewage system
-Disease was very widespread
What were living conditions like for factory workers
-Factories located on edge of cities so it became necessary for special worker “barracks”
-These were overcrowded and insanitary with often shared bunk beds
-Only skilled workers could afford to rent private rooms
-Factory workers experienced some of the worst living conditions in Russia
What was rural housing like under the Tsars
-Consisted of a single room wooden hut called an izba heated by an oven also serving as a sleeping platform
-Animals also housed in the hut making it overcrowded
-Mase conditions poor as it was cold, damp and grubby
-Peasants had full control over how the accommodation could be used
Why were food shortages and famines common in this period
-An overreliance on grain (monoculture)
-Restrictive practices of the mir such as insistence on growing certain crops
-Severe weather conditions
-Government policies
What changes did Alexander II make to deal with famines
-1864 Placed the Zemstva in charge of drawing up emergency measures to deal with famines
What was the 1891 famine
-Adverse wether resulted in half the provinces in Russia suffering food shortages
-This was made worse by outbreaks of Cholera and Typhus causing 350,000 deaths
-Vyshnegradskii’s tax on consumer goods meant peasants had to sell of surpluses of grain to deal with inflated prices exacerbating the food shortages
-A3 attempted to counter this by setting up a Special Comitee on Famine Relief but it was too little too late
What happened to food supplies in the First World War
-Food prioristsed to the troops so there were problems in getting foodstuffs into urbanised areas
-Bread queues became 8 hours long
-Peasants began hoarding grain
-Inadequate railway system furthered the shortage
How did rural work operate under the Tsars
-Operated on “nature’s clock”
-Sucess of farmers determined on quality of soil, weather and ability to farm rather than government policies
-Restrictions were imposed on the peasants by the mir on what they could produce
What were the reasons for poor urban working conditions
-There was not factory inspectorate until 1882 and were too limited in numbers and powers to make an impact leading to child labour persisting
-Conditions for industrial workers especially textiles were dangerous and unhealthy
What were hours of work like under the Tsars
-1896 11 hour work day (10 hours on saturday) fixed by law. Small workshops not affected by this law
-1914 10-9 hour working day. Statutory holidays introduced
-These we’re not always follows as employers found loopholes
What was the worker’s insurance system
-Introduced 1903
-Insurance against being injured in the workplace
-Helped to offset the low pay of the period
