Repression & Reform

Question 1

When did repression begin?

Answer 1

By making peace with Japan in September 1905, 1 million soldiers were able to repress opposition to the regime in central Russia.

Question 2

What did Tsarist minister Pyotr Durnovo write about use of terror in the countryside?

Answer 2

“Arrests alone will not achieve our goals, I propose to shoot the rioters and in cases of resistance to burn their homes.”

Question 3

Who was Pyotr Stolypin?

Answer 3

The man chosen to coordinate efforts of the government to restore order.

Question 4

What was Stolypin’s slogan?

Answer 4

“Suppression first, and then, and only then, reform.”

Question 5

How many people were exiled from ‘Stolypin’s carriages’?

Answer 5

50,000 exiled to Siberia from 1906-09

Question 6

How many people were killed from ‘Stolypin’s necktie?

Answer 6

3,000 executed between 1906-09

Question 7

In the words of Orlando Figes, what was the impact of repression?

Answer 7

“Although the regime succeeded in restoring order, it could not hope to put the clock back.”

> in essence, repression would not change anything

Question 8

What was the impact of repression?

Answer 8

> The Tsar’s promised reforms in the October Manifesto had yet to be fulfilled, generating anger
Revolutionary workers and peasants had lived through the experience of carrying out uprisings against their government

Question 9

Who were the reform parties in Russia?

Answer 9

> The Kadets

> The Octobrists

Question 10

Who were the Kadets?

Answer 10

> Led by Pavel Milyukov

> Goal: to push for reforms to the Tsarist system, transforming it into a Western-style parliamentary democracy.

Question 11

Who were the Octobrists?

Answer 11

> Led by Mikhail Rodzianko

> A conservative reforming party wanting to change Russia’s political system but maintain the Tsar’s position

Question 12

Who were the revolutionary parties?

Answer 12

> The Social Revolutionaries (SRs)
the Mensheviks
The Bolsheviks

Question 13

Who were the SRs?

Answer 13

> Led by Alexander Kerensky
A peasant party - believing that the government should focus on the peasantry’s interest as they accounted for the majority
Had popular support

Question 14

Who were the Mensheviks?

Answer 14

> The ‘minority’ party from the split of the Social Democratic party
orthodox Marxists
Believed that Russia first needed a bourgeois revolution, before the workers could finally take power.

Question 15

Who were the Bolsheviks?

Answer 15

> An unorthodox Marxist party

> An exclusive worker’s party

Question 16

When was the Fundamental Laws introduced?

Answer 16

23rd April 1906

Question 17

What did the Fundamental Laws say?

Answer 17

“The All-Russian Emperor possesses the supreme autocratic power.”

Question 18

What were the powers of the State Duma?

Answer 18

> The Tsarist government required the approval of a majority of the Duma in order to:
Spend money on new projects, levy new taxes, pass new laws
Duma deputies had the right to question Tsarist ministers (though the Ministers weren’t obligated to provide answers).
- Duma deputies enjoyed special privileges, such as exemption from laws designed to stop criticism of the government.

Question 19

What was the characteristics of the 1st Duma?

Answer 19

> Met in 1906
> Duma of National Hopes
> Led by Kadets, made calls for limits on the Tsar's power
> Extremely hostile to the regime
> Dismissed after 10 weeks

Question 20

What was the characteristics of the 2nd Duma?

Answer 20

> Met in 1907
Duma of National Anger
Led by socialists, continued to make calls for limits on the Tsar’s power
Dismissed after 17 weeks

Question 21

What was the characteristics of the 3rd Duma?

Answer 21

> Met in 1907-12
> Duma of Lords and Lackeys
> Led by Octobrists
> Cooperative with regime
> Served a full 5 year term

Question 22

What was the characteristics of the 4th Duma?

Answer 22

> Met in 1912-17
Initially cooperative with the Tsar, but became critical of Tsar during WW1.
Dismissed during February Revolution

Question 23

What was the impact of the Dumas?

Answer 23

The emptiness of political reforms alienated many Russians from liberalism, as they came to realise that the creation of a parliament would not solve Russia’s problems.

It created a new source of political opposition.

Question 24

What did Figes say on the Duma’s impact?

Answer 24

“The regime…set out to use the Manifesto as a temporary concession…it had always intended to return to its old autocratic ways… The civil rights and freedoms contained in the October Manifesto remained little more than empty promises.”