Nicholas II Flashcards
When did Nicholas II become tsar?
1894, Alexander III died aged 49 and 26 year old Nicholas II became tsar
Coronation not until 1896
What was Nicholas like?
Had little idea of how to rule but believed it his God-given duty to take over as tsar.
Married Dutch princess Alexandra and had 4 daughters and a son, Alexis who had haemophilia
What were Witte’s not-traditional views on modernisation in Russia?
Even though Russia were behind in industrialisation, could use this to their advantage by avoiding all problems faced by other industrialising countries
Never had full-backing of Royals as non-traditional
What were some reforms introduced by Witte?
He tied the rouble to the gold standard to hold its value
Continued with protective tariffs, heavy taxation and forced exports to generate capital
Much of his investment went into mining, metal trades, oil + banking, neglected agriculture
Heavy industry prioritised over lighter industry
Witte and the railways
Under Alex III began construction of Trans-Siberian railway which had 3.5 billion rubles invested into it
What happened at Nicholas’ coronation?
Banquet held after coronation where thousands attended and free food was being given out and there was a stampede to get the gifts in which nearly 1400 were trampled to death
Large amount of aid from govt. given to the families
What caused the Russo-Japanese War?
Started with Russia’s desire to ‘drive to the East’ with the building of the trans-Siberian railway
Line was added to Port Arthur which previously belonged to Japan so objected to this build and shelled Port Arthur, now owned by Russia in 1904
What was the response to the Japanese attack on Port Arthur?
Plehve (Minister of internal affairs) called for ‘short, swift, victorious war’ which would distract attention from political unrest at home
What happened during the war?
Not easy to wage war 6,000 miles from capital
March 1904, 90,000 Russians were killed
May 1904 24/27 Russian ships sunk
By Dec 1904 Plehve had been killed and Russia surrendered
Results of Russo-Japanese war
Defeats turned initial anti-Japanese patriotism into discontent and increased opposition to the govt.
Nicholas appointed Mirsky as new Minister of the Interior
Nicholas and representative democracy
Declared ‘I will never agree to a representative form of gov. because i consider it harmful to the people whom God has entrusted to me’
All he agreed to was the expansion of zemstva’s rights
Nicholas and Russification
Committed to Orthodoxy so continued Russification and support for the Black Hundreds (nationalist organisation) so was no more popular with ethnic minorities than his father
Nicholas’ reaction to the famine
When he was heir he was appointed to oversea famine relief and coordinated charitable efforts to help those suffering
Nicholas II and students
Outbursts of troubles in Russian unis and were met with increased use of Okhrana who ensured rebellious young ppl were expelled, exiled or drafted into army
e.g 1901 squadron of Cossacks charged into crowd of students in St. Petersburg killings 13 and in aftermath 1500 students were imprisoned
Who was Stolypin?
1906 was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs
What did Stolypin want for peasants?
Wanted peasants to become permanent owners of their own land and wanted each peasant’s land to be held in one place instead of in strips around a village
When and why did Stolypin’s agricultural reforms begin?
1903 when mir’s responsibility to pay taxes on behalf of peasants in village was removed but wasn’t until major unrest of 1905 that changes were put in place
Legislation for land reform under Stolypin, Sept 1906
More state and crown land is available for peasants to buy
Govt. subsidies to encourage migration and settlement’s in Siberia increased
Legislation for land reform under Stolypin, Oct 1906
Peasant’s are granted equal rights in their local administration
Legislation for land reform under Stolypin, Nov 1906
Peasants given right to leave commune
Collective ownership of land by family is abolished
Peasant can withdraw land from commune and can consolidate strips of land into one part
Peasant’s Land Bank is established to help fund land ownership
Legislation for land reform under Stolypin, Jan 1907
Redemption payments officially abolished as promised in 1905
Legislation for land reform under Stolypin, June 1907
All communes which had not redistributed land since 1861 are dissolved
What was the positive impact of Stolypin’s land reforms?
Hereditary ownership of land by peasants increased from 20% in 1905 to 50% by 1915
Grain production rose annually from 56 million tonnes in 1900 to 90 million by 1914,
By 1909 Russia was the leading cereal exporter
Stolypin and Siberia
Stolypin’s encouragement to emigrate took 3.5 million ppl living in the overly populated rural districts of Siberia away which helped Siberia develop into a major agricultural region, specialising in dairy and cereals
What were the limitations to Stolypin’s land reforms?
By 1913, only 1.3/5 million applications for consolidation and hereditary tenure of farms had been dealt with
By 1914, only 10% of land had become private from communal and 90% were still in traditional strips
Fewer than 1% achieved kulak status, many were forced to leave farms
When was Bloody Sunday?
9th January 1905
What happened in Bloody Sunday?
150,000 peacefully demonstrated outside the Winter Palace in St Petersburg
Men, women and children wore best clothes, singing hymns and carrying religious icons and portraits of Tsar
Led by Father Gapon, Russian Orthodox priest
Were demonstrating for end to Russo-Japanese war, voting rights for more, 8 hour working day, end to forced overtime in factories
What was the response to Bloody Sunday?
Tsar wasn’t in palace at the time so Cossacks, fearing trouble, fired into the crowd killing 96 and injuring 331
Seriously damaged Tsar’s reputation losing his ‘Little Father’ reputation
Sympathy strikes soon broke out when it was heard that surviving demonstrators were expelled from St Petersburg
Immediate causes of 1905 revolution: Peasants
Faced with poor harvests and high taxes, peasants rose in revolt across Russia
First in Feb in Kursk
Immediate causes of 1905 revolution: Workers
Outbreak of strikes by industrial workers (proletariat)
Feb 1905 400,000 went on strike in response to Bloody Sunday, end of year 2.7 million workers had gone on strike
Organised general strike from Sept-Oct
Strikers set up soviets (workers councils) to direct the strike, was the greater strike ever carried out in Russia
Immediate causes of 1905 revolution: National minorities
Jan and Feb ‘05 resentment about Russification provoked rebellion in Ukraine, Poland, Finland etc.
Poland wanted self-governance and Jews wanted equality
Immediate causes of 1905 revolution: Armed forces
After Bloody Sunday mutinies occurred in some army and navy units, most famous in June when crew of battleship of Potemkin killed some of their officers, took control of ship and boarded Black Sea port Odessa
Immediate causes of 1905 revolution: St Petersburg Soviet
Was product of general strike in Oct, groups of workers from the capital elected representatives to the Soviet, had over 400 members representing 96 factories
One leader was Leon Trotsky
Came to and end in Dec 1905 when govt. troops arrested leaders
Armed uprising in the 1905 revolution
Strikes continued throughout the end of the year and many turned violent
5th December General Strike took place in Moscow and by 7th had become an armed uprising
During next 9 days thousands of armed workers fought against govt. troops and police
By 18th Dec with 100 dead and city in ruins, revolutionaries surrendered, tsar was still is power
Long term causes of 1905 revolution: Alienated intelligentsia
Middle class liberals wanted to participate in govt, wanted some form of national assembly Students protested against repressive govt. controls
