Causes of the 1905 revolution

Question 1

What were the 5 main reasons for long term discontent?

Answer 1

Alienated intelligentsia
Revolutionaries 
National Minorities
Peasants
Workers

Question 2

Who were the alienated intelligentsia?

Answer 2

Middle class liberals wanted to participate in the government and wanted some form of elected national assembly.  
Students protested against repressive government controls.

Question 3

Who were the two types of Revolutionaries?

Answer 3

Socialist Revolutionaries and

Social Democrats.

Question 4

What did the Socialist Revolutionaries want?

Answer 4

A peasant revolution to create socialism based around peasant communes.

Question 5

What did the Social Democrats want?

Answer 5

The urban working classes to stage revolution to create a socialism state, and then communism.

Question 6

Who were the national minorities?

Answer 6

E.g. Finns, Poles, Jews.

Question 7

What wee the two demands of the national minorities?

Answer 7

They wanted more autonomy and independence and an end to the policy of Russification.

Question 8

What were the main grievances of the peasants?

Answer 8

Poverty, need for more land and high taxes with redemption payments on land.
Suffered periodic famines.
Increasing peasant population was putting more pressure on land.

Question 9

What were the main grievances of the workers?

Answer 9

Long hours, low pay and terrible living and working conditions.
Wanted more political power.

Question 10

What were the two elements of government regime?

Answer 10

Tsarist regime

Witt’e economic policy

Question 11

What were the three main issues with Nicholas’ government?

Answer 11

No moves towards a constitutional government.
Denied basic freedoms such as free press and freedom to form political parties.
No concessions to nationalities and any protests were repressed.

Question 12

What happened under Witte’s industrialisation policy?

Answer 12

Urban workers and peasants were squeezed very hard by indirect taxes and low wages.

Question 13

What two events happened after 1900 and what did it do?

Answer 13

An economic slump after 1900 led to high unemployment and social tensions in towns.
Poor harvests in 1900 and 1902 led to starvation and violence in the countryside.

Question 14

What was the catalyst of the 1905 revolution?

Answer 14

Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.

Question 15

When was the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War?

Answer 15

February 1904.

Question 16

What events happened during the Russo-Japanese war?

Answer 16

Defeats on land and at sea shocked the Russian public.
January 1905, Russia lost Port Arthur, an ice-free port in Manchuria which the Japanese had marked out for themselves for economic expansion.

Question 17

What did the war cause?

Answer 17

Huge food and fuel shortages, high prices and unemployment.

Question 18

What did the Russo-Japanese war mean?

Answer 18

It caused a huge wave of discontent as the Tsar and his government were perceived as incompetent.

Question 19

What was the spark for revolution? When was it?

Answer 19

Bloody Sunday on 9th January 1905.

Question 20

What happened at Bloody Sunday?

Answer 20

Father Gapon led a strike of over 100,000 workers. As the crowd approached the Winter Palace, they were charged by cavalry and the troops opened fire.

Question 21

What were the protestors at Bloody Sunday doing?

Answer 21

They had a petition calling fro an 8 hour working day for all workers, minimum wages and more dignified treatment.

Question 22

What was the mood of the Bloody Sunday protestors?

Answer 22

It was not an attack on the Tsar, nor aggressive- it was simply the people pleading to their “father” to help them.

Question 23

How many people were injured at Bloody Sunday?

Answer 23

Between 300-500 people were seriously wounded or killed.

Question 24

What did the 1905 revolution mean?

Answer 24

The Tsar was now at war with his own people

Led to strikes, peasant uprisings, petitions and riots throughout 1905.