Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Russia and its Rulers > Chapter 1.2 + 1.3 - Changes in structure of central and local government > Flashcards

Chapter 1.2 + 1.3 - Changes in structure of central and local government Flashcards

1
Q

Chapter 1.2 - developments in central administration

A

chapter 1.2

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Government under the tsars: 1855-1917
When was the Personal Chancellery of his Imperial Majesty abolished and what did Alexander II (A2 replace it with)?
What are the 5 key areas of government to know?

A

Abolished in 1861 and replaced with the Council of Ministers
1. Personal Chancellery of his Imperial Majesty
2. The Council of Ministers
3. The Committee of Ministers
4. The Imperial Council of State
5. The Senate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Who was the chair of the Council of Ministers?

A

The tsar

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What was the role of the Council of Ministers?

A

To discuss legislation, which could either be given royal assent or passed on to the Committee of Ministers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

When did Alexander III (A3) stop using the Council of Ministers?

A

After 1882

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

When was the Committee of Ministers established and how many ministers were there in it?

A

Established in 1861, made up of initially 13 ministers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What were the 4 most important roles in the Committee of Ministers?

A
  • Minister of the Interior (domestic affairs, law and order)
  • Minister for war
  • Minister of finance
  • Chief procurator of the Holy Snyod (religious affairs)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What role did ministers have?

A

A purely administrative role

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

When was the Committee of Ministers abolished?

A

1906

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What did the Imperial Council on State do?

A

Advised the tsar of legal and financial matters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What did the Senate act as until 1905?

A

The Supreme Court in Russia - final court of appeal on major legal battles

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

*After 1905
What caused pressure for change in Russia in 1905?

A

The disaster of the Russo-Japanese war

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What two revolutionary events happened in 1905?

A
  • Bloody Sunday
  • Naval mutiny on Potemkin
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How did Nicholas II (N2) respond to the events of 1905?

A

He released the October Manifesto

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What did the October Manifesto create?

A

The Duma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What was the structure of government after 1905? (Ranked from top to bottom)

A
  1. The tsar
  2. The Council of Ministers
  3. The State Council (nominated/elected upper chamber)
  4. The Duma (elected lower chamber)
  5. The Senate
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What reinforced the autocracy of N2 after the October Manifesto?

A

The Fundamental Laws of 1906

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What did the Fundamental Laws allow the tsar to bypass?

A

The State Council and the Duma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What did the Fundamental Laws allow N2 to do to the Duma?

A

Dismiss the Duma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

How many Dumas were elected between 1906 and 1917?

A

4

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

When did the first Duma sit?

A

April to July 1906

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What was one key debate in the first Duma?

A

Debate on the ‘Polish Question’ - question as to whether the Poles should be allowed to self-rule

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Why did N2 dismiss the first Duma after only 72 days?

A

The Duma had a radical option on land distribution which quickly gained press coverage, leading to Nicholas claiming that their actions were illegal and thus disbanded the Duma after two months

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Who was executed between the first and second Dumas?

A

Key Kadet and Labourist party members who had signed the Vyborg manifesto

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What was Stolypin's system of quick trials and executions known as?
'Stolypin's neckties'
26
When did the second Duma sit?
February to June 1907
27
What were there fewer of in the second Duma?
Fewer Kadets and Labourists
28
What were there more of in the second Duma?
More Social Democrats (SDs), Social Revolutionaries (SRs) and Octobrists
29
What did N2 and Stolypin mistrust about the second Duma?
Their work over land reform and management of the Russian army
30
What led to N2 claiming the Duma was subversive and then dissolving it?
A Social Democrat members was framed for attempting to arrange an army mutiny
31
What did the tsar do after dismissing the second Duma?
He overhauled the electoral system
32
When did the third Duma sit?
November 1907 to June 1912
33
What did the third Duma mainly consist of?
People loyal to the tsar
34
What was there a significant reduction of the in the third Duma?
Reduction in nationalist members from non-Russian parts of the empire
35
What did historian J.N. Westwood say about the third Duma?
'An unrepresentative Dumas was not necessarily an ineffective Duma'
36
What did the third Duma introduce which favoured the working class?
State-run insurance scheme for workers
37
How did Stolypin try to destabilise the Duma?
By manipulating Article 87 to create an even greater bias towards autocracy
38
When did the fourth Duma sit?
November 1912 to February 1917
39
Who dominated the fourth Duma?
Politicians from the far right
40
What did the rule of the fourth Duma coincide with?
Brutal repression of civil disorder
41
What did the fourth Duma become infamous for?
Putting pressure on the tsar to abdicate
42
What did historian Peter Waldron say about the impact of the Dumas and the Council of Ministers?
Collectively, the Dumas and the Council of Ministers 'made very little difference to the underlying nature of the Russian state'
43
Lenin and the Bolshevik government: When did the Bolshevik government introduce a new constitution?
July 1918
44
What happened at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the 25th October 1917?
The right-wing SRs and Mensheviks, who favoured a coalition government, walked out of the congress in protest
45
Why did the SRs and Mensheviks walking out of the Second Congress help the Bolsheviks?
It left the Bolsheviks with little opposition and a clear mandate to rule
46
What did the Bolsheviks allow elections to in November 1917?
A Constituent Assembly
47
What happened in the elections to the Constituent Assembly in 1917?
The Bolsheviks failed to win a majority, coming seconds to the SRs
48
What did Lenin claim about the Constituent Assembly?
It was 'elected on the old register' and 'appeared as an expression of the old regime when the authority belonged to the bourgeoisie'
49
How long after the assembly started did Lenin shut it down?
Lenin shut down the assembly after one day
50
When did the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets sanction the closure of the Constituent Assembly and what did the proclaim the establishment of?
January 1918 - also proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR)
51
What were the 3 levels of the new Bolshevik structure of government?
1. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee 2. The Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) 3. The Cheka
52
What were the 3 offices of the Central Executive Committee?
- Politburo - Orgburo - Ogburo
53
What was the role of the Politburo?
The Politburo was a small, elite group that formulated policy
54
What did the Orgburo and Ogburo run respectively?
Orgburo = ran the Bolshevik party Ogburo = ran the Cheka
55
What did Russia effectively become when the Mensheviks and SRs were expelled from the Executive Committee in the summer of 1918?
A 'one-party' state
56
What did the Sovnarkom consist of?
Ministers who had specific governmental responsibilities
57
Who chaired the Sovnarkom?
Lenin
58
What were Trotsky and Stalin's role in the Sovnarkom?
Trotsky = foreign affairs Stalin = nationalities
59
What was the main aim of the Cheka?
To prevent counter-revolutionary movements
60
Who was head of the Cheka?
Dzerzhinski, a Polish Communist
61
What did the 1924 constitution create?
The USSR
62
Stalin and the USSR: What was stated about the Communist party in Article 126 of the 1936 Constitution?
That the Communist party was the 'nucleus of all the public and state organisations of the working people'
63
What part of government was created in the 1936 constitution?
The Supreme Soviet
64
What did the Supreme Soviet have the sole power of?
Had the sole power to make laws for the whole of the union
65
How often did the Supreme Soviet meet?
Twice every year
66
How often were elections held for the The Soviet of the Union?
Every 4 years
67
How many members per union republic sat on the Soviet of Nationalities?
25 members per union republic
68
Chapter 1.3 - CHANGES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
chapter 1.3
69
*Alexander II pre-1861 Who was responsible for running provinces?
The local nobility
70
Who discussed village issues?
The mir
71
*Alexander II after 1861 What happened to the role of the nobility in local affairs after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861?
Their role ceased to exist
72
What was introduced in 1864 to run local areas?
The Zemstva
73
What % of the Zemstva was nobility?
74%
74
When was an urban Zemstva, the Duma, created?
1870
75
Who was prohibited from sitting on the Duma?
The urban proletariat
76
What was the liberal voice of the Duma and Zemstva called?
The Third Element
77
Why were the Zemstva and Duma abolished after 1917?
They were labelled bourgeois and counter-revolutionary
78
*Alexander III What did Alexander III (A3) want to do to the Zemstva as part of the 'Reaction'?
He wanted to reduce the power of the Zemstva
79
When did A3 introduce land captains?
1889
80
*Lenin and the Soviets What did Lenin abolish?
The Zemstva and Land Captains
81
What was the Selsoviet?
An elected rural council
82
What was the Gorsoviet?
An urban council
83
What was the Possoviet?
A district council within a city
84
*Judicial Changes When was a jury system and a hierarchy of courts introduced?
1864
85
What was set up in 1877 and what was its purpose?
New department in the Senate set up to try political cases
86
When were the police centralised under the minister for the interior?
1881
87
When was terror legalised as a way of deterring crime?
1921

Russia and its Rulers (35 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions