Half Term One

Question 1

Who was Alexander II?

Answer 1

The grandfather of Nicholas II. Known for the emancipation of Serfs.

Question 2

When was the emancipation of the Serfs?

Answer 2

1861

Question 3

What percentage of the population were serfs in 1861?

Answer 3

38%

Question 4

Who was Alexander III?

Answer 4

The Father of Nicholas II and son of Alexander II.

Question 5

What were Alexander III’s political opinions?

Answer 5

He was hard autocrat who went against his father’s liberal reforms.

Question 6

When did Nicholas II become Tsar?

Answer 6

The 1st of November 1894

Question 7

Who was Nicholas II’s wife?

Answer 7

Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was German which was highly frowned upon by the Russian population.

Question 8

What was different about Nicholas II’s marriage?

Answer 8

He married for love and was totally guided by her advice, much to the annoyance of his advisors and the population.

Question 9

How did A. Morris decribe Nicholas II?

Answer 9

‘transparently immature’, ‘personal qualities’, ‘the new Tsar was not equal to the tasks that confronted him’

Question 10

How did J.N Westwood describe Nicholas II?

Answer 10

‘has endearing qualities’, ‘he had little choice but to rule’, ‘to be the pupil of Pobedonostev was a bad beginning’

Question 11

Who was Pobedonostev?

Answer 11

Nicholas II’s tutor. He played a significant part in forming the world of Nicholas II. He was a staunch conservative and taught Nicholas the values of Autocracy.

Question 12

When was Nicholas II’s coronation?

Answer 12

The 14th of May 1896

Question 13

What was the Khodynka Tragedy?

Answer 13

An event in Moscow just four days after the coronation was offering free food. However, the 1,200 policemen failed to maintain order resulting in a catastrophic crush which killed over 1,200 people.

Question 14

What was Nicholas II’s response to the Khodynka tragedy?

Answer 14

He went initially to the site of the tragedy; however, that night he went to a ball at the French ambassador’s. He called the crush ‘a great sin’ in his diary.

Question 15

What was the Council of State?

Answer 15

It offered advice on proposed new laws.

Question 16

What was the Imperial Chancellery?

Answer 16

The Tsar’s Personal Staff.

Question 17

What were the eleven Central Government Departments?

Answer 17

Interior, Finance, War, Navy,
Foreign Affairs, Holy Synod, Education, Agriculture, Trade, Transport and Justice.

Question 18

Who were ministers responsible to?

Answer 18

Ministers were personally responsible to the Tsar since there was no Prime Minister.

Question 19

What were the two most important government departments?

Answer 19

The Interior Ministry and the Finance Ministry.

Question 20

What was the Interior Ministry responsible for?

Answer 20

It was responsible for public order, policing, censorship and the supervision of local government bodies.

Question 21

What was the Finance Ministry responsible for?

Answer 21

Taxation and economic development.

Question 22

What were the three forms of Local Government?

Answer 22

Provincial govenors, The Zemstva (singular:zemstvo) and Land captains

Question 23

What were Provincial Govenors?

Answer 23

European Russia was divided into 78 provinces each with their own govenor.They were the Tsar’s representatives in each province.

Question 24

What were the Zemstva?

Answer 24

The Zemstva were elected local councils established in 1864 which operated in rural areas.

Question 25

What did Provincial govenors do?

Answer 25

They were responsible for overseeing large amount of governance. They could to overule zemstvo. Govenors were responsible to the minister of the interior.

Question 26

What did the Zemstva do?

Answer 26

They were responsible for education, health and infrastructure.

Question 27

What did the Zemstva eventually become?

Answer 27

They became strongholds of Liberal opinion and were in the forefront for reform in 1904-05.

Question 28

What were Land Captains?

Answer 28

They were members who supervised peasant affairs in their localities.

Question 29

What were the three main opressive policies?

Answer 29

Russification, Orthodoxy and Autocracy.

Question 30

What percentage of the population were Russian in 1897?

Answer 30

44%

Question 31

What percentage of the population were Ukrainian in 1897?

Answer 31

18%

Question 32

What percentage of the population were Finnish in 1897?

Answer 32

2.5%

Question 33

What percentage of the population were Polish in 1897?

Answer 33

6%

Question 34

What percentage of the population were Jewish in 1897?

Answer 34

4%

Question 35

How many soldiers had to be stationed in Poland to supress resistance?

Answer 35

100,000

Question 36

What was the Finnish response to Russification?

Answer 36

Mass protests and violence.

Question 37

What antisemitic event took place in 1891?

Answer 37

Two thirds of Moscow's Jewish population were expelled.

Question 38

What antisemitic event took place in 1902?

Answer 38

The Okhrana invented the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'.

Question 39

What did the Protocols of the elders of zion say?

Answer 39

There was a worldwide jewish conspiracy planning to subvert Europe and set up a ruthless police state

Question 40

What antisemitic event took place in 1903?

Answer 40

In two days 47 Jews were murdered and 400 were wounded, 700 houses were burned down and 600 shops were destroyed in a pogrom (Lynching)

Question 41

What was the reaction to the Pogroms?

Answer 41

They were encouraged by the government and people involved were rewarded.

Question 42

How many ethnicities were there in Imperial Russia?

Answer 42

Over 100

Question 43

What percentage of Russia was Eastern Orthodox in 1897?

Answer 43

70%

Question 44

What percentage of Russia was Muslim in 1897?

Answer 44

11%

Question 45

What percentage of Russia was Roman Catholic in 1897?

Answer 45

9%

Question 46

Who were the Social Revolutionaries (SRs)?

Answer 46

A Marxist Group in Russia.

Question 47

Who was the leader of the Social Revolutionaries?

Answer 47

They didn't have a single leader, instead there were a group of influential leaders. This linked to their idea of socialism which encompassed a degree of anarchism.

Question 48

Who were some influential Social Revolutionaries leaders?

Answer 48

Chernov, Gots, Gershuni, bershkovsky.

Question 49

What was important about the SR Combat Organisation?

Answer 49

It was secretly led by an Okhrana spy (Yevno Asef).

Question 50

What was Chernov's vision of Russian socialism?

Answer 50

He envisioned a decentralised state, giving power not to the industrial worker but to the peasant. This shows the anarchist influences on their ideas.

Question 51

What were the Social Revolutionaries methods?

Answer 51

They veiwed violence as a legitimate political weapon (although this was debated amognst its ranks). They believed that there was no possibilty of a bloodless revolution.

Question 52

Who were the members of the Liberals?

Answer 52

They were mainly members of the intelligentsia, teachers, doctors, engineers,lawyers, writers and students.

Question 53

What did the Liberals want?

Answer 53

They wanted to rid Russia of corrupton and incompetence which they believed was stunting the growth of this new political class.

Question 54

Were the Liberals Monarchists?

Answer 54

The Liberals generally favoured a British-styled of Constitutional Monarchy.

Question 55

Did the Liberals want a revolution?

Answer 55

The Liberals were opposed to revolution.

Question 56

What were the Liberals members of?

Answer 56

The zemstva and found much success.

Question 57

When did the Liberals form a political party and what was it called?

Answer 57

In 1905 and it was called the kadets.

Question 58

What were the Liberals' methods?

Answer 58

They held 'banquets' where they would discuss plans but they were mostly against armed revolution.

Question 59

Who were the Social democrats?

Answer 59

They were a political party that split into two seperate parties - The Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

Question 60

When did the Social Democrats split?

Answer 60

August 1903.

Question 61

What type of revolution did the Bolsheviks want?

Answer 61

They wanted to combine the two revolutions envisioned by Marx into one. There would therefore be one continuous revolution.

Question 62

What were the methods of the Bolsheviks?

Answer 62

They supported 'Armed insurrection', 'mass terror' and civil war as ways in which the revolution would take place. They expected to have to fight.

Question 63

Who was the leader of the Bolsheviks?

Answer 63

Lenin

Question 64

Who was the leader of the Mensheviks?

Answer 64

Martov

Question 65

What type of revolution dd the Mensheviks want?

Answer 65

The Mensheviks favoured the traditional Marxist path of two revolutions and were prepared to wait for their revolution.

Question 66

What type of party did the Bolsheviks want?

Answer 66

A small, dedicated group of profesional revolutionaries.

Question 67

What type of party did the Mensheviks want?

Answer 67

The mensheviks favoured a decentralised and larger party.

Question 68

What were the methods of the Mensheviks?

Answer 68

They were opposed to the idea of forcing revolution. However, there were some Mensheviks who wanted a forced revolution most notably Leon Trotsky (who joined the Bolsheviks in July 1917)

Question 69

What type of socialism did the Mensheviks want?

Answer 69

They wanted an orthodox Marxism where people would hold power in a decentralised state.

Question 70

What percentage of the Russian population were peasants in 1897?

Answer 70

82%

Question 71

What percentage of the population were working class in 1897?

Answer 71

4%

Question 72

What percentage of the populaton were of the comerical class (middle class) in 1897?

Answer 72

1.5%

Question 73

What percentage of the population were upper class in 1897?

Answer 73

12%

Question 74

What percentage of the population were in the ruling class in 1897?

Answer 74

0.5%