Opposition Flashcards
(26 cards)
Radicalismpre 1905
- Strikes increasing throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, though exact numbers are unknown.
- info by Lionel Kochan
- Government response: Repression through arrest and deportation of strike leaders.
-for peasants issues stemmed from Major famines: 1891–92, 1897, 1898, 1901. Chronic issues: agricultural stagnation, overpopulation, heavy taxes, communal landholding.
-Growing sense that Tsarist rural structure was unsustainable.
-Radical Populism revived, partly due to countryside violence.
-Marxism helped spread socialist ideas among intellectuals and workers.
Liberalism emerged as a political force for the first time.o
Growth of liberalism esp in the zemstav
-Liberals campaigned for rule of law and political representation.
- Backed by: Expansion of education. Rise of the middle class through industrialisation.
- Zemstva (local councils) were rich with liberals and gained prestige in 1891–92 famine for efficient relief, while government was criticised.
- Resentment grew after Alexander III reduced zemstva powers.
Attempts for zemstva/liberal reform pre 1900
- 1895: Tver Zemstvo petitioned for national advisory body; Nicholas II rejected it as a “senseless dream.”
- Prince Lvov pushed for an all-class zemstvo at volost (district) level and a National Assembly.
-1896: Ivan Shipov attempted to create an “All-Zemstvo Organisation” — banned immediately.
-1899: In response, more radical liberals formed the Beseda Symposium to meet in secret and discuss reforms. - 1900: Government dismissed hundreds of liberals from zemstva boards — Beseda became the unofficial liberal leadership.
SHOWS: long term political oppression from the autocracy
Union of liberation 1903
-Founded by Pyotr Struve, an ex-Marxist opposed to violent revolution.
-Published journal Osvobozhdenie (Liberation) in Germany to evade censorship.
-Goals:Peaceful evolution was needed to achieve constitutionalism. Legal activism for workers.
-1904: Organised 50 society banquets with liberal elites and zemstva leaders.
Liberals in 1905
- Pre-1905: Liberals had limited political power.
Avoided police crackdown mainly due to focus on radicals. - 1905 Revolution: Liberals benefited most — secured the State Duma (representative national body).
Basis of the SR party
- By 1894, traditional populism (slavophile and populist ideas about peasant rule) declined, but agrarian socialism (taking estates from the rich and dividing for all as a farmed community) revived after 1891–92 famine.
- Students admired The People’s Will (old populist terror group), used violence.
Assasination of Nikolay Bogolepov
1901: Student Pyotr Karpovich assassinated Minister of Education, Nikolay Bogolepov.
Sparked protests; 800 arrested, 60 injured in support of Karpovich
Followed by a failed assassination attempt on Pobedonostsev.
Founding of the SR party
-Aimed to unite workers and peasants (the “labouring poor”).
-Called for:Land socialisation (redistribution to peasant communes).Decentralised government.
-Mixed Populist and Marxist ideas: Accepted Marxist class struggle but kept focus on peasants.
-Viktor Chernov: main theorist; law graduate, editor of Revolutsionnaya Rossiya.
SRtactics
-SR Combat Organisation used political terrorism: Assassinations of officials and police agents. Tried to stir unrest through strikes and rural agitation.
-1901–1905: Over 2,000 political assassinations, including: Minister of the Interior Vyacheslav Plehve (1904). Prime Minister Stolypin (1911).
Gov/police oppression of the SRs
1905–09: 4,579 SRs sentenced to death.
2,365 executed.
Formation of the SD
-1898: Formed from Marxist groups in First Congress (Minsk).
-9 delegates.
-Manifesto by Pyotr Struve stressed class struggle.
-Emphasised workers must lead change.
-Broken up by Okhranaand two arrested, signalling a rocky start
- Lenin began to play a prominent role in developing the party
Rise of Marxism in the 1890s
-The industrial take-off in Russia made Marxist theories appealing to intellectuals.
-Georgi Plekhanov’s Emancipation of Labour group grew, although Plekhanov remained in exile (1880-1917).
-Many workers’ organizations and trade unions were influenced by Marxism.
-Social Revolutionary Party (SR) and Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SD) emerged in 1898, both rooted in socialism and Marxist principles, but differed in methods and goals.
-showed: rising appealof anti tsarist rhetoric and belief in the right of the people
1903split of the SD
-Second Party Congress (1903): Held in Brussels and then London.
-Disagreements arose between Lenin (Bolsheviks) and Julius Martov (Mensheviks) over the party’s structure and approach to revolution.
-Lenin advocated for a centralized, disciplined party of professional revolutionaries.
-Martov wanted a broad, democratic party with mass membership and cooperation with liberal parties.
The bolesviks
-Lenin lead
- Focus on revolution and a small, centralized party.
-Supported by Trotsky post 1917.
-bolshevi means majority as he attained it after some represnttivies withdrew from the process
-felt a small centralised group could help lead the workers through a revolution- both a bourgeois and proletarian revolt at once
Showed: support for a very strong revolutionary prone group
The Mensheviks
- lead by Martov
- Believed in gradual political change, working within existing systems like the Duma.
-they felt the bourgeois had to revolt first and the poor NEEDED to lead their own revolt - they wanted to raise workers consciousness through trade unions and follow democracy to power
1905aftermath for the revolutionaries
- The 1905 Revolution revealed widespread discontent in Russian society. While the revolution failed to overthrow the Tsar, it laid the groundwork for future uprisings
-none of the left-wing parties controlled the events, although they all sought to exploit them.
-some pro reforms eg the 1912 insurance law aloud more rights for the proletariat
-showed:hope of revolt for the people but. A lack of order prolonging the hence of a rebellion
Government reaction to 1905
-1906 and 1910, 497 trade unions were closed down, and 604 unions were denied registration, signaling the regime’s unwillingness to allow independent working-class organizations.
Lenagoldfields masscre and impact
-In 1912, the Lena Goldfields Massacre, where unarmed miners were shot by police, reignited labor unrest.
-This event prompted a new round of strikes, primarily in St. Petersburg and the metal trades, though these protests were met with state repression
-demonstrated state failure to pacify strikers
Repressive measures to break strikes
-st Petersburg society of mill and factory owners bitterly resisted any strikes
-repressive strike breaking measures eg fines and blacklists
-showed: added to the gap between the rich and poor and fueled opposition
Evidence for lack of heavy strike action in this time period
- only 12% of enterprises experienced a strike
- the 1914 general strike only brought out 1/4 of labour forces
Gainingof the bolsheviks in 1912-14
-establishment of the newspaper Pravda in 1912
- their success in the Fourth Duma elections (1912), where they gained six workers’ deputies
Moderate liberal opposition
Appeased by Tsarist concessions (like the creation of the Duma) and sought further reform through legal, constitutional means.
Tried to cooperate with the Duma, hoping for gradual change.
Showed:a lot of moderates were pleased which left radicals=s
Weakening of the revolutionary parties after 1905
-Leadership exiled abroad.
-Ideological splits, particularly within the SDs (Bolsheviks vs Mensheviks).
-Constant harassment and infiltration by the Secret Police (Okhrana).
-Economic depression and lack of resources (money, printing presses, etc.).
-Failed to build strong, centralized organizations:
Membership plummeted dramatically
-., Moscow SDs: 7500 in 1906 to 40 in 1912).
Relied on small underground cells in factories run by local activists.
Bolshevik revival in 1912-14
-Took over legal labor institutions in Moscow and St Petersburg.
-Gained six worker deputies in the Fourth Duma.
-Launched Pravda in 1912 (popular compared to Mensheviks’ Luch
