Opposition to tsarist rule Flashcards
What become commonplace?
Strikes, demonstrations and attacks on landlords’ houses.
What did the tsar’s advisors feel about the war?
That it would distract people’s attention from domestic problems and a quick victor would end criticism and restore support and faith in tsarism.
What did the war bring?
Military and naval disasters as well as humiliation for both the tsar and Russia.
What did the war produce?
Food shortages, inflation and increased resentment when peasants and workers were forced to join the army.
What did the war show?
How incompetent and poorly led the government was.
When was Bloody Sunday?
22 January 1905.
What happened as discontent grew in Russia?
200,000 people from St Petersburg demonstrated by marching to the tsar’s Winter Palace.
Who organised the march?
Father Gapon.
What did the demonstrators petition for?
A reduction in the working day / increase in wages / an end to the war with Japan / improvement to working conditions.
Why was the event known as Bloody Sunday?
The guards panicked and fired the crowd killing hundreds and wounding thousands.
What did Bloody Sunday signal?
For Russia to erupt into violence and, by the summer of 1905, to evoke chaos in both urban and rural areas.
What did the tsar promise in his October Manifesto?
Freedom of speech / freedom of arbitrary arrest / freedom to meet openly / a national parliament (Duma) / an end to censorship / right to form political parties.
What did the October Manifesto mean?
Secured the support of most of the middle classes who feared complete anarchy.
What happened in March and April 1906?
Elections were held and the meeting of the first Duma.
How did the tsar restrict the power of the Duma?
Issuing the Fundamental Laws which prevented it from making laws, appointing ministers and controlling key areas of finance.
