Pre-revolution Russia

Question 1

What dynasty was Tsar Nicholas II from

Answer 1

Romanov dynasty

Question 2

Who was Nicholas’s father?

Answer 2

Tsar Alexander III

Question 3

Tsar Nicholas II was…

Answer 3

Convinced of his divine right to rule

Question 4

Why did Tsar Nicholas keep his ministers weak

Answer 4

Keen to keep his ministers weak to preserve his own authority

Question 5

What role did Nicholas take in WW1

Answer 5

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army and Navy

Question 6

Why did Nicholas take up role of Commander-in-Chief

Answer 6

He had a firm trust in divine mercy to win Russia

Question 7

What year was Bloody Sunday

Answer 7

1905

Question 8

What caused the protest of Bloody Sunday

Answer 8

Russia’s defeat to Japan

Question 9

What happened in Bloody Sunday

Answer 9

The Tsars personal guard shot unarmed protesters in St. Petersburg

Question 10

What was the result of Bloody Sunday

Answer 10

The 1905 Revolution

Question 11

What was the 1905 revolution

Answer 11

A wave of political and social unrest throughout Russian empire 
-
Workers went on strikes 
-
Military mutinies

Question 12

What caused the Tsar to set up the state Duma

Answer 12

The 1905 revolution

Question 13

Why did the Duma have no ability to restrict Tsars power

Answer 13

Tsar could dissolve the Duma at any time

Question 14

Who was Rasputin

Answer 14

A ‘Holy man’ who was able to ease Aleksei’s haemophilia

Question 15

What happened in 1913

Answer 15

Last year of peace before WW1
-
Violent strikes in cities
-
300 years of Romanov rule

Question 16

What sparked WW1?

Answer 16

Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand

Question 17

The war as between Austria and Serbia, why did Russia fight?

Answer 17

Serbia was also Slavic (sense of pan-Slavism)

Question 18

Why did St. Petersburg’s name get changed

Answer 18

Changed to Slavonic Petrograd as St. Petersburg was Germanic

Question 19

Why was going to war initially popular

Answer 19

Anti-Germanic sentiment

Question 20

When and where did the battle of Tannenberg take place

Answer 20

August, 1914

Question 21

How many Russians were killed or injured in the battle of Tannenberg?

Answer 21

300,000

Question 22

What military defeat caused Russia into a temporary retreat from East Prussia

Answer 22

Battle at Masurian Lakes

Question 23

What was the main problem that faced the Russian army

Answer 23

Unable to provide men with adequate warm clothing or weaponry

Question 24

How many in every 3 soldiers had a weapon

Answer 24

2 out of every 3

Question 25

How many shells were the artillery able to fire a day

Answer 25

2-3

Question 26

What was the Bursilov offensive

Answer 26

An attempt to push west from Ukraine and break through Astro-Hungarian lines

Question 27

What year was the Brusilov offensive?

Answer 27

1916

Question 28

How many desertions happened in 1916

Answer 28

1.5 million

Question 29

When did the Tsar take up position of Commander in Chief

Answer 29

September 1915

Question 30

What were the military zones (set up in 1914)

Answer 30

Places where civilian authority was suspended and military assumed command

Question 31

Which group opposed military zones and why

Answer 31

The liberal Zemstava - believed civilians needed to play major role in the war

Question 32

What did Zemstava set up?

Answer 32

Union of Zemstava, to provide medical facilities

Question 33

What did factory owners and business men set up?

Answer 33

Congress of representatives of industry and businesses - To help coordinate production

Question 34

What was the progressive bloc

Answer 34

Consisted of over half the state Duma

Question 35

What did the progressive bloc ask for

Answer 35

A government of public confidence (constitutional monarchy) - And that the Tsar changed his ministers

Question 36

How did Nicholas respond to the progressive bloc

Answer 36

He refused their demands

Question 37

Why was assuming position of Commander in chief a bad idea

Answer 37

He lacked experience to turn the war around - New position made him appear more responsible for military failures

Question 38

Why did the railway system collapse in war time?

Answer 38

Trains used to transport grain and goods were used for soldiers - Railway locomotive productions halved between 1913-1916

Question 39

Why was there massive inflation by 1917

Answer 39

To pay for war Russia took out massive loans from abroad - As there was no money coming in from export massive inflation occurred

Question 40

Why was inflation such a problem for the Russian people?

Answer 40

Prices rose much faster than wages

Question 41

Why was there a drop in food supplies

Answer 41

Millions of Farmers from countryside had been conscripted into the army

Question 42

Why were peasants hoarding grain

Answer 42

Because money was virtually worthless so was better to keep grain than to sell at low price

Question 43

What effect did grain hoarding have in the cities

Answer 43

Produced even further food shortages

Question 44

What did industrial capacity drop

Answer 44

Poland and other parts of western Russia were overrun with Germans

Question 45

Why was Russian trade brought to a standstill?

Answer 45

Naval blockades of the Baltic and Black sea ports

Question 46

Why did unemployment soar

Answer 46

Non-military factories were forced to close

Question 47

What was a result of the non-military factories closing and the general discontent?

Answer 47

In January 1917 30,000 workers went on strike in Moscow - And 145,000 in Petrograd

Question 48

What was the catalyst of the discontent to revolution

Answer 48

Freezing winter of 1917

Question 49

Which founding member of the progressive bloc suggested a military coup to army officers

Answer 49

Guchkov