Russia Flashcards
who were the 4 people who supported tsar regime and who was discontent?
supportive :
1. the army
2. the okhrana ( the secret police)
3. conservatives
4. the church
discontent:
1. peasants = wanted more land
- the workers= better condition
- liberal = more political freedom
- nationalities = wanted independence from the empire
- radicals = wanted to overthrow the whole regime.
why were peasants discontent in 1917?
why were town workers discontent in 1917?
peasants :
- they lived in poverty and their solution they thought for their poverty was more land.
- in 1905, peasants burned down landowners homes and starting take landowners land.
- in first world war, 15 million peasants were forced to join the army and horses and crops peasants relied on were taken by army.
town workers
1. living and working conditions were terrible
homes were overcrowded, long hours and harsh factory rules.
2. they went on strikes and armies would break up the strikes.
3. in 1905, the workers had joined middle class liberals to strike and nearly overthrown tsar.
4. first world war , economic problems meant factories closed and food price rose making harder for town workers.
what are 4 groups in Russia that wanted to change?
-Radicals wanted to overthrow tsarist regime and the ruling classes
-Liberals wanted political freedom to prevent revolution
-Conservatives wanted to defend the interests of the gentry
-Ultra nationalities wanted to protect the Russian empire
what are 2 groups in Russia that wanted to change?
-Social revolutionaries wanted a new society based on the peasant commune
-Social democrats:
- Bolsheviks who believed they could lead the workers in revolution and help create communism on their behalf
-Mensheviks who thought communism in Russia was a long way off and not yet industrialised
what had Germans done to Russians?
what had happened to by 1917 to Russia?
-Russia had the largest army in 1914 but it was poorly led and badly equipped
-German army was strong which meant the Russians were vulnerable and had been striked
-By 1917 large areas of Russia had been lost to Germany
3 economic affects of the war in Russia?
- Germany blocked all trade routes, factories were starved of raw materials and the economic activity dropped
-To raise more money government arranged loans from there allies this meant Russia was in more national debt - Government printed money to pay for the war. Inflation had increased twice the time as the wages
what are 3 political effects of the war
-The duma had supported the war at first as the crisis depended the duma deputies criticised failures of tsars ministers
-In 1915 duma requested to tsar to replace his ministers with new ones
-Tsar refused to share any power with the duma, in response duma became centre of oppostion to tsars government
what are 4 other political effects to the war?
- 1915, tsar became commander in chief although his ministers warned him that would be a big risk .Russian people would blame tsar directly if there were any defeats
-Tsar left Petrograd in September 1915 to move to the army headquarters leaving his wife in charge
-His actions lost him respect from military/nobility, he has no military training and was away at war rather than in the capital
4 social effects of the war?
- conscription of 15 million peasant men and there horses meant food production dropped.
-Army also requisitioned peasant crops and horses as well as prioritising the railway for the army these factors meant there was less food for leading to hunger and suffering
-Nearly 6 million refugees fled from the German occupation in the west. Government struggled to find them housing and food, Nationalist tensions increased
-Social effects where growing as unemployment factory closures rised
why did the february revolution happen?
what happened on 22 and 25 february for tsars absence?
who covered tsars absence?
-It happened becuase of long-term dicontent and short -term triggers such as food shortages
-22 february tsar left petrograd for army headquarters 780km away,unaware of the growing unrest
-25 february tsar sent an order to the police and army in petrograd to end the unrest immediately
-Tsarina covered nicholas absence she was unpopular and didnt know how to govern and got advice from her friend rasputin.The duma were unhappy
STRIKES AND DEMONSTRATIONS:
what happened on 18 feb?
what happened on the 14 feb?
what happened between the 23-25 feb?
what happened in late feb?
-14 feb demonstrations in support of the duma
-18 feb strike at the putilov steelworks
-23 feb international womens day they joined the sriking workers and anti-governments crowd went even larger when the government announced bread rationing
-23-25 feb 250k people demonstrated in petrograd crowds began to big for the police to control
MUTINY IN THE ARMY
what happened 26 feb twice?
what happened on the 27 feb?
what happened on the 28 feb?
- 26 feb soldiers were unhappy about what officers ask them to do.The mutiny was suppressed
-26 feb soldiers were ordered to fire on demonstrators 40 people were killed
-27 feb some regiments refused to obey orders to shoot
-28 feb military report to the tsar declared that petrograd was out of control
how did russia become republic after the feb revolution in 1917?(4)
1)duma asked nicholas to create a new cabinet involving duma deputies
2)Nicholas refused and ordered the duma to dissolve.Most gov ministers left petrograd
3)Half the duma (liberals) refused to follow nicholas orders and carried on meeting
4)Army commanders suspected they could no longer reply on their troops to follow their orders
ABDICATION
what were the 2 army command options?
which option was better and why?
1)Use soldiers from outside revolutionary petrograd to crush the revolution
2)Work with the duma to find a political non violent solution
Option 1 : did not seem possible because of the army mutiny other troops might mutiny too
Option 2 : Was put into action.Army leaders and duma leaders met tsar in Pskov.They suggested that tsar must give up the throne in order to save russia
Option 2 was better
who was a member of both the provisional government and petrograd soviet?
what happened when alexander kerensky became leader?(2)
-Kerensky was a member of both the provisional government and petrograd soviet.
-When he became leader of provisional government in july 1917 he made some crucial mistakes
Mistakes:
-He failed to control the bolsheviks
-He continued to support the war which angered soldiers
-He acted against the ruling classes which lost him support from the consertives
