Russia (1905-1914) Flashcards
(38 cards)
1
Q
How was Russia governed in 1905?
A
- The Tsar ruled Russia himself with the help of ministers he chose
- There was no democracy or parliament and local government was in the hands of officials appointed by the tsar
- In many ways, Russia in 1894 was like England in the Middle Ages
- Russia was deeply religious and subscribed to the deeply conservative Russian Orthodox Church
2
Q
Tsar Nicholas II
A
- Came to the throne in 1894
- He was indecisive, not particularly intelligent, inflexible, not able to respond to great pressure and ruled repressively
- He had been tutored by Konstantin Pobedonostev (‘Grand Inquisitor’) who hated democracy and had repressive attitudes.
- Nicholas ruled in an autocracy
3
Q
Upper and Middle classes
A
- The aristocracy made up 1% of the population but owned 25% of the land.
- Peasants resented these rich landowners
- Many at the top of society were appointed by the Tsar to run government departments
- With growing industrialisation, a middle class emerged made up of bankers and rich capitalists who owned the industrial works - bourgeoisie
- They lived in luxury compared to the peasants and industrial workers - they felt betrayed
4
Q
Russia population and size
A
- Russia had a population of 160 million people
- Russia covered one sixth of the world’s surface
5
Q
Discontent of peasants
A
- Over 80% of those people lived in the countryside as labourers.
- The Russian aristocracy made up only 1% but owned 25% of the land
- Until 1861, the peasants had been serfs, owned by the aristocracy as their personal property
- The wealth gap between the rich and peasants was immense and peasant unrest was always bubbling below the surface
- There were famines in the 1890s - the word ‘famine’ was banned from newspapers and the government dealt with them poorly
6
Q
Discontent of industrial workers
A
- Industrialisation was limited to major cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow. Working conditions were appalling even by the standards of the time. Hours were long, pay was low and conditions were dangerous
- Trade unions were illegal which meant there was no push for improvements.
- Industrial workers had little control over their own lives
7
Q
Discontent among middle classes
A
- Most of Russia’s middle classes were liberals
- They wanted change in Russia but at a gradual pace and they were scared of revolutionary radicals
- They wanted a constitutional monarchy and a fair legal system
8
Q
Discontent among national minorities
A
- Russification: this restricted the influence of the non-Russian national minorities by emphasising the superiority of all things Russian
- 56% of the population were not actually of Russian nationality - the country was huge and so had many different nationalities including groups like Baltic Germans, Armenians and Ukrainians
- This led to these groups facing serious discrimination and government interference
9
Q
Political parties in 1905
A
Political parties were illegal until 1905
10
Q
Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs)
A
- SRs wanted to gain recruits from the growing urban workforce
- They remained most popular with the peasantry as they focused on land based issues like giving land back to the peasants for free
- SRs were the most popular party in Russia until they were banned in 1917
- They were involved in assassinations of key supporters of Tsarist rule
11
Q
Socialist Democrats (SDs)
A
- SDs wanted to achieve revolution by following the ideas of Karl Marx
- They wanted to support the workers rather than the peasants and so were never as popular as the SRs
- After talk of revolution but not actually going through with it, Lenin pushed the party into a split in 1903
12
Q
Bolsheviks
A
- Believed the party should be a small and secret group of professional revolutionaries who would seize power when the time was right
- They felt a large party could be infiltrated by police spies
- Their leader in exile was Lenin
- Wanted quick, radical change
13
Q
Mensheviks
A
- Believed that the party should be a mass organisation to which all the workers could belong
- The party could grow until it was powerful enough to take over
- It would work with other groups such as trade unions
- Their leader Trotsky was also in exile following the 1905 revolution
- Wanted progressive change and keep middle classes happy
14
Q
Repression (Police State) in 1905
A
- Censorship - books and newspapers were prevented from publishing radical ideas
- Exiled - people suspected of working against the Tsar were imprisoned or exiled to Siberia
- Okhrana (Secret Police) - kept watch on people suspected of being revolutionaries
15
Q
Long term/short term causes of 1905 Russian Revolution
A
Long term: Discontent and Repression
Short term: Russo-Japanese War and Bloody Sunday
16
Q
Russo-Japanese War
A
- In 1904, war broke out with Japan over land in Manchuria (valuable land)
- Russia faced a series of disastrous defeats using out-dated military tactics
- After the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905 forced Russia to make peace which was a shock for the Russian people as they thought Japan would be an easy target
- The war also exacerbated economic problems including food shortages and unemployment. Liberal opposition grew as the situation worsened
17
Q
Bloody Sunday
A
- Bloody Sunday was a massacre of unarmed protestors in St. Petersburg on the 22nd January
- Protestors, led by Father Gapon, were fired upon by the Mounted Cossacks
- Over 100 protestors were killed and hundreds injured
- The people of Russia united in anger and strikes broke out in St Petersburg and other cities
18
Q
Events of 1905 Revolution: The Potemkin Mutiny
A
- The Russian navy endured harsh conditions and brutal punishments
- The crew of 800 were unhappy and some harboured revolutionary ideas
- Matyushenko and other crewmen planned a mutiny of the Black sea Fleet which would then link up with peasants and bring down the Tsar
- On the 14th June, the cooks complained the meat was riddled with maggots - the doctors decided that the maggots were only flies eggs and the meat was fine
- A spokesman, Valenchuk, went to Commander Gilyarovsky to complain. Gilyarovsky shot him. Others seized Gilyarovsky and threw him overboard
- The rest of the crew joined in, the Potemkin raised a red flag and a ‘people’s committee’ was chosen to take charge
- The ship made for Odessa where disturbances and strikes had been going on for two weeks
- Troops were sent into the harbour and opened fire on the packed crowd - 2,000 people died and 3,000 were seriously injured
- An attempt to spread the mutiny to the rest of the Black Sea Fleet failed
19
Q
Events of 1905 revolution: Peasant Rebellions
A
- Peasants organised rent strikes and tried to force landowners to increase their wages
- By summer 1905, the harvest had failed again
- 3,000 manors were destroyed (15% of the total)
- The peasants created communes by taking the land their parents and grandparents had worked on
20
Q
Events of 1905 revolution: Strikes in Cities
A
- Waves of strikes spread across Russia
- In January 1905, 400,000 workers went on strike including the most important industries, including the railway.
- Socialist leaders returned from exile and workers began to rally to left-wing parties in 1906
21
Q
Events of 1905 revolution: the St Petersburg Soviet
A
- Set up in October 1905 to organise the strikes
- Only lasted from September to early December
- The idea of Soviets became important later in 1917
22
Q
Events of 1905 revolution: National Minorities
A
- Set up in October 1905 to organise the strikes
- Only lasted from September to early December
- The idea of Soviets became important later in 1917
23
Q
Why did Nicholas survive the 1905 Revolution: October Manifesto
A
- Nicholas’ chief minister Sergei Witte advised Nicholas to make some concessions
- This led to the October Manifesto on the 17th October
- The Manifesto:
- Created a legislative Duma to approve laws
- Freedom of speech, assembly and worship
- Political parties can exist
- Legalise trade unions
- It was met with celebration and the general strike was called off
- However, it did nothing to improve conditions for workers, peasants or the armed forces
- It did split those wanting reform and those wanting wider revolution
24
Q
Why did Nicholas survive the 1905 Revolution: Repressive measures of the regime
A
- The government used repressive measures to bring the population into line
- After the 1905 Revolution, Nicholas II was known as ‘Nicholas the Bloody’
- In December 1905, the leaders of the St Petersburg Soviet were arrested and troops crushed the Moscow uprising. This followed with mass arrests
- The work of Stolypin:
- He was the Prime Minister elected in 1906
- He set up military courts which could sentence and hang offenders on the spot. 60,000 opponents were killed or exiled. The noose became known as ‘Stolypin’s necktie’
- Everyone in Russia was forced to carry internal passports and travellers had to be registered with police
- Freedom of the press had been promised by the Tsar but the press still had little freedom
- The Okhrana still rooted out anyone they considered a threat
25
Why did Nicholas survive the 1905 Revolution: Disunited Opposition
* The movements were not combined to create a coordinated effort:
* The peasant rebellion peaked in summer 1905
* Worker unrest and striking peaked in Sept/Oct after a railway strike in Moscow but lacked strategic planning and had limited nationwide support
* The activities of the SRs and SDs was very limited
26
Political parties after 1905
* After 1905, political parties formed.
* Ultra-conservatives: Union of the Russian People
* Extreme left wing: Russian Social Democratic Party
* Middle ground parties: Kadets (more liberal) and the Octobrists (more conservative)
27
The Fundamental Laws - April 1906
* In 1905, Nicholas issued the October Manifesto which offered political change through the creation of a duma (parliament)
* In 1906, the Fundamental Laws gave Nicholas II considerable power to control the duma
* The duma’s power was matched by an upper house which would always vote the way the Tsar wanted
* The Tsar kept control over the armed forces and foreign policy
* The Tsar would choose all government ministers who could veto any duma legislation
* The Tsar could dissolve the duma at any time
* The Tsar could pass any laws while the duma were not sitting (article 87)
* Only the Tsar could make changes to article 87
28
Nicholas' attitude to the Duma
* He did not trust the Russian people to have a say in how Russia was run
* He wanted the duma to support him
* However, he did like the fact that the dumas brought him popularity
29
The First Duma - April-July 1906 (10 weeks)
* Central parties have a lot of seats
* Left-wing revolutionary parties boycotted the elections to the duma
* Main demand was land reform and wanted the State Council abolished
* The Tsar did not like their push to appease the peasants and dissolved the duma
30
The second duma - February-June 1907 (4 months)
* Trudoviks (very left-wing) are the biggest party but not a majority
* There were over 200 left-wing deputies and was much more radical than the first duma
* ‘The Duma of National Anger’
* The prime minister Stolypin realised that the second Duma was more radical and dissolved it
31
The third duma - November 1907-June 1912 (4 and a half years)
* The electoral system changed so only 1 in 6 peasants/working class could vote
* Right wing parties dominated - Octobrists have 154 deputies
* Conservatives had a majority
* Stolypin worked with the third duma and managed to pass land reforms
* A law on universal education was passed at a minimum of four years education
* Steps taken to modernise the army
* Ended naturally (at end of term)
32
The fourth duma - November 1912-August 1914 (met in 1915 and 1916
* Similar political composition to the third duma
* Met infrequently due to WW1
* Did attempt to reform the Orthodox Church and supported the law of 1908 to provide universal education
33
Counter-revolution
* Repression was so severe by the third duma that revolutionary parties could not operate
* Workers were desperate to hold onto their jobs and so were reluctant to strike
* In the countryside, landlords hired armed guards and fortified their manor houses
* Through rigged elections the third duma was packed with conservatives who would never agree to radical reforms
34
Stolypin's land reforms
* He wanted to modernise farming
* He wanted to create a class of peasant landowners who would give up their revolutionary aspirations
* So - ‘the wager on the strong’: (i.e. offer so much change it would dissuade peasant's from harbouring revolutionary ideals, presented to them from more ‘stronger’ literate revolutionary peasants)
* Peasants were allowed to leave the Mir (commune) to consolidate their strips of land to a single unit and build a farmhouse
* Land bank was set up to help peasants by the land
* Schemes to resettle the peasants in Siberia
35
Success of Stolypin's land reforms
* Between 1905-1907, 3.5 million peasants moved to Siberia
* By 1914, only 10% of households in European Russia lived on farms separated from the commune
* Those who left the Mir (‘Stolypin separators’) were seen as traitors
* The reform was more successful in the west (e.g. Ukraine and Belorussia)
* By 1917, peasant unrest was sweeping through Russia
* The ‘wager on the strong’ benefitted Kulaks (wealthy peasants) but did little to alleviate the distress of poorer villagers
36
The economy and strikes
* Between 1905-1914, there was a huge expansion of industry. Industrial production increased by 100% (they became the 4th largest producer of coal)
* Those who owned factories became wealthier and people who worked in them became poorer
* After 1911, discontent grew and strikes rose.
* In 1911, there were 466
* In 1914, there were over 3,000
* Between 1912-14 over 3 million workers were involved in strikes
37
1912 Lena Goldfields Strike - Siberia
* Striking workers protested about degrading working conditions, low wages and a 14 hour day
* Protests about rotten horsemeat they were expected to eat sparked the strikes
* They clashed with troops, over 200 people were killed and many injured
* The Okhrana appears to have acted as agents to identify the leaders
* Kerensky led an investigation into the massacre
38
1914 General Strike
* July 1914 saw a general strike in St. Petersburg
* Many progressive members of the duma supported the strike
* Entry into WWI later that month stopped it getting out of hand
* Only 25% of the workforce were involved (compared to 80% in February 1917)
