When did Tsar Alexander II rule?
1855-1881
In 1861 which reform was passed?
The emancipation of the Serfs
What happened to Alexander II?
Assasinated by the “peoples will”
Who became Tsar after Alexander II and when did he rule?
Tsar Alexander III, 1881-1894
Major policies of 1884?
- Peasant land bank created
- Primary schools placed under church control
Land captains-when were they introduced and what did they do?
1889
They enforced local law
What was Russia’s population in 1881?
98 million
Political structure of Russia in the 19th C?
Tsar-complete political power
Beneath him:
Council of ministers-appointed by tsar
Russian orthodox synod-tsar chose chairman of synod, parliament of state church
Provincial governors-appointed by tsar
Who was the most powerful church in Russia under the rule of alexander II?
The Russian orthodox church
What did Tsar liberator introduce in 1864?
Zemstva: the local government units in rural areas
What did the Tsars government introduce in 1870?
Trial by jury
Elective government was extended to towns and cities
When was Alexander II assassinated and by who?
13 march 1881 by the ‘People’s will’
What was Alexander II’s nickname?
Tsar liberator
When did Alexander III rule?
1881-1894
When did major famine occur in Russia?
1891, 1892 and 1893
When was the ‘people’s will’ group formed?
What kind of group were they?
1879
Nilhalists- they knew they wanted to remove the Tsar but didn’t know what their plan was afterwards
Who became procurator of the holy synod in 1880?
Konstantin pobedonostsev
What was the statue of state security?
It set up government-controlled courts to try and convict political opponents
How was press freedom restricted under Alexander III?
1882-1889: 14 major newspapers banned for displaying liberal tendencies
Foreign books and newspapers severely restricted
How was education controlled under Alexander III?
Uni fees raised to exclude all but the very wealthy
1884: Uni’s came under government control
Zemstva primary schools were put under church control- restrictions introduced so sons of peasants and workers couldn’t go to secondary school
How was local political power controlled under Alexander III?
1890: land captains made part of local zemstva
Zemstva franchise restricted to allow only landed classes to be elected
Doctors and school teachers not allowed to stand
Why did trial by jury cause problems for the Tsar’s government?
1878: radical extremist vera zasulich acquitted of shooting the st. petersburg chief of police in broad daylight
How did Alexander III’s governemnt later end trial by jury?
1890: government exercised right to select juries
What policy did Alexander III introduce to bring unity in his large, multi-racial empire?
Russification-insisting on the use of only the Russian language in official documents and in schools
When was Russian made the official language of the Russian empire?
1885
What were Pogroms?
Attacks on jewish property and jewish civilians
Who was Alexander III’s first finance minister?
Nikolai Bunge
What policies did finance minister bunge introduce in 1882?
Introduced laws to reduce peasant tax burden
Established peasant land bank-offered loan facilities to peasants
When did Bunge resign?
Who replaced him?
Bunge resigned 1887
Replaced by ivan Vyshnegradsky
What did Vyshnegradsky do for finacial reform under Alexander III?
Introduced financial incentives to peasants to migrate to eastern siberia
French and british loans supporting Russian economic development
When did Nicholas II come into power?
October 1894, following the death of Alexander III
What did Jewish radicals form in 1895?
The bund, a left-wing organisation
What was the “great spurt” under Witte 1892-1903?
A series of economic reforms designed to boot rapid industrialisation
Why did Witte introduce the “great spurt”?
Russia had a small business class-essential class to development of economy
Most peasants didn’t have complete freedom of movement-limited industrial workforce
Economy lacked sufficient funds for industrial development
Under the Witte system, what changed/was introduced?
Economic development funded by the government
Much of the economic development was financed from abroad eg Belgium, France, Britain
Heavy taxes on peasants
Construction of Trans-Siberian railway
‘Witte’s gold standard’-roubles could be converted to gold on demand to increase investment
Impacts of Witte’s ‘great spurt’?
Coal, iron and oil production rose
Industrial growth concentrated in Moscow, st Petersburg, Baku and Ukraine
By 1900, over half industrial workforce employed in factories
Population of st Petersburg doubled to 2 million by 1914
But:
Rapid growth=poor living and working conditions
-> development of social unrest and radical alternatives
When was the social democrat party founded?
1898
When was the social revolutionary party formed?
1901
When did the social democrats split?
What did they split into?
1903
The bolsheviks and Mensheviks
What did the social revolutionaries believe?
Russia’s future lay with ‘the people’-wanted to give peasants their own land
What did the social democrats believe?
The teachings of Karl Marx (communism)
Where was the 2nd party congress of the social democrats held?
Why?
London, 1903
They were forced to live abroad to avoid arrest from the okhrana
What did the social democrats split over in 1903?
Whether or not they should limit their membership to dedicated revolutionaries
- Lenin’s party wanted his
- Future Menshevik faction wanted a broad membership
In 1903 at the second party congress of the social democrats how did the voting go concerning membership?
Initially against 28-22 for
Then the Jewish bund formed and left so:
against 15:17 for
What are the 4 stages towards communism?
Feudalism-boosts industrialisation
Capitalism-boosts industrial workers revolution
Socialism-equality and harmony develop under political guidance of industrial working class
Communism-end of all class conflict
What groups formed in the development of Russian liberalism?
Zemstva- political organisations with elected officials
Union of liberation-1904 formed by Russian liberal exiles
Octobrists-believed 1905 October manifesto provided best settlement for constitutional development
Kadets-believed 1905 October manifesto was the beginning of political reform
What was Bloody Sunday?
When was it?
Peaceful demonstrators were shot by tsarist troops outside the winter place
9th January 1905
What was the Russo-Japanese war?
When was it?
What was the outcome for Russia?
A war between Russia and Japan over where Russia wanted to expand its empire
February 1904-September 1905
Disastrous defeat for Russian forces
What was the greatest military defeat of the Russo-Japanese war?
The battle of Tsushima 27th may 1905
-lost 25 of 35 warships
What were the short term clauses of the 1905 revolution?
Bloody Sunday-damaged Tsar’s popularity
Russo-Japanese war- humiliating defeat, made Tsar look weak
What were the long term causes of the 1905 revolution?
Social and economic: Extreme Poverty and rising population Harvest failures and famines Peasant Jacqueries (uprisings) Poor city living and working conditions
Political:
Demand for political reform
Rise of extremist reformers eg SDs and SRs as well as moderate reformers eg Liberals
How did strikes develop during the 1905 revolution?
Feb 1905-400,000 strikers after Bloody Sunday
End of 1905 2.7 million had been on strike
General strike 20 September to 30 October
-> Strikers set up soviets to organise strikes
October 1905-railway workers went on strike
Where was the first major peasant uprising of he 1905 revolution?
Kursk province in February 1905
What was the most famous mutiny of the 1905 revolution?
The Black Sea fleet in June 1905
-crew of the battleship Potemkin bombarded the Black Sea port of Odessa
What was the St Petersburg soviet?
How many members did it have at its peak?
An assembly of workers, who organised strikes and ensured that striking workers got food
-At its height, they had over 400 members representing 96 factories
When did the St Petersburg soviet come to an end?
3rd December 1905 when its leaders were arrested
What happened during the armed uprising in Moscow on the 7th December 1905?
What did the end of this rising mark?
During the next 9 days, armed workers fought government troops and police
-> 18th December-a thousand were dead so revolutionaries including many bolsheviks surrendered
=end of the revolution
When was the October manifesto issued?
30th October 1905
What were the terms of the October manifesto?
An elected national parliament
Freedom of speech, religion and civil rights
How did liberals react to the October manifesto?
Split into the:
Octobrists-accepted manifesto as ‘the final reform’
Kadets-saw manifesto as beginning of major reform
Why did the revolution fail?
Loyalty of the armed forces-most forces stayed loyal, mutinies were limited
Revolutionary lack of unity-spontaneous outbreaks meant they could be put down individually
Revolutionaries had different views-liberals wanted to share power whilst SDs wanted Tsar removed completely
Splitting the opposition-October manifesto
What were the consequences of the 1905 revolution?
October 1905
- government attempted to reassertion authority with the Black Hundreds (a pro-gov counter-revolutionary terror group)
- new political gov group formed=’Union of the Russian people’
1906
- Fundamental law+article 87 gave Tsar the right to govern by decree (ignore parliament)
- April=first Duma elections (although the Duma only lasted 73 days)
What was the “great spurt” under Witte 1892-1903?
A series of economic reforms designed to boot rapid industrialisation
Why did Witte introduce the “great spurt”?
Russia had a small business class-essential class to development of economy
Most peasants didn’t have complete freedom of movement-limited industrial workforce
Economy lacked sufficient funds for industrial development
Under the Witte system, what changed/was introduced?
Economic development funded by the government
Much of the economic development was financed from abroad eg Belgium, France, Britain
Heavy taxes on peasants
Construction of Trans-Siberian railway
‘Witte’s gold standard’-
Impacts of Witte’s ‘great spurt’?
Coal, iron and oil production rose
Industrial growth concentrated in Moscow, st Petersburg, Baku and Ukraine
By 1900, over half industrial workforce employed in factories
Population of st Petersburg doubled to 2 million by 1914
But:
Rapid growth=poor living and working conditions
-> development of social unrest and radical alternatives
When was the social democrat party founded?
1898
When was the social revolutionary party formed?
1901
When did the social democrats split?
What did they split into?
1903
The bolsheviks and Mensheviks
What did the social revolutionaries believe?
Russia’s future lay with ‘the people’-wanted to give peasants their own land
What did the social democrats believe?
The teachings of Karl Marx (communism)
Where was the 2nd party congress of the social democrats held?
Why?
London, 1903
They were forced to live abroad to avoid arrest from the okhrana
What did the social democrats split over in 1903?
Whether or not they should limit their membership to dedicated revolutionaries
- Lenin’s party wanted his
- Future Menshevik faction wanted a broad membership
In 1903 at the second party congress of the social democrats how did the voting go concerning membership?
Initially against 28-22 for
Then the Jewish bund formed and left so:
against 15:17 for
What are the 4 stages towards communism?
Feudalism-boosts industrialisation
Capitalism-boosts industrial workers revolution
Socialism-equality and harmony develop under political guidance of industrial working class
Communism-end of all class conflict
What groups formed in the development of Russian liberalism?
Zemstva- political organisations with elected officials
Union of liberation-1904 formed by Russian liberal exiles
Octobrists-believed 1905 October manifesto provided best settlement for constitutional development
Kadets-believed 1905 October manifesto was the beginning of political reform
What was Bloody Sunday?
When was it?
Peaceful demonstrators were shot by tsarist troops outside the winter place
9th January 1905
What was the Russo-Japanese war?
When was it?
What was the outcome for Russia?
A war between Russia and Japan over where Russia wanted to expand its empire
February 1904-September 1905
Disastrous defeat for Russian forces
What was the greatest military defeat of the Russo-Japanese war?
The battle of Tsushima 27th may 1905
-lost 25 of 35 warships
What were the short term clauses of the 1905 revolution?
Bloody Sunday-damaged Tsar’s popularity
Russo-Japanese war- humiliating defeat, made Tsar look weak
What were the long term causes of the 1905 revolution?
Social and economic: Extreme Poverty and rising population Harvest failures and famines Peasant Jacqueries (uprisings) Poor city living and working conditions
Political:
Demand for political reform
Rise of extremist reformers eg SDs and SRs as well as moderate reformers eg Liberals