The Land, The People And Tsardom

Question 1

How big was Imperial Russia in 1894

Answer 1

8 million square miles

Question 2

At its widest how many miles was Russia

Answer 2

From West to East it was 5,000 miles

Question 3

What are Russia’s principal cities

Answer 3

Moscow and St Petersburg

Question 4

Why was the size of the Russian Empire misleading?

Answer 4

Because it appeared to be powerful however that was a wide variety of races, language, and religion and Culture

Question 5

How did the size of Russia affect its power?

Answer 5

Controlling people over a vast territory was a major problem

Question 6

What did article 1 of the fundamental laws of the Empire issued by Nicholas the first in 1832 say?

Answer 6

“The emperor of all the Russians is an unlimited monarch. God himself ordained that almost bow down to his supreme power”

Question 7

What were the three official bodies which the tsar exercised his authority?

Answer 7

The Imperial Council, the cabinet of ministers, and the Senate

Question 8

What was the Imperial Council

Answer 8

group of advisors directly responsible to the tsar

Question 9

What was the Cabinet of ministers

Answer 9

A group which ran the various government departments

Question 10

What was the Senate

Answer 10

The person which supervised the operation of law

Question 11

Give 3 ways Russia presented itself as politically weak and backwards

Answer 11

1) In 1894 it was still a criminal offence to abose the tsar or his government. 2) there was no Parliament. 3) government censorship was imposed on published books and journals

Question 12

What did Russia’s political backwardness lead to?

Answer 12

The creation of varieties of secret societies dedicated to political REFORM or REVOLUTION such as ‘The People’s will’

Question 13

What is the Okhrana

Answer 13

It’s the Tsarist secret police who special task was to hunt down rebels who challenged the Tsarist Regime

Question 14

2 ways the Russian Orthodox church support the Tsarist system

Answer 14

1) its reactionary form (resistant to change). 2) the teaching of the Russian duty to be totally obedient to the Tsar as God’s anointed

Question 15

How much of the Russian population were the peasants in 1897

Answer 15

82%

Question 16

How much of the Russian population was The Ruling Class in 1897

Answer 16

0.5%

Question 17

How much of the Russian population was the working class in 1897 and what did this mean

Answer 17

1) 4%. 2) this meant that there was slow economic development

Question 18

Name three things that limited Russia’s industrial expansion and what did this lead to

Answer 18

1) The small size of working class (4%) 2)Russia’s undeveloped railway transportation 3) the absence of an effective banking system. This lead to not much entrepreneurialism

Question 19

Why did the agrarian economy fail to develop even though four-fifths of the population were peasants

Answer 19

1) The majority of land was too far north (cold) to have any climate that is good for crop growing or cattle rearing. 2) Land was too expensive for the ex-serfs to buy.

Question 20

What was the emancipation Decree of 1861 and what did this mean the ex-serfs could do?

Answer 20

1) It was the reformed that abolished Serfdom - a form of slavery where the landowner had total control of the peasants who lived or worked on his land. 2) serfs can now buy land, but in order to buy it they need to borrow money = large debt.

Question 21

Why were the 0.5% of The Ruling Class fearful of the ‘dark masses’

Answer 21

The peasants made over 80% of the population. If they became educated then they could punish the Tsar for the large debts and great poverty.

Question 22

What was one common method used to keep the peasant ‘under the whip’, according to Empress Alexandra

Answer 22

Conscription - the forcing of large number of peasants into the army or navy

Question 23

How many people were in the Russian army

Answer 23

1 1/2 million men

Question 24

How much did it cost to maintain the army and navy

Answer 24

45% of the government annual money - largest item of state spending

Question 25

Why was the bureaucracy aka civil service, being judged as the reason for Russia’s backwardness

Answer 25

Was corrupted, led by nepotism, and incompetence (money grasping elite). The law the government, the police, and the Militia were in their hands. - Herzen