the opponents of tsardom

Question 1

who were the populists (Narodniks)?

Answer 1

• regarded the future of Russia as being in the hands of the peasants who made up majority of the population.
• the populist leaders were drawn from the middle and upper classes and regarded it as their duty to educate the uninformed peasantry into an awareness of its revolutionary form.
• this involved ‘going to the people’ -a policy by which the educated populists went from the universities into the countryside to live for a period with the peasants in attempt to turn them into revolutionaries.
• it was a success.
• some Populists turned to terrorism to achieve their aims.
• a group called ‘the peoples will’ was formed with the intention of murdering members of the ruling class.
• the peoples will successfully planned the assassination of Alexander II who was blown to pieces by a bomb.
• the concept of a peasant-based revolution was unrealistic as the Russian peasantry were simply not interested in political revolution.

Question 2

who were the social revolutionaries?

Answer 2

• this party grew out of the populist movement.
• the economic spurt produced a quickening interest in political and social issues, which gave them an opportunity to gain recruits from the rapidly growing urban workforce.
• the intention was to widen the concept of ‘the people’.
• Victor Chernov became the leader and was a member of the intelligentsia and sought to provide a firmer base for populism than previously.
• the SR’s were weakened by disagreements among themselves.
• the left SR’s were the faction who wanted to continue the policy of terrorism inherited from ‘the people’s will’.
• the right SR’s were the more moderate element who were prepared to co-operate with other parties in working for improvement in the conditions of the workers and peasants.
• during 1901 and 1905, the terrorist faction dominated and were responsible for over 2000 political assassinations.
• it was the social revolutionaries land policy that largely explains why the SR’s remained the most popular party with the peasants.

Question 3

who were the social democrats?

Answer 3

• their aim was to achieve revolution in Russia by following the ideas of Karl Marx.
• they did not consider that the peasants would rise in revolution.
• they focused on agitation amongst the workers in the cities.
• the group split in 1903 after a ideological disagreement -the Mensheviks, led by Martov, wanted revolution b the workers to occur naturally whereas the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, believed revolution should come as soon as possible.

Question 4

what was Lenin’s impact on the social democrats?

Answer 4

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