the state of russia in 1917

Question 1

intro to russia

Answer 1

-at peak occupied 1/6 of worlds land surface
-vast diversity in climate, culture ethnicity and econ
-much uninhabitable and lived in western areas
-1900 pop 126m
-largely dominated by Orthodox Church

Question 2

early Russian politics

Answer 2

political parties not legal until 1906
-by 1917, orates included, sr’s, octobrists, kadets, bolsheviks and Mensheviks

Question 3

problems of workers strikes

Answer 3

-1906 to 1914, became increasingly unionized and strikes more common
-1912: 750k workers on strike
-1914: 1.45m workers on strike

Question 4

1905 revolution

Answer 4

-failure of Russo-japanese war
-people hoped this would ring radical changes
-there was the creation of a national parliament (the duma), however the power remained limited and tsar still had complete authority

Question 5

Stolypin

Answer 5

-was the Tsar’s head of government from 1906-11
-was complicit in small repression and brutal reforms
-37000 people were found guilty of political opposition in his rule
-punishment was to be sent to labour camps or resettled in siberia/desert
-prison population increased from 98,000 in 1905 to 250,000 by 1913

Question 6

the use of political repression

Answer 6

-1907, head of police trusevich, instituted policy of surveillance and subversion

Question 7

the tsar’s political authority

Answer 7

-ruled russia since 1894
-was the last ruler of Romanov dynasty which had started in 1613
-was a family man, believed in autocracy and resisted any kind of reform
-tsars government was made up of the senate, state council and cabinet- these were merely advisory