Why did the Tsarist regime collapse in 1917 Flashcards
Roughly how many different nationalities were there in Russia at the turn of the century?
200
What was russification?
The tsarist policy of making non-Russians in Russia speak Russian, wear Russian clothes and follow Russian customs.
What problems face the Tsar at the beginning of the twentieth century
. The Tsar was incompetent and did not like getting involved in politics
. Communication across Russia
. A multitude of religions made the Tsar’s divine right futile in certain areas
. Large amount of nationalities made communication much harder
. Other rival political parties like the social democrats
. Opposition in the countryside
What percentage of people were peasants, and what percentage were nobles?
80, 1
What were better off peasants, who hired labour and rented land, known as?
Kulaks
Most soldiers in the army were:
Peasant conscripts, badly paid and poorly fed
What was the main religion in Russia?
Russian Orthodox Christian
Who did the Tsars believe had appointed them to rule?
God
How many people died in the 1891 famine ?
400,000
Russians often referred to the Tsar as:
Little father
What was the exact date of Bloody Sunday?
22 January 1905
How did the October Manfiesto pick off the oppostion
. Liberals and middle classes believed they had won democratic government. They stopped the protests and supported the government
What were the four main demands of the Bloody Sunday marchers?
An eight hour working day, pay of one rouble a day, the vote, lower taxes.
To what did the the Tsar agree in the October Manifesto of 1905?
. Civil rights e.g. freedom of speech and conscience
. A parliament or duma elected by the people
. Uncensored newspapers and the right to form political parties
How was the Tsar able to win the army
. The government paid all the soldiers their back pay and promised better conditions of service so that they would remain loyal to the Tsar
. Reduction in conscription
How did the Tsar survive the 1905 revolution
. Concessions e.g. October manifesto
. Use of the army
. Uncoordination of opposition
. Lack of unity of opposition (the tsar picked them off with th october manfiesto etc…)
Explanation of lack of unity 1905
. Opposition of the Tsar had different aims and purposes and did not act together to bring him down hence making an ineffective opposition (e.g. mensheviks believed in a ‘mannered’ less violent apporach, bolsheviks beleived in a ‘people take over’)
What were the fundamental laws
. Issued in May 1906
. Undermined the power of the Duma
. False dawn made tsar look like a despot
. Tsar had total control over the duma
. He alone could make laws and dissolve the Duma
. As a result the power of the duma was limited from the very start
What were the various groups opposing the Tsar
. The workers
. The peasants
. The liberal middle classes
. Students
. Wider public in the cities
. National dependence movements
Stolypin’s role in the 1905 revolution
. Chief minister, Stolypin, used the police and the law courts agains suspected agitators: they were either hung, or sent into exile for long periods in remote areas of Russia like Siberia
. Used okrhana to stop riots
. Stolypin also encouraged Tsarist gangs like the Black hundreds to kill any peasant/worker suspected of causing trouble. These methods were effective in re-establishing government across the empire
What were Stolypins reforms
. Peasants were allowed to buy up strips of land
. Set up a peasants’ bank to provide loans for them to do this
. Part of his reforms was a restructuring of the duma which gave peasants less power
Why did stolypin’s reforms fail
. There were only few kulaks
. Poor peasants came poorer
What was the ratio of representatives to a) nobles and b) peasants in the first Duma?
One representative for every 2000 nobles, and one for every 90,000 peasants.
What could the first Duma not do?
Pass laws, appoint ministers or control finance in key areas such as defence. Also, the Tsar could dissolve it whenever he wished.
