2. Political, Economic And Social Problems Of Russia In 1894 Flashcards
What was the size of Russia?
8 million square miles
How many times larger was Russia compared to the USA
2.5 times
What country was 2.5 times smaller than Russia?
USA
What were principal cities?
St Petersburg and Moscow
What was the importance of Moscow and St Petersburg?
Principal cities
What was a problem with the agriculture in Russia
Limited
What was a conservative faction in Russia?
The Orthodox Church
What the motto of the church?
“God commands us to love and obey
Who’s motto was “God commands us to Love and Obey”?
The church
What was the population in 1815?
40 million
What was the population in 1914?
165 million
What happened to the population during 1815-1914?
Quadruple
In what period did the population quadruple
1815-1914
During what period did the population move from 40 million to 165 million?
1815-1914
What percentage of the population was peasants?
80%
What was 80% of the population?
Peasants
In the 1897 census, what percentage of the population made up the ruling classes?
0.5%
In the 1897 census who made up 0.5% of the population?
Ruling classes
Why was their unrest before Nicholas reign?
Peasants had received land under Alexander II but were unhappy with the quality and quantity
What were peasants controlled by
Mir (village councils) headed by village elders
What was the role of the Mir?
Control peasants and act as village council
What was starting at the beginning of Tsar Nicholas II reign?
Industrialisation
Industrial workforce growing
What was Russia slow in compared with other European nations?
Economic growth
What industries were Russia made up of?
Cottage
Small scale businesses
What was underdeveloped in Russia?
Infrastructure
What did the Emancipation Act of 1861 do?
Allowed peasants to buy land
What happened in 1861?
Emancipation Act
When was the Emanciption Act?
1861
What was the problem with the emancipation act of 1861?
Too costly
What was the main way of farming?
Strip system
What was the distance of Russia from West to East?
5000 miles
What was the distance of Russia from North to South
2000 miles
Where did many people live within Russian?
European Russia and many moved towards main cities of St a Petersburg and Moscow
What was Russia like culturally?
Wide social and ethnic mix
E.g. Ukrainians, Germans, Poles, Finns
With their own language and culture
What was the problem with national minority groups?
Posed a threat as they wanted independence
Where did Russia want to exert their authority?
Caucasus region
Who did Russia fall out with?
Austria
Who did Russia make alliances with?
France and Prussia
What major wars was Russia involved in?
Crimean
Russo Turkish war
What caused the government to be preoccupied?
Too much routine paperwork
What was there a required development for?
Doctors, Lawyers, Educators, Engineers and administrators
What was the annual economic growth rate in 1894?
8%
In what year was the economic growth rate 8%?
1894
What allows the 8% growth rate in 1894?
Small scale enterprise
What was an old role of the tsar that Nicholas would have to focus on?
Far more interventionism, Managing economy, directing industry and providing more social services also through maintaining order through providing welfare
What were the political groups thoughts after 1905?
Liberal and socialist opposition groups were calling for reforms to the political system to allow greater representation of the people
What was the problem with the 8% growth rate?
Much is this achieved through small-scale enterprise rather than large-scale enterprise based on the principle of division of labour
Productivity was low compare to international rivals
What did the Tsar and his ministers control?
Controlling armaments industry and the railway
What’s caused the western economic modernisation?
Lassiez faire, Freemarket thinking
What did Slavophile believe about modernisation?
Opposed the free market approach
Who opposed the free market solution?
Slavophile
What were the peasantry refer to as
Dark masses
Why were the peasantry a threat To the running elite
Because of the sheer size of the social group
What had happened that improve the living conditions of peasants
Peasant land bank was formed in 1883 and the abolition of peasant poll-tax in 1886
What did the Mir lead to
Less incentive to farmland properly
What cause an increase in unemployment and under employment
A rapidly growing population
How many people died as a result of the 1891 famine
350,000 people
In what famine did 350,000 people die
1891
What was the size of the industrial workforce by 1912
2.9 million
The industrial workforce doubled
What was the social issues in Russia?
Poor housing, lack of sanitation, in adequate water supplies
What did the poor social conditions within Russia cause?
Spread of diseases especially cholera
How was the welfare of the workers more considered
Resourcing establishment of factory Inspectorate, the Ministry of internal affairs started to make more aggressive stance towards any attempts to support the labouring classes
What was the problem of Russia’s dependence on foreign investment?
Russian government was never in total control of the rate at which industrialisation could occur
In which period did Russia experience terrible famines?
1891 to 1892
What market was small within Russia
Small home market for goods
What was the problem with not having a middle class?
Lack of a flourishing middle-class to provide sustained economic growth
What lagged causing productivity to go down?
They were behind more developed economies
What does the increase in industrial workers show?
The formation of a new class
What is the little amongst the proletariat lead to?
Added to the list of peasants
What was the growth mainly thanks to?
Witte
Vyshnegradsky
When did Witte Take over
1892
Who worked between 1892-1903
Sergei Witte
What was Wittes aim?
Totally committed to economic modernisation seeing it as the only way of preserving Russia’s Great Power status
What was the 3 problems Witte recognised?
Insufficient capital
Lack of technical/manegerial expertise
Insufficient man power in the right places
Why did industrialisation happen from above?
No Entrepreneurial class to drive change
What fraction of Worlds land mass did Russia have?
1/6
Who owned 25% of land
1% of nobility
What happened to the new working-class
New class developed a political awareness of consciousness Found a voice for a socialist organisations to challenge the authority of the Tsar
Since when did the Romanov family rule
1613
Where was the government based?
St Petersburg
What were the 3 main ruling bodies?
Imperial council
Cabinet of ministers
Senate
Who selected the government?
Tsar
Which stars had modernised the country
Tsar Peter I
Catherine II
What was the main worry for Russia internationally?
Russia was falling behind modern Europe and becoming a second rate power
What was opposition treated as
Treason
How did the Tsar rule?
Imperial decree- ukase
What was Ukaz
Imperial decree the tsar used to rule
What was the social structure
Feudal
What percentage of the population did the peasantry make up
80%
In terms of military what was the Tsar
Chief of army and in charge of foreign policy
How much of the government expenditure went to the army
45%
What could the nobility purchase within the army?
Commissions
When was there a famine
1891-2
What happened between 1891-2?
Famine
What was ineffective in dealing with them rural problems
Department of Agriculture, 1894
What was the annual growth rate in 1894?
8%
What enterprise did the government focus on?
Larger scale ( only old staples (iron, steel, mining and textiles))
What aggravated peasants in 1886
Abolition of peasant poll tax
When was the peasant poll tax abolished
1886
What dominated the land available
The Mir
What was the death rate of the 1891 famine?
350,000 people
What resulted in the death of 350,000 people?
1891 famine
What was the size of the industrial workforce by 1912
2.9 million
In what year was the industrial workforce 2.9 million
1912
What did the ministry of finance do
Progress to protect workers
What did the ministry of internal affairs do?
Aggressive stance against workers
What was the impact of the ministry of finance and internal affairs opposing opinions
Confusion and inconsistency amongst the government stance on labour relations
