3.1 - Causes of Russian Revolution Flashcards
1
Q
19th Century Russia – Demography
A
- 8000km from East to West; 3200km from North to South
- Ethnically diverse – 170 ethnicities
o Russians = only 44% of population
o Different cultures, languages and movements for political independent - Population rapidly expanding-40 million in 1815 1995 million in 1890 165 million in 1914
- Increase of people living in towns
2
Q
19th Century Russia – Social Structure
A
- Nobility – 1% of population but owned 25% of land
- Middle class – small (approx 0.5% in 1897) but growing
- Urban workers – new class and small (about 7%) with very poor working and living conditions
- Peasants approx 80% of population
o Given some land after emancipation in 1861 but very restricted by the mur they lived in we got poor illiterate and widespread disease - Kulaks – rich peasants who hired labour, rented and bought land
3
Q
19th Century Russia – Political System
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- Tsar was autocratic and had supreme power
- All other bodies of government were administrative or advisory
o Imperial Council – provided expert opinion
o Committee of Ministers – advisory role, ran departments and appointed by Tsar
o Russia = only European country without democratic/representative government by 20th century
4
Q
19th Century Russia – Russian Politics
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- Tsar Alexander II
o Reformer
o Nicknamed ‘Tsar Liberator’
o Created representation full landlords through zemstvo’s in brackets local government
o Emancipated the peasants
o However, banned trade unions and kept a massive police force - Tsar Alexander III
o Disempowered the zemstvo
o Policy of Russification – forced minorities to learn Russian, tried to convert populations to Russian Orthodox
5
Q
19th Century Russia – Pillars of Control
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- Bureaucracy:
o 14 levels
o Put policies into practice - Police:
o Okhrana – Tsar’s secret police
o Maintained law and order, but only 1 policeman per 3850 peasants, so Tsar relied on Cossacks - Orthodox Church:
o Legitimised Tsar’s power
o Used to reinforce conservative values and stifle receptiveness to revolutionary ideas and movements - Army:
o Conscription used as a punishment
o Severe discipline and grim conditions
o 1.5 million men = 45% of government spending
o High ranks reserved for aristocracy
6
Q
19th Century Russia – Agricultural Situation
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- Post peasant emancipation, landlords would not pay labourers and peasants could not afford to own land ¼ of previously cultivated land fell into disuse
- Peasants owned small land holdings (less than 10 acres)
- Led to inefficient farms (half of other nations per acre)
- Growing population pressure on food resources
7
Q
19th Century Russia – Industrial Situation
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- Industrialisation pursued after 1870s
- Russia behind on all industrial measures:
o Coal production less than 5% of that of Britain
o –> 25% of coal imported
o Lack of effective banking system
o Less railway track
8
Q
Nicholas II
A
- Came to power in 1894
- Committed to preservation of autocracy
o Believed democracy would collapse Russian empire - Heavily influenced by Russification – a severely enforced policy of restricting the influence of non-Russian national minorities, by emphasising superiority of Russian culture
o Impact of Russification – greater opposition, disunity in Russia and emergence of revolutionary groups - Coronation –> crowd crush and >1300 killed but Tsar attended party with French later that night –> diminished reputation
9
Q
Liberal Ideas
A
- Includes nobles, middle class and students
- Two main political parties: Octobrists and Kadets
- Wanted reforms to system rather than revolution
o Agreed on establishing a constitution and parliament - However, Tsar’s response against Liberal groups increased anger
o Tsar weakened Zemstvo through censorship, arresting leaders and reducing budgets
o Removed freedoms from universities, arrested leaders and slaughter of the students where 13 killed, hundreds injured and 1500 arrested - Significance:
o Calls for constitutional monarchy and universal suffrage became important
o Discontent led to February Revolution
10
Q
Liberal Group: Octobrists
A
- Moderate Liberals loyal to Tsar, often drawn from commercial, industrial and landowning interests
- Believed in maintaining Russian Empire but also desired constitutional monarchy
- Frequently voiced criticism of Tsar and eventually withdrew support in 1917
11
Q
Liberal Group: Kadets
A
- Largest Liberal group
- Included middle classes
- Demands:
o All Russian Constituent Assembly – with power to make and amend Constitution
o Full equality
o Abolition of censorship
o Abolition of redemption payments – payments made by serfs to government after emancipation
o Trade unions and right to strike
o Universal education
12
Q
Marxism
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- Believe that economic forces and the class struggle shape society
- Believes that the central conflict exists between the proletariat and bourgeoisie
o Believes that the exploitation of the proletariat will create revolutionary consciousness and lead to workers overthrowing the bourgeoisie - Aims:
o Establish communist society that is classless and with property and wealth shared - Marxism appealed to young intellectuals and those that believed reform was not possible
o Marxism offered a way forward for Russia that seemed rational and scientific
13
Q
Marxism-Leninism
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- Lenin wanted to accelerate the process of the revolution by making the proletariat aware of their exploitation
- Lenin also clarified how the socialist transition would work and what the communist utopia would in fact look like
- Elements of Leninist Theory:
o Vanguard Party – to become a guiding force to overthrow the bourgeoisie by creating a democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and then transferring power
o Dictatorship of the Proletariat – with elected soviets and representatives of factory workers and trade unions
o Nationalised industry and a foreign trade monopoly
o National self determination
o Socialist culture – to educate workers and change their perception of society
14
Q
Socialist Group: Mensheviks
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- Formed after the split of the Social Democratic Party in 1903
- Advocated for a mass organisation with membership open to all and decisions made by internal votes
- Believed Russia was not ready for a socialist revolution as the bourgeoisie stage had to occur first
o Committed to a strategy of alliance with other groups and championed improvements to working conditions and wages (economism)
15
Q
Socialist Group: Bolsheviks
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- Formed after the split of the Social Democratic Party in 1903
- Advocated for a tight-knit exclusive organisation of professional revolutionaries
- Believed the bourgeoisie and proletarian stage of revolution can occur together (telescoped)
- Against cooperation with other parties
- Argued that imperialism was the highest stage of capitalism so Russia was ripe for revolution
- Dismissed economism
16
Q
Socialist Group: Socialist Revolutionaries
A
- Populist movement that wanted to end capitalism
- However, did not want to implement communism either
- Advocated for ‘revolutionary socialism’ and pledged to redistribute land
- Appealed to workers and valued peasants as a key aspect of their support base
- Internally split between anarchists and communists –> incoherent party
17
Q
Social Democrats
A
- Founded in 1898
- Banned in Russia and 2 main members in exile –> limited influence
- Lenin joined in 1900
o Role as editor of party newspaper allowed him to voice his opinions - 2nd Party Congress (1903) – Lenin made an issue over membership of party
o Plekhanov & Martov – broad based party
o Lenin – tight knit, exclusive party of ‘professional revolutionaries’
o Led to a series of votes occurring but result was unclear –> party splits in two
18
Q
Causes of 1905 Revolution:
Discontent Amongst Peasantry
A
- Caused by famine, lack of work, rising rents and increases to grain tax
- Peasant Revolt (1902-3) – led to destruction of properties and targeted nobility
- Years of the Red Cockerel (1903-4) – involved seizure of land by peasants → anger amongst landlords and pressure on Tsar to act
→ shortages of grain exacerbated as peasants not paying tax on land - Government responds by conducting and investigation into causes of anger, which concludes that no rural areas were prosperous and all were in a state of decline
- However, the government did not implement reforms
19
Q
Causes of 1905 Revolution:
Discontent Amongst Workers
A
- Caused by poor working conditions:
o Working for more than 11 hours a day
o Excessive fines for being late or absent
o Lowest paid workers in Europe
o Trade unions and strikes illegal - Exacerbated by recession in early 1900s
- Belief that reforms were insufficient
- Increased number of strikes (522 met with violence by 1902)
20
Q
Causes of 1905 Revolution:
Discontent Amongst Educated Classes
A
- Mostly radical students → anti government sentiment
- Government response of expulsion, exile, forced military service and reforms to the education system to increase censorship → exacerbated anger
- National Zemstvo Congress (Nov 1904) = first national assembly in Russian history and made calls for a constitution
- Moscow City Duma (Nov 1904) = demanded establishment of national legislature, and freedom of religion and press
- Nicholas response – manifesto promising broadened powers for Zemstvo, insurance for industrial workers and abolition of censorship
o However, refused to implement representative national legislature
21
Q
Causes of 1905 Revolution:
Russo-Japanese War
A
- Russia looked to expand into Manchuria and Korea
o Wanted to compensate for decline in Europe
o Wanted to gain an ice free port
o Wanted to distract population from domestic problems
o However, Japan also had interest in these regions - Russia gained 25 year lease on Liaodong Peninsula, Manchuria – including access to Port Arthur, a warm water port with access to Pacific
- Russia also continued to build up military strength in Manchuria
- Russia did not realise the advancements to Japanese military so believed a war against them would be an easy victory
- Japan tries to reduce tensions by proposing well defined spheres of influence, with Russia to hold Manchuria and Japan to hold Korea
o However, Russia was not interested in a diplomatic solution
o Instead, Russia wanted a short, decisive war to create national pride and unity - Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902) ensured Britain would not support Russia on case of war → increase Japanese confidence
- Beginning of war – Japan launch surprise attack on Port Arthur in 1904
o Russia initially advantaged with x3 population and x5 military of Japan
o However, Russia was severely caught off guard with a lack of artillery and resources in Manchuria to respond
o Failure of Balkan fleet – 10 months late and fired on Britain causing blockade of Suez Canal - Result: decisive Japanese victory
- Russia lost due to:
o Commanders not understanding enemy or terrain
o Long distances for supplies to travel
o Poor strategy - Impacts:
o Treaty of Portsmouth (Aug 1905) → Russia remove military from Manchuria and lost its lease of Liaodong Peninsula
o Humiliating defeat → anger, revolutionary sentiment and criticism of government → strikes (120k on strike in Jan 1905), peasant revolts, student demonstrations and attacks by revolutionary terrorists
o Growing support for liberal and revolutionary movements
o Shortages, rising prices (eg 35% increase in price of bread from 1904-5) and falling wages of 25%
o Lack of domestic military capability to respond to domestic threats
o Radicalisation of soldiers
22
Q
Father Gapon’s Petition
A
- Petition designed to appeal directly to Tsar and highlight workers’ grievances, including:
o Freedom of speech, press, association and religion
o Universal education
o Equality of the law
o Separation of church and state
o Abolition of indirect taxes
o Abolition of redemption payments
o Eight hour working day and regulation of overtime work
o Freedom of labour
o Wage regulation
23
Q
Bloody Sunday (9th Jan 1905)
A
- 150k protesters assembled peacefully and marched to Winter Palace
- Soldiers began firing on protesters when they did not obey demand to disperse
- Approx 200 killed and 800 wounded; however, reports at the time stated 4600 killed –> influence opinion
- Tsar not present at winter palace at the time so did not order troops to fire; however, as he had absolute authority, he was ultimately seen as responsible
24
Q
Impacts of Bloody Sunday
A
- Faith of working class in Tsar shattered
o Lost reputation as ‘little father’ - Interior Minister, Mirskii, was dismissed Jan 18th
- Workers’ response:
o Wave of fury spread across Russia
o 400k strikers in St Petersburg alone (end of Jan 1905)
–> Industrial action was taking place in every major town and city –> ‘festival of mobilisation’
o Revolutionaries increase influence
o Founding of St Petersburg Soviet (13th Oct 1905) = platform for workers to advocate and challenged authority of Tsar - Peasants’ response:
o Resistance initially mild – such as not paying taxes
o However, continued to grow, including seizure of crops and livestock, and burning of manor houses
–> Tsar ordered armed response on 2700 occasions
–> However, lack of troops due to Russo-Japanese War combined with unwillingness of peasants to fire on their own people and a lack of power of local government –> unable to effectively respond
o Peasant Union formed (Oct 1905) and created political demands - refused to pay taxes or provide troops to army until demands are met - Military response:
o Poor conditions and war weariness from Russo Japanese War –> mutinies
o For example, the Potemkin mutiny occurred after sailors were served rotten meat, led to 7/18 officers being killed
o Significant challenge to Tsar’s control and prevented them from quelling revolution - Liberals’ response:
o Formation of Union of Unions to combine liberals with industrial workers
o Maintained commitment to universal suffrage and representative government - Revolutionaries’ response:
o Involvement was generally limited – workers and peasants often apathetic and hostile to revolutionaries
o Terror wing called for attacks against landlords
25
Q
October Manifesto - Background
A
- Nicholas facing largest opposition ever
- Two options:
o Authoritarian response; however, government lacked resources to enforce it and did not want a repeat of Bloody Sunday
o Political reforms; however, Nicholas ideologically opposed to reform as it would break his coronation oath - Witte believed reform that was necessary to bring peace and order
- Nicholas reluctant to make reforms – “terrible decision”
26
Q
October Manifesto - Reforms
A
- Civil freedoms – speech, assembly, association and conscience
- Elections to State Duma with ‘universal’ suffrage
- Nicholas to lose autocratic lawmaking powers as all laws needed to be approved by Duma
27
Q
October Manifesto - Impacts
A
- Manifesto did not reference a constitution
- However, reforms were broadly accepted
- Short term: opposition divided, revolutionary movements undermined and army kept on side
- Offered some hope to peasants, especially land redistribution
- Tax reforms –> redemption payments halved and eventually cancelled –> less land seizures and rural unrest
- Workers were largely satisfied by reforms and remained fearful of economic hardship if they lost their jobs
- Revolutionaries and the Soviets were not satisfied by reforms as they viewed it as a threat against their campaign
o Tsar quickly crushed remnants of workers’ movements in a wave of repression
28
Q
Split of Liberal Groups
A
- Liberals split into:
o Octobrists – who accepted reforms made by October Manifesto
o Kadets – who supported reforms but hoped for further reforms, especially the development of a constitution - Both groups were committed to preparing for upcoming Duma elections
29
Q
Significance of 1905 Revolution
A
- Tsarist government avoided a revolution
- Nicholas forced to reform through October Manifesto
o Undermined Tsar’s autocratic power - Revolutionary leaders disappointed
- Liberal movements increased political influence and move away from extreme change
- Highlighted disorganisation and disunity
- Important lessons learned in propaganda and agitation learned
- New institutions developed – eg Duma and Soviets
- Described as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for 1917 by Lenin
- Crisis of modernisation not addressed
- Awakened people’s expectations for change
30
Q
Limitations of Duma
A
- Electoral system not fully representative:
o Only landowners of >200 hectares could vote directly
o Only men over 25 could vote
o Women and soldiers unable to vote
o Peasants only had an indirect vote
o Construction workers and casual labourers could not vote - State Council – appointed 50% by Tsar
o Nicholas made the Council the upper house of parliament
o This restricted role of Duma as members would agree with Tsar on most issues - Nicholas believed reforms were illegitimate and unnecessary
