3.1 - Causes of Russian Revolution INTERPRETATIONS Flashcards

1
Q

Interpretations
Weakness of Tsar Nicholas
x3

A
  • “the source of all the problems” (Figes)
  • “quite incapable of exercising power” (Figes)
  • “inept political and military leader, incapable of providing the inspiration the nation needed” (Lynch)
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2
Q

Interpretations
Economic Conditions in Tsarist Russia
x4

A
  • “grave and intensifying agrarian crisis” (Pipes)
  • Workers’ “Dissatisfaction turned into desperation… which made them more sympathetic to radical ideas” (Harcave)
  • “crisis of modernisation… served to erode the foundations of the autocratic state” (Smith)
  • “incompatibility of the Tsarist state with the demands of modern civilisation” (Hill)
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3
Q

Interpretations
Political Conditions in Tsarist Russia
x2

A
  • “Russian Empire was deeply fissured between the government and the Tsar’s subjects” (Service)
  • “The various ministers the Tsar appointed were distinguished only by their incompetence” (Lynch)
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4
Q

Interpretations
Witte
x1

A
  • “in ability he towered above all other ministers and officials” (Lynch)
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5
Q

Interpretations
Russo Japanese War
x1

A
  • “made Tsarism totter” (Trotsky)
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6
Q

Interpretations
Significance of 1905 Revolution / October Manifesto
x5

A
  • “unsatisfactory to all those concerned” (Fitzpatrick)
  • “it left political attitudes untouched” (Pipes)
  • “It served to split the opposition” (Welch)
  • “Although there were a few broken ribs, tsarism came out of the experience of 1905 alive and strong” (Trotsky)
  • Liberals’ “appetite for reform was satisfied, at least temporarily” (Lynch)
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7
Q

Interpretations
Impact of Bloody Sunday
x1

A
  • “the monarchy’s fate hung by a thread” (Service)
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8
Q

Interpretations
Weaknesses of Provisional Government
x4

A
  • “weak to the point of impotence. It was conspicuously lacking in all the means by which a state normally enforces its authority.” (Chamberlin)
  • “had come nowhere near to solving Russia’s problems or satisfying its needs” (Lynch)
  • “Economically incompetent and militarily disastrous” (Lynch)
  • “Preoccupation with the war prevented the government from dealing with Russia’s social and economic problems” (Lynch)
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9
Q

Interpretations
Fundamental Laws
x1

A
  • “made it clear that the tsarist regime had no intention… to diminish its absolute authority” (Lynch)
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10
Q

Interpretations
Stolypin’s Reforms
x2

A
  • offer “a sense of national purpose and hope” (Pipes)
  • “deep conservatism of the Russian peasants made them slow to respond” (Lynch)
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11
Q

Interpretations
Impact of Rasputin
x4

A
  • “There would be no Lenin without Rasputin” (Massie)
  • “Symptom of the fatal disease” (Lynch)
  • “power to mobilise an angry public against the monarchy” (Figes)
  • “all revolutions in part are based on myth” (Pipes)
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12
Q

Interpretations
Ministerial Leapfrog
x1

A
  • “ministers were selected by an ignorant, blind and hysterical woman” (Pares)
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13
Q

Interpretations
Tsar as Commander in Chief
x1

A
  • “unhelpful presence at military headquarters in Mogilvev left condict of affairs in the capital… in the hands of his neurotic wife” (Wood)
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14
Q

Interpretations
Response of Liberals
x1

A
  • “Liberals were patriots who objected to the Tsarist regime not because it was fighting an unjust war, but because it was not committed to winning it” (McMeekin)
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15
Q

Interpretations
World War One and February Revolution
x5

A
  • “World War One was a titanic test… that Tsarism failed in a singular and catastrophic way” (Figes)
  • “War accelerated the development of revolutionary crises but their deep lying causes could not be wished away” (Hill)
  • “the cumulative effort of a prolonged struggle proved overwhelming” (Lynch)
  • “deep-seated cultural and political flaws… proved fatal under the pressure generated from World War One” (Pipes)
  • “the Tsarist system proved much too rigid and unwieldly” (Figes)
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16
Q

Interpretations
February Revolution
x2

A
  • “one of the most leaderless, spontaneous, anonymous revolutions of all time” (Chamberlin)
  • “Petrograd achieved the February Revolution. The rest of the country adhered to it” (Trotsky)
17
Q

Interpretations
Impact of April Theses
x2

A
  • “Tailoring the Bolshevik programme so that it would reflect popular aspirations was one of Lenin’s most important contributions to the development of the revolution” (Rabinowitch)
  • “The Bolsheviks’ strength was that they were the only party uncompromised by association with the bourgeoisie and the February Regime” (Fitzpatrick)
18
Q

Interpretations
Impact of Miliukov’s Note
x1

A
  • “a marvellous opportunity to discredit the Provisional Government … by showing that the government continued to pursue imperialist aims” (White)
19
Q

Interpretations
Impact of July Days
x2

A
  • “the experience of July, though traumatic, was highly instructive” (White)
  • “Vast display of Bolshevik power” (Faulkner)
20
Q

Interpretations
Support for Bolsheviks
x2

A
  • “exerted an influence out of proportion with its numbers” (Lynch)
  • “became a political alternative for the disappointed and disenchanted” (Wade)
21
Q

Interpretations
Impact of Lenin
x3

A
  • During the June Offensive, “Lenin had turned the armies Red” (McMeekin)
  • “Bolshevism was finding its confidence again… [Lenin would] give clarity to Bolshevik ideas and add resolve to Bolshevik political campaigns” (Service)
  • “Lenin was undeniably the inspiration behind the October Revolution” (Lynch)
22
Q

Interpretations
Impact of Trotsky
x1

A
  • “Trotsky was indisputably the executive figure who organised the actual rising” (Lynch)
23
Q

Interpretations
October Revolution
x2

A
  • “the Bolsheviks were pushing against an already open door” (Lynch)
  • “October was a classic coup d’état… with a show of mass participation, but with hardly any mass involvement.” (Pipes)