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)
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)
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)
4
Q
Interpretations
Witte
x1
A
- “in ability he towered above all other ministers and officials” (Lynch)
5
Q
Interpretations
Russo Japanese War
x1
A
- “made Tsarism totter” (Trotsky)
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)
7
Q
Interpretations
Impact of Bloody Sunday
x1
A
- “the monarchy’s fate hung by a thread” (Service)
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)
9
Q
Interpretations
Fundamental Laws
x1
A
- “made it clear that the tsarist regime had no intention… to diminish its absolute authority” (Lynch)
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)
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)
12
Q
Interpretations
Ministerial Leapfrog
x1
A
- “ministers were selected by an ignorant, blind and hysterical woman” (Pares)
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)
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)
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)