9) Social Developments to 1914 Flashcards
Cultural change in Russia
- New opportunities for women (for education, for independence through factory work)🚺⚖️.
- Improvements in education ⬇️ illiteracy👩🏻🎓 ❌secondary + higher education remained elitist.
- From 1905 censorship relaxed➡️‘silver age’ of culture.
- ⬆️ books + publications; many writers + artists addressed problems in R society through their works📚🎨.
e.g. Chekhov’s ‘Cherry Orchard’ play🎭 well received across all of R + other European countries🗺. Underlying criticism of nature of autocracy. Idea that inability to change➡️downfall.
❌OC⛪️ continued to influence govt + community.
❌Traditional patriarchal structure of R society (based on family ties) still in place.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Peasantry had more opportunities to improve their economic standing.
✅Improved transport links + urbanisation opened up new markets for 👨🏼🌾 pr.
✅Consumption of grain per head ⬆️🥖.
✅S’s reforms➡️👨🏼🌾can leave mir, consolidate strips into farm + become prosperous kulaks.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Peasants had better access to education.
✅Urban literacy rate 1914 64% compared to 40% for general pop.
✅Rural areas closest to towns/cities benefited from emergence of hospitals🏥, libraries, schools🏫 + reading clubs.
✅Better educated + aware peasantry.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Peasant migration to urban areas increased.
✅1867-1917 R’s urban population ✖️4 from 7➡️28m.
✅1890 over 2/3 pop St. Petersburg born outside city.
✅Many urban workers = 👨🏼🌾 migrants who searched for seasonal work in🏙during quieter winter months in countryside☃️.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Urbanisation and industrialisation meant nobles could take on new roles in society.
✅Industrialisation➡️investment opportunities; nobles invested in new factories🏭, paper mills, mines⛏ + power plants.
✅1909 domestic investment✖️3 greater than foreign investment.
✅Many nobles moved into growing modern professions (medical🧑🏻⚕️, legal👩🏻⚖️ + education👨🏼🏫).
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
A middle class developed.
✅⬆️ no. of industrialists who made 💵 from railways🛤, banking🏦 + textiles🧶 - 1m by 1914.
✅Urbanisation created more profesional jobs; 1916 no. teachers almost doubled👨🏼🏫.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
The middle class played an increasing role in politics.
✅Professionals formed liberal professional associations calling for further reform.
✅1906 businessmen formed Association of Industry + Trade w/considerable political influence.
✅After 1908 many middle class men took positions in Duma, representing wide spread of political opinions.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Women had more independence.
✅Middle class women enjoyed more equality + independence⚖️.
✅Women were teachers👩🏻🏫, doctors👩🏼⚕️ + architects.
✅1905 university co-education achieved🎓.
✅Women’s organisations started to spring up across R🗺.
✅1908 1st All-Russian Congress of Women established. Over half attending delegates earned their living.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Between 1885-1912 a series of decrees attempted to improve conditions.
✅⬇️working hours.
✅Enforcing use of contracts📑.
✅Banning employment for children under 12👧🏼.
✅Sickness + accident insurance💳.
✅⬆️educational provision📚.
Limitations of society under Nicholas II:
An urban working class developed with poor living and working conditions due to rapid industrialisation.
❌Cities poor sanitation + ⬆️ rates of disease🦠.
❌1/3 ☠️ in St. Petersburg caused by infectious disease.
❌Long working hours of 11+ per day, harsh discipline + fines🦺.
❌Women especially poorly paid🚫💵.
❌Accidents causing death or serious injury were common⚠️.
❌Everyone slept alongside each other😴 w/ only a cloth for privacy on bug-ridden beds or among machinery in workshops⚠️.
❌1912 limited insurance for accidents + illness only covered minority of workforce💳.
❌1908 conditions worsened some areas after renewed industrial drive📉.
Changes in society under Nicholas II:
Urban workers developed a cohesive identity and became aware of their position in society.
✅Often rented communal apartments together➡️sense of community amongst workers👨❤️💋👨.
✅Opportunities for workers to understand their position in society + give aspirations to improve their quality of life:
✅Lectures on self-help by mutual aid societies, evening classes + Marxist-organised talks + reading circles.
✅Workers reading popular broadsheets + political leaflets📜.
✅TUs v popular after being legalised after 1905 Rev.
✅Workers wanted ⬆️ wages💵, ⬇️ hours🕖 + better conditions but govt did little to address demands.
✅By 1914 workers distinct section of pop who knew their position in society + what they wanted🦺🙆♂️.
Limited change in society NII:
Peasants’ hardships remained for many.
❌Bad harvests + unrest 1905-07.
❌Little change in central regions; still poor living standards, land shortage, hunger + few household goods.
❌Many peasants died of disease👨🏼🌾☠️.
❌Redemption payments until 1907 + tax burden drove many into debt + poverty📉💰.
❌Many👨🏼🌾classified unfit for military service🦠 despite zemstva healthcare improvements + mortality rates high☠️.
Limited change in society NII:
Not all peasants benefitted from the changes introduced to improve the rural economy.
❌⬆️ divide between richest + poorest peasants⚖️🚫.
❌1914 only 10% households had set up farms separate to mir.
❌Most still lived in mir, using old-fashioned methods (especially in central regions) - strip farming + solcha commonly used.
❌Older peasants struggled to come to terms w/ new machinery🚜 + found difficult to deal w/ contracts + loans📑 involved in taking advantage of change.
Limited change in society NII:
Russia was still a largely rural society.
❌1900 3m urban workers only 2.5% total pop.
❌2/3 urban workers retained rural family + village connections👩🏼🤝👩🏽, returning or farms at harvest time👨🏼🌾 or sending back money to relatives💵.
❌Peasant migrants working as urban workers in winter months☃️created volatile group in unfamiliar urban environment⚠️.
Limited change in society NII:
Women’s rights were restricted in rural areas.
❌Women’s lives in rural communities stayed same - patriarchal nature of household + women’s rights restricted🙍🏼♀️.
❌Majority of R women saw little change.
