Causes of 1905 Revolution

Question 1

What were the main causes for the 1905 revolution?

Answer 1

• Unrest amongst minorities
• Bloody Sunday
• Russo Japanese War
• Growth of the liberals
• Peasant grievances
• Urban grievances

Question 2

What was the infamous Jewish Pogrom in April 1903?

Answer 2

Kishinev Pogrom

Question 3

Where were Jews forced to live in Russia?

Answer 3

The Pale of Settlement

Question 4

How many towns of over 100,000 people were located out of Russia proper?

Answer 4

12/17

Question 5

What Tsarist policy were the minorities often opposed to?

Answer 5

Russification

Question 6

What did Russification involve?

Answer 6

Russian officials ran non-Russian parts of the empire and imposed the Russian language in these places. Schools, courts and government were compelled to use Russian.

Question 7

In what year were Catholic monasteries closed down?

Answer 7

1900

Question 8

Who were the other two government bodies besides the Tsar? Did they have checks on absolutism?

Answer 8

Imperial Council
Cabinet of Ministers
Neither had checks on absolutism

Question 9

What two groups of force was Nicholas’ power contingent on?

Answer 9

The Ohkrana and Cossacks

Question 10

What was the problem with the ineffective banking system?

Answer 10

It struggled to raise capital for investment in industrial projects

Question 11

What weakening institution gave legitimacy to the Tsar?

Answer 11

Church

Question 12

When was Plehve, a strong advocate for war, assassinated by SRs?

Answer 12

1904

Question 13

What impact did the Russo Japanese war have on the home front?

Answer 13

It accentuated shortages because food and fuel was prioritised for the fighting soldiers

Question 14

List the notable defeats in the RJ war.

Answer 14

January (4th) - Port Arthur
March - Mukden
May - Tshushima Straits

Question 15

How much money did the government spend on the war?

Answer 15

1bn roubles

Question 16

Which major liberal gathering was prompted by a desire to end the war?

Answer 16

The St Petersburg Russian Zemstvo Congress

Question 17

Why did the use of the army against Japan reduce inhibitions towards causing unrest?

Answer 17

Since the army was typically used to put down unrest, it was incapacitated when fighting Japan. Hence, the population didn’t need to fear such strong repression.

Question 18

What were typical grievances of the army?

Answer 18

They disliked the length of their consription term. They had poor food and living conditions.

Question 19

What was Nicholas doing for the majority of Summer 1905?

Answer 19

Hunting in the countryside

Question 20

What did the Tsar offer in August 1905 in an attempt to placate political demands?

Answer 20

The Bulygin Duma

Question 21

Out of which agreement did the Tsar pull out of, against Witte’s best advice?

Answer 21

Manchurian Withdrawal Agreement

Question 22

What type of farming meant that peasants were unlikely to gain access to the new farming machinery?

Answer 22

Strip farming

Question 23

Where did most of the young radicals come from?

Answer 23

University, where they were exposed to new ideas and young thinkers

Question 24

How did urbanisation increase liberals?

Answer 24

Urbanisation saw the growth of a middle class and professionals e.g. small business owners, more doctors, lawyers. Their economic status however wasn’t reflected in politics and they therefore felt as if they deserved a greater say in how the country should be run.

Question 25

How many students were there in 1880? 1897? 1914?

Answer 25

1880 - 15,155
1897 - 30,000
1914 - over 120,000

Question 26

Why were many students opposed to the Tsar?

Answer 26

Student protests between 1899 and 1901 (many carried out in solidarity for St Petersburg e.g. in Kiev) were responded to with repressive measures, arrests and threat of conscription. Their university education often also exposed them to more Western European forms of governance, where students lived more freely and with a democratic vote.

Question 27

What was the significance of the Putilov Plant strike in December 1904?

Answer 27

It was a strike in December 1904, just before the revolution which caused sympathy strikes throughout St Petersburg. Some 80,000 people called for an end to the RJ War, and 8 hour day, higher pay and an end to overtime

Question 28

What type of taxes were imposed on urban workers to pay off industrialisation, the depression and RJ war?

Answer 28

Indirect taxes such as those on vodka and fuel

Question 29

How much did real wages decline for workers in 1904?

Answer 29

20%

Question 30

How high were literacy rates in the cities? (able to read propaganda/literature)

Answer 30

57.8%

Question 31

How did urbanisation help increase the spread/ organisation of revolution?

Answer 31

Urbanisation put large gatherings of workers in one place. Dissident ideals could thus spread more quickly and workplaces became centres of debate and discussion

Question 32

What did Zubatov (head of St P police) have implemented between 1901 and 1903? What organisation led by Father Gapon did he also patronise?

Answer 32

• Police Unions

- Assembly of the Russian Factory and Mill Workers of St Petersburg

Question 33

What was the average length of the working day in 1905?

Answer 33

11 hours