Causes of the 1905 revolution

Question 1

What were the 4 main causes of the 1905 revolution

Answer 1

• Political problems
• Economic disconent
• Russo-Japanese War
• Bloody Sunday

Question 2

What economic hardship did the peasants undergo

Answer 2

• Heavy taxation
• Redemption payments
• Famine of 1901
  
  • Land hunger was a major issue, poorer peasants had no land

Question 3

What did the severe economic hardship the peasants underwent lead to

Answer 3

• 1903-4 became known as the years of the Red Cockerel when peasants seized a great deal of land
  *

Question 4

What economic hardship did workers go under

Answer 4

• condtions were terrible with little to protect the pay or safety of work
• workding day 11.5 hours
• Many lived in communal houses similar to army quarters or sleeping in a factory
  
  • limited sanitation and running water with a high mortality rate

Question 5

What happened to workers in the early 1900s

Answer 5

• Economic downturn early 1900s leading to a lack of jobs and regular income
  
  • disastorous for those migrating to the cities looking for work

Question 6

What were the main features of political discontent in Russia

Answer 6

• Ethnic minorities oppressed by the policies of Russification
• The influence of Zemstvas was reduced
• 1900 officials criticising the government were purged
  
  • Middle class industrialists were unhappy that they had no say in how the country was governed

Question 7

What was the liberal political opposition

Answer 7

• Zemstvas were highly critical due to famine and stagnation
• Lack of power fustrated them
  
  • Union of liberation formed in 1904 by Peter Struve pushing for a constitutional monarchy w/ right to vote for all men

Question 8

What was the political discontent from the radicals

Answer 8

• Radical opposition groups often carried out political assassinations. The People’s Will tried to assassinate Alexander III in 1887. Populism existed in the universities. The Narodnik socialist movement tried to persuade the peasants to rise against the Tsar and take power for themselves.

Question 9

How did the social revoloutionaries contribute to political discontent

Answer 9

• The Socialist Revolutionaries adopted a combination of Marxist and Populist beliefs. They wanted to overthrow the government in favour of giving power to the peasants.
• Although they were greatly uncoordinated in their efforts, they carried out approximately 2,000 political assassinations in the years leading up to the 1905 Revolution.

Question 10

How did the Russo-Japanese War contribute to the 1905 revolution

Answer 10

• Embarassment of defeat by Asian power furthered belief of incompetency
• Tsar had to agree to a humiliating peace treaty of losing port arthur, influence in korea and more

Question 11

What did the Russo-Japanese war lead to

Answer 11

• mutiny on the Potemkin battleship
• resources diverted to war worsened supply and caused food shortages
• Plehve assassinated in terrorist bomb attack

Question 12

What happened on bloody sunday

Answer 12

• protesters sang hymns and begged in a peitition for the tsar claiming ‘government by beauracracy has brought the country to complete ruin’
• a mass of 20,000 were shot at and 4600 lpeople were killed/wounded
• Fathe Gapon denounced Nicholas as a traitor
  
  • Nicholas failed to realise the gravity and made few concessions

Question 13

bWhat was the effect of Bloody Sunday

Answer 13

• led to an outbreak of protests across the empire and minorities took this opportunity to demand autonnomy
• People lost all faith in the autocratic nature of governance with this cruel tsar