Collapse of autocracy 1894-1917 Flashcards
What were the main features of Nicholas II’s personality
- Greatly influenced by Pobby and Alexander made him very stubborn on autrocracy
- Indifferent to the world; more saddended by his dogs death than 1905 revolution
- Deeply distrusted his minsters and was very indecisive and would never support someone over another
- As a result no one trusted him with his minsters saying he was ‘incapable of playing fair’
How is Nicholas II typical as other Tsar’s
- viewed his authority from God and it was his sacred duty to preserve his absolute power intact
- autocrats typically hated ministers Phleve said ‘the distrust of ministers is common to all sovereigns starting with Alexander I’ and that tsars ‘always turns to outsiders who appeal to their hearts’
- Most were militaristic
What were the main featurs of Alexandra (Nicholas’ II wife)
- Fanatical belief in Orthodocy made her feel it was her sacred duty to maintain Nicholas’ complete autocracy
- Unpopularity at court made her turn to mystic leaders such as Phillipe
- Who in turn would influence Nicholas’ political decision
e.g. Phillipe telling Nicholas that ‘ Russia was chosen to dominate the Far East’ and that ‘consitution would be the ruin of Russia’
What were the 4 main causes of the 1905 revolution
- Political problems
- Economic disconent
- Russo-Japanese War
- Bloody Sunday
What economic hardship did the peasants undergo
- Heavy taxation
- Redemption payments
-
Famine of 1901
- Land hunger was a major issue, poorer peasants had no land
What did the severe economic hardship the peasants underwent lead to
- 1903-4 became known as the years of the Red Cockerel when peasants seized a great deal of land
*
What economic hardship did workers go under
- 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
What happened to workers in the early 1900s
-
Economic downturn early 1900s leading to a lack of jobs and regular income
- disastorous for those migrating to the cities looking for work
What were the main features of political discontent in Russia by 1894
- 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
What was the liberal political opposition
- 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
What was the political discontent from the radicals
- 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.
How did the social revoloutionaries contribute to political discontent
- 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.
How did the Russo-Japanese War contribute to the 1905 revolution
- 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
What did the Russo-Japanese war lead to
- mutiny on the Potemkin battleship
- resources diverted to war worsened supply and caused food shortages
- Plehve assassinated in terrorist bomb attack
What happened on bloody sunday
- 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
What was the effect of Bloody Sunday
- 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
What was the events of Russia in the far east prior to 1904
- Russia acquired 400,00 sq miles of Chinese territory
- Russia negotiated a claim to Port Arthur with Japan
- By 1901 Russian troops were also occupying Manchuria
What were Russian motives for the war
- Nicholas was stubborn to accept a Japanese compromise of a Russian Manchuria and a Japanese Korea
- Russia broke its treaty to leave Manchuria and even though Japan pursued further compromise, Nicholas saw Japan as a ‘barbarian army’
- a powerful domestic motive shown by Vyacheslav Plehve advising the tsar to embark on a ‘little victorious war to stem the tide of revolution’
What were the japanese motives leading to the war
- She had been excluded from a strategically important area, excluded from Port Arthur
- Resented Russias expanding influence in Manchuria and sphere of influence in Korea
- Inconsistent and rude Tsar humiliated their compromises
What happened at the Battle of Mukden February 1905
- Disaster from a Russian point of view. On land, the Japanese took Port Arthur and inflicted heavy defeats on the Russian armies along the Yalu River, on the Manchuria-Korea border, and at the Mukden. Brave Russian soldiers were badly led and suffered heavy casualties
- At sea; Russian fleet at Port Arthur was destroyed and to replace it the Russians sent their Baltic fleet to the Far East
What happened to Russia’s baltic fleet at the Battle of Tsushima May 1905
- In May 1905, the Japanese fleet under the brilliant Admiral Togo virtually destroyed the whole of the Russian fleet in the Straits of Tsushima
What was The Treaty of Portsmouth 1905
- Japan gained Port Arthur, southern Manchuria and the southern half of the island of Sakhalin
- Korea was recognised as within Japan’s sphere of influence
What was the significane of the Russo-Japanese War
- first instance in modern history of an eastern country defeating a western power
- war showed the Russian backwardness compared to Japan who had embarked on a programme of industrialisation and westernisation
- news of these disasters leaked to the Russian people and their despair became anger
What was the 1905 October Manifesto
- ‘free citizenship’ and ‘freedom of person, conscience, speech, assembly and union’
- Introduction of a consultative assembly (Duma) with legislative powers elected by a broad franchise that would include social groups that had no elected rights
What was the further concessions made on top of the October Manifesto in the 3rd November Manifesto
- Remaining redemption payments reduced from 1st January 1906 and discontinued altogether after 1st January 1907
- Resources of Peasants Land Bank increased so it could offer better loans
What was the Fundamental Laws of the Russian EMpire published on the 23rd April 1906 with the Duma first day
- Exercise law-making power in conjunction with the Council of the Empire and the Imperial Duma
- Approve the laws, and without his approval no law could come into existence
- Hold all governmental powers in their widest extent throughout the whole Russian empire
- Appoint and dismiss the president of the Council; Ministers were responsible to him alone and even if the Duma, by 2/3rds majority passed a vote of censure on the Government, the government did not have to resign
- Declare war and approve a peace settlement
- Rule by decree during periods when the Duma was not in session
What allowed Nicholas to retain his autocracy
The ‘consultative’ nature of the Duma meant he was under no obligation to accept its proposals
What was the liberal response to Nicholas’ 1905 concessions
- split the various interest groups that had united in opposition to him:
Right liberals immediately accepted its terms relieved that the revolution was over
Moderate Liberals reorganised to form a new party; the Octobrists with Alexander Guchkov as their leader
Left wing Liberals formed them into a rival party, the Constutional Democrats, the Kadets. They criticised the Manifesto for its failure to provide for an elected constitutional assembly, but they had no desire for revolution
What was the peasant response to Nicholas’ concessions of 1905
- November Manifesto put an end to the redemption payments, many joined the 1905 revolution because they feared that the government would repossess the land of mortgage holders after many bad harvests
- Some peasants interpreted the Manifesto as a right to seize the land that they considered to be theirs by custom
- Number of peasants disturbances rose during the spring and summer 1906 the peasants burnt the landlord’s house, reaching a peak in November and December but then declined as Stolypin’s agricultural reforms took effect
What was the army response to Nicholas’ 1905 concessions
- They interpreted the November Manifesto as permission to ignore authority and indulge in expressions of resentment
- Between October and December 1905 mutinies in the army reduced the regime’s effective control over the cities and blocked communication
- These mutinies were usually confied to a petition demanding improvements in conditions and they always expressed loyalty to the tsar
What was the most famous incident of mutiny
The most famous incident was the mutiny at Kronstadt naval base which was put down with force only after 26 men were killed and another 107 injuries
How many mutinies during 1906
There were over 200 mutinies during 1906, affecting more than 20% of units
What was the working class response to Nicholas’ 1905 concessions
- Were not satisfied
- St Petersburg Soviet continued and on the 1st November 1905 called the second general assembly
What happened to the St Petersburg Soviet after the 1905 concessions
- St Petersburg Soviet continued and on the 1st November 1905 called the second general assembly
- However the soviet increasingly met with little response and on the 5th of November called off its strike and had all its members arrested on the 3rd of December including Trotsky
What reasons are there for Tsarist Survival and Recovery from 1905
- Benefitted from inherent disunity of the opposition
- No clear leadership co-ordinated revolutionary activities
- Protests were more outbreaks of rage than intention of forcing concession
- Peasants and workers were content with new deal and got back to work, cancelling strikes
- Benefitted from loyal army that took harsh action against revolutionaries
- Regime made use of anti-semitic right-wing loyalists organising themselves as the Black Hundreds who took part in attacks on liberals, especially jews
What did Micheal Lynch say about the lesson from 1905
‘ the lesson of 1905 was that as long as the Tsarist government kept its nerve and the army remained basically loyal, the force of opposition would not be strong enough to mount a serious challenge’
How did the leader of the Kadets; Peter Struve react to Nicholas’ concessions
(showing the lack of a threat to the Tsar)
‘Thank God for the tsar who has saved us from the people’
What did Leonardo Shaprio say about Stolypin
‘by left dismissed as a savage butcher who hanged peasants and workers… to the extreme right he became a hateful figure whose policy of reform and attempt to work with the duma were a threat to the principle of autocracy…
for his many admirers he has posthumously become the wisest statesman Russia ever had who could had he been given time have saved Russia from war and revolution’
Why did the moderate left hate Stoypin
for dissolving the first 2 attempts at representational government, the Duma and changed the electoral law
Why did Stolypin face opposition from the Emperor’s inner circle and the upper ranks of bureaucracy
As a result of his reformist policies and attempt to work with the Duma
What was the main aims of Stolypins reforms
derevolutionise the peasantry by removing some grievances and creating a system of private peasant ownership, he believed that the programme would take 20 years
How much did the intelligenstia grow from 1850-1900
grew by 700%
What changes did P.N Milyukov take note of in 1903
’ enormous growth of the politically conscious… the gentry still play a part but are by far not the only social medium of public opinion as they were before the emancipation of the peasants’
What lead to instability within Nicholas’ government
- Nicholas failure to have a specific domestic policy programme created disorganisation in the funcitoning of government
- The political climate was changing under the impact of mounting social pressures and the activities of different revolutionary groups
What divisions appeared over tactics of how to deal with challenges to autocracy
Witte favoured the traditional tsarist policy of repression
The Ministry of the Interior responsible for domestic security supported the policy Zubatov of ‘divide and rule’ to win over workers even if this meant alowing trade unions to operate under police control
How many times did the Chairmen of the Council of Ministers, Ministers of the Interior and Ministers of Education change between 1894-1917
8 Chairmen of the Council of Ministers
15 Ministers of the Interior
11 Ministers of education
What was the attitude of Nicholas towards the Duma
Nicholas was of the view that he ‘had created the Duma not to be directed by it, but to be advised’
Tied publication of the Fundamental Laws to coincide with the meeting of the first Duma re-affirming that he had supreme power and ‘ it is ordained by God himself that his authority should be submitted to’
Which groups shared Nicholas attitude to the Duma
- views were shared by the various right wing organisations such as the Union of the Russian People and the Russian Orthodox Committee
What was the State Council
The upper chamber; known as the State Council with half came from zemstvo, half from ministers with same rights to legislation
How much of voting was intially given to landowners, peasants and those who lived in towns
-
31% of vote to landowners, 42% to peasants and town 27%
- property qualification meant very few factory workers had access to the ballot box
What was the problem with the first 2 Duma’s
First 2 Dumas more radical than expected demanding socialisation of the land and full national self determination of the Russian People
What did Stolypin do to make the Duma’s less radical
- dismissed the second Duma and issued a new electoral law, enormously restricting the franchise and added representation to the landowners and the peasantry
- This reduced the number of men who could vote to one in six so that the peasants and the working class were almost excluded, in addition representation of the hostile minorities, particularly the Poles was significantly cut.
What did Stolypin’s new electoral law make the compositrion of the third Duma
produced a third Duma with a greatly increased extreme right and right of centre grouping, this was more favourable and lasted the full term
What role did the SD’s Bolsheviks play in the Duma’s
Gained a majority by 1917 supporting Lenin’s view of a narrow centralised party of professional revolutionaries, remained a small insignificant group till this point
What role did the SD’s Mensheviks play in the Duma’s
- Believed society should progress by natural evolution towards socialism, so opposed November revolution, drew membership from the ranks of the intellectuals
- Most influential in the second duma but ceased to have any representation in the 3rd and the 4th
What role did the Social Revolutionaries play in the the Dumas
- Boycotted every Duma apart from the 3rd
What role did the Trudoviks play in the Duma’s
- Members of the SR’s who stood as Trudoviks (labourists) after the boycott of the First Duma, numerically small. Claimed to be Populist Socialists, significant in first and second duma but declined after.
- By 3rd and 4th, they were led by Alexander Kerenesky when the revolution of February 1917 broke out.
What role did the Kadets play in the Duma
- Composed of l liberals from the propertied classes and was the great party of reform
- Were the majority of the First Duma and significant in the second but declined after
What role did the Octobrists play in the Duma
- Conservative constitutional party and were a powerful group in the third and fourth Duma
Who were the Rightists
- Consisted of a number of individual groups who represented a range of conservative views from right of centre to extreme right
- Biggest Group in third and fourth Duma
What did the Kadets and the Trudoviks (two biggest groups) of the First Duma demand
Kadets:
- Land reform with compensation for landowners
- Progressive income tax
- Health insurance for workers at employees expense
- Election of factory inspectors by workers
Trudoviks
-
Socialisation of land, where it was taken out of private ownership with no compensation and then divided
- Federal structure of government with full national self-determination for the non-Russian people
What led to the dissolution of the First Duma
-
Duma issued an illegal proclamation appealing for the people’s support for agrarian reform
- Kadets went to Finland and issued the Vyborg Manifesto calling on the people to show passive resistance and refuse to pay taxes. They were ignored and arrested, and imprisoned losing most of their able leaders
What happened to the Second Duma
stubborn and short-lived as Stolypin hoped to get support for his agrarian reforms but the new assemblies shifted to the extreme left
What led to the dissolution of the Second Duma
a supposed Social Democrat plan to kill the Tsar dissolved the second Duma
What ensured cooperation with the 3rd Duma
The right-wing composition with the Octobrists in alliance with the Kadets formed a majority in the centre
What was Stolypin willing to do to acheive his economic claims
-
cooperate with the moderate centre and left of centre parties to achieve his economic aims
- established good relations with Guchkov, leader of the Octobrists and President of the Duma
What did Guchkov say about Stolypin in 1907
‘ if we are now witnessing the last convulsions of the revolution and it is undoubtedly coming to an end, then it is to this man (Stolypin) we owe it.’
Why did cooperation stumble in 1910
cooperation stumbled when Stolypin encountered landlord opposition to the proposed reform of local government
What did Stolypin convince Nicholas to do in order ot get his reforms through
- discontinue the 2 chambers for 3 days so that the measure could be passed as an emergency decree; a blatant misuse of the constitution
What effect did Stolypin’s misuse of the constitution do to hiss relations with the Duma
The Octobrists split and the majority no longer supported Stolypin who was also no longer supported by Nicholas for putting him in a difficult position
What other reforms did the Third Duma acheive
- Introduction in June 1912 of accident and health insurance for workers consisting of a ‘hospital fund; financed mainly by employers and employees paying only 2-3% of their wages
- Restoration of the office of the justice of peace whose judicial powers had been transferred to the land commandments
Who replaced Stolypin after his assassination in 1911
Nicholas appointed conservative ministers who lacked the imagination to deal with a challenging situation
What groups was the autocracy reliant on after 1912
After 1912 it was isolated and reliant on extreme right-wing groups like the Black Hundreds or the Union of the Russian People along with the army. Nicholas didn’t recognise the need to increase his appeal
Autocracy lost traditional supporters, the landed nobility as well as the entrepreneurs and the intelligentsia
What Church Reform did the 4th Duma propose
- 4th Duma continued to reform Orthodox Church by reducing state control, broadening education and providing priests with a regular salary
- Nicholas delayed further reform, by 1914 was still linked to the state
How did enrolment in secondary and higher education respectively grow from 1900-14
- Enrolment in secondary education quadrupled and in higher education tripled from 1900 to 1914
How much did the budget for educational reform grow from 1900-13
In 1913 the education budget was 400% larger than it had been in 1900
How was Russia still behind the west in education
it still had only 5.2% of kids in primary in 1910 compared to Britain’s 14.9%
How did the Zemstvo manage its budget
- They concentrated their budget on education (30%) and health (20%)
- Cities borrowed heavily to finance provision of facilities- by 1914 the average deficit of a Russian city was twice its annual budget
How did the relationship between the Zemstvo and Government change after 1905
alarmed by 1905 revolution became more conservative by 1912 and were prepared to improve relations
What annual growth rate did Russia have from 1894-1913
more than 8% per annum but had a bad base
How did FDI grow from 1895-1914
FDI grew from 280 million in 1895 to 2000 million in 1914
What did Witte introduce to strengthen the currency and improve confidence
a rouble backed by gold
What role did the State play in industry by the 1900s
By 1900’s the State controlled 70% of Russia’s railways and was buying almost 2/3s of all Russia’s metallurgical production
From 1903-13 how much of the government income was from its industrial investments
In the years 1903-13 the government received more than 25% of its income from its industrial investments
How did the railways provide a vast economic stimulus
- The railways opened up the Russia’s interior and allowed more extensive exploitation of Russia’s raw materials such as linking grain-growing areas to the Black Sea ports
- Lowered costs and permitted the development of new industries along the length of the expanding railway network
How big was Russia’s railway compared to the rest of the world by 1913
By 1913 Russia had the second largest railway network in the world
What effects did the Trans-Siberian Railway (7000 km)
- It’s building provided a huge industrial stimulus and opened up Western Siberia for emigration and farming
- provided a great psychological boost
What were the main 2 areas of industrial development in Russia
main areas of industrial development around the:
- Donbas and Krivoi Rog ironfields of SE Ukraine
- the Baku coalfields on the Caspian Sea
How much of Russia’s coal did the Donbas supply by 1913
87% of all Russian coal by 1913
How much of Russia’s pig iron did the Kirvoi Rog produce by 1913
- rich ironfields of the Kirvoi Rog produced 74% of all Russian pig iron by 1913
How much coal, pig iron and steel did Russia produce by 1914
By 1914 Russia was the world’s 4th largest producer of coal, pig iron and steel
How much did Russian oil production increase from 1185-1913 in the Caspian Sea port of Baku
The Caspian Sea port of Baku, Russian oil production trebled between 1885-1913
How much oil did Russia produce compared to the rest of the World
Russia took second place in world oil production
By 1914 how did Russia’s industrial power compare to the rest of the world
- By 1914 Russia was the worlds fifth largest industrial power
How much of the Russian population were reliant on the agarian economy
Rural economy provided a livelihood for 80-90% of the Russian population and it was largely ignored
What were most farms like before 1906
Before 1906 most farmings had remained small scale , in the hands of former serfs and state peasants, tied to their local mir
How much affect did land hunger have on the average holdings of peasants from 1877-1905
Land hunger caused the average holding to fall from 35 acres in 1877 to 28 by 1905
What traditional agricultural practices were perpetuated by the mir
- The solcha or wooden plough was still widely used
- medieval rotation systems, which wastefully left fallow land each year
What did a lack of husbandry do to the grain output of Russian farms compared to British farms
A lack of Husbandry also deprived the soil of manure so that the grain output from the British farmland was 4 times as great compared to Russian farms
What was the context to Stolypin’s agarian reforms
- Famine of 1891-2 prompted look at a lack of progress in agriculture and the government was also concerned about the dangerous peasant disturbances (1905-6)
- Russian governments mostly received reports from the poorly performing tradition agricultural areas where peasant poverty was at its worst
- This painted a picture of the ‘dark masses’ - drunken, illiterate and rebellious peasants who needed to be educated.
What did Stolypin think about the mir
Identified the Mir being stuck with backward practises paralysed ‘personal intiative’
What did Stolypins agarian reforms aim to do
- Allow peasants to leave the Mir, to consolidate strips into a single unit
- Reduce Mir power
- Redistribute the land of some nobles
- Help go-ahead peasants to buy land from less enterprising peasants and create larger,more efficient, farms
What did Stolypin call his reforms
Calling it a ‘gamble…on the sober and strong’
What financial assistance was provided along with Stolypin’s reforms
Financial assistance was provided by the Peasant Land Bank to help the independent peasant buy land, giving them full rights and stakes in the country
Why was land transfer slow
Land transfer was slow due to ensuring of equality and disentangling Mir
What success did Stolypin’s agarian reforms acheive
- Authority of the Mir and the land captains was reduced since the peasants were free to leave the village
- Redemption payments ended as promised in 1907
- Substantial amount of land transfer not only between landlords and peasants
- Consolidation of Siberia, the Steppes and Central Asia
- Farming Methods Improved. In 1911 European Russia had 66,000 reapers and West Siberia 36,000
How much did the empires urban population grow from 1867-1917
1867-1917, the Empires urban population quadrupled from 7 - 28 million
By 1914 how much of St Petersburg was peasant by birth
By 1914 3/4 of every person living in St Petersburg were peasant by birth
How much of St Petersburg population had arrived in the previous 10 yearss
- Half of the city’s population had arrived in the previous 10 years
What were living conditions like for workers
- Workers lived in overcrowded barrack like buildings which lacked sanitation, often having to eat and wash in communes
How many houses had no running water or sewage system and whatt did this cause
about 40% of houses had no running water or sewage system, leading to 30,000 inhabitants dying of cholera in 1908-9
How much of a workers wage did rent make up
½
Did wages keep up with inflation, provide an example
- Wages failed to keep pace with inflation
e. g. wage increase just from 245 - 256 (4.4%) roubles per month while inflation was running at 40%
What laws were introduced in 1892, 1897 and 1912 to improve the social conditions of workers
1892
Employment of children under 12 was forbidden and female labour banned in mines
1897
Hours of work reduced to 11 and a half
1912
Sickness and accident insurance for workers
What were normal factory hours reduced to in 1914
(and what was the loophole)
Normal factory hours reduced to 10 hours by 1914 but did not apply to workshops which were much more common
How many children were in full time education by 1914
only 55% of children in full time education by 1914
Strike activity grew from 1912-4, how many stoppages were there in 1914
there were 3574 stoppages
What was the Lena Goldfields massacre
- At Lena Goldfields troops massacred around 500 workers,
- causing a wave of sympathetic strikes across Russia
What was the literacy rate from 1914
Few received more than basic education; 1914 only 60% literacy rate
Russian peasantry were at the bottom of the social ladder, how did this affect their sense of community and loyalty to the Church + Tsar
their sense of community along with their loyalty to the Church and Tsar was unblemished
What was beneficial about the peasants commune (Mir); what did Figes say about it
and how did the Mir suffer from Stolypin’s reforms
- The village commune remained the heart of peasant life and the proportion only fell from 73% - 60% with Stolypin’s reforms
- Within the commune, peasants could support each other through bad weather and enjoy community solidarity through a rainy day
> ‘Stolypin assumed the peasants were poor because they had the commune - but the reverse was closer to the truth. The commune existed because they were poor; it served to distribute the burden of poverty’
- Orlando Figes
How much of all noble’s land were transferred to townsmen or peasants between 1861-1905
1/3 of all nobles land’s was transferred to townsmen or peasants between 1861-1905
How did the middle class develop till 1914
- The group grew as a force of management and professionals which were more in demand in the increasingly complex industrialising society
- The growth of education and the demand for more administrators also fuelled a growing middle class
- Growing middle classes found their natural home on the councils of the zemstva, where they exerted an outsized influence
How did the workers and peasantry develop until 1914
- Most peasant protest before 1914 was the result of traditional grievances like harvests and unfair land allocations
- Slow process of awakening the peasantry was already underway by 1914, although it was to take the exceptional conditions of war to complete the task
- In urban areas, former peasants, were alienated from their families and their ‘roots’ gradually lost something of their former identity
- Here they became an easy target for the political agitators
What happened to the cultural force of a ‘patriarchal’ structure
fundamental ‘patrarchal’ structure of Russia society remained untouched with ties of family
What showed change towards attitudes to females in 1908
In December 1908, the First All-Russian Congress of Women was attented by 1035 delegates in St Petersburg and it campaigned for a femalre franchise
How did gov. expenditure on primary educationgrow from 1862-1914 and what effect did this have
Gov. expenditure on primary education grew from 5 million in 1862 to over 82 million by 1914
Led to a flourishing of literacy rates
What was the effect of flourishing literacy rates
- 1767 newspapers being published weekly by 1914
- Reading rooms were also established and popular literature flourished, in which the portrayal of those who had succeeded in bettering themselves was a common theme
- By the early twentieth century, the nineteenth century classics of Russian literature could be obtained in cheap mass-produced editions
What did the tercentary celebrations of the Romanov dynasty show
- showed a love of traditional Muscovite and Orthodox culture
What did Nicholas and Alexandra think about the tercentary celebrations
Nicholas returned convinced that ‘my people love me’ and Alexandra added ‘ We need merely show ourselves and at once their hearts are ours’
What happened at Kazan Cathedral during the tercentary celebrations
- At Kazan Cathedral, a pair of doves briefly flew from the alters and hovered over the heads of the Tsar and his son, which was interpreted as a sign of God’s blessing
- Everywhere the crowds thanked God for the Tsar
What did the Tsar’s decision to go to war bring inRUssian culture
The traditionalism brought a love of patriotism and support for the Tsar’s decision to go to war in 1914 with soldiers carrying icons of Nicholas and all social groups rallying in defence of the Motherland.
When did Lenin return to Russia
- Lenin returned to Russia on the 3rd of April 1917 by the Germans who expected him to seize power and make peace
When did Lenin return to Russia
- Lenin returned to Russia on the 3rd of April 1917 by the Germans who expected him to seize power and make peace
What did Lenin say to the crowds at Finland Station in Petrograd when he returned
- Lenin greeted the crowd at the Finland Station in Petrograd with the ‘April Theses’ that demanded
- Power should be transferred to the soviets
- War should be brought to an immediate end
- All land should be taken over by the State and reallocated to the peasants
- Often summed up as ‘Land, Peace and Bread’
What did Lenin stress about the Provisional Government and the middle class
- Lenin stressed a policy of non-cooperation with the Provisional Government
- Lenin argued the middle class was ‘too weak’ to perform a revolution and was holding the proletariat back
What was the intial response to Lenin’s return
- Mensheviks feared Lenin would undermine their work
- Bolsheviks were still a minority (26k) and many didn’t agree with Lenin - Stalin and Lev Kamenev had supported the PG
What pushed forward the Bolshevik cause till the July Days
- By the end of April, Lenin had won over the majority of the Bolsheviks
- Lenin also gained the key bulwark that was Trostky
- Kerensky’s determination to continue the war played further into the Bolshevik cause
What was the context to the July Days Riots
- Grain prices have doubled in Petrograd from February - June, following a poor harvest
- Shortages of fuel and raw material had forced 586 factories with the loss of 100,000 jobs
What occured during the July Days
-
20,000 armed soldiers from the Kronstadt joined workers and soldiers from the street
- They chanted Bolsheviks slogans, ‘All power to soviets’ , attacked property, looted shops and seized the railway stations and other key buildings
What was the aftermath of the July Days
- Warrants for the arrest of Bolsheviks who were blamed for stirring up the troubles were issued including Trotsky were gaoled; Stalin fled to Finland
- Troops loyal to Soviet dispersed crowds and the Bolsheviks denounced the role
- Lenin’s reputation fell for fleeing rather than leading, while other leaders languished in gaol
What was the Kornilov coup
- General Kornilov attempted a coup that made a scared Kerensky release Bolsheviks and soldiers from gaol
- Kerensky even supplied them with arms and the Bolsheviks seized the opportunity to organise bands of workers commanded by their ‘Red Guards; a militia they had trained in secret
How did Bolshevik support grow from June- November 1917 in the soviets
Bolsheviks were elected in increased numbers to soviets throughout and their support increased by 164% from June-November
What was the result of the Petrograd Soviet September 1917 election
- the Bolsheviks won a majority which together with their control of the Moscow Soviet placed them in a powerful position.
- On 21 September Trotsky even became Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet
Prior to October, what was the thought process within the Bolsheviks about a revolution
- the Central Committee and in particular its two most prominent members, Grigorii Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, fearing that Russia was not yet economically ready for revolution, urged restraint and even burned some of Lenin’s letters
- 12th September, Lenin claimed that ‘history will not forgive us if we do not assume power now’ but 3 days later the committee voted against a coup
What happened on the 7th of October 1917
- On 7th October Lenin secretly returned to Petrograd to attend a meeting of the Central Committee and tried to win them over personally
- Kerensky responded by sending more radical army units out of the capital but this allowed the Bolsheviks to claim that Kerensky was abandoning the capital to allow it to fall to the Germans, and thus to set up a ‘Military revolutionary Committee’ under Trotsky
What did the ‘Military Revoloutionary Committee’ made up of and who did it control
It comprised 66 members (48 Bolsheviks) and appointed commissars to military units to issue orders and organise weapons supply
- The committee controlled 200,000 Red Guards, 60,000 Baltic sailors and 150,000 soldiers of the Petrograd garrison
What happened on the 10th October 1917
- On the 10th October Lenin harangued the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party all night and finally succeeded (with a vote of ten to two)
- Zinoviev and Kamenev refused to agree and published their own views in a newspaper
What happened on the 24-25th October 1917
- with the support of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee and in the name of the Second Congress of Soviets, 5000 soldiers and sailors from Kronstadt moved into the city and the Bolshevik red guards seized key positions around the capital
e. g. telephone exchange, post office, railway stations, news agency, state bank, bridges and power stations - The troops on duty generally gave in without resistance
- Kerensky left for the front and hoped to make contact with loyal troops who would defend the PG
How was the October Revolution a small scale affair
- 25-30k at most were adctively involved ( only 5% of all soldiers and workers in the city)
- Much of Petrograd remained unaffected - trams,taxis, restaurants, theatres and cinemas remained open
e.g. Trotsky admitted that the revolution was essentially a series of ‘small operations calcualted and prepared in advance’
On the 26th October 1917 what did the delegates of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets vote for and who got most of the seats to carry this out
- 500 voted in favour of a socialist government; majority of seats to carry this out went to the Bolsheviks and more extreme left wing SR’s
What did the moderates do in protest to the seat allocation
- In protest the ‘moderates; walked out and left the Bolshevik coalition in control, simply playing into Bolshevik hands
What was the Sovnarkom
Soviet of People’s Comissars which was exlusively Bolsheviks; Lenin as chair and Trotsky for Foreign Affairs
What decrees did Lenin issue in October
- Decree on peace w/o annexation and indemnities
- Decree on socialisation of land
What decrees did Lenin issue in November
- Workers decree gave workers the right to supervise management
- Nationality decree promised self determination to the peoples of the former Russian Empire
- New legal system of elected peoples courts
- Outlawed sexism and gave women the right to own property
What decrees did Lenin issue in December
- Military decree removed rank classes with armies
- Nationalisation of banks
What were the sources of intial opposition to the newly established Bolshevik government
- Civil servants intially refused to serve under them or bankers refused to provide finance (took 10 days to convince)
- Kerensky set up HQ at Gatchina and rallied an army
- In Kiev, Kazan and Smolensk the Bolsheviks encountered strong resistance
What was Kerensky’s force made up of and how did it compare to the Bolshevik force
- Keresnky set up HQ at Gatchina and rallied an army of 18 Cossack Regiments and a ssmall force of SR cadets and officers
- Against this threat the smaller Bolshevik government seemed weak
How was the revolution saved from Kerensky’s threat
- Bolshevik agitators who convinced some of Kerensky’s troops to defectt meant that the revolution was saved
How much of Russia did the Bolsheviks control by the end of 1917
- By the end of the year the Bolsheviks dominanted the major towns and railways although large areas of the countryside were not under their control
Who did Lenin let into the government
Lenin only let in left wing SR’s and it was made clear they would have to follow Bolshevik lead
What did Soviet Historian and head of the Soviet military’s psychological warfare department; Volkogonov say about Lenins attitude to opposition or opening up the government
Lenin would ‘brook no attempts to dilute or alter the absolute power the new regime represented’
What other methods did Lenin utilise to battle opposition
- Propoganda campaign against political and class enemies - burzhui (bourgeoisie)
- Closure of anti-Bolshevik newspapers
- Purge of the civil service
- Establishment of the ‘All-Russian Comission for the Supression of Counter Revolution,Sabotage and Speculation’ - aka Cheka
- Leading Kadets, right-wing SR’s and Mensheviks were imprisoned
What did Lenins relentless destruction of opposition make them reliant on
- Lenin’s methods left the only opposition reliant on the Constituent Asssembly
What was the result of the Constiuent Assembly
It had a 41.7 million turnout with the SR’s winning the most seats
What was Lenin’s reaction to the result of the Constituent Assembly
- Lenin was appaled and declared that ‘we must not be decieved by election figures. Elections prove nothing.’
- Such a Constituent Assembly was amere remanant of burgeois parlimentary democracy and to accept its rulings was to take a step back in Russia’s historical development
What did Pytor Struve found in 1903 to push for a constutional system wehre urban workers could legally campaign to improve their conditons
the Union of Liberation
How did the Union of Liberation function in 1904 to avoid police suscipicion
Held over ‘50 banquets’ rather than political meetings attended by the liberal elite
How did the ideology of agarian socialism grow after the Great Famine
- Revival in populist ideas combined with broad Marxist beliefs
- Social Revoloutionaries became a ralying point for those who wished to appeal to the peasants through agarian socialism
How were Social Revolutionaries different from Pure Marxists
- Populist ideas; wishes of workers and peasants are the same
- Agarain Socialism
- Gained them a large peasant support and 50% of their supporters were from the working class
How many assassinations did the Social Revolutionaries carry out
2000 political assassinations from 1901-5, including the 2 Ministers of Internal Affairs and Stolypin in 1911
How successful was the Secret Police in infiltrating the Social Revoloutionaries
- Secret Police was also successful in infiltrating the movement at its highest level; 4579 Socialist revolutionaries sentenced to death between 1905-1909
What made Marxist theories more attractive
Rapid Industrilisation ; shown by the growth of Plekhanov’s Emancipation of Labour
What was the Social Democratic Workers Party (SD’s)
- An amalgamation of various Marxist Groups
What happened at the First Congress of the SD’s in Minsk
- Creation of 3 man committee and manifesto
- Manifesto put impetus for change on the working men themselves
- Broken up by Okhrana who arrested 2 of the newly elected committee
What happened at the second congress of the SDs
- 51 delegates were divided on how the Party should move forward
- Lenin argued for a strong disciplined organisation of preofessional revoloutionaries to lead the proletariat
- Julius Martov believed they shoulod develop a broad party with mass membership and cooperation with other liberal groups
- Lenin won the vote after manny represenatives withdrew
- Julius Martov believed they shoulod develop a broad party with mass membership and cooperation with other liberal groups
What was the impact of the Second Congress of the SDs
- By 1906 there were effectively 2 SDs parties
- Plekhanoc abandoned the Bolsheviks while Trotsky left the mensheviks over their insistence on an alliance with the liberals
What was the beliefs of the Mensheviks
Mensheviks
- Awaited the bourgeois revolution that they believed had to precede the proletarian revolution
- Impetus came from workers themselves
- Insisted on membership for all and party should work through the trade unions to raise worker consciousness
- Wanted to follow democratic procedures
What were the Bolshevik beliefs
Bolsheviks
- Said both revolutions could occur simultaneously
- Party’s job was to educate the workers to lead them through the revolution
- Believed that membership should be restricted and that members should work within small cells
- Favoured control in the hands of a Central Committee
How many trade unions did the State close down and deny registration from 1906-10
497 unions were closed down and 604 denied registration between 1906-10
What events game a new impetus to workers from 1912
The Lena Goldfiels Massacre along with the beginnings of economic recovery from 1911 giving workers more bargaining power
What strike activity took place from 1912
- This activity mainly confined to St Petersburg where ¾ of activity took place
- Bitter resistance of employers and repressive measures taken to break strikes added to anger and opposition
How was the strike movement limited
- movement was geographically limited, only 12% of enterprises experienced a strike and even the General Strike in St Petersburg in July 1914 only brought a ¼ of the workforce
What happened to the opposition of Moderate liberals
Moderate liberals were largely appeased by the Tsarist concessions and tried to cooperate with the Duma in the hope of further constitutional evolution
What happened to the opposition from nationalities
Poles and Finns were only ones who wanted independence while Ukranians and Belorussians were kept down and assimilated
What happened to the opposition of the SR and SD
- SR and SD were weakened by exiled leaders, the rivalry between each other and the split in the SD’s
- Ideological differences were compounded by disagreement of a response to 1905 and the use of the Duma
- All the while the agents of the Secret Police were very effective and smashing cells
- The Industrial Depression of 1907 led to declined memberships and neither SR nor SD establishing even a city-wide organisation, resorting to underground groups
What was the condition of Opposition in 1914
- Radicalism survived thinly
- Apathetic workers were repressed
- Coming of war created a patriotic fevour; opposition was treasonous
What impact did the declaration of war intially have
- a love of patriotism and support for the Tsar’s decisison to go to war in 1914 with soldiers carrying icons of Nicholas
- Duma dissolved itself and voted for war credits
- Strike Activity ceased and extremists imprisoned due to lack of patriotism
What was the conflict of the zemstvo/liberals against the Tsarist Government in Wartime
- Tsarist government set up ‘military zones’ in which all civilian authority was suspended and banned vodka. Also neglected medical facilities
- Zemstvo established ‘Union of Zemstvo’ to provide medical facilities
- In 195 zemstvo and municipal dumas join to form the All Russian Union of Zemstvo and Cities (Zemgot) chaired by Prince Lvov
- Never allowed any direct influence
What did some deputies from the 4th Duma do in August 1915
- Organised themselves into a ‘progressive bloc’ and demanded a constitutional monarchy
- As a result Nicholas suspened the Duma
How waas the intial onset of Russian patrotism destroyed
Battle of Tannenburg leaving over 300,000 deaths/casualities
along with a subsequent defeat at the Masaurian Lakes
How was the intial onset of Russian patrotism destroyed
Battle of Tannenburg leaving over 300,000 deaths/casualities
along with a subsequent defeat at the Masaurian Lakes
What decision did Nicholas make in September 1915 after the defeats in the Glacia
Nicholas took on the role of Commander-in-Chief
- Had little impact and made him even more responsible for the failures
What effect did Rasputin have on destabilising Russia
- Rasputin began to meddle in political appointments and there were rumours Alexandra, who was German, was meddling in the war
E.g. in 12 months after September 1915 there were 4 change in ministers put down to Rasputin
- Mikhail Rodzianko warned Nicholas of Rasputin’s unpopularity but Nicholas couldn’t bring himself to act against a person whom his wife relied on so heavily
What shoes Nicholas’ indifference to political demands and economic crisis during Wartime?
- his letters to Alexandra showed more anxiety about the children’s measles than ‘young boys and girls running about and screaming that they have no bread’.
- Nicholas reassured his wife that will all pass and quieten down
What was the intial issues with Russia’s economy during the war
- Managed to mobilise around 15 million men but were unable to provide for them with the problems steadily increasing; no suitable weaponry, lacking warm clothing, waterproof footwear
E.g. in 1914 the infantry had only 2 rifles for every 3 soldiers with soldiers having to rely on the weapons of former comrades
What was the problem with Russia’s military by 1916
- By the time of the Brusilov offensive in June 1916, most frontline units had a reasonable complement of machine guns and artillery shells but a severe lack of experience, this offensive was ground to a halt by the Germans
- By 1916 morale had plummeted. Heavy casualties and the deterioration of the economy and political situation led to 1.5 million desertions that year
How was the defecit of wartime equipment satisfied
Spending on the war rose from 1,500 million roubles in 1914 to 14,500 in 1918
Recruitment drive meant that armament manufacturing swelled; rifle production doubled and heavy artillery production quadrupled in 1916
What economically important regions were lost during the war
- Poland, parts of Western Russia (Donbas and Kirvoi Rog)
- Naval Blockades of the Baltic and Black Sea
What was the impact of an excessive spending on the war
- In urban centres unemployment soared as nonmilitary factories were forced to close
- Railway locomotive production halved between 1913-6 and there were acute fuel shortages; foodstuff that should have gone to the city were left to rot and huge crops of grain were sent to the frontline rather than for the desperate townsfolk
What was the social conditions in Wartime Russia
- There was a 300% rise in the cost of living and inadequate diets, left thousands on the brink of starvation
How many went on strike in Janurary 1917
in January 1917, 145,000 workers went on strike in Petrograd
What was the evenet that led to consistent protests agains the Tsars
Thursday 23rd February
International Women’s Day
90k workers on strike and join a traditional march of Women with 240,000 on the street
What happens on the Frriday and Saturday after International Womens Day (Thursday 23rd February)
Friday 24th February
200k workers on strike, overthrow tsarist statues, wave red flags and sing ‘La Marseillaise’
Saturday 25th February
250k (½ workforce) are on strike, forcing a standstill. Police Chief Shalfeev is beaten and shot. Some Cossacks refuse to attack a procession of strikes when ordered to
What did Rodziank send the Tsar on Sunday the 26th February 1917
Sunday 26th February
Rodziank sends Tsar a telegram:
‘Situation is serious. The capital is in a state of anarchy… it is urgent someone enjoying the confidence of the country should be entrusted with the formation of a new government. There must be no delay. Hesitation is fatal’
Nicholas notes in his diary ‘ That fat-bellied Rodzianko has written some nonsense to which i shall not even bother to reply’
What did The Tsar order on Monday 27th February
- Ordered soldiers to restore orders so 40 demonstators are killed
- A mutiny takes place in the Volynski regiment where a sergeant shoots his commanding officer
How many soldiers mutineed on Monday the 27th of February and what was the impact of this
Monday 27th February
The Tsar orders soldiers to restore order and around 40 demonstrators are killed. However a mutiny takes places in the Volynski regiment where a sergeant shoots his commanding officer
60,000 soldiers mutiny and join the protesters arming them with 40,000 rifles
The duma, against the Tsar’s wishes, sets up a 12 man provisional committee to take over the government
The Army’s HIgh Command changed their mind and gave their support to the Duma Committee
The Same evening revolutionaries set up the Petrograd Soviet
What did the Petrograd Soviet agree under pressure from soldiers
agreed that each regiment should elect committees and send representatives to the soviet. The ‘Order No.1 - a charter of soldiers’ rights - was produced
What did ‘Order no.1’ include
- All units to elect a deputy to the soviet and agree to the political control of the Petrograd Soviet
- The Military Commission of the Duma to be obeyed, only if it agreed with the soviets orders
- All weapons to be controlled by elected soldier’s committees
- All soldiers had full citizen rights when off duty
- No honorific titles for officers and no allowed to address soldiers in the ‘ty’ form
What happened to Nicholas’ claim to the throne
- Forced to abdicate and lost all power when Mikhail refused the Throne’
What happened beyond Petrograd after the February Revolution
- In cities, workers seized control of their factories, set up workers’ committees and deposed their former bosses
- Rebellious people set up their own regional assemblies and soviets everywhere
- The army was technically under the control of the Petrograd soviet, but it disintegrated into semi-independent bodies without clear leadership or cooperation
In provinces such as Finland, Poland, Ukraine and the Caucasus, national minorities declared their independence
What was the Provisional Government
- A temporary government given blessing by Mikhail
- Run by Prince Lvov
- Accepted as legitimate by the old tsarist civil service
- Represented a no. of influential elites who favoured a consitutional monarchy
What was the Petrograd Soviet made up of
- Dominated by Menseviks/SR
- Primarily composed of radical socialist intellectuals and only 7 of the first 42 committee members were workers, although it claimed direct democratic authority since its members were elected by the St Petersburg Soviet
What did the Petrograd Soviet do under Dual Power with the Provisional Government
- The Soviet made no attempt to demand land redistributtion or the nationalisation of indsutry but acceptted the PG promises of:
- A general amnesty for political prisoners
- Basic civil liberties
- Abortion of legal disabilities based on class,religion and nationality
- Right to organise trade unions and to strike
- That a constituent Assembly would be elected
- To these the PG added in April that ‘the consent of free citizens to the power they themselves created’
- They allowed freedom of religion, press and abolished the death penalty, replaced the tsarist police force with a ‘people’s militia’ and dismissed Provincial Governors giving their work to the elected zemstva
