Collapse of the Autocracy 1894-1917 Flashcards
When did Tsar Nicholas II reign ?
1894-1917
Nicholas II
- Lacked training and experience for good leadership
- Was entirely committed to upholding autocracy
- Alexandria was unpopular because her influence over Nicholas encouraged him to disregard what was traditionally Russian- she wanted to live as a Victorian family in Imperial Russia
Nicholas’s early years 1894-1904
- Continuity of Alexander III such as Russification
- Proletariat began to emerge - more strikes as they deeply resented their conditions
- Famine 1891-2
Famine 1891-2
Drought caused in 1891 caused starvation in Volga region.
- Cholera and Typhoid struck
- Zemstvo organised relief rather than Nicholas
- Turned opponents to Marxism as it convinced opponents that capitalism was the most convincing explanation of the peasantry’s impoverishment thus offering solutions.
Opposition to Nicholas II 1895-1905
Continual opposition that had been repressed under Alexander II
- Populism
- Liberals
Land and Liberty 1985-1905
- More radical and better organised
- Doctors and teachers went to work in peasant communities and used their position to stir up resistance to the state
- Assassinated head of the Third Section
People’s Will 1985-1905
- Assassinated Alexander II
Liberals 1895-1905
- The radical intelligence
- They were either Slavophiles or Westernisers
- Educated, well read and well travelled
- Wanted civil rights and freedom for the individuals through political reform rather than violence
Social Revolutionary Party
- Grew out of the Populist movement
- Led by Victor Chernov
- Popular with the peasants
- SRs condoned violence and responsible for 2000 assassinations
- Lacked strength as they were often student run
Social Democratic Party
This was revolution on behalf of the people
- Led by Vladimir Lenin
- Split into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
- Wanted to achieve revolution by following the works of Karl Marxs
Bolsheviks
- Comprised of a few highly disciplined revolutionaries
- Supported by militant workers that liked the discipline
Mensheviks
- Open membership
- Democrat
- Believed in the long process of Marxism
- Support from non Russians and Intelligentsia
Russo Japanese War - short term cause of the 1905 revolution
Russia went to war with Japan following a surprise attack on the Japanese on the Russian naval fleet.
- Russia suffered a humiliating defeat
- Caused opposition activity to surge
- Trade along the Siberian railway reduced (silk, cotton and chemical industry)
1905 Revolution
- By the end of January 400,000 workers were on strike
- June= Sailors on the Potemkin mutinied
- Peasant riots spread throughout the countryside (landowner’s houses were looted)
- General strike spread from Moscow
- October Manifesto created
Bloody Sunday- short term cause of the 1905 revolution
- 9th January
- Father Gapon organised a petition (calling for an 8 hour day, minimum wage, freedom of speech and an elected parliament) to the Tsar and a march to the Winter Palace
- Crowd was estimated to be between 50,000-100,000 of both women and children carrying icons of the Tsar
- However, the Tsar was not in St Petersburg
- Cavalry and troops open fired on the peaceful crowd, killing 200 and wounding 500
Mutiny on the Potemkin Battleship
- The crew on the Battleship Potemkin mutinied as they had discovered that they were being given rotten meat to eat.
- An officer shot one of the complainers
- The crew then killed several officers and seized control of the ship and sailed to Odessa
- Tsar ordered troops to open fire on Odessa killing about 2000 citizens
- This was an embarrassment as Tsar depended on the loyalty of the armed forces
October Manifesto
- When urged to make concessions, Nicholas replied ‘one would think that you are afraid a revolution will break out.’
- It was only when Nicholas’s uncle threatened to kill himself that he agreed to make concessions
- The manifesto concluded of freedom of speech, an elected Duma and freedom of association and end to unwarranted arrests.
- Seemed as if the principle of autocracy had been abandoned
- The manifesto was greeted with celebrations on the streets of St Petersburg
How did Nicholas survive in 1905?
- Use of repression ( Okhrana arrested hundreds and troops were sent to the countryside where 15,000 people had to be executed)
- Loyalty of the armed forces (He increased back pay, promised better rations and Cossacks were rewarded with money and privilege.)
Fundamental Laws
Despite the October Manifesto, Nicholas issued the Fundamental Laws in April 1906.
- Which stated the Sovereign Emperor possesses the initiative on all legislative matters.
First Duma (Dumas 1906-1914)
- No achievements as the Tsar dissolved them
- Kadets had most seats= Rightists but included a wide range of views
Second Duma
- Leftist majority
- Not many achievements
- Nicholas dissolved them as he uncovered a plot by the SDs to assassinate him
- Peasants and workers were excluded
Third Duma
- Relations between Dumas and government was more cooperative
- Stolypin’s agrarian reforms passed
- Improvements in the army and navy
- Abolishment’s of land captains
Fourth Duma
- Similar to the third Dumas
- Reform of the Orthodox church and reduction in state control
- Met throughout the war but formed a progressive bloc which offered Nicholas the chance to work with the people
- However, Nicholas did not cooperate and so the Duma was suspended
Who was Stolypin?
Appointed Prime Minister in 1906 and believed agricultural reform would take Russia forward.
Stolypin’s Agrarian Reform?
- He thought the Mir was the problem due to their backwardness
- Allowed peasants to leave the Mir
- Aimed to reduce the power of the Mir
- Redistributed the land of some nobles
Affects of Stolypin’s Agrarian Reform
- Only 20% of peasants left the Mir
- Majority of peasant life stayed the same
- Russia still lagged behind world powers
- Grain production grew by % annually
