Collapse of the Russian Empire, 1894-1917

Question 1

Who served as tutor for both Alexander III and Nicholas II

Answer 1

Pobedonostsev

Question 2

2 points of the famine 1891-92

Answer 2

Caused by drought in Volga region in 1891

Half a million dead by end of 1892

Question 3

When did the SDs split?

Answer 3

1903, second party congress

Question 4

When did the liberals split, and what factions formed?

Answer 4

In 1905, into Kadets and Octobrists

Question 5

Who was the finance minister upon Nicholas’ accession and early years

Answer 5

Sergei Witte

Question 6

2 points about worker militancy in 1890s

Answer 6

Peak for strikes was in 1899 and included 100,000 workers

Caused by resentment of working and living conditions

Question 7

How did the 1900 recession lead to peasant revolts

Answer 7

As landlords were withdrawing land for themselves or charging more exploitative rent rates, peasant revolts began in 1902

Question 8

When was the Russo-Japanese war and what was its result for Russia

Answer 8

1904-05, led to August’s Treaty of Portsmouth whereby Russia ceded control of Korea and Port Authur

Question 9

What happened in Bloody Sunday

Answer 9

7 January 1905, a sack of four workers at an engineering works called for a general strike of 100,000
Sunday 9, Father Gapon organised a march to the Winter Palace campaigning for increased worker rights with 150,000 men, women and children
However as they neared they were fired on by troops , figures put 130 fatalities and 300 wounded

Question 10

2 consequences of the bloody sunday massacre

Answer 10

By end of the January, 400,000 people were out on strike

4 Feb, Nicholas’ uncle Grand Duke Sergei was killed

Question 11

How many gov officials were killed during 1905

Answer 11

3,600

Question 12

How did the peasants contribute to the 1905 revolution

Answer 12

In June and July, mood of revolt spread to the countryside, as peasants began seizing noble property and burning their houses
At end of July, the All-Russian Peasant Union formed near Moscow

Question 13

How did the nationalities contribute to the 1905 revolution (2 points)

Answer 13

In Caucasus, officials were attacked and 10,000 troops sent to Georgia
Troops shot 93 Poles who took part in demonstration sparked by Bloody Sunday

Question 14

3 points of the Potemkin mutiny

Answer 14

14 June 1905, crew of battleship Potemkin mutinied over poor conditions
Sailed to Odessa, provoking huge crowds and nearly 2,000 citizens were killed by troops
Surrendered the ship in a Romanian port

Question 15

Why was 13 October 1905 significant?

Answer 15

Formation of the St Petersburg Soviet

Question 16

3 points of the October Manifesto

Answer 16

Witte informed tsar that he had to reform or repress - 17 October he agreed to the October Manifesto
This conceded, civil liberties and an elected parliament (duma)
St Petersburg Soviet called off the general strike

Question 17

2 consequences of the October Manifesto

Answer 17

Liberals moved in tsar’s favour
Explosion of violence at end of October, as tsar’s supporters - Black Hundreds - marched the streets killing leftists - over 3,000 Jews were murdered

Question 18

3 reasons why the tsar survived 1905

Answer 18

The army remained ultimately loyal - Cossacks had not been touched by mutiny
The October Manifesto split the liberals and socialists , thus the socialists were left isolated
Revolutionary parties were not ready and did not play a central role

Question 19

2 points regarding regime regaining control after the 1905 revolution

Answer 19

3 December Okhrana arrested hundreds of St Petersburg Soviet’s deputies
Summer of 1906 peasants were hanged in their hundreds - ‘Stolypin’s neckie’

Question 20

How did Lenin describe the 1905 revoltuion

Answer 20

As a ‘dress rehearsal’ for 1917

Question 21

When did Nicholas announce the Fundamental laws and what did they entail

Answer 21

April 1906, stating the tsar ‘possesses the initial in all legislative matters… ratifies the laws’ and could pass laws without duma approval in exceptional circumstances

Question 22

2 reasons why the October Manifesto was a disapointment to the liberals

Answer 22

Tsar created a second chamber - the State Council - which would have equal power to the duma and would have half its members chosen by him
Elections of duma weighed toward upper class - 2,000 nobles represented by one deputy, whereas 90,000 workers got one deputy

Question 23

Which party boycotted the first duma

Answer 23

Bolsheviks

Question 24

2 points of the first duma

Answer 24

April 1906 and dissolved two months later, cursing it 'all Witte's doing' due to lack of respect
200 Kadets (majority) travelled to Findland, issuing the Vyborg Manifesto urging Russians not to pay taxes - gov response was to weaken Kadets by closing down their offices and dismissing members from gov

Question 25

2 points of the second duma

Answer 25

Met Feb 1907, dissolved three months later (tsar discovered SD plot to assassinate him)
Majority was the Trudoviks (labourists), filled with disagreements between left and right, with left provocation of government ministers

Question 26

3 points of the third duma

Answer 26

Convened November 1907 and ended June 1912
Dominated by Octobrists, who Stolypin was able to work with, thus this duma was more conservative, with some support for gov’s agrarian reforms
Main achievements were restoration of JPs in the stead of Land Captains, health insurance for workers and Stolypin’s land reforms

Question 27

2 points of the fourth duma

Answer 27

Dominated this time by rightists, only began November 1912 and ended 1914
A ‘Progressive Bloc’ was formed which gave Nicholas a real chance to work with the people, yet he neglected it and suspended the duma

Question 28

Assess how far the constitutional experiment was working by 1914

Answer 28

After Stolypin’s death in 1911 the experiment grounded to a halt
Nicholas never trusted the idea of a democratic government - he had a chance in Stolypin to bring positive reforms yet he never supported him fully and always looked for reasons to close down sessions

Question 29

When and how did Stolypin die

Answer 29

Assassinated Sept 1911

Question 30

How many strikers were there by July 1914

Answer 30

1.5 million

Question 31

Assess how revolutionary Russia was in 1914, on the eve of war

Answer 31

Workers were becoming more militant - July saw a general strike with barricades and street fighting
1914 the army remained loyal and the peasants were relatively quiet (good harvests)

Question 32

2 points how revolutionary parties had been weakened after 1905

Answer 32

SRs were in disarray due to Okhrana infiltration - head of their terrorism wing was exposed as an agent
Four out of five of Bolshevik’s St Petersburg committee in 1909 were agents, whilst leaders like Lenin were isolated abroad

Question 33

What occurred in summer 1916

Answer 33

The Russians recovered as General Brusilov launched an offensive, crushing over half of the Austrian army

Question 34

2 reasons why Russia did not endure well in the war

Answer 34

Poor leadership - many officers appointed due to loyalty to tsarism
Transport system was poor, soldiers often went without rifles and had to scavenge them

Question 35

2 points regarding the home front during the war

Answer 35

Between 1914-16, prices of food and fuel quadrupled whilst wages only doubled
By 1916 Petrograd was receiving merely one-third of the food it required due to poor transport and peasant reluctance

Question 36

What was the progressive bloc

Answer 36

The progressive elements of the duma who wanted to be fully involved with the war effort

Question 37

When did the tsar take direct control of the army and what was the main consequence of this

Answer 37

August 1915, he became personally responsible for the war and could not pass blame to generals

Question 38

What started the February Revolution

Answer 38

An IWD march on 23 Feb 1917 turned violent as women, many whom had been waiting 24 hours in bread queues, joined with engineering workers.
Demands for bread turned into demands for the end of the tsar

Question 39

Why was the weekend of 25-26 1917 February a turning point

Answer 39

Soldiers turned to the people’s side, killing their officers

Question 40

When did the tsar abdicate

Answer 40

2 March 1917

Question 41

When did the duma form its special committee and what did it determine

Answer 41

27 February; tsar could not be involved in any form of government