Conditions of Russia 1905- 1917

Question 1

How big was the Russian empire?

Answer 1

Occupied 1/6 of the world’s land surface and was seen as a great power

Question 2

Why was most of the population concentrated in European Russia (west of Ural Mountains)?

Answer 2

Due to the difficult terrain and climate in many areas

Question 3

What was Russia’s population at the beginning of the 20th century?

Answer 3

126 million people

Question 4

What was the population known for and what was the governments response to this?

Answer 4

Diversity- each national group had it’s own language, religion, culture and traditions -
Governments original response = Russification (Russian official language)

Question 5

What dominated in Russian society?

Answer 5

The dominance of the Orthodox church and the peasantry (80% of the population)

Question 6

When were political parties legally permitted?

Answer 6

1906

Question 7

Which parties were prominent by 1917?

Answer 7

Octobrists, Kadets, Social Revolutionaries, Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

Question 8

Why was there an increasing number of strikes and give an example?

Answer 8

Russia’s urban workers became increasingly unionised

1914 Jan-July workers on strike = 1,450,000

Question 9

How long had Tsar Nicholas II governed Russia for?

Answer 9

Since 1894 ( his family the Romanovs had ruled since 1613 in an autocratic fashion)

Question 10

What was the Tsar like?

Answer 10

A family man who believed whole-heartedly in autocracy making his highly resistant to reform
He was rather shy, found intricate details of political life boring and tended to be over-cautious, struggling to make decisions but could also be stubborn, resenting advice which he viewed as criticism

Question 11

Who assisted the Tsar?

Answer 11

The Cabinet, the Senate and the State Council (all merely advisory bodies and had no power independent of the Tsar)

Question 12

What was Russia like after 1905?

Answer 12

1905 revolution didn’t bring radical changes many had hoped for
However Tsarism was forced to bring in some limited reform (October Manifesto = created Duma)

Question 13

What was the problem with the Duma?

Answer 13

It’s limited powers didn’t fulfil the demands of the liberals as the elected lower house didn’t have ultimate law making power

Question 14

Who was Pyotr Stolypin?

Answer 14

Between 1906-1911 he acted as the Tsar’s head of government

Question 15

What did Stolypin attempt to do and how?

Answer 15

Restore order through a policy of cautious reforms and brutal repression
1906-1910 Stolypi’s courts found 37,620 people guilty of political crimes

Question 16

What happened to the people Stolypin found guilty of political crimes?

Answer 16

8,640 sent to labour camps
1,858 resettled in Russia’s deserts or to frozen wastes of Siberia
Russia’s prison population rose from 98,000 in 1905 to over 250,000 by 1913

Question 17

What did Stolypin’s name become associated with?

Answer 17

These brutal methods
Train that carried people into exile = Stolypin wagons
Hangman’s noose + Stolypin’s necktie

Question 18

Who was Maksimilian Trusevich and what did he do?

Answer 18

Head of Russian police, instituted policy of surveillance and subversion - proved highly effective as by 1908 him and Stolypin were convinced their agents had won the battle against revolutionary parties

Question 19

What was the problem with Trusevich’s agents?

Answer 19

Created an atmosphere of mistrust inside the revolutionary parties as revolutionaries didn’t know who was a double agent

Question 20

By 1913 how many Trusevich agents were there in St Petersburg alone?

Answer 20

94

Question 21

What did the agents fail to do?

Answer 21

Stamp out revolutionary newspapers
1912- Bolsheviks founded Pravda and Mensheviks founded Luch
Police kept them under surveillance and attempted to close Pravda 8 times 1912-14 but it always re-emerged

Question 22

In what ways was Russia ‘economically backwards’ in 1905?

Answer 22

There was very little industry

Many lived in extreme poverty but many were very rich

Question 23

Why was Russia difficult to govern In 1905?

Answer 23

It was so vast and local landowners often made their own laws which local peasants were expected to obey

Question 24

How did the Russian government function 1905?

Answer 24

Ruled by emperors called tsars (members of Romanov family) - ruled as an autocrat(complete power)
No parliament to express people’s views - illegal to criticise government
Newspapers were censored, Okrana (tsars secret police) in every village and had biggest peace time army in the world (2.6 million)

Question 25

Where did most of Russia’s wealth come from and what was the problem with this?

Answer 25

From farming but out of date methods (very little mechanized) and terrible winters often ruined the harvest and transport was also poor meaning there was frequent famines

Question 26

What happened when Russian industry began to develop?

Answer 26

Railways and factories were built, businesses ere established so many people began to drift from land to towns where they worked long hours for low wages and lived in terrible conditions

Question 27

What was the social structure of 1905 Russia like?

Answer 27

80% of people were peasants working land
10% of people were workers in towns and cities
8%made up the middle class (doctors, lawyers etc.)
1% =The Tsar and nobility -owned almost all land and controlled almost all wealth and political power In Russia

Question 28

What key event happened in 1905 and what was the outcome?

Answer 28

Nicholas II faced a revolution - The Russian army and navy were heavily defeated by Japan - wise spread unrest in St Petersburg leading to general strike in October

Question 29

What did Nicholas strongly believe?

Answer 29

It was his duty to pass on his autocratic power to his son - led to him doing very little to change Russia

Question 30

What happened following Stolypin’s murder in 1914?

Answer 30

Nicholas gave up at any real attempts at reform

Question 31

Why did opposition to autocracy often become violent and what Is an example of this?

Answer 31

There was no way of changing the government through an election so terrorists used violence to try and force change e.g Nicholas II’s grandfather Alexander II had been killed by a terrorist bomb in 1881

Question 32

Who were the largest and most violent of the terrorist groups?

Answer 32

Social Revolutionaries led by Victor Chernov - killed 2000 people 1901-1905 - popular with peasants

Question 33

Who were the second biggest terrorist group?

Answer 33

Social democrats - split into Mensheviks led by Martov and Bolsheviks led by Lenin - only popular in big cities

Question 34

What did all three of the big political groups have in common?

Answer 34

They were all Marxist - followed writings of Karl Marx and believed that growth of industry would produce a working class (proletariat) that could take power after revolution

Question 35

Why were the Bolsheviks different from the Other groups?

Answer 35

Believed revolution could be forced and didn’t have to wait - became a small highly disciplined organisation with committed revolutionaries - most important of the Marxist groups

Question 36

What had happened to opposition groups by 1914?

Answer 36

Broken up by Tsar’s secret police and many leaders now living abroad ( Lenin in Switzerland making Revolution seem unlikely)

Question 37

Who were the most important groups inside Russia?

Answer 37

Kadets - formed in 1905 by Miliukov and made up of lawyers, doctors, teachers etc and believed in working with the constitution to bring about change- attempted to make use of Duma before closed
Octobrists - formed in 1905 and believed in change through the Tsar’s October manifesto and dominated the Duma

Question 38

How did Russian economy develop rapidly between 1911-1914?

Answer 38

Exports and imports doubled, agricultural production increased and government debt fell

Question 39

What was bloody Sunday and what is it now considered to be?

Answer 39

22nd Jan 1905- unarmed demonstrators were fired on by soldiers of the imperial guard as they marched to winter palace to present a petition to the Tsar (estimated 1000 killed or injured)
Now considered to be the start of the active phase of the 1905 revolution

Question 40

What happened to political critics who organised strikes and protests?

Answer 40

Put in prison or sent to exile in Siberia

Much feared Cossacks also used to deal with trouble

Question 41

What was the role of the Orthodox church?

Answer 41

Closely aligned with the Tsarist regime - supported the divine right of the Tsar to rule and urged people to obey the tsar as the agent of the God

Question 42

For what two reasons was there an urgent need to modernise and industrialise?

Answer 42

1) To be a great power in 20th century - needed to be an important military power = industrialise
2) Russia was poor - agriculture was inefficient for growing population - needed to modernise farming

Question 43

Why was the Tsar reluctant to modernise?

Answer 43

Difficult to maintain tsarist autocracy in modernised Russia
Industrialisation would lead to social tensions as people moved from land to cities
Need for more educated workforce= more able to challenge government
Growth of middle class = create pressure for social change

Question 44

Shortly after coming to power what did Nicholas dismiss and what did he agree to?

Answer 44

Dismissed a zemstvo petition for an elected National Assembly as a ‘senseless dream’ and whilst he did (under duress) agree to a State Duma from 1906, he did all in his power to minimise its influence

Question 45

What were two weaknesses of Nicholas?

Answer 45

He felt he needed to keep his ministers weak to preserve his own authority so he constantly pitted them against eachother and dismissed ministers by note as he hated confrontation
His reluctance to innovate combined with perpetual problems of state finance and the disorganised authority all helped to weaken political authority by 1917

Question 46

What was a strength and a weakness of the Tsars wife?

Answer 46

She was a devoted mother and wife but her advice to Nicholas often proved misguided e.g. to ‘stand firm’ in 1905

Question 47

Who was Rasputin?

Answer 47

A self-styled ‘Holy-man’ who had been able to ease the pain of their son who suffered from haemophilia but his influence soon extended to interfering in government (particularly after war started)
He was known for womanising and drunkenness and damaged the reputation of Nicholas to the people who he relied on for the autocracy (politicians, civil servants, bishops) etc

Question 48

What was significant that happened in 1913?

Answer 48

Marked by a violent wave of strikes

A series of jubilee rituals organised to celebrate the tercentenary of Romanov rule = joyous festivities across Russia

Question 49

Were the Romanov’s popular in 1913?

Answer 49

The Tsar and his family drove through the streets in open carriages for the first time since the troubles in
1905. Crowds flocked to cheer, wave banners etc
They enjoyed a triumphant entrance to Moscow, Nicholas led the way on a white horse with confetti throwing crowds waving the Romanov flag