essay

Question 1

assess the importance of social unrest as a cause of the 1905 revolution

Answer 1

• social unrest: population increase and food shortages
• economic unrest: poor working conditions - strikes
• military: poor performance in russo japanese war, soldiers mutinied
• political: formation of pressure groups - soviets and increasing middle class - liberals
  conclusion: economic discontent fed through causes

Question 2

the main problem facing the tsarist regime in 1917 was growth of opposition

Answer 2

political: power vacuum in st petersberg, formation of progressive bloc and petrograd soviet
economic and social unrest: protedt in petrograd, general strike, poor working conditions and food shortages
impact of the war: military weaknesses: defeats meant morale was low, military was no longer loyal

biggest problem was loss of army, tsar did not have support

Question 3

to what extent were the policies of witte and stolypin successful in dealing with the problem faced by russia after 1905

Answer 3

stolypin

• weathier peasants believed the best land was still unaccessible
• 2 million peasants left villiage communes
• did increase amount of independant farms but by 1914 it had decreased

witte

• urbanisation did increase at a rapid pace, helped russian economy grow but was stilll sluggish
• transiberian railway still uncomplete
• october manifesto was seem as end to autocracuy but was not wholly successful as did not address economic and social problems and was limited by fundamental laws

Question 4

assess the importance of military defeat causing the march 1917 revolution

Answer 4

military defeat : soldiers no longer loyal, poorly led and badly equipped and tsar was to blame. army refused to put down riots so government lost control
economic/social: war increased social problems, food shortages and inflation. tsar ignored problems
political: formation of petrograd soviets, failure of cooperation to the dumas and power vacuum in st petersburg
conclusion - economic and social - they had been addressed before war and were made worse by war - started the revolt to which soldiers joined

Question 5

assess the reasons for the failure of the provisional government

Answer 5

political - lack of authority, faced opposition by other parties wanted a short term government, allowed the revival of political groups
economic/social - workers had already campaigned for social change, problems were widely ignored and was made worse by war
war: continuation of war meant regime struggled, formed late on in the war already damaged military and economy
conclusion - continuation of the war most important as it created economic and social issues and coalition government disagreed and could not work together

Question 6

Assess the importance of lenin and trotsky in october revolution

Answer 6

lenin: played on weaknesses of provisional government, dealing with issues they did not deal with
trotsky: formation of the MRC, had a force at his disposal
weakness of provisional government; failed to deliver when it came to war, kornilov revolt helped bolsheviks
weakness of other parties: liberals and SR were satisfied with march revolution and other parties supported the provisional government decision to continue war
conclusion - lenin and trotksy were important and were a threat to the provisional government due to popular support and growing power

Question 7

stalins position as general secretary of the communist party was the main reason why he was able to consolidate power. how far do you agree

Answer 7

general secretary; knew what to do with power struggle, management skills can be seen through great terror, show trial and repression
propaganda and censorship - hit a wide audience and promoted his policies. but people agreed out of fear and not love for their leader
removing political rivals; allowed him complete control over the party
conclusion - general secretary helped him to remove political rivals which was the main reason as he was able to consolidate power

Question 8

assess the importance of purges in maintaining stalins control over the bolshevik party

Answer 8

party - show trials, destroyed livelihoods of politicians, removed political rivals
people - labour camps which created fear, 1/8 russian people arrested. stopped opposition
army - purges made army unloyal, he removed army officers, seems irrational stalin wants a loyal army but he destorys it
propaganda - designed to inspire people to support him. brainwashed people into thinking stalin was all that propaganda made him out to be
conclusion - purges made people scared so supported him, allowed him to get rid of rivals so he was left to control russia freely.

Question 9

assess the view that long term structural problems were responsible for nicholas II overthrow in 1917

Answer 9

long term social problems: working conditions, population increase, living standards and growth of middle class
long term economic problems; inflation, lack of investment and rising food prices 
long run political policies: middle class, failure to work with duma, discontent with autocracy and growth of opposition

Question 10

what was the impact of war on russia

Answer 10

economic - factories stopped making consumer goods turned to weaponary, inflation- prices rose by 400%
social - food shortages, transport disolcation
political - power vacuum, without war tsar would have been able to cope with demands
military - led to political discontent and soldiers felt let down and mutinied

Question 11

how far did witte succeed in his plans to reform russian industry

Answer 11

great spurt: industry increased and income from industry increased. tsar supported as he thought it would increase russias military strength
dependant on foreign loans: much of the finance needed to for great spurt came from abroad
railways: not effective more of a symbol than having any use
conclusion - could be seen as successful as moved russia away from agrciulture but success was limited to heavy industry and his reliance was dangerous

Question 12

to what extend was the defeat of tsarist russia in its war against japan the result of its own failings

Answer 12

military commanders lack of knowledge: lack of understanding and skill in dealing with japan. associate incompetence with the tsar himself
japan successes:well equipped, three defeats, port arthur was strategical
tsar: thought russia was stronger than it was, entered over confidently

Question 13

bloody sunday was the most significant cause of the 1905 revoltion

Answer 13

bloody sunday was the catalyst resulted from underlying social, economic and political discontent
economic - workers suffering from poor working conditions, low pay and long hours
social - increasing population and poor harvests
political - growing support for political groups, formation of pressure groups such as soviets
bloody sunday - protest about living and working conditions so economic and social are the cause of the 1905 revolution

Question 14

the most important feature of civil war emergance of war communism. how far do you agree

Answer 14

war communism
development of terror
red army

Question 15

how significant was the problems faced by nicholas II in 1894

Answer 15

political - growing opposition to tsarism due to alexander II repressive nature, opposition groups called for reform of political system to allow for greater representation
economic - productivity was low compared to rivals, reliance on foreign investment, exported grain to raise money added to lack of food
social - end of surfdom, socialist movement leads to cause for political change

Question 16

how effective were attempts to restore stability in russia in the period 1906-1914

Answer 16

political - dumas dissolved, 3 duma achieved some reforms, at this time anti tsarist parties were not as popular, relatively stable
economic - land reform under stolypin, high inflation, economy had grown by 3.5% annual, sluggish compared to rivals but agricultural policies had increased
social - population increase, putting pressure on jobs housing and food. over 1000 towns only 200 had water and 3 had sewage systems. poor working conditions caused discontent. unstable nicholas paid little attention to this

Question 17

assess the significance of social unrest in the abdication of nicholas II

Answer 17

social unrest - 150,000 workers protests in petrograd due to working conditions, food shortages, tsar not dealing with these issues
war - defeats and poor military guidence let the army down who became disloyal to the tsar, mutinies were common
political opposition - power vacuum in st peterburg, failure to cooperate with the progressive bloc led to criticisms, formation and support for soviets was a clear sign that the tsar was unfit to rule

Question 18

why did the tsar survive in 1905 but nit 1917

Answer 18

compare military situation in 1905 and 1917
impact of the war

social

economic

political

Question 19

assess the view that lenin was a strong leader

Answer 19

repression - weakness, he used repression to ban all other politiical parties therefore he was not a charismatic leader that got people to support him

role in the revolution - was secondary to trotsky

ideology - successful he was able to adapt his ideology to gain support, knew that war communism was not working therefore replaced it with NEP, appeased the liberals by having the dumas even through they did not water down his authority. he limited his opposition by changing his ideology

Question 20

the main problem facing tsarist regime in 1917 was the growth of opposition. how far do you agree

Answer 20

growth of opposiition
becoming commander in chief led to opposition within the army, refusal to work with the duma led to the development of the provisional committee,
political problems
tsarina government ineffectively, there was a power vacuum in st petersburg

social problems
did not deal with food shortages and ignored the effect of war
incompetence of the tsar led to people looking for an alternative

economic problems
inflation had reached 400% due to a war that russia could not afford
living and working conditions crumbled

Question 21

assess the reasons for the failure of the provisional government

Answer 21

continuation of the war - couldnt deal with the social and economic problems due to the commitment in the war, the government thought that they should continue with the war due to the amount that had been invested into winning it
role of the bolsheviks - provisional government facilitated revival of other political groups including the bolsheviks, who issued an thesis to say do not work with the provisional government
soviets
due to the popular support for the soviets the provisional government had to agree to what the soviets thought due to fear of opposition, had slogans such as all power to the soviets clearly showing provisional government lack of authority

Question 22

assess the importance of red terror in explaining bolshevik victory in the civil war

Answer 22

red terror - allowed themto implement war time policies such as war communism
trotsky - control over the red army, maintained supply lines
whites were disunited - did not have a common set of aims and were widespread, with difficult transport lines they had no line of communication
war communism - vital for victory as it allowed goods to be transported to the war and allowed the reds to build up an effective fighting force. whites relied on foreign supplied armaments but with weak transport system these were ineffective

Question 23

divisions within the bolshevik party from 1917-1929 were a rsult of ideological differences

Answer 23

ideological differences
left wanted a perminant revolution whereas the right wanted a revolution in one country
difference between the left and the right about the NEP

strategy and tactics
stalin used the divisions to his advantage by using one side against eachother to consolidate power. however this just created a united opposition and division with in the party

rivals
signing of the treaty of brest livosk caused divisions
war communism was deemed to harsh and the left saw the NEP was seen as moving away from revolutionary aims

Question 24

how important was the cult of personality in stalins consolidation of power

Answer 24

cult of personality
stalin used propaganda to show his greatness and power and his success of his policies. these were widespread. however it is difficult to know if people were actually persuaded by them
censorship
had to join a union of writers - this was to stop any oppositions views from getting out to the public
police state
created a permanent sense of fear. the cheka acted as secret police making arrests to any who was seen or thought to be opposing the communist regime. purges of the party allowed stalin to be in control. people lived in fear of speaking out about stalin and therefore were forced into supporting him

Question 25

to what extent was collectivisation successful

Answer 25

economic
grain production did increase dramatically then tailed off. grain exports fell significantly suggesting there was a move to feed the growing population

social
famine of 1932 disrupted the pace of collectivisation
suffering coincided with repressive regime and bad weather making food short and living conditions worse

political
went hand in hand with dekulakisation
kulaks houses were raided and stripped of any hidden wealth, caused many kulaks to fled and sell their wealth

Question 26

political challenges faced by nicholas II outweigh the social and economic challenges. how far do you agree

Answer 26

political
opposition had grown due to alexander III repressive nature, opposition groups had formed and called for reforms of the political system for a more representation for the people. was challenge as if nicholas made concessions it would remove opposition but water down his own authority

economic
lack of productivity - industry was still heavily labour based, lack of free enterprise
agriculture and industry was backwards

social
peasants land problem
famine 1891 led to 350,000 deaths
poor housing, lack of sanitation and lack of water suppliers led to disease and social discontent. therefore amounted to challenges from below

Question 27

assess the impact on the russo japanese war for russia

Answer 27

support for the tsar
many blamed military defeat on the tsar himself making people become more disloyal to him led to distrust

economy
ineffective transport system

social
starvation was a problem
developments in industry had led to health problems

prestige for russia
aim to go to war was based on the desire to strengthen russias world standing and divert peoples attention away from defeat however people were not filled with patriotism and instead it fuelled discontent

Question 28

the most serious consequence of ww1 was the shortage of food

Answer 28

food supply
rapid rising population, requistioning of grain and transport problems led to food shorages creating tension and discontent
shortage of food was already a problem and was only made worse by the war

inflation
the war cost 3 billion roubles which was funded by borrowing, high tax and printing more money. this made inflation reach 400%. hitting people on fixed incomes hard

economic dislocation
peasants were conscripted
russian economy could not keep up with demands from the war
no surprise that it led workers to demand a more representation form of government due to the poor conditions and long hours making the failing army goods