Essay question on 1848 revolution and 1917 revolution

Question 1

How did Economic factors lead to the revolution of 1848

Answer 1

• Continuing fall in agricultural prices since 1815
• Extract from a pamphlet issued in 1847 – “The condition of peasants is appalling. They dig all day just enough to obtain bread and oil”
• February 1848 – Food riots in Lombardy and some land seizures in Tuscany
• Meagre Seasonal Harvest in 1846 and 1847
• Price of bread increased by 50%

Question 2

Why are the Economic Arguments wrong?

Answer 2

Italian revolutionary movements raised issues that had little interest for most peasants.

Demands for constitutional government, voting and civil rights, and national independence reflected and essentially urban and middle-class agenda.

Revolutionary elements that were willing to confront the “Agrarian Question” were a minority everywhere. Peasant support for the revolution waned quickly after March 1848.

Question 3

1.) The Long-term influences behind the events of 1848 – the growth of anti-foreign feeling, including resentment of foreign rule; Mazzini

Answer 3

Produced the risorgimento  national awakening.

3 pieces of Evidence

1.) Emergence of Secret Societies in 1815  Carbonari 
2.) ‘Young Italy’  Quasi-Religion organisation  41 members in 1831 – 50, 000 in 1833
3.) A growth in radical literature after 1815.  2 Writers to look at:

• “Piedmontese churchman Vincenzo Gioberti, whose II Primato Morale e Civil degli Italiani was printed in 1843”  Envisioned a confederation of Italian Rulers under the pope’s guidance
• 1844, Cesare Balbo published ‘Hope of Italy’  Outlined the idea for a league of Italy free from the oppressive rule of the Austrians

Question 4

Social causes of the Russian Revolution?

Answer 4

Centuries of oppression towards the lower classes

EMANCIPATION FAILURES + REDEMPTION PAYMENTS TO THE STATE + DEMANDED COMMUNAL TENDER OF THE LAND THEY WORKED

1.5% owned 25% of the land

While rural agrarian peasants had been emancipated from serfdom in 1861, they still resented paying redemption payments to the state, and demanded communal tender of the land they worked.

Rapid industrialization of Russia –> resulted in urban overcrowding and poor conditions for urban industrial workers (as mentioned above).

Between 1890 and 1910, the population of the capital of St Petersburg swelled from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600, with Moscow experiencing similar growth.

In one 1904 survey, it was found that an average of sixteen people shared each apartment in St Petersburg, with six people per room. There was also no running water, and piles of human waste were a threat to the health of the workers.

Question 5

How did WW1 lead to the Revolution?

Answer 5

World War I then only added to the chaos. Conscription swept up the unwilling in all parts of Russia.

The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers caused many more labor riots and strikes.

Conscription stripped skilled workers from the cities, who had to be replaced with unskilled peasants, and then, when famine began to hit, workers abandoned the cities in droves to look for food.

Finally, the soldiers themselves, who suffered from a lack of equipment and protection from the elements were discontent with Russia’s poor accounting in the war.

Question 6

How did Politics lead to the October 1917 Revolution?

Answer 6

olitically, most areas of Russian society had reason to be dissatisfied with the existing autocratic system. They had no representation in government, and the Tsar remained out of touch with the people’s problems.

Dissatisfaction with Russian autocracy culminated in the Bloody Sunday massacre, in which Russian workers saw their pleas for justice rejected as thousands of unarmed protestors were shot by the Tsar’s troops. The response to the massacre crippled the nation with strikes, and Nicholas released his October Manifesto, promising a democratic parliament (the State Duma) to appease the people. However, the Tsar effectively nullified his promises of Democracy with Article 87 of the 1906 Fundamental State Laws, and then subsequently dismissed the first two Dumas when they proved uncooperative. These unfulfilled hopes of democracy fuelled revolutionary ideas and violence targeted at the Tsarist regime.

It appears as though Tsar Nicholas II never really considered Russia a constitutional state and invariably held on to his strong inclination towards an Autocratic Russia.

“Let it be known to all that I… shall maintain the principle of autocracy just as firmly and unflinchingly as did my unforgettable dead father” - Tsar Nicholas II, 1906, in a speech to the Duma