history unit 3 aos 1 Flashcards
Define tsarist autocracy
Autocracy is a political system whereby the ruler has complete political control, unlimited by a formal Constitution or parliament
the Russian Tsar is a autocratic unlimited monarch
Tsar nichloas’s strengths and weaknesses
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Nicholas was a devoted family man he loved Russia and had a strong sense of duty he genuinely wanted to bring happiness into his country
- Nicholas was out of touch with these people and knew very little about the reality of life in Russia
khodynka tragedy may 18th 1996
- As part of the coronation celebrations Nicholas planned a present for the people of Russia
- free banquet
- As a part of the celebration there was a supposed giveaway of gifts to each person
- 500,000 people were gathered at the khodynka field with 1800 police assembled to manage the crowds
- When rumour spreader there was not enough gifts for everyone = catastrophic stampede in a panic to reach gift tables or to flee the scene 1389 people were trampled to death and another 1300 way injured
Four main pillars of the tsars autocracy
- The government
- the bureaucracy
- the police
- the church
Pillar of autocracy
the government
The official government system was made up of three bodies:
the Imperial council = to tsars personal advisors and answerable only to him
The cabinet of ministers= each of whom were given responsibility over a specific department
The Senate= transformed the Tsars ideas into state laws
Pillar of autocracy
the bureaucracy
Every government requires a civil service to put the official policies into practice
System of officials and administrators that manage a country
Pillar of autocracy
the police
Two groups
okhrana = the size secret police who protected the interests of the state their roles include surveillance of suspected enemies of tsarism such as socialist agitators or anarchist
Cossacks
Maintains law and order among the people on average there was one police officer for every 3850 peasants this meant that oppressive measures had to be introduced to keep masses under control
e.g. savage fighting on horseback
Pillar of autocracy
the church
Orthodox Church = The traditional Russian church that had supported and benefited from the tsar rule
Play a critical role in legitimising the tsars autocratic powers it was claimed that the authority of tsarism originated directly from God
The ruling class in Russia
The tsar and the rest of the royal family together with members of the government the ruling class made up of the population 0.5%
upper class in Russia
12% of the population
hereditary landowning
nobles wealthy merchants
church leaders
leaders in the bureaucracy
the higher ranks within the army
this class was unified by its total protection from the harsh reality of Russian life
Middle class in Russia
Lack of unity or common function small scale manufacturers
factory managers
technical specialists
1.5% population
Industrial working-class proletariat
4% of population
Peasants
Estimated 82 million peasants who produced over half of the nations income dependent on working the land which they either owned or rented
Severe famine began in 1891 and over 350,000 peasants died from starvation and disease during this famine
Sergi witte industrial reforms
He aimed to modernise Russias industry in order to improve Russia’s military strength by:
attracting foreign capital to invest in Russian industry
dramatically expanding the railway systems
Results of wittes industrial forms
Growth between 1890 and 1900 was remarkable
production of iron and steel rose from 9 to 76,000,000 poods per year
coal output tripled
cotton cloth production increased by 2/3
major cities increased in size
1890 Saint Petersburg population
1910 Saint Petersburg population
1033600
to
1905600
Increased by 872,000
Ideology
Set of beliefs or ideas that characterises a particular revolutionary movement
Marxism
The devotion to and practice of the Communist ideology of Karl Marx
Communism
System of economic and social organisation in which a industry, capital, land and other means of production are owned and controlled by a community as a whole
Leninism
The theory of communism was primarily propose for industrialised countries like Germany France and England rather than our agrarian based Russia
trans siberian railway
constructed by witte and opened in 1905 travelled across the length of russia from moscow to vladivostok.
major benefit for trade, the transport of goods and troop movements
Social Democratic workers party
Revolutionaries party founded by plekhanov in 1998 on Marxist principles
bolsheviks
10000 members
Believed that they could bypass capitalist stage and move straight to socialist society
Membership for dictated workers only and decisions made by leaders alone
Mensheviks
Believed that capitalist stage was necessary before evolving into a socialist society
membership open all workers and decisions made after open debate and majority vote
mensheviks were closely monitored but the tsar as a major revolutionary threat
Socialist revolutionary party
Most popular Marxist revolutionary party in Russia because it represented the interests of the peasants
kadets
Conservative revolutionary group that played an important role in the first two are in 1906 and in the provisional government in 1917
october manifesto
Was a document produced by the Tsar in 1905 promising to grant an elected duma in return for an end to the general strike that had paralyse the economy
What were the obstacles to revolution
Police repression = orhkrana dispersing opponents through social control and policies
division = leaders often had disagreements, weakened power
cohesion = the role of the revolutionaries was to convince people that there was a better alternative to tsarism
isolation = cultural diversity in efficiency of communication investigation and propaganda
concession = reforms
putilov steel works
economic distress drove workers to action
the sacking of 5 men from the putilov steel workers led the entire workforce to go on strike on jan 3rd 1905
led to massive 150,000 workers 382 factories
father gapon decription of bloody sunday workers
“they grey faces seemed dead, or relieved only by eyes the blazing blazing with rage of desperate revolt”
bloody sunday petition
largest strike in russia history 111,000 men women and child
tsar winter palace
marchers carried religious signs, sang hyms and carried portraits of the tsar and tsarina
ultimate goal of bloody sunday
to hand in a peition signed by 135,000 people outlining their grievances and tried to outline them to the tsar
bloody sunday death toll
200 killed 800 wounded
