Key Events 0-1905

Question 1

Coronation

Answer 1

• 26 May 1896
• Over 100 killed due to the surging crowd
• Seen as a bad omen

Question 2

Policy of Russification

Answer 2

• 1899-1917
• Applied to all non-Russian minorities
• Education changed and delivered in Russian
• Russian spoken in court
• No religions other than Russian Orthodoxy
• Only Russian customs, clothing
• Had to become a Russian citizen

Question 3

The Great Spurt

Answer 3

• Whitte: Finance Minister from 1893-1906
• Led the effort to modernise Russia
• Surge in labour in the cities (creates working class or proletariat)
• Development of new social tensions
• Coal output tripled
• Railway track-length doubled
• Between 1860 and 1905, the Russian industrial labour force trebled

Question 4

Formation of the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

Answer 4

• 1903: Bols. first split from Mens.
• Mensheviks: Led by Julius Martov. Believed all workers should be able to be members of the SDs
• Bolsheviks: Led by Lenin. Believed only those dedicated to revolution should become members
• 1912: Split became permanent
• 1917: Trotsky joins the Bolsheviks

Question 5

The Russo-Japanese War

Answer 5

• 1904-1905
• Wanted to expand to region called Manchuria but Japan also wanted it
• 27-28 May 1905: Battle of Tsushima (Baltic Fleet sunk in 24 hours, 10,000 Russian sailors captured or killed)
• Increased tensions
• Humiliates Russia internally and externally
• Calls for reform (left to Tsar easing censorship laws)

Question 6

Bloody Sunday

Answer 6

• 9 Jan 1905
• Triggered by Putilov Steel works dismissing 4 workers
• Up to 150 000 people marched to the palace (Perfect et al.)
• 200-800 killed (Pipes)
• Nicholas earns the title “Nicholas the Bloody”
• Triggers more strikes/protests
• Civil unrest (weeks following, 400,000 workers were on strike)
• “On that day the workers received a bloody lesson. It was their faith in the tsar that was riddled by bullets on that day.” (CPSU)

Question 7

The Dumas

Answer 7

• 11 Dec 1905
• Political representation granted
• “Tsar as God’s representative and the duma as the people’s representative” (Perfect et al.)
• Peasants (Men, over 25) vote indirectly
• Men, over 25 with 200 ha of land vote directly
• Workers were excluded
• Could be dismissed by Tsar

Question 8

Significance

Answer 8

• Highlights that Tsar still had control
• Failed to address concerns of 1905
• Pipes argues they were a wasted opportunity

Question 9

The October Manifesto

Answer 9

• 17 Oct 1905
• Introduced a constitution and a representative parliament
• Civil freedoms including freedom of speech and assembly
• A State Duma with universal voting rights
• No law can be passed without confirmation from the Duma