Key interp Russia

Question 1

Eco change + continuity of workers in Russia

Answer 1

-Overall some improvement in work place rights h/w wages low + cond poor
-Pre- no min wage (worst paid in Eur= 1 rouble p/day, av 13hr+ p/day + in WW1 got worse- inflation–> 4x food prices + wages =35% actual value
-During- State Communism- Decree on Worker’s Control 14/11/17 + Decree on 8 hr working Day 29.11.17
-After-Lost many labour rights e.g. Labor Armies + still suffered material shortages e.g. 1921 famine

Question 2

Change + continuity for Russian workers + peas
-politicsChange + continuity for Russian workers + peas
-politics

Answer 2

-Overall- continuity- workers+ peas had few pol rights + freedoms + the democratic experimentations were all shortlived failures
-Ev- Pre- strikes illegal e.g. 1900 =522 violent strikes + Lena Goldfields saw 250k strikers + 500 gov violently suppress (april 12)
-During- Gained right to vote in Duma alt. limitted + Feb ‘17 onward = Soviets
-After- Men + SR’s banned ‘21, inc dem centralism
-Lost many rights under WC- e.g. labour armies + use of Cheka to suppress opposition e.g. March in Astrakhan in Ural Region = workers + (some RA) loaded on to barges + thrown into river w stones tied on them = 2-4k shot or drowned + 16/3/19 Putilov factory 200/900 arrested killed w/o trial

Question 3

1905 rev

Answer 3

Although there were a few broken ribs, tsarism came out of the experience of 1905 alive + strong – Trotsky
-Monarchy’s fate hung by a thread- Service
-The socialist parties were still to weak to play a leading role- Service
-Lynch- revealed that it was ‘the breadth of opposition was what would destroy the Tsar’
-In the end all Russia gained was a breathing spell- Pipes

Question 4

Bolsheviks pre Oct

Answer 4

‘Tailoring the B programme so that it would reflect popular aspirations- was imp 4 contrib 2 rev- Rabinowitch (Ap.The)
-The Bolsheviks became the party for the disenfranchised and dissulusioned- Wade

Question 5

Civil war

Answer 5

• created a tradition of military obedience and loyalty… No regime placed in the Bol predicament could have survived with resort to authoritarian measures- Lynch
  -‘Peasants were far more dangerous then all the Denikins, Yuedinics + Kolchaks put together- Lenin
  ‘Trotsky provided political linkage + oversight, the lack of which was a major short coming of the white armies’- Service

Question 6

Feb 1917

Answer 6

-Although the collapse of Tsarism was not inevitable it was made likely by deep seated cultural + politcal flaws… that proved fatal under the pressure generated by WW1- Pipes
-The Romanov regime fell under the weight of its own internal contradictions. It was not overthrown.” -Figes

Question 7

WC

Answer 7

‘To get Bread that is the basis of socialism today’- Lenin
-‘The means of making a civil war’ + ‘an insturment to struggle against class enemies’- Figes
-

Question 8

Oct 1917

Answer 8

-The Bolsheviks didn’t seize power they picked it up- Ualm
-The Bol were pushing against an open door
-Kerensky single handedly discredited the SRs + the PG, the masses wanted a complete change and Lenin was there to act on this aspiration- Wood

Question 9

Failures of PG

Answer 9

-Kornilov affair- The prestige of Kerensky + PG was completely stryoyed by the KA and he was left almost entirely without supporters
-No popular mandate + no popular support-

Question 10

Red Terror

Answer 10

-Lenin’s theoretical considerations went hand in hand with sharp shooters- Trotsky

Question 11

KR

Answer 11

‘A symbolic parting of ways between the working class + the Bolsheviks- Fitzpatrick

Question 12

LT discontent w TR

Answer 12

Dissatisfaction turned into depression for many impoverished workers, which made them more sympathetic to radical ideas – Harclave
-Russia faced a grave + deepening agraian crisis- Ryan

Question 13

RT

Answer 13

‘Overkilling was better then running the risk of being over thrown’- Service
‘Forced to turn to terror to silence political critics + a public they couldn’t sujugate by other means’ -Figes

Question 14

NEP

Answer 14

‘Another breathing space, a B-L on the eco front’- Hill
-Most Bolshevik leaders never liked the NEP… at best an excrescent boil on the body politic and at worst a malignant cancer

Question 15

Role of Tsar

Answer 15

“The danger Russia faced… would probably have destroyed any man who sat on the throne” (Lieven)
-“Liberals were patriots who objected to the tsarist regime not because it was fighting an unjust war, but because it was uncommitted to winning it” (McMeekin)
-By 1916 all important sectors of society shared the view that the Tsar was an inept political + military leader- Lynch
-The tsarist system proved much too rigid and unwieldly, too inflexible and set in its ways..- Figes
-The Liberals are examples of Tsarism creating its own enemies

Question 16

WW1

Answer 16

“War accelerated the development of revolutionary crises” (Hill)
-While the collapse of tsarism was not inevitable, it was made likely by deep-seated cultural and politics flaws… flaws that proved fatal under the pressure generated by WW1 - Pipes

Question 17

Rasputina

Answer 17

“symptom of the fatal disease affecting the tsarist regime” (Lynch)
-“But the point of rumours is not their truth or untruth: it was their power to mobilise the angry public against the monarchy” (Figes)

Question 18

Bol initial attempts to consolidate power

Answer 18

-‘The Bol were the only people in Russia who had a definite program of action’ - Reed
-The early decrees ‘were designed to inspire, to excite, and to invigerate’ - Service
-The machine gun became the primary instrument of persuasion’-Pipes + early decrees marked a reversion to the autocratic methods of the TR b4 the OM’- Pipes