Late Imperial Russia (1) Flashcards
When was the assassination of Alexander II?
1881
When was the start of Nicholas II’s reign?
1894
Between what dates were Sergei Witte’s reforms?
1894-1906
When was the Social Democratic Party formed?
1898
When was the formation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party?
1901
When did the Social Democratic Party spilt?
1903
What did the SD Party split into?
Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
When was the Russo-Japanese war?
1904-1905
What 5 events occurred in 1905?
Russo-Japanese peace treaty Formation of the Octobrists Creation of the duma Formation of the Kadets All-Russian Union of Peasants set up
How large was Russia?
What issues did this cause?
8 million square miles
Language barriers
When did the Tsar’s family’s rule begin? What was their line?
1613
Romanov Dynasty
Who issued the fundamental laws? When?
1832 by Nicholas I
What did the Fundamental Laws declare?
The Emperor of all the Russians is an autocratic and unlimited monarch. God himself ordains that all must bow to his supreme power, not only out of fear but also out of conscience.
Which three official bodies did the Tsar use to exercise his power?
The Imperial Council - (a group of advisors, directly responsible to the Tsar)
The Cabinet of Ministers - (ran various government departments)
The Senate - (supervised the operation of the law)
What was the issue with the three governing bodies used by the tsar?
They weren’t very powerful
They had no authority over the Tsar and were only there to advise
What was the Okhrana?
The tsarist secret police who hunted down those that apposed Tsarist regime
What happened to Alexander II?
He was blown up by a bomb thrown by a terrorist group known as “The People’s Will” even though he had attempted to introduce reform
In 1897, what was the difference in the percentage of people who were peasants compared to ruling class?
82% peasants
0.5% Ruling class
What had failed to develop in the countryside?
A thriving agrarian economy where food was produced on the land and then traded
How did the upper classes refer to the peasantry?
“Dark masses”
What decree was abolished in 1861?
The Emancipation Decree, which abolished serfdom- a Russian form of slavery in which the landowner had total control over the peasants who lived or worked on his land
What was conscription?
The forcing of large numbers of peasants into the army or navy
What does nepotism mean?
A system in which positions are gained through family connections rather than on merit
What was conscription often used as?
A punishment for law breakers
Summary
What were the 4 main characteristics of the Tsarist system?
Autocratic government
Reactionary church
Corrupt bureaucracy
Oppressive army
Summary
What were the two main characteristics of the economy in Tsarist Russia?
Undeveloped industry
Backward agriculture
Summary
What were the 4 main characteristics of the people in Tsarist Russia?
The social structure
Tiny dominant elite
“Dark masses”
82% peasant population
Who were “Westerners?”
Russians who believed that their nation had to model itself on the advanced countries of Western Europe
Who were the “Slavophiles?”
Russians who urged that the nation should preserve itself as “holy Russia,” glorifying in its Slavonic culture and traditions
What were the Zemstva?
Elected local councils
What was the Mir?
The traditional village community
Who were the intelligentsia?
The educated and enlightened members of Russian society who wanted to see their nation adopt progressive changes along the western lines
What did the Zemstva allow?
Offered some form of representative government
What did the Mir do?
It kept order and provided a cheap means of collecting taxes and mortgage repayments
What was Russian in need of when the Tsar came to the throne? What was he liked?
Russia needed a Tsar of strength and imagination and received someone who was weak with a limited outlook
Who was Konstantin Pobedonostsev?
Chief minister and also the Procurator of the Synod, the governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church
How did Pobedonovstev get to know Nicholas II?
He had been his tutor
How did Pobedonovstev’s views affect Nicholas?
He was an arch-conservative who had a deep distaste for all forms of liberalism and democracy
What actions was Pobedonovstev behind?
Many of the pogroms
What was a pogrom?
Fierce persecution of the Jews, which often involved killing, wounding or destroying their property
What does autocracy mean?
The absolute rule of one person, eg. The Tsar
What was Russification?
The policy of restricting the influence of the non-Russian national minorities within the empire by emphasising the superiority of all things Russian
What were the effects of Russification?
Russian was said to be the official first language, so all legal proceedings had to be done in Russian, so those who did not speak the language struggled
This was to encourage everyone to speak Russian
Which nationalities struggles the most due to Russification?
The Poles, the Finns and the Ukranians
Who were the greatest victims of Russification? What was this called?
Jews
Anti-Semitism
How many anti-Semitic measures were introduced?
600
What was a ghetto?
Particular areas where Jews were concentrated and to which they were restricted
What were the Jews used as?
Scapegoats who could be blamed for Russia’s difficulties
How was Russification destructive for Russia?
Remarkably ill-judged, at a time in Russia’s development where unity was needed, Russia chose to alienate half its population
How many Jews was there in Russia?
5 million
What group did the Jews form in 1897?
The Jewish Bund
Who was Sergei Witte?
Minister of Finance, 1893-1903
Chief Minister, 1903-1906
Who was Peter Stolypin?
Chief Minister, 1906-1911
He was concerned with progress in agriculture
What was the rapid increase in industry during the 1890s known as?
The “Great Spurt”
What was Witte’s goal?
To modernise the Russian economy to a level where it could compete with the advanced Western nations
What did Witte do in order to modernise Russia?
He invited foreign experts to Russia to advise on industrial planning
Where were the experts invited by Witte from?
Engineers from France
Britain, Germany and Belgium also played a vital role
How did Witte believe modernisation could be achieved?
Through state capitalism
What is state capitalism?
The direction and control of the economy by the government, using its central power and authority
How many miles of railway track was there in 1881?
13270
How many miles of railway track was there by 1900?
33270
How many miles of railway track was there by 1913?
43850
What was the name of Witte’s main project?
The Trans-Siberian Railway
When was the TSR constructed?
1891 to 1902
How long was the TSR?
Where did it go from?
3750 miles
Moscow to Vladivostok
What was the intention of the TSR?
To connect the remoter regions of the central and eastern empire with the industrial west
What was the reality of the TSR?
Sections were still incomplete in 1914
It was more an impressive structure of Russian enterprise than of actual economic worth / use
Was advantages did the TSR bring?
Improved exports and trade
How did the TSR increase grain production?
1890 - 36 million tonnes
1916 - 64 million tonnes
What were the three main criticisms of Witte?
He made Russia too dependent on foreign loans / aid
He paid too much attention to heavy industry, neglecting light engineering
He paid no attention to Russia’s agricultural needs
Who were the two main opponents to tsarsom in Nicholas II’s reign?
Liberals
Revolutionaries
When was the October Manifesto?
1905
What was the Duma?
The Russian parliament, existing from 1906 to 1917
Who were the two liberal parties in the pre-1914 period?
The Octobrists and the Kadets
Who were the Octobrists?
Moderates, loyal to the Tsar and his government
Who were the two leading members of the Octobrists?
Alexander Guchkov and Milhail Rodzianko
How did the Octobrists react towards tsardom?
The didn’t want to overthrow it, but were very willing to point out its failings
How were the Kadets also known?
Constitutional democrats
What did the Kadets want?
Russia to develop as a constitutional monarchy where the powers of the Tsar would be restricted by a democratically elected constituent assembly
What did the Kadets believe a constituent assembly would do?
Settle Russia’s Social, political and economic problems
What were the 6 main points to the Kadet programme?
- An All-Russian Constituent Assembly
- Fully equality and equal rights to all citizens
- The ending of censorship
- The abolition of mortgage repayments on land
- The recognition of trade unions and the right to strike
- Introduction of universal free education
Which people made up the Kadets?
Liberal intelligentsia
Eg. progressive landlords
Who was the Kadet leader?
Paul Milyukov
Which three revolutionary groups made up the Revolutionaries?
The Populists
The Social Revolutionaries
The Social Democrats
What did the Populists believe?
The future of Russia was in the hands of the peasants and the peasants must take the lead in the transforming of Russia
Who were the Socialist Revolutionaries?
A group that grew from the Populists, and was divided by ideas, into the Right and Left Social Revolutionaries
Who were the Left Social Revolutionaries?
A faction of the SRs who wished to continue with the terror of The People’s Will
Who was the leader of the SRs?
Victor Chernov
What did the Right Social Revolutionaries believe in?
A more moderate approach, and they were willing to work with other parties to improve the lives of workers and peasants
What was the takeover of the state by the peasants and workers known as?
“Revolutionary socialism”
Who were the Social Democrats?
Wanted to achieve revolution in Russia by following the ideas of Karl Marx
Who was Vyacheslav Plehve?
The tsar’s Minister of the Interior and former head of the Russian police
Who was Karl Marx?
Gorman radical whose ideas dominated socialist revolutionary thinking in the 19th and 20th century
Who were the Proletariat?
The exploited industrial workers, who according to Marx would triumph in the last great class struggle
Who were the Bourgeoisie?
The owners of capital, who exploited the workers but who would be overthrown by them in the revolution to come
Who was “the founding father of Russian Marxism?
George Plekhanov
Who was the main critic of Plekhanov?
Lenin
How did the Social Democrats split?
Into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
Who split the SDs?
Lenin
What was Lenin’s intention in splitting the party?
To force the SDs to either choose between Plekhanov’s idea of a broad based party, open to all Revolutionaries, or his own concept of a small, tightly knit and exclusive party
What were Lenin’s faction of the SDs known as?
Bolsheviks
Who led the Mensheviks?
Julius Martov
When did the SDs split?
1903
When was there a clear, distinct divide between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?
1912
What was the Bolshevik newspaper known as?
What did this translate to?
“Pravda”
Truth
When was Pravda first published?
1912
What was the Bolshevik idea of “Democratic centralism?”
The party had to fulfil their duty of being obedient to the leaders
What did Lenin do between 1904 and 1917?
Not a lot, he was absent from Russia
Who was Joseph Stalin?
A ruler of communist Russia from 1929 to his death in 1953
How did the Bolsheviks who remained in Russia spend their time?
Trying to raise money for the party, through acts such as terrorism and violence
What did Joseph Stalin do in order to raise money for the party?
Bomb-blasted his way into the post office, killing around 50 people before stealing the equivalent of £1.7 million
What did Stalin’s money-making efforts do?
Earned him respect from Lenin, allowing him to be admired and move up the party
What’s ere Russia’s three main motives for going to war in Japan?
- To pursue an expansionist policy in the Far East
- To obtain an ice-free port
- To distract attention from Russia’s domestic troubles by rallying the nation in a patriotic struggle
How did the Russian view Japan?
They thought that they were an inferior nation
What did Russia expect in the war?
An easy victory
How did the war begin?
The Russian government deliberately provoked a military response
Japan opened hostilities by attacking the Russian fleet in Port Arthur
When did the war with Japan start?
February 1904
When did Russia lose Port Arthur?
January 1905
When was the Russian fleet sunk at Tsushima?
May 1905
When was the Russo-Japanese peace treaty?
September 1905
Why did Russia lose against Japan?
The military commanders had not prepared effectively
It was not that the troops fought badly
What were the three main effects at home of the Russo-Japanese war?
It was a national humiliation
The war revealed the social unrest it had been designed to conceal
It caused a build up of tension that contributed to a direct challenge to tsardom
