Living and working conditions: Food and famine under Tsardom

Question 1

General reasons for famine?

Answer 1

-tendency to monoculture (reliance on grain)
-restrictions of Mir
severe weather
-government polices.

Question 2

When was the famine under Alexander III?

Answer 2

1891

Question 3

What did Alexander II do to try and prevent famine?

Answer 3

-placed Zemstvo in charge of drawing up emergency measures- didn’t prevent starvation

Question 4

What caused the famine of 1891?

Answer 4

-adverse weather conditions

Question 5

What was the famine of 1891 worsened by?

Answer 5

-outbreaks of cholera and Typhus- 350,000 deaths.

Question 6

Who did the peasants blame for the 1891 famine?

Answer 6

-the finance minister for tax on consumer goods.
-had to sell grain surplus.

Question 7

How did Alexander III belatedly try to deal with the famine?

Answer 7

-ban grain exports
-special committee on famine relief
-funding emergency- extraordinary lottery.

Question 8

What were harvests like at the beginning of the war under Nicholas?

Answer 8

-good
-most went to troops
-problems getting to urban areas

Question 9

What were harvests like at the beginning of the war under Nicholas?

Answer 9

-8 hours.

Question 10

What did some peasants do during the war to stop themselves from starving under Nicholas?

Answer 10

-hoarded grain
-fed animals rather than slaughter them early,