Modern History - 1905 Rev Flashcards
Nicholas 2nd ruled as an autocrat?
What does that mean?
There were absolutely no controls on his power.
Why were peasant’s lives a reason for discontent in Russia in 1905?
- They were hungry for land
- Overtaxed
- Desperate poverty
- 85% of Russia’s population were peasants
- Growing population needed more land - too poor
- Famines in the 1890s and 1901 killed thousands
Why was nationality a reason for discontent in Russia in 1905?
Russification - Russian policy that pressured people to speak the language and adopt their culture, despite only 44% of Russia’s population Russia by nationality.
(Leaving 56% discontented)
Why were industrial worker’s lives a reason for discontent in Russia in 1905?
- Terrible (dangerous) working and living conditions
- Low pay
- Unemployment
- Long working hours
(Housing shortages - had to live in overcrowded dirty barracks where diseases spread rapidly)
Why were radicals a reason for discontent in Russia in 1905?
They wanted the peasants or workers to take power for themselves
(Socialist Revolutionary Party and Bolsheviks)
Why was the Police State a reason for discontent in Russia in 1905?
No one could feel free because the police were always watching
The courts and and police served the Tsarist Autocracy, not the people of the Russian empire
Why were the Middle Classes a reason for discontent in Russia?
They wanted a say in how Russia was governed - had none
- Most of the Middle Class were liberals - wanted to see changes but frightened of SR groups (wanted to share everything)
- Wanted to replace the Tsarist regime with a constitution that guaranteed rights to everyone under a fair legal system
What were the Socialist Revolutionary Party?
They believed that the Tsarist government deserved to be destroyed through violence.
- Believed in a revolution
- Thought the state should share wealth created by important industries among everyone (socialists)
What was the Russian Democratic Party?
Believed in ideas of Karl Marx, with small membership, made up of the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks
What set the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks apart?
Mensheviks believed that it would be a long time until Russia had industrialised enough to have a worker’s revolution
Bolsheviks believed in leading a revolution when the time seemed right. - Lead by Lenin (and other radicals)
What were the (long term) reasons for discontent with Tsarist rule in 1905?
- Peasants and industrial worker’s lives
- Middle Class ignored
- Police State
- Radicals wanting change
- Nationality
What were the immediate causes of the revolution?
- The Russo-Japanese War
-Bloody Sunday
When and where was Bloody Sunday?
St Petersburg on Sunday 9th January 1905
What was Bloody Sunday?
It was a massacre of unarmed protestors (factory workers and their families), led by a priest Father Gapon who were bringing a petition to the Tsar
What did the petition call for on Bloody Sunday and how many people had signed it?
The petition, signed by 150,000 people, called for:
- an 8-hour working day
- the right to organise trade unions
- for a constitution to guarantee these rights and other freedoms in law
Why did Russia lose the Russo-Japanese War?
- Overconfidence (bigger empire)
- Old-fashioned military tactics
- Slow and inefficient ships
The Russian people blamed the Tsarist government for this embarrassing defeat
When was the Potemkin Mutiny?
June 1905
When was the Russo-Japanese War?
8th February 1904
What were the events of the 1905 revolution?
- Potemkin Mutiny
- Peasants and workers
- General strike
- St Petersburg Soviet
What were the effects of the 1905 revolution?
- October Manifesto
- Reppressions
What caused the Potemkin Mutiny?
- Like the industrial workers, the sailors in the Russian navy faced very tough discipline and very poor conditions - maggots in meat for sailors.
- They believed it was wrong for officers to have complete control over the lives of ordinary sailors, just because they were from the upper classes
- The navy was also suffering from embarrassment from the Russo-Japanese War
What happened during the Potemkin Mutiny in order?
- After the sailors reported that the meat was full of maggots and told it was fine, the ship’s executive officer threatened to shoot anyone who refused to eat it
- When the sailors continued to disobey orders, the officer shot one of the leading mutineers
- This set off the Potemkin Mutiny
- Other sailors killed the officer, and attacked the rest, taking control of the ship
- The mutineers sailed Potemkin to the port of Odessa, where strikes and protests had been happening for several weeks
- There were demonstrations in support of the mutiny and large crowds attended the funerals of sailor’s killed by the ship’s officers
- Riots spread throughout the city
- Nicholas ordered the army in Odessa to stop the riots.
- They did by firing into the crowds. Over 1000 citizens were killed.
How many citizens were killed at which port during the Potemkin mutiny?
1000 citizens were killed in Odessa
What happened after the demonstrators shouted abuse at soldiers on Bloody Sunday and how many protestors were killed?
The soldiers fired two rounds of warning shots.
Mounted Cossacks (the regime’s elite troops) charged into the crowd, attacking with their whips and then with swords. The soldiers fired into the crowd.
Over 100 protestors were killed and hundreds more wounded.
Around the world, people were shocked by the massacre. In Russia, the events of Bloody Sunday united people in anger and disgust of the actions of the Tsarist government.
