Nature of the Tsarist rule Flashcards
How did autocrats rule?
They held absolute power in a country and did not have to explain themselves to anyone
Whose support did the Tsar rule with?
He had the support of the aristocracy (landowners), the Church, the army and the civil service.
What are subject nationalities?
Non-russian people living in Russia
What were the various groups in Russia?
Peasants, Industrial workers and Subject nationalities
Who were the peasants?
They are 80% of Russia’s population.
They often lived in poverty and wanted their own land.
Who were the industrial workers?
They were workers who often lived in Moscow and Petrograd in overcrowded conditions and worked long hours for little pay.
What groups made up the Tsar’s opposition in Russia?
The Social Revolutionaries
The Bolsheviks
The Mensheviks
The Constitutional Democrats.
What were the wants of the Social Revolutionaries?
They wanted to carve up the huge estates of the very rich and hand them over to the peasants
What were the wants of the Bolsheviks?
They wanted to overthrow the Tsar and set up a mass communist party.
What were the wants of the Mensheviks?
They wanted to create a mass communist party which would eventually overthrow the Tsar.
What were the wants of the Constitutional Democrats?
They wanted to keep the Tsar but make him share power with a Parliament or Duma.
What was the Duma and why was it formed?
A representative assembly that the Tsar consulted, but which had very little power.
It was formed to be a compromise in the October Manifesto to show that the Tsar would change his ways.
Why was there a revolution in 1905?
Russia had gone to war with Japan and suffered heavy defeats
There were protests in many Russian cities
Peasants began to riot and law and order began to breakdown
What was the most famous riot of 1905?
Bloody Sunday, January 1905
Rehearsal for 1917 revolution
What happened on Bloody Sunday, January 1905?
Russian troops opened fire on a column of unarmed people in St Petersburg, killing hundreds of women and children.
What did the 1905 Revolution force the Tsar to do?
Tsar was forced to accept some changes including the Duma being set up and the October manifesto being published.
Why was the Tsar able to keep control during the 1905 Revolution?
The army stayed loyal as most soldiers were peasants from the countryside who were instinctively conservative and loyal to the Tsar.
What did the October Manifesto do?
It introduced some reforms including allowing the peasants more land and abolishing the fees the peasants were paying to landowners.
Why was Queen Alexandra unpopular in Russia?
German background led people to not trust her
She was heavily under the influence of a Russian monk, Gregory Rasputin.
Why was Tsar unpopular in Russia?
He was weak, indecisive and easily influenced by others
The rumours about Rasputin and Alexandra made him look worse.
The continued military defeat. Soldiers were poorly equipped due to shortages of weapons and ammunition, resulting in a series of defeats.
Why was Tsar unpopular in Russia with the army?
No military experience meant he was unfit for the position
Taking personal command of the army in 1915 meant that he could be held directly to blame for any defeats.
Why did leaving the Government of Russia in Alexandra’s control cause problems?
She dismissed capable ministers and refused to accept the advice of the Duma.
She misled the Tsar about the extent of the opposition in Petrograd.
What effect did the war have of Russia’s economy?
There was greater overcrowding in towns and cities as well as low wages and rising prices.
The transport was inadequate and food often failed to reach towns and cities.
Why was there discontent in Russia?
There were too few peasants to work on land in the countryside due to conscription
They suffered from increasing food shortages.
The conditions in the army were so bad. It resulted in am increasing number of soldiers deserted.
Why were the people angry about the war?
Suffered defeats at the hands of the Russians = Tannenburg and the Maursian Lakes in 1914.
Why were the Russians at a disadvantage?
Russian Army relied on old-fashioned tactics = bayonets instead of the new machine guns that could fire for hundreds of meters.
Why did food shortages begin to develop in Russia?
Inadequate railway network + most just went to major cities instead of border areas
Most railways were taken over by the army = fewer trains to transport food.
What was the Brusilov Offensive ?
They captures large areas of Austria-Hungary taking around 400,000 prisoners
What were the advantages and disadvantages of the Brusilov Offensive?
It was successful. It used specialised shock troops instead of massed attacks
It was unsuccessful because more than 58,000 troops deserted at the time
The discipline in the army began to collapse as the authority of officers were undermined
