Nicholas II (1894-1904) Flashcards
Did Nicholas II have a unified policy-making body like a cabinet
No.
Each minister reported to the tsar their field of responsibility only - preventing strategic coherence.
“The goverment could pull in two opposite directions without meaning to”
Give an example of contradictory policies
Whilst the ministry of finance energetically fostered industrialisation, other ministries were pursuing conservative social policies which ignored or impeded economic change
What did Pobedonostev call plans for a national representative democracy and who was he
Nicholas’ tutor
“senseless dreams”
What did Nicholas II say in 1904 when calls for a national assembly (Duma) were even louder
“I will never agree to the representative form of goverment because i consider it harmful to the people whom God has entrusted to me”.
Give 3 ways in which Nicholas responded to reformist calls with repression
Mounted Cossacks (riot police) were used more frequently to break up gatherings and protests in unis and factories
Police were also used to break up zemstva meetings when discussions were deemed too ‘liberal’
The Okhrana’s powers were increased by a new ‘internal passport’ system in Russia, where every Russian had to register their home address and visitors to towns had 3 days to register presence or face punishment
In 1882 the Okhrana had secretly opened around………..letters a year in Russia, but by 1904 it was steaming open over………letters a year
40,000
100,000
What is significant about the growth of the Okhrana network of ‘agent provocateurs’
Spies placed undercover in revolutionary groups, student groups and unions.
They participated in radicalism to a bizarre degree, before turning in their co-conspirators for money
They ran a radical printing press, provided weapons to radicals and even participated in assassinations of goverment members (including tsar’s uncle)
This shady kind of morality only served to undermine what remained of the Tsardom staus as the divine protectorate of all Russians
Give a mistake by the Okhrana
Organised police controlled unions in Moscow - ended in 1903 when one of these ‘loyal’ unions took part in a general strike
revived later with father Gapon permitted to open the assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers - would prove a potent force in the capital
What russification scheme occurred in Finland and what was the effect
1899 - Finland’s constitution was abolished which led to mass protest and the Russian governor of Finland being assassinated by a Finish terrorist in 1904
Give an example of Nicholas accelerating his father’s campaign of forced conversion to Orthodoxy in Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Poland
Helped stoke further nationalist resentment in those areas
FUnded extreme Pan-Slavic and anti-Sematic radical groups and publishers (Black Hundreds)
In 1902 - Okhrana secretly funded the Russian publication of ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ - used to justify anti-Semitism
What happened in Kishinev Bessarabia in 1903
Worst anti-semitic pogrom with no state resistance
In two days 47 jews were murdered, 400 wounded, 700 shops burnt
In 1903 the mir lost their………………..powers and peasants were given greater freedom to visit…………..for work with mir…………..abolished
Tax-collecting
Cities
Passports
Give an example of little alleviation of Peasant suffering
Little real impact on peasant living condition and no truly radical reforms of peasant life took place until after 1905
The growing number of peasant riots, attacks on landlord and arson of manor houses (1897-04) were greeted with violent state repression, particularly hangings
The tsar was keen to follow the…………….tradition and by the end of the first decade was confident that Russia was ready to compete as a…………………they also had faith in popular…………appeal of a military victory to quell popular interest
Expansionist
‘Great Power’
Patriotic
What state was Russia in when Nicholas became Tsar
The heritage left behind was in good running order.
The industrialisation drive was reaching its peak
The Trans-Siberian railway project was pushing ahead
The revolutionaries were in hiding
The EMpire was at peace
Why was the appearance of stability at the start an illusion
The industrial program was impoverishing the peasants and depressing the conditions of key factory workers
Under the nagging, bullying pressure of Alexander’s russification policy, bitter resentments against central rule had built up among non-Russian people, forming half the population
What did the Liberals want
Tsardom reformed into a constitutional monarchy.
They were centred around the Zemstva where calls for change continued despite repression from Okhrana and Land Captains
Primary liberal demand was for some kind of national assembly, relaxing of censorship and mass education
Give two liberal organisations
National Congress of Zemstva presidents - promptly banned in 1897
Group of radical liberals formed the ‘Union of Liberation Party’ in Berlin - printed the influential newspaper ‘Liberation’
Give two examples of liberal power over the tsar
1904 - felt confident enough to relocate the Union of Liberation to St Petersburg and dodged the law against political meetings by holding ‘banquets’ where liberal policies were openly discussed
Goverment knew where the zemstva presidents were but felt unable to arrest them for fear of sparking a mass uprising
What resulted from liberal banquets
Eleven Theses Petition - called for a constitutional monarchy and was discussed at more banquets nationwide
What are Marxists
Small secret societies that shared illegal readings and worked to infiltrate and educate the working class in ost cities
Give examples of Marxist strengths
Helped organise strikes and were involved in the massive textile worker’s strikes in St. Petersburg in 1896-7
In 1898 these groups united into the Russian Social Democratic Labour party (but only 9 delegates attended and 5 were arrested)
1900 - opened an illegal newspaper ‘the Spark’ to promote their view that the urban proletariat was the only force capable of reforming Russia
Gives examples of Marxist being mainly weak
Group split in two in 1903 which weakened the movement into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
Marxists of limited significance - largely due to Okhrna’s very successful monitoring and infiltration of the group
Lenin was either in exile, imprisoned or overseas between 1897-05
What was New Populism - (Social revelotuionaries)
Wanted to:
Radicalise the peasantry - by stimulating unrest
Educate + radicalise workers - best placed to start a revolution
Weaken tsarist regime through assassinations
Give evidence of success for new Populists
In the central heartland of Russia + Ukraine where land was most scarce and peasants were most trapped by nobility - they had success in peasant membership and stirring violence
Successfully secured proletariat membership and agitating strikes in the Baku oil region and Polish industrial regions
Combat Section killed Minister of Interior (Phleve) and Education
Give evidence of failure of New Populism
Assassinations served to strengthen Tsar’s resistance to reform and his willingness to use the Okhrana
Twice in 1901-4, the police arrested the entire leadership of the SR’s in one single swop
Leader of the Combat Section was a secret policeman who arranged the arrest of hundreds of radicals, but also the assassination of 28 military officials
Did unions and strikes increase or decrease
Increased dramatically - despite both being illegal
There were…………..industrial strikes in 1894 and after the depression lowered wagers and employment,…………in 1904
17,000
90,000
Historians often claim that the decisive error of tsardom was not to take action to resolve the……..and………….grievances of the new………………..class
Working
Living
Industrial working
How did the state fail to respond to industrial strikes
Stae sought to focus workers energies solely on economic concerns, removing any possible radical influence by opening tame unions - didn’t wok as strikes still erupted
Idea revived in 1904 when the state-sponsored Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers was opened with 8,000 members within weeks
What do the ‘years of the red cockerel’ refer to
1903-04 in reference to the red flames of arson throughout the countryside from Peasant unrest. Sparked by harvest failures + SR influence
What was the effect of Phlev’s assassination in Poland in 1904
The streets Warsaw filled with celebrations. There was increased popular sympathy for radicalism from Poles, Jes, FIns ad Georgians (proving crucial in 1905 unrest)
How did Tsar fail with regards to Pan-Slavism opposition
Tolerance of fiercely right-wing critics whose newspapers undermined his authority and royal aura with no risk of punishment
Moscow in 1900 was said to be overrun by………….
Farm animals
What were living conditions like in the rapidly growing cities
Dreadful!
Many factories opened squalid, overcrowded workers ‘barracks’ or made employees sleep on the floor
How many people died from cholera outbreak sin 1904
30,000
No tradition of the state or Church providing charity to alleviate urban poverty
Give evidence of poor working conditions for workers
1900-1908, workers wages fell steadily, relative to food prices
1900-6 depression allowed factory owners to exploit workers with little fear of punishment.
In 905, the majority of Russian workers earned less, after-tax, than the cost of feeding a family
Give a counter-argument for better working conditions
The maximum daily shift of 11.5 hours was introduced and factory inspections were improved somewhat in 1903
What did Karl Marx state
The workers suffering was the precondition for a revolution
Gives examples of successful worker protests
17,000 strikes in 1894 (all illegal) and 90,000 in 1904
1896-7 - St, Petersburg textiles strike involved tens of thousands of workers, urban unrest on a scale not seen since the 1820s
Although workers were largely concerned with improved pay and working conditions - some were being politically educated to, realising some kind of political representation was the best hope at an improved life
How was the middle class changing under Nicholas II and how did that impact tsardom
Growing professional and commercial class in Russia - increasingly involved with zemstva, education, infrastructure and welfare
Naturally receptive to new ideas, frustrated by the tsar’s conservatism and resentful of the continuing advantages enjoyed by the nobility
The Russian state was becoming dependent on a social class with a natural resistance to autocracy
How did the tsar try to help the nobility
Empowered them to diminish the role of the zemstva through land captains and to block path of the middle class by giving them educational privileges
Sought to secure economic superiority over the peasanty by placing the tax burden for industrialisation squarely on the peasant’s shoulders
How did the tsar fail to help the nobility
The economic decline of the nobility continued and by 1905 they had lost 1/3 of their landholdings to peasants
The Tsar found himself elevating a social class at the extreme…………of two others - the…………middle class and resentful peasantry - without securing much………….or loyalty in return
Irritation
Frustrated
Gratitude
How did the peasantry remain unchanged
Agricultural productivity, life expectancy, literacy and the mir’s claustrophobic control remained largely unchanged
1901 crop failures saw famine return killing tens of thousands
The pressure of population growth and industrialisation taxes depressed living standards
Give some changes for the peasantry and the effects
- From 1896 - 3.5 million peasants took the Trans-Siberian railway to a new life in the East
- Mir passports abolished in 1903
- Rise of Kulaks was weakening social ties with communes
This mix of destabilisation and unchanged suffering was potent: attacks on noble property and peasant revolt steadily increased from 1897
Target of these revolts typically the nobility, not the tsar
Give examples of continuity between Alex III and Nick with regards to democracy
Both limited the power of the zemstva
Use Pobedonostev
Alex increases power of nobility over zemstva (41% to 57%)
Give examples of continuity between Alex III and Nick with regards to a police state
1881 safeguard - any zemstva can be shut down
Nicholas also passes a law that any zemstva can be shut down if getting too liberal
Give an example of change between Alex III and Nick with regards to religion/nationality
Nicholas = further russification on Finland (constitution abolished)
Treatment of Jewish got worse (pogroms), funding anti-Sematic actions (Jews accounted for 53% political prisoners)
Give an example of change between Alex III and Nick with regards to foreign policy
Alexandra - allowed Russia to step back from the limelight and reform
Nicholas - ready for Russia to compete as a ‘great power’
Nicholas’ strong………….nature undermined autocracy, not what was required ina reformed Russia
Autocratic
Give the list of Ministers of Finance in order
Von Reutern (1862-78)
Bunge (1881-7)
Vyshnegradsky (1887-92)
Sergi Witte (1892-03)
Give some successes of Von reutern (Alex II) (5)
- Some success stabilising public finances, especially tax and rouble, attracting foreign investment into iron + coal industries
- Tax collection = much more effective. Replaced tax farms (hugely inefficient and corrupt) with a central bureaucracy
- This improved revenue allowed him to finance other activities (1000km railway construction per year) making the later industrial boom possible
- Opened a state bank in 1860, municipal banks and a network of savings banks
- Secured value of rouble by building up reserves of precious metal, allowing goverment to fund dramatic railway investment
Give some failures of Von Reutern (2)
- Emancipation failed to bring any fundamental change in agricultural practices
- Yields remained low and land hunger exacerbated by explosion of rural population from 74 million to 164 million (1861-1913)
Give some successes of Bunge (Alexander III) (5)
- Introduced new workplace regulations to control hours children could work in factories, lowered workplace fines + introduced factory inspections
- Peasant friendly reforms: abolished salt tax (1881), a heavy burden on the peasantry.
- Reduced size of land redemption payments and cancelled all arrears
- Opened peasant’s bank in 1883 to help peasants borrow/buy land
- Abolished hated poll tax + shifted taxation to private businesses and urban property
Give some failures of Bunge (4)
- Tried to fix the government’s finances by controlling state to stabilise rouble but didn’t work as Tsar would not decrease military spending so rouble fell in value
- Loans made available from peasant’s bak were much less than those open to nobility, and only helped a small number of peasants acquire land
- 1880-1913, proportion of labour force working in agriculture only dropped from 74-72% - urban migration was not working to alleviate the problem of overpopulation and land hunger
- Land hunger led to an increase cost in renting/buying land, increasing resentment against noble exploitation
Give some successes of Vyshengradsky (4)
- Steep tariffs on imported produce to protect young industries
- Prioritised exports, in his 5 years, grain exports rose by 18% and coal + iron industries flourished
- Helped government secure finances = more foreign investment (1890 = over double 1880 level FI)
- By 1892, Russia’s total exports were more valuable than its imports
Give the failures of Vyshnegradsky (5)
- Export drive was achieved at the expense of peasants
- Only took one bad harvest in 1891 to cause a famine
- 400,000 died “We ourselves shall not eat, but we shall export”.
- Population weakened by hunger became susceptible to disease, cholera continued to kill able-bodied workers after food began to grow
- Goverment failed to organise adequate relief, he was fired
Give some economic successes of Witte
- Economy grew at an average rate of 8% a year, faster than any European economy. By 1914, Russia was the worlds 5th largest industrial economy
- Foreign investment rose from 215 million in 1890 to 900 million in 1900 to 2 billion by 1914. Experienced engineers followed their investments east, helping Russia close its skills gap
Give some industrial successes of Witte (6)
- Railway network reached 60,000km by 1905. This stimulated demand for coal and iron and allowed greater exploitation of Russia’s vast resources (timber/oil).
- Trans-Siberian Railway opened up possibilities for emigration, Pacific trade and war
- oil production trebled 1890-1910. Russia = self-sufficient in oil (military advantage)
- Coal production quadrupled and Iron more than tripled 1890-1910
- Developed a far stronger domestic market for consumer goods
- Urban proletariat rose from 45 of population to 125 by 1914 (number of factory workers doubled)
Give some failures of Witte 3
- Russian economy hit by a depression which caused a slowdown in the global economy, FI rapidly decreased
- 1910 - agriculture still represented 70% Russian economy and 80% employment
- Peasant conditions were worsening with population growth causing reduced farm size. Peasant life expectancy remained bellow 30
In an essay ‘ the Russian economy was transformed in the years 1861-1903’ what would be your 3 paras
AGREE!!!!!!
FINANCE - secured rouble + FI done by all ministers, Witte facts
INDUSTRY - Dramatic rise in the industry but flourished under Witte
PEASANTRY - Not so much, but undermined by successes elsewhere
In an essay, ‘Tsarist authority remained strong in Russia 1891 - 1904’ what extent do you agree, what argument and paras would you give
Despite attempts to increase his authority, its relative significance seriously decreased
Authority over social opposition (nationalities, workers, peasants) - strikes increased, suffering increased resentment and calls for change, Unions not always successful. Red Cockrell
Authority over opposition pushing for moderate change to Tsardom (liberalism) - Union of Liberations returning from Berlin, Banquets, Okhrana unable to intervene
Authority over opposition pushing for radical change - Least significant due to their infrequency and smallness due to successful control, despite some assassinations
