Nicholas II

Question 1

Impact of the Russo-Japanese war

Answer 1

humiliation, worry about Russia’s world status, social unrest- caused more investment in industry and governmental reforms e.g. October Manifesto

Question 2

Causes of unrest

Answer 2

Growth of the intelligentsia, students increasingly angry at being repressed, spread of higher education, rapidly growing population, 1892, 1898 and 1901 famines, growth=slums, Witte taxed peasants and kept industrial workers’ wages low, taxes raised, 1902 economic slump, poor harvests 1900 and 1902.

Question 3

How many people were involved on Bloody Sunday?

Answer 3

150,000, led by Father Gapon

Question 4

What was the bloody Sunday protester’s aim?

Answer 4

Go to the winter palace and ask for the tsar’s help (their ‘little father’)- peaceful

Question 5

How many troops were used on Bloody Sunday?

Answer 5

12,000

Question 6

Provisions of the October Manifesto

Answer 6

creation of a legislative Duma. Granted basic rights to the people but didn’t guarantee the government would function more democratically

Question 7

Provisions of the Fundamental Laws

Answer 7

Gave power back to the tsar

Question 8

Stolypin slogan

Answer 8

‘suppression first and then, only then, reform’

Question 9

name of Stolypin’s main policy and what did it involve?

Answer 9

Wager on the Strong- peasants could buy unused land, peasants could make their land into smallholdings, encouraged peasants to move to cities

Question 10

End of Stolypin

Answer 10

Assassinated- could never fully implement his policy

Question 11

What happened at Lena Goldfields?

Answer 11

1912 strike due to appalling conditions, troops fired on unarmed demonstrators, killing 200 and wounding 400- increased social unrest.

Question 12

Impact of the First World War on Russia

Answer 12

Severe inflation 1916, price of food and fuel quadrupled, fuel and food shortages as railways weren’t being used to transport these things, made worse by the winter 1916-17 as railways froze. Russian casualties for the whole war were 8 million

Question 13

What happened to railways during the war?

Answer 13

War put too much pressure on them- e.g. port ‘Archangel’ sank into the ground under the weight of supplies.

Question 14

Cost of the war

Answer 14

3 billion roubles v 1.5 billion in peace time

Question 15

Level of inflation during war

Answer 15

prices up 400% by 1917 from the start of the war

Question 16

Main consequence of the First World War

Answer 16

Nicholas forced to abdicate, mainly by the Progressive Bloc

Question 17

What marked the development of a more coherent workers’ opposition movement?

Answer 17

strike of the St. Petersburg textile workers in 1896

Question 18

Successes of Witte’s great spurt

Answer 18

coal production doubled, iron and steel increased seven-fold, average annual increase in industrial production of 7.5%

Question 19

Stolypin welfare reforms

Answer 19

primary schools doubled 1905-14

Question 20

Failures of Witte’s Great Spurt

Answer 20

neglected other parts of industry, although railways expanded this was very costly and still didn’t compare to other parts of Europe- Russia had 11 times less railway track than Germany and by 1913 coal production was 10% of that produced by Britain. Trans-Siberian railway was rushed and poorly constructed= failed in WWI

Question 21

Russo-Finnish relations

Answer 21

Given full autonomy in 1905 but this was reneged by Stolypin the same year