Nicholas II Flashcards
Russification
Supported Black hundreds’ organisations (right-wing, racist ect)
Political developments by 1914
Seemed autocracy had recovered from 1905 shock (Stolypin restores countryside order)
S 1906 court marshals set up to deal with pol crimes - accused have no defence and guilty killed within 24hrs
3,000 killed in 1906-09
Revolutionary activity crushed and Duma weak
Rasputin
Aleksei (tsars son) suffered from haemophilia and R lessened pain
R’s influence at court angered many (Nich approval fell)
Growth rate
1894-1913 = +8% growth rate
Witte helped this (finance minister)
Witte - railway doubled, coal output (180-650m puds from 1890-1900)
1895-280m
1914-2000m foreign investment
New gold backed currentcy= stable
Railway
2nd largest by 1913 meant proper exploitation of natural resources
Agriculture compared to other nations
Britain 4x higher output for same amount of land
Stolypin reforms
Some state land sold to peasants, collective farm ownership abolished, land bank to help fund land ownership and redemption payments abolished
S wanted 20 years of peace for reforms to work
Grain production- 56-90m tons 1900-1914
Urban population
1867-1917 quadrupled
Easy revolutionary targets as they lost peasant ties and therefore tsarist loyalty
Education spending 5-82m 1896-1914
SRs
Thought workers and peasants should cooperate
Land socialism - 2,000 assassinations 1901-05
Plehve and stolypin
Men/Bol
Lenin wanted small group of professional revolutionaries
Martov wanted mass working class membership
War
Intial patriotism (Duma dissolved itself)
Galicia defeats meant Nich became C in C he lacked experience ect
Rumours of his German wife and rasputin spies
1914-2 rifles per 3 men and 1915 2-3 shells max per day for each artillery group
1916 = 1.5m desertions
War discontent
25th 250,000 on streets and Cossacks refuse to charge people
March he abdicated
