Nicholas II and his problems Flashcards
How many square miles did the Russian Empire cover in 1894?
8 million square miles
In what year was the first census of the Russian Empire?
1897
What was the name of the tsarist secret police?
The Okhrana
What was the name given to the elected rural councils, set up by Tsar Alexander II in 1864?
Zemstva
Apart from farming, what else could peasants do to make a living in Russia in 1894?
Fur-trapping, fishing, bee-keeping, producing wooden or woollen goods, making iron tools
Give three ways in which land in the Russian Empire was unsuitable for farming
North: frozen tundra and taiga
Moscow: sand and clay, bogs and marshes
“Black Earth” region (Ukraine to Kazakhstan): unreliable rainfall and a short growing season
Explain why the Emancipation of the Serfs created more problems for peasants
Not enough fertile land for all the ex-serfs. Even though they could now buy land, prices were too high.
Peasants who borrowed money from the Peasants’ Land Bank had large mortgage repayments which would take generations to repay.
How many peasants died in the famine of 1891-92?
350,000 peasants
What happened to the length of the working day in 1897?
Restricted to 11 1/2 hours
What percentage of government spending did the armed forces make up during the 19th century?
45%
In which 19th century war did Russia lose on home territory against Britain and France?
The Crimean War
How many Russians were crushed to death in a stampede at Nicholas’s coronation?
1,300
What was Nicholas’s reaction to the deaths by stampede at his coronation?
He acted as if nothing had happened
How did Nicholas describe democracy in his coronation speech?
“Senseless dreams”: democracy would lead to the collapse of the Russian empire
What happened to most of Alexander III’s ministers when Nicholas became Tsar?
They remained in their positions.
