Nicholas II - Society Flashcards
The growth in populations of towns and cities:
- growth of workshops, factories swelled population
- 2 million factory workers in 1900, 6 million in 1913
- some lived seasonally and farmed in the summer
- some put down roots in cities and had children there
- 3/4 of st petersburg population were peasants by birth, half of cities population had arrived in last 20 years
The problems with living conditions:
-most workers lived in overcrowded buildings with poor sanitation, they ate and washed communally
-40% of houses had no running water or sewage system
-30,000 died of cholera in 1908-09
-rents were half a workers wages, those who couldn’t afford them slept in streets or by their machines
-women lowest paid but 1/3 of workforce by 1914
-wages didnt keep pace with inflation, went up from 245 to 264 roubles per month but inflation at 40%
1885-1914 legislations
-1885, prohibited night time work of women and children
-1886, workers had to be employed by contracts
-1892, work of u12s and female mine labour banned
-1897, working hours reduced to 11.5
-1903, more efficient factory inspection system
-1912, sickness and accident insurance for workers
-1914, factory hours reduced to 10 by 1914
-mostly ineffective barely improved conditions
Life for peasants in countryside
- large proportion unfit for military service
- mortality rates highest in europe and few doctors
- few received more than basic primary education
- had large families, ate a monotonous diet and had few possessions
Conditions in the countryside
-gap between richest and poorest of society widened
-90% still strip farming
-kulaks took advantage of less favoured and used bank loans to buy out their poorer neighbours
-many forced to leave farms and look for urban work
- 3.5 million migrated to siberia encouraged by the government in 1896 through the trans-siberian express
-more prosperous farming in the baltic, western ukraine, the kuban and western siberia
The nobility:
-had suffered due to emancipation, 1/3 of land lost to townsmen or peasants between 1861 and 1905
-some thrived in gov/military or good land distribution
-no attacks on landed wealth or heavy taxation
-appointed to provincial governorships
-may 1906 first united nobles meeting
-retained much of their previous wealth and status
The middle class:
-challenged the traditional class structure of russia
-new businessmen had comfortable lives
-some peasants rose to join the middle class
-nobles sons joined world of business, made middle class
-in management and professional positions
-opportunities for them to grow as education improved
-exerted influence in the zemstva and state dumas
Cultural changes under Nicholas II
-writers and artists addressed problems in russia through their work, chekhov especially
-classics of russian literature mass produced + cheap
-relaxation of censorship from 1905, music, poetry, paintings and ballet challenged convention
-some traditions remained eg in 300th year of romanov dynasty large jubilee celebrations + tour of the empire
Education changes under Nicholas:
- 5 million spent on primary in 1896, 82 million in 1914
- 6.5 million children from 8-11 in primary education
- only 40% literacy still in 1914
- 1767 newspapers published weekly by 1914
- secondary and universities remained elitist
- uni students grew from 5000 (1860) to 69000 (1914)
- only 30,000 peasants made it to secondary education
Changes for women under nicholas II
- girls still only 1/3 of primary education
-45% of uni students were women
-first all russian congress of women attended by 1035 delegates in st petersburg
-found greater independence in factory work
