rule of tsar Nicholas II Flashcards
how is tsar nicholas ii generally viewed by his contemporaries
despite being well educated and intelligent, he was naive, lacked confidence, devious, and lacked good judgement
why was the soviet view of nicholas II so cruel
he was very private and reserved, gave little away regarding his mental state
dealt with all affairs himself, he had no secretary
long periods of decision making convey his lack of judgement
what was nicholas II’s attitude to governing
he believed he had a sense of duty and autocracy
believed that religion and tsarism were linked, he based governing on his faith in god
prioritised the maintenance of the romanov dynasty
what four political issues did nicholas ii face in 1894
1) regime was too preoccupied with routine paperwork
2) inadequate communication systems
3) lacked a vision on how to adapt and change in the future
4) demanded reform based on requirements of industrialisation and urbanisation
what were the demands of industrialisation
an effective local self-government was required to work simultaneously with a modern system of central government
this required development of modern roles: engineers, doctors, lawyers, educators…
how did nicholas fail to address modernisation of industry
he implemented the Department of Agriculture in 1894 to deal with rural issues of poverty and unrest.
it was ineffective and struggled to address issues such as land availability/ distribution
how did nicholas ii attempt to meet the demands of modernising industry
established the Department of Agriculture in 1894 to deal with rural issues such as poverty and unrest
it failed to address the issue of land distribution/availability. this led to peasant riots in 1906-7
what was the ‘zemstva’
regional councils
were seen as improvement on existing forms of local government as they were elected rather than chosen in a nepotistic manner
they were dominated by landowners
why was there a rise in opposition to tsarism
due to repressive measures of Alexander III, Nicholas II’s predecessor:
1) centralised police control under minister of the interior
2) replaced of JOTP’s with land captains
3) reduction of peasant representation in the zemstva
4) increase in censorhsip
what issues did opposition to the tsar create
rejection of local captains caused social unrest and challenged his authority
unrest among nationalist groups in the empire who demanded independence
1905: liberal and socialist opposition were calling for political reform to allow greater representation
economic issues:
what was the issue of low productivity in 1894
annual economic growth of 8% was achieved through small scale enterprise rather than large scale production
lack of free enterprise: the tsar controlled armaments and railways which was the main consumer markets of industry. created a division between westerners and slavophiles
economic issues:
what financial issues did russia face
they were over reliant on foreign investment through govt bonds, tax exemptions and monopoly concessions to foreign investors
this meant the russian govt was not truly in control of the rate of industrialisation
despite this foreign investment did boost the tsarist economy
economic issues:
why was grain exports a critical issue to russia
peasant productivity was very low
this as well as the grain export policy caused the famine of 1891-92 which created further social unrest
economic issues:
why was the economy so unstable and unprogressive
lacked a middle class to provide sustainable economic growth
russian technology lacked development compared to western powers
what were the ‘dark masses’ and why were they a threat
‘dark masses’ referred to the rural population which was 80% peasants
they were a threat due to their sheer size and how spread across the empire they were
