Russia 6 Markers

Question 1

Two features of tsarist rule

Answer 1

• autocracy and police state

- opposition to the tsar

Question 2

Two features of Russo Japanese war

Answer 2

• what happened (basic outline, loss of military resources and huge defeat)
• negative effect on the tsar and his credibility

Question 3

Two features of Potemkin mutiny

Answer 3

• manifestation of sailor’s grievances (I.e. manifestation of general opposition to the tsar) /outline what actually happened
• undermined the power (control) and autocracy of the Tsar/ acted as a catalyst to the 1905 revolution (which led to concessions from the tsar) / talk about how it led to riots and outrage throughout the city

Question 4

Two aspects of October manifesto

Answer 4

• granted Russians various civil rights / acted as a concession to the tsar’s overall power, therefore undermining his authority
• Dumas / won over the liberal middle classes; however the Tsar continued to retain the majority of his democratic power (article 87)

Question 5

Two features of the opposition to the tsar’s rule

Answer 5

• general strike; by industrial workers, led to the formation of Soviets, national movement, unified opposition
• the Potemkin mutiny

Question 6

Two features of stolypin’s control

Answer 6

• severe punishment for opponents - ‘stolypin’s necktie’

- aiming to increase food productivity and rural support ‘wager on the strong’

Question 7

Two reasons why Nicholas II survived the 1905 revolution

Answer 7

• concessions to his control, seen through the October manifesto; pleased middle class liberals, removing them from the portion of people that opposed him; provided temporary hope that further change would ensue and therefore a temporary period of calm
• intense military oppression led by stolypin

Question 8

Two ways in which the fundamental laws of 1906 maintained Nicholas II power over Russia

Answer 8

• through the fundamental laws, the tsar retained the majority of his power; article 87; imperial state council (appointed by tsar) could veto decisions
• the seemingly progressive nature of the fundamental laws and state duma meant that the tsar was able to retain control over Russia, as the majority of opposition groups were content with the changes that had been made, and hopeful that further progress would follow

Question 9

Two features of Dumas

Answer 9

• first and second: harmful for tsarist regime, left wing dominance
• bolsheviks didn’t participate
• third and fourth Dumas were dominated by conservatives; tsar had a lot more power and control; consequently Russian middle class lost faith in tsarism

Question 10

Two features of first duma 1906

Answer 10

1) LEFT WING DOMINATION;
socialist parties boycotted it (strong blow to the tsar, showed clear opposition to his rule);
majority of the vote was moderate left, 30% trudoviks and 41% kadets;
Due to huge support from peasant population, as these parties advocated for land reform
- didn’t last very long (only 10 weeks)

Question 11

Two features of second duma

Answer 11

1) decrease in support for the trudoviks and kadets and a consequent rise in votes for national parties
- could have been because of the arrest and imprisonment of several key figures from both parties due to the Vyborg Manifesto 1906

2) Tsar and minister became worried about radicalism of the duma
- dissolved very quickly

Question 12

Two features of third and fourth Dumas

Answer 12

1) huge increase in votes for conservative, right-wing parties
- due to stolypin’s change in election rules, because of his increasing concern regarding the prominent left wing majorities within the duma
- strengthens the tsar’s control

2) upset from left-wing groups
- trudoviks and kadets went down from 39% to 15%
- pushed them further towards revolution and revolt

Question 13

Two features of stolypin’s land reform

Answer 13

• aiming to increase food productivity by giving people incentive to farm their own land
• aiming to get more support for the tsar in the countryside by increasing those who owned land

Question 14

Two features of the Lena goldfields massacre of 1912

Answer 14

1) acted as a powerful manifestation of workers’ grievances across the Russian empire
- led to many other worker strikes across Russia
- significant decrease in number of demonstrations by workers in 1905-1911, but then almost 2000 strikes in 1912

2) led to a government inquest into the massacre by Alexander kerensky
- exposed the terrible conditions endured by workers in the Lena goldfields
- led to further animosity against the tsar and his tyrannical figure
- demonstrated that no real progress had been made by the tsar to improve conditions and how the same problems continued to persist