Russia and The Soviet Union (Chapters 1 and 2)

Question 1

What were the long and short term causes of the 1905 Russian revolution?

Answer 1

• Long term: Reasons for discontent amonst peasants, workers, the middle class and other nationalities
• Short term: The Russo-Japanese war, Bloody Sunday

Question 2

Why were Russian peasants discontent in 1905?

Answer 2

• Peasants wanted to own land rather than have it controlled by landlords
• Most peasants lived in desperate poverty and famines were common
• They were overtaxed and controlled by their landlords

Question 3

Why were Russian industrial workers discontent in 1905?

Answer 3

• Working conditions were dangerous and dirty
• Working hours were long and pay was low
• The concentration of workers in urban areas meant they dealt with homelessness and overcrowded living

Question 4

Why were the Russian middle class discontent in 1905?

Answer 4

• They did not like how Russia was ruled with autocracy, and wanted to see Nicholas II’s Tsarist regime replaced with a constitution with equal rights and a fair legal system
• They were also not fond of the censorship and police state (Okhrana - secret police)
• They were, however, also afraid of radicals who wanted to violently take over and give power to the peasants and workers so wanted a peaceful takeover instead

Question 5

Why were people within the Russian empire of other nationalities discontent in 1905?

Answer 5

They wanted independence so as to be free from the empire which prioritised Russia and oppressed the other nations, forcing them to speak Russian and adopt Russian culture

Question 6

What were the causes of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war?

Answer 6

• Russia wanted control over a part of northern China known as Manchuria
• This was because of its valuable resources (coal and silver), but most importantly because it had a port which would not freeze over in Winter
• However the Japanese also wanted control over this area, so it led to a war

Question 7

What were the events of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war?

Answer 7

• As a major power, Russia was confident that it could beat Japan, however due to its old fashioned military techniques and equipment, Japan was able to come out victorious on land and sea
• The Battle of Tsushima (May 1905) was a particularily large loss for Russia

Question 8

What were the effects of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war?

Answer 8

• As well as losing the war and not gaining control over Manchuria which was a huge embarassment for Russia, they lost huge numbers of men and equipment
• As a result, the Russian people, especially the military were angered at the Tsarist government and blamed them for the defeat, increasing discontent

Question 9

What were the causes of Bloody Sunday?

Answer 9

Discontent amongst industrial workers, triggering a protest

Question 10

What were the events of Bloody Sunday?

Answer 10

• In St Petersburg, January 1905, a large crowd of protesters, mostly factory workers, led by a priest called Father Gapon marched peacefully towards the Tsars palace
• They had a petition signed by 150000 calling for an 8-hour working day, the right to organise trade unions and a constitution to guarantee these rights and other freedoms
• However on their way to the palace they were stopped by soldiers, who were insulted and shouted at by the protesters which included things about their recent military failures in Manchuria
• After some warning shots, Mounted Cossacks charged into the crowd with whips, then swords, then eventually the soldiers fired into the crowd, killing over 100 protesters with many more wounded

Question 11

What were the effects of Bloody Sunday?

Answer 11

All Russians, inlcuding the military themselves, as well as people around the world were shocked and angered by how brutal and oppressive the Tsarist regime was, increasing discontent to a tipping point

Question 12

What were the causes of the Potemkin mutiny?

The potemkin mutiny was the first major event in the 1905 revolution

Answer 12

• Sailors faced poor living and working conditions, as well as very tough discipline
• They were suffering from low confidence due to their recent defeats in Manchuria
• The quartermaster of the Potemkin was a socialist who planned to lead a mutiny of the main part of the Russian navy

Question 13

What were the events of the Potemkin mutiny?

Answer 13

• In June 1905,The Potemkin’s cooks reported that the meat was full of maggots, and after more complaints, the ship’s second-in-command threatened to shoot any sailors who did not eat the meat
• After the sailors continued to disobey orders, this happened and one of the leading mutineers died. This triggered a wide-scale mutiny where all of the officers were shot or locked up and a socialist ‘people’s commitee’ took control
• They sailed to the port of Odessa, where there were already lots of strikes and protests happening, and joined up with them, however the army swept into the city and restored order by firing into the crowds
• The Potemkin was forced to flee, and after failing to cause a mutiny throughout the entire navy, entered the Romanian port of Constanta where they were given asylum

Question 14

Other than the Potemkin mutiny, what were the events of the 1905 revolution?

Answer 14

• Peasant Riots - Violent revolts against landlords (burning down manors), forming communes, taking land back
• Industrial Strikes - Over 400000 went on strikes in Jan 1905 alone, general strike in Sept 1905 stopping Russia from functioning and uniting Russians against the oppression of the Government
• St Petersburg Soviet - Council of workers set up in Oct 1905 to organise strikes in the city with other soviets being set up too. Though the St Petersburg soviet was shut down by the government in Dec, the idea was signifigant (united workers vs oppression) - Trotsky was its head

Question 15

What were the causes of the October Manifesto of 1905?

Answer 15

Due to the pressure of general strikes and the rampant peasant unrest during the 1905 revolution, Nicholas’s ministers advised him to make concessions to help restore order - therefore the October Manifesto was drawn up

Question 16

What did the October Manifesto promise?

Answer 16

• New civil rights: Freedom of speech and religion, as well as the right to form political parties and trade unions
• A parliment known as duma, with representatives chosen through general elections
• Any new laws had to be approved by the State Duma and government actions would be supervised by the Duma’s elected representatives

Question 17

What were the effects of the October Manifesto?

Answer 17

• There was widespread celebration amongst the middle classes due to their new freedoms
• The general strike was called off, and general unrest calmed down (but did not stop)
• Political parties started to form who took part in the Dumas, though oppression in the next few years made them hard to grow
• However it did nothing to improve conditions for workers or peasants

Question 18

How did the government respond to the unrest following the October manifesto?

Answer 18

• Through extreme violence using the military, led by Stolypin, the prime minister, who had been granted special powers
• They shut down the St Petersburg soviet, and brutally repressed any uprisings
• Despite the new civil rights, they continued to shut down newspapers and trade unions, and arrest any suspected revolutionaries - there was a special army court which put any suspects on trial without laywers. Over 1000 people were excuted through these courts between 1906 and 1907
• The peasant uprisings were harder to shut down, but even so Stolypin sent soldiers out into the countryside to use extreme violence to restore order

This was known as Stolypin’s necktie

Question 19

Why was Nicholas II able to survive the 1905 revolution?

Answer 19

• Concessions - The October Manifesto satisfied the middle class and others so weakened and disunited his opposition
• The military - Despite some mutinies, Nicholas always had overall control of the armed forces and was able to reliably use them to restore order
• Disunited opposition - Most of the unrest was spontaneous and unplanned, and much of it was to achieve economic goals rather than political ones

Question 20

What were the fundamental laws of 1906 and what did they ensure?

Answer 20

• They were laws made by Nicholas surrounding the Duma in order to limit their power
  They meant that:
• The Duma’s powers were matched by the Imperial State Council which could veto anything passed by the Duma. Half of the State Council’s members were chosen by the Tsar
• The Tsar alone had power of the military and foreign policy. He could veto any duma legislation. He could dissolve any current duma (to replace it with a new one) and could pass any law he wanted when the Duma was not in power
• Only the Tsar could change the fundamental laws

Question 21

What was Nicholas’s attitude towards the Duma?

Answer 21

• Neither Nicholas nor his ministers trusted the Russian people to have control over the Empire
• He still believed most of the Russian people wanted him as he was chosen by God to rule the empire so he would avoid anything which sacrificed his powers
• However, him and his government did take it seriously as they celebrated its opening - it did have a real role in lawmaking as laws were initially proposed by the Dumas but there were obvious limitations

Question 22

Which parties did the first and second Dumas consist of and what did this lead to?

Answer 22

• The first one, formed in April 1906, consisted of mostly left leaning parties like the Kadets who wanted land to be given to the peasants and the State Council to be abolished, so was shut down after 10 weeks in July 1906
• Ths second one was the same except even more left leaning with extreme left parties like the Russian Socialist Democratic Party (Mensheviks and Bolsheviks)
• As a result, both of the Dumas were dissolved down soon after they were started by Nicholas due to their anti-government, revolutionary tendencies which he saw as a threat to his power
• The second duma did last slightly longer, and was shut down in June 1907 after being formed in February of that year

This all led to more opposition from the left as they were disappointed by the swift return to autocracy

Question 23

Why were the Third and Fourth Duma both able to last their 5 year term?

Answer 23

• Stolypin ordered for more conservatives (like Octobrists) rather than reformers to have power within the Duma
• As a result, the Dumas (especially the fourth one), were dominated by right-wing nationalists and could be relied on by the Tsar for support so provided very little opposition to the government
• The third duma lasted from 1907 to 1912, and the fourth Duma lasted until 1917,

The liberals were angered even more by the government’s dishonest actions, but since at the time police repression was rampant, they had very little power

Question 24

What were the causes of Stolypin’s land reform?

They began in 1906

Answer 24

Peasant unrest against the landlords was still prolific even after the cities were brought back under control and the Third Duma wanted the countryside to be made safe again

Question 25

What did Stolypin’s land reform (‘Wager on the strong’) consist of?

Answer 25

• Stolypin encouraged individual peasants to leave their communes and set up their own farms which they would yield all of the profits from rather than having to share it with the communes
• He hoped that this would motivate them to produce more, meaning they would be richer and be less opposed to their landlords and support the government more
• He additionally encouraged migration to Siberia where there was plentiful land

• While at this time peasants were in communes, they still were ultimately controlled by a landlord and owned no land
• Landlords would still have control over land but the peasants would have their own farms (so their own designated land) and earn directly from their produce

Question 26

What were the effects of Stolypin’s land reform?

Answer 26

• While in theory the peasants owned their own farms, it was often the case that they only owned a strip of a larger field and livestock were still allowed to graze each other’s land, so it was still similar to a commune
• The success was limited, as by 1915 only 14% of peasants actually had an enclosed, family farm, and it was clear that the communes Stolypin tried to break apart were still strong as in 1917 they organised unrest amongst the peasants once again
• Therefore modern farming techniques were not being utilised, profits were still being shared out amongst communes and discontent towards landlords and the governments was never truly assuaged

Question 27

What were the causes of the 1912 Lena Goldfields strike?

Answer 27

Poor working conditions for miners along the Lena river as well as the strong police opression at the time

Question 28

What were the events of the Lena Goldfields strike?

Answer 28

• A group of miners protested about some rotten horsemeat they were supposed to eat which led to a strike that spread through the goldfields
• A number of the strike leaders were arrested, but it turned into a mass protest of workers with demands, eventually they were fired on by soldiers, killing hundreds of workers

Question 29

What were the effects of the Lena Goldfields strike?

Answer 29

• It kickstarted widespread protests and strikes throughout Russia despite police oppression, reigniting them after they had died down following Stolypin’s necktie
• It showed that none of the reasons for discontent with Tsarist Russia had gone away and instead of Russia moving towards better conditions and freedom they wished to remain with repressive autocratic power, adding to discontent

Question 30

What were the long term causes of the February 1917 revolution?

Answer 30

• Initial reasons for discontent in Russia still remained
• Social and economic effects of World War 1 on Russia
• Military defeats during the war
• Nicholas decision to take control of the army pinned all blame on him
• Contempt with Rasputin and Tsarina
• Dumas opposition and support for the Duma

Question 31

What was the battle of Tannenburg (and similar battles) and what were its effects?

Answer 31

• It was a large battle against the Germans during WW1 during the first month of fighting
• It saw huge Russian losses (122000) and was representative of the war as a whole for Russia, as they suffered more defeats in the coming months
• It led to growing discontent with the Tsar for his poor leadership and undersupplying of the army. This was due to the losses of Russian men (2 million by 1915) as well as German occupation of Russian land

Question 32

Why did Nicholas decide to take command of the Russian army in August 1915?

Answer 32

• He believed it was his sacred duty to take responsibility for the defence of the country and was determined to do it himself
• This was despite the fact that he had no military experience, and his advisors warned him against it because it would pin the blame of all future losses on him

Question 33

What were the economic effects of the first world war on Russia?

Answer 33

17 billion roubles spent on the war, but the government were not able to deal with it because:
* They had introduced prohibition to tackle drunkenness, but vodka sales made up 25% of the governments tax income
* German forces had captured important economic zones, and were blocking all trade with Europe
* Grain exports were banned so that the soldiers could take it for themselves
* Over 15 million men were sent to war, so factories and fields were left unworked
As a result of all this, national debt skyrocketed due to all of the loans taken out by the government, so the government started increasing taxes and printing money which led to inflation (Prices going up, wages staying low, savings becoming worthless)

Question 34

What were the social effects of the first world war on Russia?

Answer 34

• Massive food shortages as the soldiers were requisitioning grain so there was not enough for the cities
• Inflation made food more expensive but the working classes wages hadn’t increased and the middle classes savings were worthless
• The countryside lost many men of working age, there were twice as many women as men in the countryside in 1916. This also meant there were a large number of people mourning the loss of family
• Unemployment arose in the cities as the factories had lost their overseas market and had run out of raw materials, though many factories had become military orientated

Question 35

What were the political effects of the first world war?

Answer 35

• The Duma was suspended so efforts could be concentrated on the war
• However, as the war got worse, duma deputies demanded they take over
• The Tsar refused, so this led to the duma deputies forming of the progressive bloc, which become a centre of opposition to the Tsarist government

Question 36

Why did the Tsarina taking power contribute to the February revolution?

Answer 36

• She too was dedicated to autocracy, and dismissed any duma deputies she didn’t like, resulting in growing discontent with her
• She was German
• People despised the influence of Rasputin on her and the government as a whole

Question 37

What was Rasputins influence on the Tsarina and what were the effects of this on the Russian people?

Answer 37

• He had very close access to her, as she became dependant on him due to his promise of being able to help her son, Prince Alexis
• As a result, he was hated by the Royal court and the government. He was also hated by the Russian people and it made the royal family look very bad, increasing discontent with the Tsarist government overall

Question 38

What were the short term causes of the February revolution?

Answer 38

• Long term discontent had reached a tipping point
• Severe winters intensified food shortages
• International Womens Day march joined by striking workers protested against food shortages right after an announcement regarding rationing, permitted by the mild weather. They formed a crowd too large to control
• With the Tsar away from Petrograd, he could not control the situation well. He ordered troops to enter Petrograd to end the unrest who fired on crowds. This was a turning point.

Question 39

What were the causes and events of the army mutinies during the February revolution of 1917?

Answer 39

• After hearing about other regiments massacres of innocent people, some regiments decided to disobey orders and refuse to fire on demonstrators
• Following this, there was a full-scale mutiny, where up 150000 soldiers joined the protesters, stealing weapons and releasing political prisoners, slowing spreading from Petrograd throughout Russia

Question 40

What were the effects of the army mutinies during the February revolution of 1917?

Answer 40

• Without the military, the Tsar had no way of controlling the revolutionaries, as the police force were not big enough to fight that many soldiers, and the soldiers from the front were likely to join the mutinies when given the chance
• As a result, it made the Tsar’s abdication almost a guarantee

Question 41

What were the events of the abdication of the Tsar?

Answer 41

• After hearing reports of the huge mutinies in Petrograd, the Tsar was advised to abdicate, which he did so in favour of his brother
• However, the leaders of the newly-formed provisional government warned his brother that if he did not abdicate a civil war would ensue, so he stepped down, making Russia into a republic

Question 42

What were the promises made by the Provisional Government after it was formed?

The Provisional Government was set up by Duma deputies following the abdication of the Tsar, it was initially run by Prince Lyov

Answer 42

• Political prisoners an exiles to the freed and allowed to return to Russia
• Elections for a Constituent Assembly would be held in six months
• Freedom of speech, freedom of press, less police repression