Russia in 1900 Flashcards
What was delayed in Russia?
- Industrialisation through railways and trade expansion
- Standards in living such as educational reforms
What happened to serfdom?
It was still in place until 1861 however until 1917, their civil rights and status were determined by them being former serfs and many still worked on a set land
Why was Russia’s development limited?
- The 8 million square mie size of Russia
- inhospitable landscape
- Within thepopulation, there were many different ethnic groups and languages making it difficult to form a strong collective identity and less than half of the population was actually Russian
What reforms were made in Russia?
- From the 1890s, there was rapid agricultural growth at 8% per year between 1894 and 1904 and again after the European trade recession between 1908 and 1913
- By 1917, it was the fifth largest industrial power with c25000 factories with c3 million employees in coal, pig iron, and oil most in Moscow, St Petersburg, and the Baku area near the Caspian Sea
- rise in urban population from 7 million in 1867 to 28 million in 1917
-Roads and communications did improve but the outbreak of war revealed deficiencies
How did farming attempt to develop?
- From 1905, farming schemes encouraged farmers to buy land and develop larger farming units but it was cut short in 1914
- By 1915, hereditary peasants ownership of land had increased from 20% in 1905 to 50%, while 3.5 million peasants had been encouraged to move away to south and west Siberia to establish it as a major agricultural region
- Land tenure arrangements were slow by 1914, 10% of peasant holdings moved beyond inefficient strip farming
Why did the middle class become frustrated?
Economic gains were not matched by political advancements
Why did the urban working class become frustrated?
- low pay, long hours and limited machinery to lighten their physical labour
- living conditions were cramped and dirty and factory barracks and lodgings were shared between families as insurance schemes were limited to the ill and physically disabled from work
- the number of askulaks grew and many families became vagabonds
- Until 1916, there was no income tax so the burden of taxation fell on the peasantry producing periodic riots such as there being 2000 in 1913
How were trade unions viewed?
Trade unions were theoretically forbidden after the 1905 strikes but they still occurred such as the goldminers on the Lena river in Siberia in 1912. This led to the government using troops to fire on workers killing 200 of them
How was Russia ruled until 1906?
- The tsar held divine right as Russia was an autocracy and he controlled the Russian orthodox church, property and people entwining the structures on church and state
- ruled through imperial edicts or ukase advised by ministers chosen by the tar and only acted on his command
- A 12 million-troop army
- Through the Okrane, Russia was a police state with curbs on freedom of speech press and travel as they could carry out raids, arrests, imprisonment or exile on the grounds of anti - tsarist activity
- Censorship on every level of government through the state, church and the police
- Political meetings were banned
What happened in 1905?
- The defeat of the 1904 war with Japn led to opposition groups revolting against tsarsit authority
- Riots and strikes such as Bloody Sunday which saw the peaceful marching on the winter palace led to a breakdown in control forcing the Tsar to concede to the October manifesto which promised a representative assembly or state Duma to please the Kadets ( who wanted a constitutional monarchy) and the octoberists ( a step towards a responsible government)
- Many cities during the revolution saw workers set up elected soviets
- In April 1906, before the first Duma in may, the tsar issued the fundamental laws reaffirming his autocracy which made the Duma have no control over state ministers and budget
Who were the liberals?
They wanted modernist reform and a constitutional monarchy and included the kadets, octoberists and progressives (a loose group of business men)
Who were the Trudoviks?
A non - non-revolutionary breakaway from the Srs and held moderate liberal views
Who were the social revolutionary party?
An evolved group to help the peasants in the 1860s but only formed permanently in 1901. They hed terrorist beliefs such as political assassination and moderate elements that allowed them to gain support from trade unions and members of the middle class but they lacked discipline and coordination limiting it abilities to realise ambitions
What was the all - Russian social democrat labour party?
It was founded in 1898 based on the theories of Karl Marx as it was translated into Russain in 1869 led by educated intellectuals. Its support grew rapidly through the industrial class. In 1903, the party split when Lenin won a vote in favour of a strong disciplined organisation of professional revolutionaries against Julius Martov. Martov wanted a broad party of working class membership in favour of trade unions to destroy the tsar. This led to fights between the Bolsheviks (Lenin supporters) and Mensheviks (Martov supporters)
What were the stages of Marxism?
1 - no class or private property
2 - a strong man rose to the top and a new landowning aristocracy was created
3 - feudalism
4 - capitalism gained through the aristocracy’s political control (the current stage of Russia)
5 - the workers took control in a dictatorship of the proletariat sharing foods, goods and services according to needs
6 - everyone joins together for the common goods and money leading to no more wars or competition
