Russia- Tsardom Flashcards
When was Nicholas II coronated Tsar?
1896
What percentage of Russian peasants lived in peasant communes?
80%
What were prosperous peasant farmers called?
Kulaks
What was the life expectancy of a peasant farmer?
40 years
What were peasant councils called?
Mir
What percentage of Tsarist Russia were aristocracy and how much of the land did they own?
1.5% of the population owned 25% of the land
Why was Nicholas a poor Tsar?
- Managed his officials poorly
- Insisted on meeting his ministers 1 to 1 which encouraged rivalry between them
- Appointed family members and friends to important positions, many of whom were corrupt or incompotent
- Personally answered letters and appointed provincial midwives
How was the Tsar initially able to keep control of Russia?
Using local councils such as the mir, which were in turn ruled by the zemstva (which were dominated by aristocrats) and then local governers whom the Tsar appointed.
What did local governors have the power to do?
- order the police to arrest suspected opponents of the regime
- ban individuals from the zemstva, courts or any government organisation
- make suspects pay heavy fines
- introduce sensorship of newspapers, books and leaflets
What was the name of the Tsar’s secret police?
the Okhrana
What part of the army was very loyal to the Tsar?
The Cossack regiments
Who were the 3 groups that opposed the Tsar?
- Liberals / Cadets- Middle class reformers from the Duma who wanted greater democracy, pointing at Britain as an example.
- The Socialist Revolutionaries- Wanted to carve up huge estates of the nobility and hand them over to the peasants. They had lots of support from in the countryside. Responsible for the assasination of 2 government officials and many Okhrana.
- The Social Democratic Party - Smaller party following Marxist ideas. In 1903 it split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. This party was illegal and many were forced to live abroad.
How many peaceful protesters took part in the protest that became known as Bloody Sunday?
~200,000
How many people were killed in Bloody Sunday?
At least 100 killed
Several hundred more injured
When was the first revolution (that we study) in Russia?
1905
What were the key events that occured in the 1905 revolution?
- January 1905- Bloody Sunday (200,000 protesters)
- Led to wave of strikes (100,000 on strike)
- June 1905- Mutiny on the Potempkin
- Tsar brings in October Manifesto
- May 1906- Tsar brings in Fundemental Laws → limiting power of Duma
How did Duma split opposition?
Satisified many middle class and upper class and divided rest of opposition
Key points on Stolypin and his policies
Stick-
- more than 20,000 strikers, revolutionaries + protesters exiled
- 1000 hanged
- noose → Stolypin’s necktie
Carrot-
- land → allowed Kulaks to opt out of Mir communes and buy land
- this led to larger more efficient farms, improving production
- 90% of Russia’s land was still farmed ineffectively
Problems faced by the common people on WW1
Shortage of food:
* average worker’s wage in
1914→ 2 bags of flour
1917→ 1/3 of a bag of flour
* there was enough food, but the rail network couldn’t cope with supplying food to the cities and the front lines
Factory workers in the city:
* War created extra 3.5 million industrial jobs, but all jobs were underpaid
* Workplaces were overcrowded
* Poor working conditions → more accidents
Countryside:
* Widows who needed state pensions
* Peasants who used to work the land would be sent to war → less capable people working the land
Of the 13 million soldiers mobilised there were 9.5 million casualties
Ways in which the lives of different people in Russia were affected by WW1
Aristocracy
- Discontent at the Tsar
- Junior officers taken devastating losses resulting in many young aristocrats being killed → future of aristocracy
- conscription of 13 million peasants → fewer workers on their states
- General dislike of Rasputin
By late 1916, the Council of United Nobility was calling for the Tsar to step down
Workers in the city
- Workplaces were overcrowded
- Poor working conditions → more accidents
- average worker’s wage in
1914→ 2 bags of flour
1917→ 1/3 of a bag of flour - there was enough food, but the rail network couldn’t cope with supplying food to the cities and the front lines
What factors led to the 1905 revolution?
- Reform round Europe
- 1904 Russo- Japanese war → humiliation
- Bad living and working conditions
How did Rasputin negatively impact the Tsar’s reputation?
- Disliked by aristocracy- siberian peasant
- Had influence in picking ministers
- Notorious womanizer
- supposedly helped Alexei’s haemophelia but also told doctors not to give him aspirin
- Rasputin means disreputable
- Oponents of the Tsar seized on Rasputin as a sign of the Tsar’s weakness
What happened 1912-1913
Economic downturn in Russia and Romanov’s 300th anniversary
Impact of WW1 on Tsar’s reputation
- Initially (1914) lots of patriotism
- Badly equipped and many losses (for example Tannenburg)
- Tsar took over the army in 1915 making himself personally responsible
- Leaves German Tsarina in charge alongside Rasputin
- 1916- Council of United Nobility asking for the Tsar to step down
- Tsar abdicated 1917
When did the Tsar abdicate?
1917
