Russia: Tsarist Rule in Russia Flashcards
Reasons for discontent with the tsarist rule:
Peasants: Population growth meant that the peasants needed more land but were too poor to buy it. The famines of 1890s and 1901 killed thousands. Russians were very shocked at how badly the government dealt with it
Industrial workers: Conditions in the factory were dangerous, working hours were long, pay was low rules were strictly enforced and housing shortages meant workers were forced to live in overcrowded, dirty barracks where diseases spread rapidly
Middle classes: They wanted to see changes in Russia but were too scared of the radical revolutionaries that wanted to share all property among the poor. Thought of replacing the tsarist regime with a constitution
Non-Russians: wanted independence because the empire put Russia first in everything. They had a policy of Russification which ut pressure on other nationalities to speak Russian and adopt Russian culture
What was the radical threat to the tsarist regime?
The tsarist regime was under direct attack from the revolutionaries. The assassination of Alexander Ⅱ and govt. ministers. Most of these terrorists were from the SR who believed that the tsarist govt. deserved to be destroyed. Some were socialists who believed workers would eventually would take control
RSDP: Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
How was Russia a police state?
A police state was established to protect the tsar and govt. from attacks. They served the tsarist autocracy not the people
Censorship to prevent radical ideas. People suspected of working against the government of the regime were exiled or imprisoned.
The secret police division: Okhrana kept watch on people suspected of being revolutionaries. They went underground and terrorists who were caught were usually executed
What were the immediate causes of the 1905 revolution?
- The Russo-Japanese War
- Bloody Sunday
What did the protestors petition for during Bloody Sunday?
An 8-hour working day.
The right to organize trade unions.
A constitution to guarantee these rights and other freedoms in law.
What was the aim of Matyushenko and his crewmen?
They planned to lead a mutiny of the Black Sea Fleet that would link up with the peasants of the Russian empire to bring down the Tsar
Events of the 1905 revolution:
- Potemkin mutiny
- Peasant riots: created communes that their ancestors had worked as serfs and repression was difficult
- Industrial workers: strikes example a general strike linked workers to the middle-class who wanted political reform, then became a national strike
- St. Petersburg Soviet (council of workers) set up to help organise the general strike in the city. I t was shut down and lasted only from early September to December
What did the October Manifesto grant?
- due to the pressure of the general strike and increasingly worrying signs of army mutiny
- A new civil rights for the Russian people: freedom and the right to form political parties and trade unions
- A parliament with representatives elected in a general election
- Any new laws would be approved by the State Duma and govt. actions would be supervised by elected representatives of the poeple
What was repression like during the 1905 revolution?
The government used extreme violence to get back control of the country. Under Stolypin, the army was given control of law and order. Newspapers were shut down, trade unions were closed, suspected revolutionaries were rounded up and put into prison. Special army courts tried anyone suspected of causing trouble: executed and exiled.
Repression was difficult in the countryside: soldiers used extreme force to stop the unrest but it was difficult to stop unrest from breaking out again
Why did Nicholas Ⅱ survive the 1905 revolution?
October Manifesto: it managed to survive by promising the reforms that liberal wanted. The October Manifesto split those wanting reform from those wanting a wider revolution, so it reduced the pressure on the Tsar.
The Military: the Tsar could rely on the armed services to defend him from the revolution. Mutinies were unusual and when the Russo-Japanese war ended, tsarist troops could be used to deal with unrest and strikes. Nicholas also took a large loan from France which was used to pay his armed forces that boosted confidence and ensured loyalty
Disunited opposition: Most of the opposition was spontaneous; not planned. Most of the demands were regarding economic issues and not a specific political goal. The Social Democrats thought this showed how uneducated peasants and workers were to understand that only a political reform would give them what they wanted.
What were the limitations imposed on the State Duma?
Its power was limited by the Imperial State Council, which could block any law passed by the duma. Most of its ministers were chosen by the Tsar…
The Tsar kept important powers to himself: foreign policy and armed service. He chose the govt. ministers. He could veto any laws and dissolve the duma at any time. Article 87 of the Fundamental Laws…could pass any new laws
The Tsar was the only one who could make changes to the Fundamental Laws.
Nicholas’ attitude towards the duma:
Nicholas and his ministers didn’t trust…Didn’t want to limit his powers and believed that the majority of Russia considered him as the absolute ruler
He gave importance to the duma: encouraged celebration of the opening of the duma and after it invited deputies to the Winter Palace, where he made a speech to them.
The First duma:
APRIL TO JULY 1906
The left-wing revolutionary parties didn’t take part but it was still strongly anti-government.
It was dominated by Kadets and Trudoviks. The SRs had refused to take part in the first duma. Trudoviks split to form a new political peasant party and wanted land reforms. The Kadets wanted the Imperial State Council to be abolished.
The demands were too radical so the Tsar dissolved the first duma after 10 weeks. The liberals were not happy with the speedy return to autocracy and there was a strong increase in liberal opposition.
Police repression and revolutionaries during the third duma:
Police repression was so severe that revolutionary parties couldn’t operate. It was difficult for them to connect with the workers; factory owners could sack striking workers and so people were desperate to keep their jobs and distanced themselves from revolutionaries
The peasants were also intimidated by police repression. Landlords had fortified their manor homes, employed armed guards, and installed searchlights to guard against night-time attack
Stolypin’s “wager on the strong”:
Stolypin and the landlords didn’t want to give the peasants any more land. They felt that the inefficient, old-fashioned communes would only waste it and the peasants would remain poor. This was because the peasant communes controlled all the important decisions in the village.
Stolypin’s plan was to let the peasants leave the communes and set up their own farms, Stolypin was hoping that Russia could soon become a country of individual farms.
