Russian Rev AOS1 Flashcards
government
- 3 bodies: imperial council, cabinet of ministers, senate
- Tsar personally appointed members of government, causing hostility between departments
- tithes given due to family background so they often acted in their own interest rather than interest of the people
“a word from the Tsar was sufficient to alter, override or abolish any existing legislation or instiution” -AlanWood
“I will preserve the principal of autocracy as sterning and unflinchingly as my late father” - Nicholas II.
tensions in tsarist russia
political: emergence of western european ideology’s, impressionable Tsars, Unfulfilled promise of abolishing serfdom
Military: Outdated military practices, military factors
Socio Cultural: Russification Unrest, educated and opposing intelligentsia, terrorism, “great spurt” of industrialisation
Economic: famines, military factors, uneducated and disorganised government
Role Of Church
Validated tsarist system
Peasants depended on church to learn, allowing church to reinforce conservative values
role of army/who were tsarist police
2 bodies of police: Okhrara and cossacks
Okhrana: surveillence, exposing revolutionaries
Cossaks: Ensured obediance to law, given land for their service
Wittes Reforms
Why: Inadiquate rest breaks and un
Russo-Japanese War Causes
- to protect trans-siberian railway, russian soldiers were ordered not to pull away
- Japan thought this was threat to their occupation of northern china
- Plehve Minsister of interior advised nicholas to create war opportunity to heighten patriotic fever and national pride
- Russia wanted to expand sphere of influence
R-J WAR, Key battles
Battle of Mukden: Largest battle, ended with a loss of 90,000 troops
Battle of Tshushima: Russia had planed to sail to japan but took too long and japanese were ready for attack, loss of battle ships for russia
- Potemkin Mutiny: Marks moment when tsar’s military turned on him; soldiers angered by losses and treatment, killed their officers
R-J WAR impacts
Domestic: highlighted Russias poor technological capabilities, domestic rev occurred before wars conclusion
Political: exposed Russia’s incompetent leadership, demonstrated that the government failed to adequately industrialise the nation.
Military Rev Actions: Tsar loss of loyalty to military; had to agree to humiliating peace treaty with japanese after destruction of baltic fleet
R-J WAR QUOTES
“the autocracy had shown itself incapable of defending the national interest” - figes
“Exposed the wearknesses of the autocracy and russia’s backwardness compared to the modernised and progressive japan” - walker
Bloody Sunday (JAN 05)
Why: Frustrations of workers increased due to falling wages and rising cost of living
- Unsafe equipment and child labour
- Spark: 4 works unfairly dismissed from a large factory, Putilov steel works, in dec 1904
- Triggered strikes
What - 9th Jan, 150,000 workers marches peacefully to palace, lead by father Gapon preparing to present Nicholas II with a petition outlining their grievances and areas for improvement.
- The soldiers shot protesters and up to 200 were killed
- other uprisings erupt in other areas of empire demanding intependance
Significance:
- Nicholas’s reputation tarnished from “little father” to nicholas the bloody, held responsible
- triggered 1905 revolution
How did bloody Sunday trigger 1905 revolution?
- Poland and finland demanded independance, these groups often merged with nationalist groups
- Soldier and sailor mutinies
- University strikes, moscow university 300 students rallied
- railway worker strikes
- General strikes
- Society effectively ‘on hold’ (economy, infrastructure, sections of military)
“Gravely damaged the traditional image of the tsar as “little father”” -lynch
“Overwhelming display of tsar incompatence” - Pipes
“We are impoverished and opperessed, we are burdened with work, and insulted” - father Gapon
1905 Rev
Why? : after bloody sunday Nicholas II refused to sanction troops leading him to be being termed “bloody nicholas”
What?:
Series of unconnected revolutinary actions
-120,000 urban workers presenting ‘bloody sunday’ petition for representative government
-18th march saw universities close as dissent spreads to students
- Oct, st.peters soviet formed
- Moscow university sutdents (over 3000) staged a rally and burnt portrats of the tsar, in march, all higher learning institutes closed down
- there was mutinity on naval bases of sevastopol, where thousands of soldiers formed their own soviet and called for the abolishment of tsarisim
Effect
- st petersburg soviet formed first during 1905 rev, protect workers, soldiers and sailors
- Unsucsessful due to disorganisation and large sections of peasantaty remaining passive
Social:
- Discontent among peasantry
- Discontent among workers
Economic:
- Unpopular tsarist policys: Russification, Jewish people prossicuted by state-sanctioned pogroms, influence of Zemstvas was reduced
- middle class insudtriakists were unhappy that they had no say in how the country was governed
- discontent provided revolutinaty groups with a bed of support which could be used to make change
Sources of opposition:
- radicals, peoples will
- SRS
-SDS
1905 Rev Quotes
“the political outcome was “ambiguous and in some ways unsatisfactory to all concerned” - fitzpatrick
“Tsarism came out of the experence of 1905 alive and strong enough” - trotsky
October Manifesto
why:
- witte suggested allowing people to elect gov. members and improve state council
- tsar needed to make concessioms due to potential collapse of regime
what was it: detailed some concessions and freedoms
- granting civil liberties, such as freedom of speech, conscience, association and assembly
- promised formation of a state duma, universal male suffrage
Effect: -groups responded to it differently
- greatest opposition from st. Petersburg soviet who saw oct manifesto as a “fraud on the people”
- many industrial workers preoccupied by social and economic concerns
- octoberists warmly welcomed the manifesto
- kadets complained the reforms did not go far enough and continued to complain against gov.
October Manifesto
why:
- witte suggested allowing people to elect gov. members and improve state council
- tsar needed to make concessioms due to potential collapse of regime
what was it: detailed some concessions and freedoms
- granting civil liberties, such as freedom of speech, conscience, association and assembly
- promised formation of a state duma, universal male suffrage
Effect: -groups responded to it differently
- greatest opposition from st. Petersburg soviet who saw oct manifesto as a “fraud on the people”
- many industrial workers preoccupied by social and economic concerns
- octoberists warmly welcomed the manifesto
- kadets complained the reforms did not go far enough and continued to complain against gov.
OCT manifestio quotes
“the collapse of tsarisim, while not improbable, was certainly not inevitable” - pipes
DUMAS
What?:
- a new period of revolutionary government
- ruled with a combo of tsar and duma
tsar considered duma to be consultative rather than legislative
