Russian Revolution: What were the causes and outcomes of the 1905 Revolution up to 1914? Flashcards
size and population of Russia
22 million square kilometres
1815-1914: population went from 40 to 165 milion
Causes of 1905 Revolution - 7
-Bloody Sunday
-Russo-Japanese War
-the peasant problem
-economic discontent
-reform problems
-extremism and repr
-agriculture issues
Extremism&Repression
Repression
-government censorship -> liberal ideas still existed
-liberals WANTED reforms NOT destroying Russian Regime
Extremism
-denials of free speech -> extremism
e.g: 1881 Alexander ll killed by bomb
The orthodox church
-supported the tsar
-deeply conservative -opposed political
change
-some priests sympathised with revolutionaries
-church taught people to be loyal to the Tsar(God’s annointed)
Initial Russian Economy
-slow in economic development
-low number of urban workers -> showed russia had not achieved industrialisation
-no effective banking system -> hard to borrow and invest money -> low output
Agriculture
-land was too north -> not suitable climate
-too many peasants -> to little fertile land
->although serfs entitled to buy land (after emancipation of serfs) -> prices were too high
->peasants could take loans from government-> would take too long to pay off
Peasant Problem
80% of population peasants->governing elite believed they (the ‘dark masses) could only be governed through repression ->scared of them undermining their privileges ->did not provide education for them
Significance -
not enough skilled labour
terrible living standards
Russian Army - Facts and Weaknesses
- large army 1.5 mill men in service
-way to keep the dark masses in check - by recruiting them
-notorious for horrible living conditions and severity of discipline
Weaknesses:
-higher ranks reserved for aristocracy
-45% spending went to army vs 5% education
-Commissions were bought and sold so there was little
room for promotion on merit.
=> weakened army strength
The Bureocracy
-most corruption
-used its power to tax people and use them
-law, government, militia in the hands of the bureocrats
The Reform Problem -Oobstacles to reform, local government reform, legal reform
Obstacles to reform
-disagreement within the governing elite over Russia’s true character as a nation
-autocratic structure-> change could only come from the top
->if one tsar was more progressive-> the next one could set back progress
Local Gov. Reform
-emancipation of serfs
-zemstvas - elevted rural councils
-mir- traditional village community
legal reforms- aimed to simpify court procedures whose delays led to corruption
Nicholas reaction to 1905: Russification - its failings
-restricting influence of non-russian national minorities by emphasizing superiority of russian things
-1890’s : state interference in minorities education, religion, culture
Failings:
-ill judged because russia needed unity to develop
-persecution of 5 mill jews caused many to flee and increased anti-tsarist movements
-Jews formed their own revolutionary union ‘the Jewish Bund’
Nicholas reaction to 1905: Anti Semitism
-600 new measurs adopted to impose social, political and economic restrictions on jews
-Russian nationalists ‘the black hundreds’ attacked jews
-no of pogroms(attacks) increased sharply
Witte Economic Reforms 1893-1903
-The Great Spurt
-increase in output of coal and oil
-done in military interest
-witte used foreign experts to advise on industrial planning
Witte Economic Reforms 1893-1903
-State Capitalism
-witte negotiated large loans and investments from abroad
-encouraged inflow of foreign capital and restricted imports
-adopted gold standard-> created stability and international investment
Witte Economic Reforms 1893-1903 - Railway Development
-most foreign capital invested in railways
-trans-siberian railway project
-encouraged labour mobility -> lower unemployment
-boost exports and foreign trade
Witte Economic Reforms 1893-1903
-Results and Problems
Results - economic growts
-catching up with foreign powers
Problems:
-made russia too dependent on foreign loans
-neglected the agricultural needs
-negelcted areas such as light engineering
Opponents to Tsardom - Populists
-believed Russia’s future was in the hands of the peasants
-some turned to terrorism - the people’s will
-go to countryside to educate peasants on political matters
-killed Alexander II -> made tsar even more repressive
Opponents to Tsardom - Social Revolutionaries
-wanted the end of tsardom
-believed in the urban workers
-split into right and left SR’s
-Left SR - terrorists
-Right SR - revolutionaries willing to work with other parties
-largest popular following
-internal disagreements weakened them
Opponents to Tsardom - Social Democrats
-aimed to acheive revolution through marxist ideas
-marx predicted that the proletariat would rise against bosses
-split into bolsheviks and mensheviks
Bolshevik - Menshevik Split
SD split in 1903
Mensheviks wanted large broad party, Bolsheviks wanted small tight-knight group
-became 2 conflicting marxist parties
Opponents to Tsardom - Liberals
Kadets-progressive landlords and entrepreneurs
-most outspoken in dumas
-wanted ending of censorship, trade unions, equality civil rights etc
Octobrists-moderates loyal to the Tsar
-created as a result of october manifesto
-voiced criticisms of tsar but did not want to overthrow system
The Union of Liberation
Russo - Japanese War - CAUSES, OUTCOME, REASONS FOR DEFEAT
Causes
-Russian Expansionism
-Need for ice-free port
-to distract from home problems
Outcome
-Loss of manchuria, Korea and Port Arthur
Reasons for defeat
-underestimated japan
-poor strategy
-japan’s readiness, skill and spirit
Bloody Sunday events and causes
-Father Gapon wished to lead a peaceful march at the Winter Palace
-Marchers were fired on and charged by cavalry
-Over 200 deaths
Causes:
-Father Gapon wanted a peacefull march to present to Tsar
-horrible working conditions and wages
-guards were cossacks->russians might have reacted differently
-background of peasentry issues, russo japanese war
Bloody Sunday Significance
-destroyed nicholas’s reputation -cold blooded murder
-widespread strikes and terrorism against gov officials
-minorities demanded independence
Potemkin Mutiny
-crew of battleship mutinied at sea ->killed officers and took over the ship
- went to odessa where strikes were taking place->thousands killed
August Manifesto
-tring to appease
-promised a state assembly with elected representatives
-limited concessions
-> brought even more disorder
October Manifesto
only promised:
-legislative duma
-freedom of speech,assembly and worship
-right of political parties to exist
-legalisingtrade unions
Fundamental Laws
restates tsar’s absolute power
showed october manifesto were mainly empty words
only kept legislative duma
every law needed tsars approval
duma could be dissolved at any time
To what extent did the government recover after 1905?
biggest threat to Tsarism ( the working-class militancy and the soviets) had been crushed
- won the support of a section of the educated middle-class (the Octobrists)
- divided opposition
- The armed forces, the nobility and the Orthodox Church had (for the most part) remained loyal
- Terrorist groups had rallied to Tsarism’s defense: the Union of Russian People and the Black Hundreds
- sign of its renewed confidence was the ruthlessness with which the Moscow Uprising was put down
Not fully Recovered:
- Duma with a role in law-making process diluted the autocratic principle
- peasant disorder remained high.
- authorities not in full control of large parts of rural Russia
- continuing problems with national minorities (Poles)
Why did the Tar survive the 1905 revolution?
-support of army
-support of churches
-protestors disunited and inexperienced
How significant the the Russian Revolution was the 1905 Revolution
-witte and stolypin structural changes
-dumas
-first challenge to tsardom
Stolypin Land Reform-De-revolutionising the Peasantry
-cancelled repayments for land mortgages
Stolypin Land Reform - The Wager on the Strong
-abandoned inefficient strip system
-peasant groupings discouraged and incentives for individual farming
-Land bank -provided funds for independent peasants
-schemes for large-scale voluntary ressetlment of peansants created
Stolypin Land Reform - Issues and Difficulties
-needed 20 years for policies to show results
-strip system still wide spread
-atolypins nectie -hanged revolutionaries more than 3000 -> very repressive
-other ministers and even tsar lost faith
The Industrial Front
1908-1914- increase in industrial output of 8.5%
workers not paid well at all
weak trade unions and minimal protection for workers
large number of strikes pre 1914, and general srike of 1914 showed disatisfaction of workers
The First Duma, April To June 1906
France gave big loan to russia
-> duma couldnt exercise financial control over government
->duma split into 2 -elected lower house and tsar appointed council that could veto
Vyborg Appeal
-duma members became radical and increased demands for rights of duma
-tsar dissolved duma as response
-kadets and labourists created the appeal for all people to defy gov (stop paying taxes e.g)
-people reacted violenty
-vyborg group arrested and disallowed for re-ellections
Repression Under Stolypin
-martial law proclaimed
-distrubance put down by military courts
-1906-1911 over 2500 executions
4.10. The Second Duma, February To
June 1907
radical and anti-government
stolypin’s land project rejected
criticised imperial army -> duma dissolved
Stolypin’s Liaison with the Dumas - third duma
understanding with octobrists that allowed him to pursue reforms without obstruction
. The Third Duma, November 1907
To June 1912
dumas continued because
-to keep russia’s image as democratic nation
-becam dominated by right wings -> less criticism towards tsar
DUMA PASSED SOCIAL REFORMS LIKE CHOOLS FOR THE POOR AND NATIONAL INSURANCE FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKERS
The Fourth Duma 1912 To August
1914
CRITICISE TSAR, BUT LESS OPENLY THAN FIRST TWO
How much did the dumas achieve?
First time limiting Tsarist power
Long term success of 1905 revolution
Third and fourth duma achieved social refom -> showed if duma had more time it would have been influential
BUT ACHIEVED LITTLE:
just a ‘talking shop’ – a body that said a lot but did very little
Everytime duma opposed Tar, the duma was cancelled -> could not achieve much -> could not gain enough popular support to gain power
Liaison with the dumas- just a way for Stolypin to push his ideas through -> worked with octobrists
Dvisions between socialists and Octobrists in fourth duma
Repression and disorder in 1914 - Causes
- after Stolypin’s assasination -> ministers were incompetent
-recessions caused unemployment
-increase in strikes from 24 (1911) to 2401 (1914)
Lena Goldfelds Incident - 1912 - Events, Causes, Significance
Lena gold miners demanded better pay and working conditions
employers resistedd and reported them to police
police killed large number of miners
-> tsar had learnt nothing from bloody sunday
General strike of 1914 - Events, Causes Significance
July 1914 - strike paralysed st petersburg
very violent because police got involved
many in duma supported strikers
only stopped because of the first world war
Outbreak of War - Nicholas ll stregths 1914
-october mnifesto appeased revolutionaries without weakening his authority
-dumas never became a real threat
-liberals would not openly criticise tsar
-revolutianry parties to weak to cause threat
large potential for economic growth -railways and industry and agriculture
tsar thought only 1/5 people oppoed his rule
