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