The Challenges Russia's Rulers Had When Coming To Power Flashcards
Challenges Alexander II faced when coming to power
Year: 1855
Overall: many challenges.
Russia was about to lose against Britain and France in the Crimean war.
Russia couldn’t afford to pay the national debt.
There was an increasing number of riots by peasants, and there was fear the 50 million peasants who lived in the rural areas were a threat to the Tsars authority.
The developing middle class was more and more critical of Russia’s ‘backwardness’ - referring to how economically Russia was reliant on agriculture as the main source of income, as well as how banks were relied upon to invest in enterprise, rather than private investors, so there were limited new technologies being used.
The 1.5 million subjugated minorities on the fringes of the empire were starting to call for self-determination.
Alexander II had to try to modernise russia, whilst also retaining autocratic power.
Alexander II himself was also not a very strong leader - he was neither bright nor well-liked, and not strong-willed.
Challenges Alexander III faced when coming to power
Year: 1881
Overall: moderate challenges
Internal opposition was growing. His father had been assassinated by a radical group who viewed Alexander II’s reforms to be not good enough. This created a massive amount of insecurity, and determination to crush the opposition.
Th eastern question - the question of what would happen to the decaying Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, which was at the time ruled by Balkan Christians who were Slavs. Many Russians wanted to protect the Balkan Christians, end Turkish rule, and then establish Russian dominance instead. However, Austria-Hungary, another Balkan power, didn’t want Russian forces to be in the eastern Mediterranean and route to British India.
Russia lacked external support - relations in Britain, Austria, and Germany had worsened. Russia was isolated by the alliance between Germany, Austria and Italy.
Russia needed to have strong armed forces, and this depended on economic growth.
Alexander III wanted a traditional Russia, with no opposition, no growth in democracy, and strict control over the peasant communities. However, he also needed to continue to modernise Russia. Modernisation would mean towns and industries needed to develop, as well as transport. But this meant increased communications would help radical groups to spread ideas, and workers who were gathered together would pick up new ideas.
Challenges Nicholas II faced when coming to power
Year: 1894
Overall: high
Resentment of Russification was growing. Russia’s anti-semitic reputation was a moral blot. Religious and political exiles took with them abroad a resent at the to the tsars regime, worsening Russia’s reputation. Russian was seen as an isolated and backward police state.
Nationalism was growing.
There was a dangerous development of urban growth. The working class was suffering and resentful and gathering in large units in urban centres.
There were low levels of literacy, productivity, and Russian technical progress.
Foreign expertise dominated industry.
Communications were worse in Russia that any of the other powers.
Challenges the provisional government faced when coming to power
Year: March 1917
Overall: many
The provisional government took over after only just exiting WW1.
The provisional government had come to power without any real legitimacy and with limited support - their only support was the small Russian middle class, and the liberal upper class.
The Petrograd soviet was also claiming the right to rule.
The government was trying to introduce liberalism, however, after the war, the people were looking for strong leaders instead.
Challenges Lenin faced when coming to power
Year: October 1917
Overall: some
Lenin rose to power with the support of the Bolsheviks (radical, far left, revolutionary Marxist faction found by Lenin), who had become increasingly popular among urban workers and soldiers after the February revolution. The Bolsheviks had majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets by October, and then they overthrew the provisional government and formally took control of the government. However, many many people still did not support Lenin’s government.
The Bolsheviks issued many decrees revolutionaries russia, but most were meaningless because they were unenforceable.
Workers still faced the hardships they had faced throughout the war.
Opposition among nationalists, former tsarists, and liberals solidified around the hatred of the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty.
Challenges Stalin faced when coming to power
Year: 1929
Overall: moderate challenge
Not seen as a natural successor to Lenin after he died in 1924, in order to get into power in the first place, he had to get rid of his enemies on the left, so he could exile Trotsky and seize power.
He faced the effects of both the First World War and the civil war.
He had to consider the ongoing survival of the regime.
He faced the problem of establishing something new - a communist state that wasn’t based on peasant landowning but instead on communal agriculture which could support a massive industrial drive.
He had the problem of needing to undertake a second revolution in order to install a secure communist regime.
The USSR was not strong enough to withstand a foreign invasion.
The USSR was isolated - communists were persecuted in China, and the countries of Europe were predominantly right wing.
Challenges Khrushchev faced when coming to power
Year: 1953
Overall: many
He had to consolidate his power in the Politburo and eliminate rivals in order to take leadership.
Khrushchev had the problem of having to dismantle the repressive system of Stalinist terror, whilst still maintaining power over the Russia empire.
He needed to maintain power in order to maker the reforms he wanted to.
He inherited the problems of the Cold War, the Berlin Question, collectivisation and the limited success of it, as well as continued industrialisation.
He also faced the problem of the personality cult of Stalin, and destalinisation.
