The condition of Russia before the revolution of February/March 1917 Flashcards
What is a reformist and an example of a Russian reformist and for what?
A supporter of gradual reform; Alexander II was known as the ‘Tsar reformer’ for measures such as the 1861 Emancipation of the Serfs, but he never intended to weaken tsarist autocracy.
What is a reactionary?
Backward-looking and opposed to change, particularly political and social reform; a reactionary could also be described as an arch-conservative- averse to innovation and upholding traditional values.
Who was the autocratic ruler of Russia in 1917?
Nicholas II
Why was Nicholas’ personality arguably ill-suited for the position of tsar?
He was naturally rather shy and awkward in public.
He found the intricate details of political affairs boring.
Tended to be over-cautious.
Struggled to make clear political decisions.
Since he agreed for a State Duma in 1906, how did Nicholas try to minimise its influence?
Nicholas felt he needed to keep his ministers weak, so as to preserve his own authority. He constantly pitted them against each other, becoming suspicious of those who grew powerful, and since he hated confrontations, dismissed ministers by note behind their backs rather than speaking to them personally.
What helped to weaken Nicholas’ political in Russia by early 1917?
His reluctance to innovate combined with perpetual problems of state finance and the disorganisation brought by the many overlapping institutions of Tsarist government.
Who was Aleksandr Kerensky?
Aleksandr Kerensky was a Russian lawyer who became involved in radical politics. In 1905 he served four months in gaol for publishing a socialist newspaper.
In 1912, he was elected to the State Duma and in February 1917 he joined the Social Revolutionaries. He became an SR representative in the Petrograd Soviet and Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government after the February Revolution. He became Minister of War in May an Prime Minister in July 1917. He was deposed by the Bolsheviks in October and fled to France. He finally moved to the USA where he wrote extensively on the Russian Revolution.
Who was married to Nicholas II
Alexandra
Who was Tsarina Alexandra?
Princess Alix had a German father but her mother was the youngest child of Queen Victoria of England. She abandoned her Protestant faith and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church when she married Nicholas, taking the Russian name, Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna.
She proved a great comfort to Nicholas but her lack of political understanding and her devotion to Rasputin weakened his position. She was distraught by Rasputin’s murder in 1916 but continued to urge Nicholas to stand up to the revolutionaries in February 1917.
She was shot, along with her family, in March 1918.
What is the story of Rasputin?
He was introduced to the Tsar by his wife and Rasputin had been able to ease the pain of their only son, Aleksei, who suffered from haemophilia, an inherited disease that prevented his blood from clotting.
Rasputin’s influence over the Tsar had extended to interfering in government appointments, particularly after war broke out in 1914.
He was known for womanising and drunkenness, and the favours heaped on hum did much to damage Nicholas’ reputation with the very people the Tsar relied upon to prop up the autocracy: politicians inside and outside the court, civil servants, Orthodox bishops and army officers.
What was the Romanov tercentenary, 1913?
big flash card
The Tsar and his family left their Winter Palace in St Petersburg to drive through the streets in open carriages for the first time since the troubles of 1905. Crowds flocked to cheer, wave banners, wonder at the decorated streets and thank God for their Tsar. At Kazan Cathedral, where an elaborate thanksgiving service took place, a pair of doves briefly flew from the rafters and hovered over the heads of the Tsar and his son, which the former interpreted as sign of God’s blessing on his dynasty. After a round of balls and dinners in the capital, the royal family am barked on a three-month tour of ‘old Muscovy’, the original heartland of Russia where they enjoyed a triumphal entry into Moscow. Nicholas led the way on a white horse, to the adulation of confetti-throwing crowds who had gathered beneath the Romanov flags that filled the streets.
What is pan-Slavism?
A belief that Slav races should be united - and look to Russia as the supreme Slav country for leadership.
What are war credits?
The raising of taxes and loans to finance war
Why did Russia enter World War 1?
The Austro-Hungarian Emperor held the Serb government responsible for the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Russia had long held ambitions to dominate the Balkan area and identified with the Balkan state of Serbia, a fellow Slav nation. (Pan-Slavism)
What were the immediate effects of going to war in Russia?
The Tsar’s decision to go to war was popular initially, and supported by a wave of anti-German sentiment.
The social and political disorder that had dominated Nicholas’ reign ceased.
Having voted for war credits, the State Duma had dissolved itself, declaring that it did not want to burden the country with ‘unnecessary politics’ in wartime.
The capital, with its Germanic name ‘St Petersburg’, became the new Slavonic ‘Petrograd’.
A vast army was rapidly assembled, amazing the Germans with the speed at which this Russian ‘steam-roller’ was able to get to the Front.
The spirit of national solidarity was dampened when initial victories gave way to defeat at the hands of the Germans in which two battles in particular?
Battle of Tannenburg in East Prussia in August 1914, which left 300,000 dead or wounded. Thousands were taken prisoner.
Defeat at the Masurian Lakes in September forced the Russian army into a temporary retreat from East Prussia.
How many men did the Russian government manage to mobilise between 1914 and 1917 and why was this a problem?
12 million
Mainly conscript peasants, it proved unable to provide for them.
