The Growth of Opposition

Question 1

When and what was Bloody Sunday?

Answer 1

• 22nd January 1905
• A peaceful march of 200,000 led by Father Gapon approached the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to ask for better working conditions
• The Tsar wasn’t present, so soldiers panicked and fired, killing hundreds and wounding thousands

Question 2

Along with what other factor, what did Bloody Sunday cause?

Answer 2

• Bloody Sunday and the defeat in the war with Japan (1904-5) caused the 1905 Revolution
• In February, workers went on strike and the navy mutinied

Question 3

How did Nicholas respond to the 1905 Revolution? (3 promises)

Answer 3

• He issued the October Manifesto:
  Freedom of speech
  An end to censorship
  A duma

Question 4

How did Nicholas II try to hold onto power?

Answer 4

• He dissolved Dumas and controlled how representatives were elected (there were 4 Dumas between 1906 and 1914)
• He remained an autocrat and people who spoke out against him were still punished
• He made Peter Stolypin PM in 1905 who executed 3000- the gallows became known as “Stolypin’s necktie”

Question 5

Whose presence in the court worsened the Romanovs’ image, and how?

Answer 5

• Nicholas and Alexandra started to rely on Rasputin from 1907 as he could control their son Alexei’s haemophilia, who was the heir to the Russian Empire
• He had a poor character
• His power grew so much that he ended up choosing people for government positions

Question 6

Describe the Social Democrat Party.

Answer 6

• Formed in 1901
• They followed Karl Marx’s teachings (the proletariat would revolt, remove the Tsar and create a communist state)
• In 1903 split into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
• The Bolsheviks thought a small group should organise the Revolution
• They were led by Vladimir Lenin
• The Mensheviks believed in mass membership and were less radical
• Leon Trotsky and Julius Martov led them

Question 7

Describe the SRs (Socialist Revolutionaries).

Answer 7

• Were founded in 1901
• Led by Alexander Kerensky
• They believed in the peasants revolting and sharing power between them
• Some of them were extreme and killed thousands of government officials before 1917

Question 8

Describe the Octobrists.

Answer 8

• Formed in October 1905, after the October Manifesto was issued
• The believed in the little reform promised
• Had middle-class membership
• Led by Alexander Guchkov

Question 9

Describe the Cadets (Constitutional Democratic Party).

Answer 9

• Formed in 1905
• Wanted democracy, an elected parliament and a constitutional monarchy (some wanted a republic)
• Middle-class membership
• Led by Paul Milyukov