the nature, extent and effectiveness of opposition Flashcards
Who were the two chief proponents of the Populist cause?
Chernyshevsky and Lavrov.
In what years did the Narodniks go to the peasants?
1874 and 1876
What did Chernyshevsky publish? When?
What is to be Done? In 1863.
When did Land & Liberty form?
1876.
What campaign did Lavrov organise?
‘Going to the People’ from 1873 to 74, involving approximately 4000 university students.
What year did the People’s Will form? What did they turn to?
- Turned to ‘the propaganda of the deed’ (violence) as a means to spark revolution.
Who was a notable member of Land & Liberty? What did they do?
Vera Zalsulich who shot and injured General Trepov in 1878.
What was the significance of the Vera Zalsulich case?
She was acquitted in April 1878 and exiled in Switzerland despite all evidence. Never again would the government risk the open courts.
Who led the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1901?
Chernov.
What two groups did the Socialist Revolutionaries split into by 1905?
Left-wing SRs and the more moderate right-wing SRs.
How many political killings were the left SRs responsible for? Give a two examples of people who were assassinated by this group.
2000.
Including Grand Duke Sergei and Vyacheslav Plehve.
How did AIII deal with the opposition presented by the SRs? What was the later issue with this?
Stolypin’s Necktie.
Stolypin was assassinated by a members of the SRs in 1911.
Who did the right SRs appeal to?
Peasants.
When were the SDs founded?
In 1898.
Which group assassinated AII?
People’s Will.
Who were the SDs influenced by?
An interpretation of Marx’s work by George Plekhanov.
What was the name of the notable liberal group under AII? Give two people who were part of this group.
Intellegensia.
Herzen & Bakunin.
What were liberal ideas supported by?
The emergence of the Zemstva and the mid-1890s revival of the concept of a Zemstva union.
What was formed in 1904 as liberal opposition? Who created it?
Union of Liberation - demanded greater freedoms and justice for all Russians.
Struve.
What two liberal opposition groups were formed after the 1905 October Manifesto?
Kadets and Octoberists.
Who led the Kadets?
Milyukov.
What significant action did the Kadets along with the Trudoviks take after the closing of the first Duma?
Vyborg Manifesto.
Who was the leader of the Octoberists?
Guchkov.
Why was there a lack of successful opposition before 1917?
Due partly to the control exerted by successive tsars, but also the lack of unity within and between opposition groups.
What was the main concern for the PG?
The growing strength of workers’ committees, especially in Petrograd.
What clearly shows that opposition towards the Bolsheviks was substantial?
The elections to the Constituent Assembly.
The Bolsheviks lost 175 seats to 370 for the SRs.
What was Lenin’s initial justification for the closing down of the Constituent Assembly?
‘The Russian soviets place the interest of the toiling masses far above the interests of treacherous compromise disguised in a new garb’.
When did the SDs split? Into what two groups?
1903 - Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
Who led the Mensheviks? Who was involved in the Mensheviks originally?
Martov.
Trotsky was originally a member.
Where is there evidence of political opposition in the Civil War?
White armies - political opponents from the Constituent Assembly.
What did the existence of Green armies suggest about the nature of the civil war and opposition?
Not simply about party politics, but also concerned conflicts about nationalities and regions.
Who is an example of a dissident tag the Tsars randomly removed from their post?
Witte, finance minister from 1892 to 1903, unexpectedly demoted to chairman of ministers. But later given the role of Prime Minister from 1905-6.
What clique formed within the Politburo after Lenin’s death?
Triumvirate consisting of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin to combative growing influence of Trotsky.
What did the left emphasise the need for under Trotsky? What did the right emphasise? After Lenin’s death.
Left = press for Permanent Revolution. Right = need for socialism in one country.
What did Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev respond to Stalin’s split with them by forming?
The United Opposition Group.
What happened to Trotsky after forming the United Opposition group in ___? Then later in ___?
1927 - Expelled from the party, and after continuing to provoke trouble was exiled to Kazakhstan. In 1929 he was expelled from the USSR all together.
What happened to those who opposed Stalin’s collectivisation measures?
Lost their party card, reducing total membership by about a tenth.
When was Bukharin removed? Which two members also suffered demotions?
Bukharin was removed from his positions in 1929.
Tomsky and Rykov also suffered.
What happened to members of the Politburo from the mid-1930s?
Exiled or executed after being branded ‘oppositionists’.
What was the difference in dealing with opposition in Khrushchev’s time in power?
De-stalinisation resulted in an end to purging and greater tolerance of political criticism.
What was a notable success for workers under NII?
October Manifesto.
What rose in 1956?
The minimum wage.
Which peasants tended to be more involved in political opposition?
Older, more educated peasants.
Why was peasant opposition taken so seriously?
As they constituted 70-80% of the population at any point.
What changed in the attitude of peasants after the Emancipation Edict?
Became more inventive and politically intelligent in the methods they used to demand improvements.
How did peasants oppose after the Emancipation Edict?
Appropriated ‘private’ and state land, refused to pay taxes, robbed warehouses and stores, physically attacked landowners and resorted to incendiary.
647 riots
What peasant revolt in 1906-7 was initially put down with a great deal of force?
The Black Earth Revolts - Stolypin had to use lots of force to put down unrest before carrying out land reforms to appease them.
What seemed to pacify peasants? When did opposition restart again after this?
Stolypins reforms from 1908 to 1914, but the upheaval of the First World War ignited another phase of peasant revolt.
What were established by some peasants in the Civil War period? Who led these?
A number of quasi-independent peasants armies, led by heroes such as Chapayev.
When did large numbers of peasants die? Due to what?
Thousands of peasants died as a result of the different phases of collectivisation there was opposition to the scale and speed of reform, and the loss of the mir (dismantled in 1930).
How were peasants affected by Khrushchev’s rule?
Little rural unrest, though Khrushchev’s agricultural policies were not especially successful.
When did workers become more susceptible to opposition groups?
When the pace of industrialisation quickened, especially during and after Witte’s ‘Great Spurt’.
What is an example of poor working conditions?
No factory inspectorate until 1882. 10-hour working days were not introduced until 1914.
What workers strike occurred in 1885?
Morozov dye works, involved over 8000 workers.
What was the most famous strike during the WW1 period?
18th February 1917 at the Putilov works in St Petersburg.
When and why did workers’ suicides rise?
Rise in the number of workers suicides accosted with the pressures of failing to meet production targets.
What was opposition like during WW2?
No strikes, although there were early examples of a lack of support for the conflict.
What is an example of a workers strike in Khrushchev’s period?
1962: workers at Novocherhassk protested against food shortages and rising food prices.
LEADERS:
- CHERNYSHEVSKY
- CHERNOV
- STRUVE
- MILYUKOV
- GUCHKOV
LEADERS:
- CHERNYSHEVSKY - POPULIST CAUSE
- CHERNOV - SRs in 1901
- STRUVE - UNION OF LIBERATION 1904
- MILYUKOV - KADETS
- GUCHKOV - OCTOBERISTS
STATE THE DATES:
- PEOPLE’S WILL FORMS
- SDs FORMED
- SRs SPLIT
- SDs SPLIT
- UNION OF LIBERATION FORMS
- BLACK EART REVOLTS
STATE THE DATES:
- PEOPLE’S WILL FORMS - 1878
- SDs FORMED - 1898
- SDs SPLIT - 1903
- SRs SPLIT- 1905
- UNION OF LIBERATION FORMS - 1904
- BLACK EART REVOLTS - 1906-07
