The Revolutions of 1917 Flashcards
1
Q
What was the population of early 20th century Russia?
A
125 million
2
Q
What were subject nationalities?
A
- non-Russian groups
- to 60% of Russian population, Russian was a foreign language
- many of these peoples resented being part of the Russian Empire (especially as it’s rulers carried out the process of Russification)
- Russification meant that many non-Russians were forced to speak Russian, wear Russian clothes & follow Russian customs
- Russians were often given the important jobs in non-Russian areas
3
Q
Why was there discontent with the government?
A
- Russia = autocracy (absolute power of the Tsar - Tsar believed that he had a divine right to rule, i.e. chosen by God so he could do whatever he like without having to consult the people)
- 70% of population were Orthodox (whose church supported him)
- Tsar had a council of ministers that ran various gov. departments (but they could not make important decisions)
- 1,000s of civil servants (eg. tax collectors) = generally poorly paid which encouraged bribery & corruption
- Russian people had little freedom (all workers unions and strikes were forbidden, & newspapers and books were censored by gov. & okhrana)
4
Q
What was the relationship between the Orthodox church and the Tsar?
A
- Church was closely linked to the Tsar
- Church supported his way of ruling
- Church taught that the Tsar was the head of the country and the Church (God’s chosen representative on earth)
5
Q
How did the Tsar use the okhrana?
A
- to suppress all opposition
- used spies and agents to root out anyone who was against the Tsar and his system of government
- such opponents could be imprisoned without trial or exiled to far off Siberia
6
Q
What were the weaknesses of Nicholas II?
A
- not a strong character (so autocracy could not work because he was unable to control the government and different nationalities of the Russian Empire)
- reluctant to become Tsar (in 1894)
- his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, believed that they had been chosen by God to rule and no-one had the right to challenge them
- Tsar was ignorant of the nature and extent of opposition to tsarist rule and refused to share power (saying goes ‘the two most important people in Russia are Tsar Nicholas II and the the last person to whom he had spoken)
- only heir, Alexis, suffered from haemophilia (uncurable blood disease) and was likely to die young
7
Q
What were the economic problems under the Tsar?
A
- 85% of population lived in countryside (however, Russian agriculture was poor)
- only 5% of land was used for farming (due to extensive tundra, forest and desert)
- in most villages, land was divided into 3 large fields & each household had strips in each of these fields (scattered strip farming)
- Scattered strip farming system encouraged subsistence farming using primitive hand tools (old-fashioned farming methods resulted in low food production and frequent famines)
8
Q
How was industrial development under the Tsar?
A
- Russia was rich in oil and minerals but industrialisation didn’t happen until end of 19th century (much later than some other European countries eg, Britain and Germany)
- Russian manufacturing output was very low at the beginning of 20th century (considering land size and resources)
- Industrial development was restricted due to Russia’s size, undeveloped system of roads and railways and absence of an effective banking system
- by 1914 (outbreak of WW1), Russia = rapid industrial development due to:
- increase in coal output in Ukraine
- increase in oil output in Causcasus
- deliberate government policy
- however, rapid industrial growth in turn lead to poor living and working conditions for workers, causing discontent
9
Q
What were the social problems under Tsar Nicholas II’s rule?
A
- majority of people were poor peasants (80% of population) - poor working conditions & survived on a staple diet of rhy bread, porridge and cabbage soup (when harvests were poor, there was starvation and disease - avg. life expectancy = 40 years)
- top of the social scale were the Tsar, aristocracy and higher clergy (Church leaders who owned large amounts of land)
- aristocracy = just over 1% of population = owned almost 1/4 of all land
- by 1914, Russia had a growing middle class due to industrial development (bankers, merchants and factory owners)
- industrial workers in towns and cities (most rapidly increasing group because large numbers of peasants went to work in industry)
- working conditions were terrible:
- workers lived in overcrowded slums
- workers ate cheap black bread, cabbage soup and wheat porridge
- low wages, long hours, trade unions (to fight for better conditions) were banned & protests/strikes were met with police/army brutality and crushed
10
Q
What was Blood Sunday?
A
- Sunday 22nd January 1905
- lead by Father Gapon
- a peaceful march
- around 200,000 people to Tsar’s Winter Palace, St Petersburg
- petitioning for better working conditions
HOWEVER,
- Tsar was not in his palace and soldiers panicked
- soldiers fired on crowd killing 100s and wounding 1000s
11
Q
What were the consequences of Bloody Sunday?
A
- 100s killed and 1000s wounded
- alongside defeat in Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), BS sparked revolution in 1905
12
Q
1905 revolution
A
- strikes and a mutiny in the navy
- Nicholas II issued October Manifesto to avoid further chaos
- revolution was a warning to the Tsar of the need for change and reform, but he ignored this
13
Q
What did the October Manifesto promise?
A
- freedom of speech
- an end to censorship
- a national parliament (duma)
14
Q
Peter Stolypin
A
- elected pm by Nicholas after 1905 revolution
- introduced certain reforms (especially, agriculture & education)
- severe punishment for opposition to Tsar (more than 3000 execution during his term)
- the gallows became known as Stolypin’s necktie
15
Q
What was Nicholas’ power over the duma?
A
- ensured that the duma (he had been forced to create) had little power
- after 1906 election of 1st duma, he declared that he had the power to dissolve it & change the rule by which it was elected
- 4 dumas between 1906 & 1914
- ignored promises of October Manifesto, which stimulated further opposition (particularly amongst the different political groups)
16
Q
Role of Rasputin
A
- monk from Siberia (rumoured to be a Khlyst, member of an extreme underground sect that had split from the Orthodox Church)
- infamous for drunkenness and womanising (rumoured orgies)
- April 1907 = Alexis suffering from painful bleeding as a result of an injury & after his recovery, Tsarina Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin could control the young boy’s illness
- Rasputin advised her on appointments to the government
- Rasputin interfered in important decisions
Rasputin symbolised everything wrong with imperial government (corruption and incompetence)
17
Q
Who were the Social Democratic Party?
A
- Founded in 1901
- Followed Marxist teachings
- Believe proletariat (workers) would one day stage a revolution & remove the Tsar
- Revolution → Communist State
- Part split up into 2 in 1903 - Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
Mensheviks
- Leon Trotsky
- Julius Martov
- Mass membership
- Slow change
Bolsheviks
- Small party elite should organise the revolution
- Vladmir Lenin
18
Q
Who were the Socialist Revolutionaries?
A
- Founded in 1901
- Revolution of the peasants and removal of the Tsar
- Share all land between peasants, to be farmed in small peasant communities
- Terror to achieve aims OR constitutional methods
- Terrorist activity by the SRs lead to death of 1000s of government officials before 1917
- Eventually lead by Alexander Kerensky
19
Q
Who were the Octoberists?
A
- founded in October 1905
- set up after Tsar issued his October Manifesto
- believed that Tsar would carry out his manifesto promises of limited reform
- main area of support = middle classes
- led by Alexander Guchlov
20
Q
Who were the Constitutional Democratic Party?
A
- Cadets
- founded in 1905
- wanted a constitutional monarch and an elected parliament (as in Britain) through some were prepared to set up a republic
- led by Paul Milyukov
21
Q
What were the impacts of WW1 on the Tsar’s rule?
A
- Russia was protector of Serbia so it mobilised its military forces when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand)
- led Germany to declare war against Russia in August
- many believed that Russia’s size would ensure success
- by end of 1914, Russia = over 1 mil casualties
- by end of 1916, Russia had suffered continuous defeats
- led to growing discontent with the tsar and his government
