The Rule of Nicholas II Flashcards
3 ways Russia was governed prior to 1905?
Orthodoxy (generally accepted beliefs in society)
- Autocracy (government by a single person)
- Nationality (official right to belong to a particular country)
2 examples of orthodoxy?
- Church was under state control, run by a government department headed by a minister appointed by the Tsar
- Religion was used to preach for obedience to the Tsar’s authority
2 examples of Autocracy?
Russia did not have a constitution setting out what the Tsar could/couldn’t do
- No Parliament, so laws were made by the Tsar issuing decrees
- No legal safeguards protecting the rights of individuals
2 examples of nationality
- Russification was introduced to force all non-Russians to speak and dress like Russians
- Russian ideals were the only ones accepted in the empire - therefore liberal and socialist ideas had no place in Russia as they were un-Russian
How did Nicholas oppress nationalities through russification?
Through Russification: The attempt to impose Russian language, culture and religion on the empire’s non-Russian minorities
In Poland and the Baltic provinces, court proceedings were held in Russian despite it not being the native language of most people in these places
how did Nicholas supress nationalities by using the orthodox church?
The Orthodox Church was given government money to support its effort to convert non-Russians to orthodoxy, meanwhile churches who had deep roots in non-Russian areas were bullied and harassed — in the Baltic provinces, no new Protestant church could be built without government permission
Eg; In Armenia, the government in 1903 issued a degree confiscating property of the Arminian church provoking demonstrations which caused troops to open fire on a crowd killing 10 and wounding 70
What was the Okhrana?
- Tsar’s political police force
- Infiltrate and destroy revolutionary networks
- Success was due to its skilful use of informants - early 1900s - leadership in both the SR’s and SD’s were riddled with Okhrana agents
2,500 - 1900s amounts of full time agents
What is meant by anti-semitism?
Anti semitic polices meant that Jewish people were restricted from accessing higher education
How did the Russo-japanese war come to fruition?
- Russia was an expansionist power, sought to extent its influence in SE europe
- Attracted in Manchuria, its mineral wealth and ‘warm water’ seaport at port arthur
- Rivals for Manchuria were Japan
- In 1895, following its victory over China in the sino-japanese war, Japan seized port arthur
- In 1898, Russia gained control over port arthur
- In early 1904, without warning, Japan attacked
What were the events of the russo-japanese war?
- Japan laid siege to port arthur early in the war, January 1905, it surrendered
- Feb 1905 - Russian land forces lost the battle at Mukden
- With Russia’s main naval fleet trapped in Port arthur, Nicholas ordered Russia’s baltic fleet to sail around the world to battle the Japanese
- After 8month voyage, it was annihilated only a handful of its 52 warships escaping capture at the Battle of Tsushima may 1905
- The war ended by the treaty of Portsmouth (Sept. 1905) under which Russia agreed to abandon port arthur and its ambitions in Manchuria
What was the impact of the loss of the Russo-jap war?
- Liberals were angered over the mishandling of the war, hostility towards the regime intensified
- Liberals challenged regime boldly - League of liberations banquet campaign set up in late 1904 reflected assertiveness
- Unemployment and food prices rose
What were the goals of the demonstrators of bloody sunday?
- The marchers were industrial workers
- Present petition to Nicholas - issue of working conditions, legislation of trade unions, higher wages and an 8 hour working day, freedom of speech and political reform
What happened in the aftermath of bloody sunday?
- Massive waves of protest spread across Russia
- Nearly half a million workers went on strike
- Strikes led to the closure of unis for the remainder of the academic year
What happened at bloody sunday?
- In Jan 1905 - 150,000 unarmed protestors gathered at St Petersberg, with the intention of heading to the Tsar’s winter palace
- Before they got there, intercepted by Russian army units opened fire
- 200 killed
- 800 wounded
What reasons were there unrest among the peasants?
— poverty & desperation, environmental factors were a reason for rural poverty, in the northern districts of European Russia, the soil was poor and the growing seasons short, while in the ‘black earth’ region to the south of the climate was errratic, leading to periodic crop failures and famine
— poor methods of productive, strip farming as inefficient for a number of reasons; time was wasted moving from stip and strip, some land was wasted because it was left uncultivated to mark the borders between strips
Why was there unrest among the workers?
— strikes, army was called to deal with strikers almost 300 times in 1901, increased to over 500 the following year
— strikes were due to poor living and working conditions, pay was low, working hours were long averaging around 60 a week, factory discipline was harsh usually enforced through a system of fines with little provision made for health scant safety so workplace injuries were frequent , workers were housed in overcrowded slums
Who does Russia’s middle class include?
Industrialists, businessmen and educated professionals such as doctors and lawyers
What was the middle class view towards tsardom?
They were hostile towards it
What were the 2 core values of the liberals?
— a belief in ending autocracy through the adoption of a constitution that transferred power to a democratically elected institution nd guaranteed basic rights such as freedom of speech
— a belief in an economic system based on private enterprise rather than public ownership
What was the zemstva?
A major stronghold of liberalism — russias elected local councils
Elected zemstva member such as doctors and teacher began to call openly for a zemstva voice in national affairs
Angered by governments refusal to engage in dialogues with them
What did left wing elements of the zemstvo do in 1902
Joined forces with radicalised student and others in the liberation movement, a newspaper called Liberation was founded in 1902
How was the league of liberations formed?
In 1904 at secret meeting in St Petersburg
Paul Milyukov emerged as its leading figure
Released a banquet campaign hosting a series of public banquets while Russia was at war with Japan, to mobilise liberal opinion
Who were the principle founders of the SR’s
Victor Chernov, Mikhail Gots, Gregory Gershuny & Catherine Breshko
What did the SR’s aim to do?
Win peasant support, but were never exclusively a peasant party & also attracted following from Russia’s urban workers
