The rule of Tsar Nicholas II Flashcards

1
Q

What classes make up Russian society? (in order of highest to lowest)

A
  • Tsar
  • Aristocracy
  • Clergy
  • Bourgeoisie
  • Army/secret police
  • Peasants/workers
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2
Q

As a man how can Nicholas II be described?

A

A man of weakness and limited outlook who ruled the nation

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3
Q

How did Nicholas II’s reign get of to a bad start?

A
  • Due to drunkness and poor crowd
    control over 1000 people died in a
    stampede celebrating his
    coronation.
  • Despite Nicholas’s own interests to
    care for injured, He was encouraged
    to continue with evening plans,
    attending a banquet at French
    embassy given there were
    important financial backers present.
  • While Russians died in the street
    Nicholas opened the dancing at the
    French embassy.
  • Impression that he was callous and
    uncaring spread.
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4
Q

Describe Nicholas II’s politics.

A

He continued Alexander’s Russification policies:
- Severely enforced policy of
restricting the influence of the non-
Russian national minorities within
the empire by emphasising
superiority of all things Russian.
- The aim was to impose Russian
ways on all peoples within the
empire.
- The nationalists who suffered the
most were the Baltic Germans, the
Poles, The Finns, the Armenians and
Ukrainians.
- State interference on their
education, religion and culture was
widespread.

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5
Q

Who were the greatest victims of Russification?

A
  • The Jewish population (anti-
    semitism).
  • Jewish people were forced to live in
    ghettos.
  • The Black Hundreds (a nationalist
    group) were notorious for their
    attacks on Jews.
  • The Tsar actively encouraged these
    and used Jews as scapegoats.
  • In total over 600 new measures
    were introduced, imposing heavy
    social, political and economic
    restrictions on the Jewish
    population.
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6
Q

What were the economic problems at the start of Nicholas II’s reign?

A
  • Serfdom ended but peasants still
    tied to village communes (mirs) =
    little free movement of labour.
  • Population doubles 1861-1914 to
    130 million.
  • 1880 still subsistence farming - only
    half of agricultural land was
    producing surplus - mostly owned
    by nobles.
  • Very small business class
  • Russia had insufficient funds to
    invest in modernisation.
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7
Q

Who was Serge Witte?

A
  • 1880-90’s = railroad manager.
  • 1889-91 = director of railway affairs
    in finance ministry.
  • 1892-1903 = finance minister.
  • 1903-1905 = chair of citee of
    ministers.
  • 1905-1906 = prime minister.
  • Oversaw building of Trans-Siberian
    railway as director of railway affairs.
  • Sympathetic to needs and aims of
    business class.
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8
Q

Who were the two finance ministers before Witte?

A
  • 1881-87 Nikolai Bunge.
  • 1889-91 Ivan Vyshnegradsky.
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9
Q

What did the finance minister Nikolai Bunge do?

A
  • Passed law to reduce tax burden on
    peasants.
  • Created a peasant land bank which
    offered loans to peasants to
    increase their land holdings and
    make them more productive.
  • Abolition of poll-tax and
    introduction of inheritance tax
    (1883-86).
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10
Q

What did the finance minister Ivan Vyshnegradsky do?

A
  • Financial incentives for peasants to
    migrate to Siberia.
  • 1890’s begins to finance Russian
    economic development from foreign
    loans, mainly from Britain and
    France.
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11
Q

Desribe State capitalism during Witte’s ‘great spurt’ of 1892-1903.

A
  • Economic development sponsored
    and directed by government:
    Believed state should provide the
    means (transport, markets and
    money) and private businessman
    conduct the actual economic
    development.
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12
Q

During Witte’s ‘great spurt’ what were his main emphasises?

A
  • Main emphasis placed on
    production of capital goods - Iron,
    Steel, Coal, oil and textiles.
  • Emphasis on comms… Trans-
    Siberian Railway, opening up
    Siberia. incomplete in places in
    1914.
  • 31000km (1891) to 53000km (1900)
    to 70000km (1913).
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13
Q

Who helped to finance Witte’s ‘great spurt’ from abroad?

A
  • The most developed countries…
    Britain, France and Belgium.
  • 26% (1890) to 41% (1915) but by
    1900 20% budget used for debt and
    only 2% used for education.
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14
Q

How did Witte attract foreign investment during his ‘great spurt’?

A
  • 1897 backed rouble with gold
    standard (backing currency with
    gold reserve).
  • Foreigners owned almost half of
    Russian shares by 1914.
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15
Q

What did Witte do with taxes’s for peasantry during ‘great spurt”?

A
  • Extra taxes levied on the peasantry
    to pay for investment and build gold
    reserve.
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16
Q

How did Witte protect protect Horne industries during his ‘great spurt’?

A
  • Protected by high import duties
    against foreign competition 1887
    and 1891 - helped protect metal
    industry, hit textile producers.
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17
Q

What was the impact of the Witte system on production of coal, iron and oil?

A
  • Production rose.
  • 1880-1890 coal increases 5.9Mt
    1890 - 1900 it rises 16.1Mt 1900 -
    1910 it rises 26.8Mt. (but remember
    population was growing too)
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18
Q

What year was the Trans-Siberian available for use?

A

1903 = Siberia resources accessible

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19
Q

What was the impact of the Witte system on industrial growth?

A

Strong growth, particularly of large factories (1900, over 50% industrial workforce in 1000 factories).

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20
Q

What was the impact of the Witte system on the urban population?

A
  • large urban population growth (eg.
    1818 -1914 St P = 1M to 2M)
  • Poor living and working conditions,
    with many living in slums eg.
    wooden barracks, with 2.7 million
    families separated by partitions
    with no ventialtion.
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21
Q

Apart from the impact on industrial growth, production and urban population, what other effects were there as a result of the Witte system?

A
  • military development
  • merging of urban and rural lives -
    peasants aged 20-40 often worked
    outside village and then retired to
    their allotment of land and families.
  • increase in direct taxes (on products
    = reduces standards of living)
  • poor working conditions, brutal
    discipline and low safety standards.
  • Russia much more dependant on
    foreign loans and investments.
  • Light engineering (eg. machine tool
    production) fell behind heavy
    industry
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22
Q

what 3 sections can Tsar Nicholas II’s opposition be split into?

A
  • CONSTITUTIONAL (eg. Zemstva
    calling for a greater say in
    government - ‘senseless dreams’
    largely quiet until 1905)
  • PEASANT (increasingly hard line
    following the famine - opposed to
    the influence of the mir, wished to
    reclaim the land from the nobility)
  • RADICAL (the rise of marxism as a
    result of Witte’s industrialisation…..
    = most important)
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23
Q

Who are Marxists?

A

Followers of Karl Marx and his beliefs

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24
Q

Which political party believed in marxism?

A

The Social democrats (RSDLP)

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25
Who were the Social democrats?
- Formed in 1898 by George Plekhanov. He had translated Marx's work and was known as the father of Russian marxism. - Social democrats believed that the rapid industrialisation of the late 19th century would eventually produce and industrial working class which would revolt and bring about the socialist state thats the social democrats wanted
26
In 1903 what two groups did the Social democrats split into and later became separate political parties?
Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
27
Who were the Mensheviks?
- Led by Julius Martor. - They believed that: 1. The party should attract as many members as it could 2. The working class in Russia was not yet large enough to hold a successful revolution. 3. The Mensheviks should work with the SR's and the liberals so that industry could develop and a large enough working class would eventually be produced.
28
Who led the Bolsheviks?
Vladimir Ulanov, known as Lenin.
29
What did the bolsheviks believe?
- The party should consist of a small number of committed members, who would carry out the revolution on behalf of the industrial working class known as 'proletariat'. - Since the party would act as the 'vanguard' of the proletariat and carry out the revolution, there was no need to wait for the bourgeois. - There should be no co-operation with other parties. The Bolsheviks alone would lead the revolution.
30
What weaknesses did the Social democrats have?
- Most of the Bolshevik and Menshevik leaders were in foreign countries to escape the tsar's secrete police (Okhrana). - Despite this, the Okhrana had managed to place its agents in senior positions in the social democratic party. - 1914 3 of 7 man committee were police agents. - To make matters worse, support for the Social democrats was divided, since the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks increasingly treated each other as enemies rather than friends.
31
Who were Liberals?
Believed in freedom of speech and that the government should be elected by the people.
32
What was Zemstva?
- In 1864 Tsar Alexander II had introduced elected local councils which were called Zemstva. However the peasants had only 40% of the membership. - Dominated by landowners, increasingly these landowners supported Liberal views. - No liberal parties until 1905.
33
Which two parties were formed in 1905 that represented liberal beliefs?
Octobrists and Kadets
34
Who were the Octobrists?
- Hoped for slow gradual reform, to be introduced by the tsar. - They were called the Octobrists because they agreed with the Tsar's October manifesto. - Their main support came from rich land owners and large industrialists.
35
Who were the Kadets?
- The Kadets, or constitutional democrats, believed in a faster pace of reform than octobrists. - They demanded a national parliament elected by the people. - This would introduce equal rights for all people and limit the power of the tsar. - The main support came from professionals such as lawyers, smaller industrialists and landowners.
36
What weaknesses did the liberals have?
- They received very little support from the peasants and industrial workers. - Most liberals were frightened by the violence and disorder of peasant and worker protests.
37
Who were the Populists?
- In the 19th century there were a number of who were made up of mainly young people. - They hoped to gain the support of the peasantry to force the land owners to give up their land and divide it amongst the peasants. - However, in general the peasants did not trust them.
38
Who were the 'people's will"?
- With the failure to gain support of the peasants some populists turned to terrorism and formed a group called 'people's will'. - Their most significant success was in 1881 when they asassinated Tsar Alexander II with a bomb.
39
Who were the Social revolutionaries (SR's)?
- Formed in 1901 by Victor Chermov. - The SR's were an alliance of various populist groups, they wanted to abolish land ownership and return land to 'those who worked it', as a result they were very strongly supported by peasants. - The SR's also hoped to gain the support of the industrial workers. - Their battle organisation continued the terror attacks of 'people's will' 1901 - 1905 - 2000
40
What were the weaknesses of the Social revolutionaries?
- Although probably the party with most support, the SR's were not a single party, but were made up of different groups with different aims. - The moderates were willing to take part in Duma - the parliament set up by the tsar in 1906. - The more extremist SR's rejected the Dumas and wanted a revolution.
41
When was the Russo-Japanese war?
8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905
42
What were Russia's 3 main motives in the Japanese war?
- To pursue an expansionist policy in the far east, to make up for what it saw as its relative decline in Europe. - To obtain an ice-free port - all Russia's major ports on its northern coastline were frozen up in parts of year. - To distract attention from Russia's domestic troubles by rallying the nation in patriotic struggle.
43
Describe the course of the Russo-Japenese war.
- Port Arthur fell to Japan, Jan 1905. - Russian surrender of Mukden, Feb 1905. - Russian fleet destroyed at Tsushima, May 1905.. Russia surrender.
44
What were the reasons for the Russian defeat in the Russo-Japenese war?
- Military commanders had not prepared effectively ... poor knowledge of opponent and terrain. - Russian ignorance of conditions allowed Japanese to out manoeuvre the Russian forces. - Weak supply line due to large distance = lack of men + materials - Trans-Siberian railway incomplete.
45
What was the effect of Russia's defeat to the Japanese on public opinion towards the Tsar?
- National humiliation - Excited social unrest that it had been started to help dampen. - strong cause for 1905 revolution.
46
What are the 2 long term causes of the 1905 revolution?
Economic discontent and political problems
47
Why was their economic discontent among the peasantry helping to cause the 1905 revolution?
- Russia had no income tax, Tsar taxed produce to raise money for his regime. Tax burden so great riots common. - When peasants freed from serfdom, in order to give the peasants land, gov had to buy it of farmers. Gov made peasants pay this 'loan' back as redemption payment. - Common famine such as widespread famine in 1901. Even though they did not have enough to feed themselves, they were expected to produce surplus grain for export.
48
Why was their economic discontent among the workers helping to cause the 1905 revolution?
- Terrible working conditions and trade unionism was banned so little to protect safety/pay of workers. ..11.5 hr working day. - Horrendous living conditions, developers struggled to deal with demand for accommodation. - Limited sanitation + water, high mortality rate. - Due to pop increase.... urbanisation due to industrialisation.
49
how were political problems a cause (long term) for the 1905 revolution?
- Ethnic minorities greatly oppressed by Russification. - Jewish people persecuted by state- sanctioned programs. - Influence of Zemstva was reduced. - Officials criticising gov were purged. - Middle class industrialists were unhappy that they had no say in how the country was run. - Increased industrialisation and urbanisation had led to major social and economic problems for workers and peasants. - Discontent provided revolutionaries groups with a bed of support that could be used to create change.
50
What were the 2 short term causes of the 1905 revolution?
- Defeat in R-J war - Bloody sunday
51
How did the protests start that led to bloody sunday?
- 3rd Jan, 5 men sacked from Putilov - factory St P. - 7th Jan, 105,000 workers on strike in protest. - Sunday 9th Jan, Father Gapon organises large demonstration, banned by police. Governor general deploys thousands of troops.
52
Describe the events of Bloody sunday when the crowds march to winter palace?
- Crowds demand reforms, singing national anthem. - Troops try to disperse crowd by persuasion then by firing on them. - Some marchers reach palace square, soldiers use rifles + artillery to fire on them. 200 killled, 800 wounded, woman, children = Father Gapon.
53
How was bloody sunday a cause for the 1905 revolution?
- Peasants appalled tsar would kill priest, children and woman. - Revolutionaries expelled form St P, spreading the news. - Strikes in major cities, Milyukov led the liberal groups in a "union of unions", peasants seizure of land, Soviets formed, mutinies in services eg. Potemkin mutiny.
54
how were soviets formed during 1905 revolution?
- In a number of cities, workers formed themselves into an elected soviet. - They began as organisations to represent the workers demands for better conditions. - their potential as bases for political agitation was immediately recognised by revolutionaries. - Trotsky became leader of St P soviet, organising several strikes in capital.
55
How did the Tsar/Gov recover from 1905 revolution?
- Return of Witte. - Tsar issued October manifesto. - Liberals placated, peasants bought off, workers crushed. - Fundemental laws restored tsar's absolute power.
56
What was the October manifesto?
- On Witte's advice, Tsar agrees to manifesto promising reforms to appease opposition groups. - Accepted proposal for elected national representative parliament (Duma) with real power - no laws would be made without its parliament. - Proposed freedom of speech and religion; civil rights; and legal unions. - More constitutional monarchy than autocracy.
57
What do the government announce in November 1905?
Redemption payments will be reduced and then abolished altogether.
58
What were the reaction of the opposition parties to the October Manifesto?
- Octobrists: accept manifesto as an important final reform. - Kadets: accept manifesto as the first step to more reform. - Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and SR's: not satisfied with the manifesto and wanted more radical reform.
59
How was concession a factor in the failure of the 1905 revolution?
The appeasement of the October manifesto and redemption payments ( took out the liberals and the peasants).
60
how did suppression help cause the failure of the 1905 revolution?
- Armed forces and pro-government terror groups (black hundreds) remained loyal. - St P November strike not supported by MC or workers, St P Soviet shut down by force, leaders arrested. - Moscow strikes in support, put down by military after 2 weeks. 1000 + workers died.
61
how was the political opposition a cause for the failure of the 1905 revolution?
- Lack of unity, coordination and popular appeal amongst the revolutionaries. - SD's want socialist state - peasants don't understand. SR's want to nationalise land - peasants just want to divide up the land between themselves.
62
What were the Electoral laws?
- Not equal or fully representative - Dec 1905, allowed only male landowners over the age of 25, with estates of more than 200 Ha to vote directly for their representatives. - Peasants only had an indirect vote (electing someone to vote on their behalf). - Factory workers of businesses employing less than 50 workers, construction workers, casual tradesmen, all excluded from voting. - Soldiers + woman not allowed to vote.
63
When did Witte resign as prime minister?
22nd of April 1906. just before first Duma.
64
What did Stolypin state his guiding principles were upon his closing as new PM in July 1906?
"Suppression (of revolution) first and then, and only then, reform"
65
When were the Fundamental laws issued?
23rd April 1906
66
What did the fundamental laws state?
- Tsar appointed his own ministers, who were accountable to him and not the duma. - Retained complete control over foreign affairs, military matters and the declaration of states of emergency. - Had supreme power, all law would require his approval. - Article 87 stated that under 'exceptional circumstances' the tsar could dismiss the duma and legislate on his own.
67
What happened at the first Duma of June 1906?
- SR's and SD's boycotted elections for the first duma. - 37% kadets a progressive liberal party advocating for further reforms, including protections for civil rights and more representative government. - 20% Trudaviks, a breakaway faction of the SR's which was a radical socialist party that believed peasants and workers were the key revolutionary classes. - Issued 391 statements criticising actions of gov. Dissolved by tsar after only 73 days. Tsar ruled without parliament until Feb 1907.
68
what happened at the second duma Feb-June 1907?
- SD's + SR's end boycott and participate. - more radical than first. - Impossible for tsar and Stolypin to work with this duma, they refused to support Stolypin land proposals/reforms. - Early June, SD's accused of plotting to overthrow Tsarist regime Men + Bol deputies had parliementary privileges suspended. - Same day Stolypin brings on large changes to electoral system, Voting suspened in certain districts tsar believed not developed enough.
69
What occured at the third Duma, November 1907 - June 1912?
- As a result of Stolypin's new voting laws, Tsar + Duma achieved more conservative and compliant Duma. - Third Duma was elected in 1907 and permitted to serve its full 5 year term.
70
what happened in the 4th Duma? (nov 1912 - Aug 1914)
- Term plagued by mounting tensions and increase in protests from industrial workers. - Protests spurred on by Lena Goldfields incident, 500 miners on strike shot by government forces. - Stolypin assassinated September 1911 by revolutionaries. - Although arguably most conservative Duma, the relationship between parliament and government was strained and duma deputies became increasingly critical of the government.
71
Describe Stolypin's reforms and actions.
- last great statesman of Russia Tsarist era. - He declared martial law, in an attempt to brutally crush the aftermath of the 1905 revolution (lots of executions) - Introduced sweeping agrarian land reforms, giving peasants opportunity to own private land. - Hoped to create a class of self- sufficient and prosperous peasants who would be more likely to obey and remain loyal to the government. - Assassinated long before his reforms gave results.