The Russian Revolution, 1894-1921

Question 1

Tsar Nicholas II

Answer 1

Became tsar in 1894, announcing, ‘I shall maintain the principle of autocracy just as firmly as did my unforgettable father.’ Personally a kind man and devoted to his wife and children. Possessed some characteristics which might have made him a respected local nobleman- although a committed ani-Semite- but lacked many of the qualities requited in an effective ruler. Isolated at court, uninterested in matters of government.

Question 2

Religious Landscape of Russia

Answer 2

Orthodox Christianity supported by many laws, almost 70% of population followed. Significant Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish minorities.

Question 3

Russification

Answer 3

Forcing the Russian language along with Orthodox Christianity upon the different ethnic groups within Russia.

Question 4

Emancipation of the Serfs

Answer 4

The granting of local freedom to the serfs- agricultural laborers who belonged to their landlords, or the state, in a condition quite similar to slavery. They were freed in 1961 by Tsar Alexander II, Nicholas’ grandfather, but many remained poor and with limited freedom.

Question 5

Land Bank

Answer 5

Created in 1882 founded to provide money for local communities and individual peasants to buy land.

Question 6

Pogroms

Answer 6

Outbreaks of mob violence against Jews, often approved by the authorities.

Question 7

Tsarist political system

Answer 7

Tsar was in charge of appointing and dismissing ministers, and there was no parliament to limit his authority. The army put down any violent unrest and the secret police(known as the Okharana) kept political dissidents under observation through a network of informers.

Question 8

The State Council

Answer 8

Senior advisers to the tsar with no real powers. Most of it’s members were old men appointed due to long service to the state.

Question 9

Senate

Answer 9

Appointed by the tsar, meant to oversee the operations of the law, but the system was confusing and the powers of the senate were unclear.

Question 10

Zemstvos

Answer 10

Local councils set up following the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. Provided a form of self-government for the villages and some smaller areas where the Russian population lived. Often oversaw parts of the 97 different administrative regions within Russia- far more than necessary even for such a large country.

Question 11

Sergei Witte’s reforms

Answer 11

Russian statesman who believed the solution to Russia’s problems lay in foreign loans and foreign exports. Russia was rich in raw materials, but lacked factories and railways required to produce and export manufactured goods. Tariffs on imports imposed to protect Russian industries, and linked Russian currency to the gold standard. Length of the railway lines doubled during his term of office. Trans-Siberian Railway connected Moscow with Vladivostok on Russia’s eastern coast. Taxes were increased to pay back loans, this effected peasants severely.

Question 12

Socialist

Answer 12

A person who wants to create a more equal society, based on cooperation, rather than on the capitalist concept of competition.

Question 13

Proletarian

Answer 13

The urban, industrial working class. They generally had no savings or property, and their only source of income was their own labour.

Question 14

Union of Liberation

Answer 14

Power base in the zemstvos pressing for constitutional political change. Not very powerful, however, because they drew their support mainly from the relatively small middle class and did not appeal to the peasants.

Question 15

Socialist Revolutionaries

Answer 15

Founded in 1901, those aim was to confiscate and redistribute wealth among the peasants. They had a terrorist wing which carried out a number of political assassination in the years leading up to the 1905 revolution.

Question 16

All-Russian Social Democratic Labor Party

Answer 16

Funded 1898 on the ideas of the German socialist thinker Karl Marx, whoa argued that the course of history was determined by economic forces. Capitalism should be replaced by revolution from the proletariat. This group eventually became the head of the Soviet Union.

Question 17

Vladimir Lenin

Answer 17

Came from a middle- class family and was regarded as politically dangerous from the age of 17, when his older brother was executed for involvement in an assassination plot against Alexander III. Lenin was first sentenced to exile in Siberia and then lived in Western Europe. He returned to Russia two months after the 1917 February Revolution. He opposed the Provisional Government and played a decisive ole in the October Revolution of 1917. He governed Russia from this point until his death in 1924.

Question 18

Leon Trotsky

Answer 18

Came from a well-t-do Jewish family in Ukraine. As a young man, he sided with the Menshevik faction of the Social Democratic Party. In the 1905 Revolution, he organized workers in St. Petersburg. He was sentenced to internal exile, but escaped abroad. In 1917, he joined the Bolsheviks and played a key role in their seizure of power and later in the organization of the Red Army. After Lenin died in 1924, Trotsky lost a power struggle with Stalin. He was expelled from the party and exiled from Russia. He was assassinated in Mexico in 1940 by a secret agent sent by Stalin.

Question 19

Russo-Japanese War

Answer 19

1904-1905. China weak, both Japan and Russia wished to expand areas of influence. Japan wanted Korea, and Russia could have Manchuria- they two disagreed, and war broke out. Port Arthur was needed by Russia, as only ‘warm’ port in the east. However could not supply the war well from across Russia, and when the Baltic Fleet arrived, they lost devastatingly to Japan. Capital of Manchuria taken, and Treaty of Portsmouth signed. Japan dominant power in the region. Huge blow to reputation of tsarist government. A cause of the 1905 Revolution.

Question 20

Khodynka Tragedy

Answer 20

Occurred in the festivities during coronation of Tsar Nicholas II. More than 1,300 people were crushed to death, and a similar number were injured, when the crowd stampeded as rumors spread that there was insufficient food and drink for them all. Authorities couldn’t control he situation. Although Nicholas shared the sense of shock which followed the event, he was insensitive enough to attend a celebratory ball the same evening.

Question 21

Bloody Sunday

Answer 21

In January 1905, a priest named Father Gapon led a non-violent march to the tsar’s Winter Palace in St Petersburg, to petition him for an assembly elected by universal suffrage. The crowd also called for basic civil liberties, land reform, fairer taxes, and a voice for the workers in the running of factories. They were dispersed violently by Cossack soldiers. An estimated 130 people were killed and hundreds more injured. The incident became known as ‘Bloody Sunday.’ This stimulated other popular outbreaks.

Question 22

1905 Revolution

Answer 22

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was not a sudden event; rather it was the culmination of years of discontent by several factors. They were primarily economic in nature, and the disturbances which led to revolution were largely unplanned. Mishandling of a crisis by the authorities made it more serious. These were the main causes of the Revolution.
- The poor economic condition of peasantry
- An economic recession in the early years of the 20th century
- Growing nationalist unrest among racial groups who wanted independence
- Other groups within the empire who wanted a more democratic form of government
- The autocratic nature of Nicholas II’s rule.
- Defeat in the Russo-Japanese war

Question 23

October Manifesto

Answer 23

In 1905, as unrest continued, Nicholas II was persuaded to make concessions to the masses. He did this on the advice of Wittie, who was not prime minister. The October Manifesto promised free speech, voting rights for those who had previously been denied, and an elected assembly called the Duma. It’s agreement would be needed before any laws could be passed.
Reactions to the October Manifesto was divided. Many of the rebels felt that their voices had been heard, and these were called ‘Octoberists’- those pacified by the Manifesto. However others saw it as not enough change.

Question 24

Russia’s Involvement in WWI

Answer 24

First joined after Austria-Hungary threatened Serbia with demands in 1914. While initially Russia was able to mobilize and launch an attack, it’s weaponry and technology gave it a disadvantage, and soon Germany was winning. Many soldiers began deserting, and by 1918, most were fed up.
During the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Trotsky negotiated with Germany and Russia lost 1 million square kilometers in size- half of the old Russian Empire’s industry and farmland. Lenin was convinced that soon revolutions would break out all across Europe, and also that the Bolsheviks needed breathing space to get Russia strong once more. However, very unpopular.

Question 25

Civil War

Answer 25

1918, Red v.s. Whites.