Topic One: Tsarist Russia Flashcards
What style of rule did the Tsar have?
An autocracy- a rule who has absolute power over a country
What the name of the ruling family in Russia for nearly 300 years?
Romanovs
Who was Tsar in 1905?
Nicholas II
Where in society did the Tsar choose his ministers from?
The aristocracy and senior church leaders.
What percentage of the Russian population were peasants?
85%
What were the 2 key features of the ‘police state’?
Censorship and the Okhrana (secret police)
Why were peasants unhappy in 1905?
Hungry for land, overtaxed, desperate poverty
Why were industrial workers unhappy in 1905?
Terrible working and living conditions, low pay, unemployment
Why were the middle classes unhappy in 1905?
No say in how Russia was governed
Why did the police state lead to discontent in 1905?
No one could feel free because the police were always watching
Why were non-Russians unhappy in 1905?
The policy of Russification put pressure on other nationalities to speak Russian and adopt Russian culture.
What was was Russia involved with in 1904-05?
Russo-Japanese War
Why was the Russo-Japanese War bad for the Tsar?
Japan won and the Russian people blamed the tsarist government for the embarrassing defeat
What was Bloody Sunday?
A massacre of unarmed protesters who were presenting a petition signed by 150,000 people
Where and when was Bloody Sunday?
St Petersburg, 9th January 1905
What did the Bloody Sunday Protesters want?
8 Hour working day, right to organise trade unions, a constitution to guarantee freedoms in law
Who led the Bloody Sunday Protests?
Father Gapon
Why was Bloody Sunday bad for the Tsarist government?
Over 100 protesters were killed and around the world, people were shocked. It united people in anger and disgust
What was the Potemkin Mutiny in 1905?
A mutiny by sailors on the Russian Navy battleship Potemkin
Why were the sailors of the Potemkin Mutiny unhappy?
They faced very tough discipline and very poor conditions, such as forced to eat with meat with maggots. Low confidence after embarassing defeat in Russo-Japanese War
What are 2 key events in the Potemkin Mutiny?
Sailors forced to eat meat full of maggots, sailors attacked the officers after one of them shot and killed a soldier
What happened in the aftermath of the Mutiny and how did the Tsar stop it?
Riots spread through the city of Odessa and the Tsar sent in the army. Over 1,000 citizens killed.
What was the St Petersburg Soviet?
A council set up in October 1905 which helped workers organise a strike.
Identify 3 elements of the October Manifesto?
- New civil rights which set up freedoms such as freedom of speech. 2.A parliament known as a Duma. 3.New laws would have to be approved by the Duma
What were the immediate reactions to the October Manifesto?
Delighted the middle classes, widespread celebrations, general strike called off
Identify 3 reasons why Tsar Nicholas II survived the 1905 Revolution
Concessions such as the October Manifesto and the Dumas, The Army and Navy stayed loyal to him, Opposition was not organised or united
What other key role did the Tsar have?
Commander-in-chief of the army.
What were the Fundamental Laws, 1906?
The Tsar had the right to veto nay duma legislation and could dissolve it any time. The Tsar kept authority over the armed servives, foreign policy and could choose his government ministers.
Identify 4 political parties that formed after the 1905 revolution.
Russian Social Democratic Party, Kadets, Octobrists, Union of the Russian People
Identify 2 features of the first duma.
The left-wing revolutionary party (Socialist Revolutionary) refused to take part. The main demand was land reform.
How long did the first Duma last?
10 weeks.
Why was the second Duma different to the first?
The Socialist Revolutionary Party took part. It became clear to the revolutionary parties they wouldn’t achieve their aims through elections.
What were the weaknesses of the third and fourth Dumas?
Stolypin organised a change in election rules which meant more conservative deputies were appointed and they would support the government.
Who was Prime Minister?
Stolypin
What was Stolypin’s Land Reform known as?
Wager on the Strong’
What were Stolypin’s land reforms?
Let individual peasants leave their commune to set up farms for themselves. Each farmer would then get the profits from their crops. Also encouraged migration to Siberia.
How many peasants moved to Siberia between 1905-1917?
3.5 million.
Why did Stolypin introduce the land reforms?
To make peasants successful farmers so they would stop wanting to burn down their landlords’ manor houses and support the government.
Why were Stolypin’s land reforms not successful?
Even though in theory peasants had their own farms, they still tended to work as a commune. By May 1915, only 14% of peasants who took up the reform were running enclosed individual farms.
What caused the Lena Goldfields Strike?
Working conditions were terrible, one mining gang protested about the rotten horsemeat they were supposed to eat, which led to a strike.
What happened during the Lena Goldfields Strike?
Mass protest led to troops firing into the crowd in which between 200-500 killed, with hundreds wounded.
What were the consequences of the Lena Goldfields Strike?
Kick-started mass protest throuhg Russia; nearly 2000 strikes. Kerensky did a report investigating the massacre and found none of the reasons for discontent that caused the 1905 revolution had gone away.
