Tsarist Russia

Question 1

What were Nicholas II’s weaknesses?

Answer 1

-Found daily work dull
-Didn’t like telling people bad news to their face
-Overfocused on details, ignored big stuff
-Too much time w/ alexei, didn’t want to be tsar,
just have family, despite his “divine right”
-lacked skills, imagination and forcefulness
-Insisted on 1 to 1 meetings -he disliked confrontation -led to rivalry
-gave relatives important positions
-Managed officials poorly

Question 2

what was the name of the Tsar’s secret police?

Answer 2

The okhrana

Question 3

What did the Tsar’s secret police do?

Answer 3

Infiltrared “threatening” groups
Could arrest potential threats
Spied on enemies
acted on the Tsar’s behalf
treated citizens how they saw fit
even torture+murder
Often exiled Tsar’s opponents 2 Siberia

Question 4

Who were the Cossacks?

Answer 4

cavalry units
seen 2 b Tsar’s strongest supporters

Question 5

What was the state of the army in tsarist russia? (3 details)

Answer 5

Used 1500 times between 1880+1905 2 put down countryside unrest
mostly untrained peasants but senior officers were noblity

Question 6

What were “land captains”?

Answer 6

landownders kept order in the countryside, punishing peasants w/ public floggings

Question 7

Who were the kulaks?

Answer 7

wealthier landowner peasants

Question 8

What were the issues surrounding the working class in industrial areas?

Answer 8

Poor wages+work conditions
insecure employment
insufficient housing,overcrowding

Question 9

what was overcrowding like in industrial areas of tsarist russia?

Answer 9

1904 average: 16 in each flat w/ 6 per room

Question 10

when was serfdom abolished?

Answer 10

1861

Question 11

why was agriculture behind in tsarist russia?

Answer 11

until 1861 land worked by serf
cheap labour-> little incentive 4 landowners 2 invest in industrialisation

Question 12

why were farming techniques behind?

Answer 12

little comm beyond local area. most uneducated+illiterate;
little K&O the world+ agri developments

Peasants had little machinery.

long strips of land far apart->time wasted moving between.

land owned communally-> lack of incentive 2 improve land in case of redistribution

Question 13

Why did the russian empire lack a strong industry?

Answer 13

Lack of $$$ 4 machinery
Taxing for industrialisation->resentment
Lack of transport to exploit remote resources
Unskilled, uneducated workforce
heavy taxation-> lack of russian market->less incentive to industrialise

Question 14

Why was the abolishment of serfdom not a positive thing for peasants?

Answer 14

to give the peasants land, the gov had to pay the landowners, so the peasants had to pay Redemption Payments.
Most peasants didn’t own land so couldn’t improve their situation

Question 15

why was the amount of land owned by a single peasant decreasing?

Answer 15

because there was a practice of dividing land among successive generations of a family

Question 16

Why were there famines in tsarist russia and when?

Answer 16

in 1901.
peasants didn’t have food 2 eat but expected to produce grain 4 export

Question 16

what was the life expectancy in some regions of tsarist russia?

Answer 16

40 years

Question 16

what were the aims of the liberals/cadets?

Answer 16

wanted a more democratic russia .
said places like Br had a king+ a parliament

Question 17

Who were the liberals also known as?

Answer 17

the cadets (also they were mostly middle class)

Question 18

who were the cadets also known as?

Answer 18

the liberals (also they were mostly middle class)

Question 19

What were the aims of the SRs?

Answer 19

to carve up nobles’ estates and distribute to peasants

Question 20

what actions had the SRs done before the 1905 revolution?

Answer 20

assasinated 2 gov officials and many Okhrana agents

Question 21

what were the differences between the bolsheviks and the mensheviks?

Answer 21

the bolsheviks wanted to bring about a revolution but the mensheviks thought that russia wasn’t ready and the revolution needed to come about naturally

Question 22

how much land was owned by the aristocrats?

Answer 22

25%

Question 23

before the 1905 revolution what was the opinion on bolsheviks and mensheviks?

Answer 23

both illegal
members exiled/excecuted

Question 24

what was the name of the councils in charge of the subdivisions of land?

Answer 24

the mir

Question 25

what was the Stick part of Stolypin’s carrot and stick?

Answer 25

came down hard on protesters+revolutionaries. Over 20,000 exiled +1000 hanged (stolypins necktie)

Question 26

what was the result of the stick part of stolypin’s carrot and stick?

Answer 26

effectively killed off countryside opposition until after ‘14

Question 27

how many people did stolypin order to be exiled or killed?

Answer 27

20,000 exiled, 1,000 killed

Question 28

what was the carrot part of stolypin’s carrot and stick?

Answer 28

allowed kulaks to opt out of the mir communes 2 buy land, and these prospered, creating larger and more efficient farms, although the living conditions for most peasants was still awful

Question 29

How did Stolypin change the rules for voting?

Answer 29

made peasants+industrial workers unable 2 vote

Question 30

apart from the carrot and stick, what else did stolypin implement in russia?

Answer 30

-changed voting rules
-tried to boost russia’s industries

Question 31

when was stolypin
appointed prime minister?

Answer 31

1906

Question 32

what happened to stolypin?

Answer 32

assasinated in ‘11
Nicholas going to sack him anyway;
worried stolypin was reforming russia too much. already blocked some his plans

Question 33

which of stolypin’s plans had the tsar blocked?

Answer 33

-plans for basic education for people
-regulations to protect factory workers

Question 34

what was the effect of stolypin attempting to boost russia’s industries?

Answer 34

impressive economic growth
russia still behind big powers

Question 35

When was Bloody Sunday?

Answer 35

22nd of January 1905

Question 36

What was bloody sunday intended to be?

Answer 36

200,000 workers+families marched winter palace
w/ a petition for better living/work conditions, shorter work day etc
led by Father Gapon

Question 37

what were stolypin’s intentions?

Answer 37

not actually improve lives
just placate

Question 38

what was the first of the fundamental laws?

Answer 38

“To the emperor of all the russias belongs supreme and autocratic power”

Question 39

when did the duma first meet?

Answer 39

may 1906

Question 40

what were the 8 reasons for the abdication of the Tsar?

Answer 40

War failures
mutiny in army
food shortages
strikes
discontent in countryside
formation of soviets
rasputin+ tsarina
duma

Question 41

Why were strikes a reason for the Tsar’s abdication?

Answer 41

bad conditions-> peaceful protests.
army mutiny-> nichilas couldn’t send them to shut it down

Question 42

what were soviets?

Answer 42

revolutionary groups that distributed food and saw to people’s needs

Question 43

who was prince Lvov?

Answer 43

1st PG PM.
Resigned in ‘17 due to strikes+ riots
unpopular bc of his title

Question 44

why was prince lvov unpopular?

Answer 44

because he was prince

Question 45

what was the PG made up of?

Answer 45

The Duma and the Petrograd Soviet

Question 46

What were the PG’s 3 main problems

Answer 46

Continue war? make peace?
distribute land? wait for election?
how to feed starving population?

Question 47

what were the short term decisions that the PG made?

Answer 47

-told peasants to wait B4 taking land (they didn’t)
-continue war effort

Question 48

What were Lenin’s main messages?

Answer 48

“Power to the soviets” + “peace, land and bread”