Wars

Question 1

How many people died in the Crimean War?

Answer 1

Between 650,000 and 750,000. Russia lost around 450,000

Question 2

Who fought in the Crimean War?

Answer 2

Britain, France, Turkey and Russia

Question 3

What was the Treaty of Paris, March 1856?

Answer 3

Was the treaty ending the crimean war
It included Russia had to hand over land of Bessarabia to Moldovia
It highlighted the weak position of Russia

Question 4

What impact did the Crimean War have on government?

Answer 4

Appeared to act as a catalyst for economic, social and political reforms
But autocracy remained firmly in place

Question 5

What did local government reforms suggest after the Crimean War?

Answer 5

Tsars were prepared to lessen their autocratic grip, but in the long term, when the zemstva did too much, they were repressed to quieten them

Question 6

What reforms to the army were made as a result of the Crimean war?

Answer 6

Military service was reduced to fifteen years, training was modernised and there was rigorous instruction provided for officers

Question 7

What economic change was there as a result of the Crimean War?

Answer 7

Expansion of the railway system
Nearly 2 billion roubles (in foreign loans) was spent on constructing railway from 1861 to 1878
Witte’s Great Spurt (8% annual growth rate)
Poll tax increased by 80%

Question 8

What was the Trety of San Stefano?

Answer 8

March 1879, after the Russo-Turkish War
Russia regained South Bessarabia, regained from Crimean War
Made substantial territorial gains in the Caucasus
But the conditions threatened relations with Austria-Hungary and Britain

Question 9

What happened at the Congress of Berlin 1878?

Answer 9

Austria-Hungary and Britain gained territorial rights,
Russian nationalists unhappy (caused unrest)

Question 10

What was the economic impact of the Russo-Turkish War?

Answer 10

Revealed Russian industrial progress

Question 11

What war can be compared to the Crimean War? and why

Answer 11

Similarly to the Crimean war, the Russo-Japanese war led to doubts being expressed about the ability of the Tsar and effectiveness of autocracy in general
Also, they were both followed by significant reform. The Russo-Japanese war had sparked far more unrest
But;
the russo-japanese war had less impact on the development of government

Question 12

What was the Treaty of Portsmouth?

Answer 12

August 1905, after the Russo-Japanese war
Russia was forced to withdraw from Port Arthur and south Manchuria
Russian leaders had to recognise Japanese sovereignty in Korea

Question 13

What reforms followed the Russo-Japanese war?

Answer 13

The 1905 revolution and then the establishment of the Duma.
It is unlikely this would have happened without the war as the Tsar was a staunch adherent of “Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationality”

Question 14

What was the result of the Russo-Japanese war?

Answer 14

Revealed serious communications and transport weaknesses (the Trans-Siberian railway was still uncompleted), the result was further investment in transport infrastructure and more generally in industry.
Annual growth rate of 6%
Government spending increased by 50% while production levels were falling
Developments led to public health issues and poor living and working conditions

Question 15

What was the optimist school of thought for analysis of the First World War?

Answer 15

Military failures resulted in economic pressures which affected the daily lives of Russians on the Home Front. The consequence was that impetus was given to levels of social unrest not witnessed before.
Only a dramatic change in government could avert a state of anarchy

Question 16

How many people died in the first world war?

Answer 16

1.7 million dead but 8 million casualties and 2.4 million captured

Question 17

What problems were faced by the military in ww1?

Answer 17

Industry was struggling to keep up with demands but was working at near to full capacity
Military administrators did not have the ability to cope with the logistical challenges posed by war
Communications and transport problems

Question 18

What mistakes did the Tsar make during ww1?

Answer 18

Unprecedented step of taking personal control of the armed forces and left the capital
The tsarina Alexandra was left as temporary de facto ruler (German and friendly with rasputin sex-crazed monk)

Question 19

What were the economic impacts of the first world war?

Answer 19

the war cost 3 billion roubles which was paid through borrowings e.g foreign loans and increases in tax and printing more money.
But this also meant more money was invested in industry so Russian workers were fully employed and received a regular and slightly higher income than usual
War bonds issued

Question 20

How bad was inflation during ww1?

Answer 20

Prices had risen by 400% by 1917

Question 21

What were the social impacts of ww1?

Answer 21

Food shortages e.g. in Petrograd bread ration fell by 25% in the first three months of 1916. Mostly regional issue
However caused unrest in the places where it had the greatest impact (Petrograd)
Rise of the Petrograd soviet

Question 22

What were the political consequences of ww1?

Answer 22

Under pressure from the military advisors, the Progressive bloc in the Duma Nicolas decided to abdicate.
Optimists believe the continuation of the war made it impossible for the prov gov to deal with land issues, modernisation of industry and constituent assembly

Question 23

What is the pessimists school of thought of analysis of WW1? (Pro-Bolshevik)

Answer 23

Tsar had been struggling for some time for demands for a constituent assembly
Duma had developed a progressive bloc before the war
Generally Nicolas proved to be an incompetent leader, the war only accelerated his demise
The rise of the working class as opposition went hand-in-hand with large scale urbanisation and industrialisation
Greater working class consciousness was reinforced by the legalisation of political parties that represented their interests

Question 24

What wars show humiliation of Russia’s military strength?

Answer 24

April 1921 during the Civil War the defeat in the Polish Campaign ending with the Treaty of Riga
Russo-Japanese
Crimean

Question 25

How did the Russian Civil War influence the nature of Russia’s government?

Answer 25

Victory had been achieved through discipline, administration and management. The post-war communist government consisted of men who had served in the Red Army, the Cheka etc so the experience was carried over to the ruling of Russia
Militaristic approach to government is well illustrated by War Communism
Justified Lenin’s rule

Question 26

What was the impact of the Russia Civil War on the structure of government?

Answer 26

Power became more centralised with power revolving around the Politburo and Orgburo

Question 27

What were the social impacts of ww2?

Answer 27

27 million, 5 million prisoners of war
Russian troops raped over 2 million women , Stalin-“what is so awful about having fun with a woman”
Stalin’s treatment of prisoners of war, deserters and non-Russia women did little to enhance relations with the Allies

Question 28

What were the economic impacts of WW2?

Answer 28

Politicians were faced with the issue of shortage of labour afterwards
Physical damage to infrastructure e.g. factories, production plants etc
Soviet’s government’s reconstruction programme revolved around a forth Five Year Plan

Question 29

How successful was the forth Five Year Plan?

Answer 29

Targets set were achieved within three years due to;
the availability of “free labour” - 4million prisoners of war
long working hours of the Russian people
external financial aid e.g from USA in the form of lend-lease

Question 30

What were the weaknesses in Stalin’s post-war economic programme?

Answer 30

Great amounts of capital were invested into schemes e.g. the Volga-Don canal but with little economic return
Agriculture suffered (there had been a return to small-scale ownership and crumbling of collective farms) Collective suffered a shortage of labour and private plots were heavily taxed therefore the famine of 1947
Khrushchev’s amalgamation had limited impacts

Question 31

What were the impacts of WW2 on the structure of government?

Answer 31

Very little impact but Stalin took over as chairman of the State Defence Committee, which had absolute control over the lives of the Soviet citizens He also took the role of supreme commander of the military (like Nicolas II)

Question 32

How was Stalin different to Nicolas in being leader during world wars?

Answer 32

Stalin took advice from his advisors and relied on others deemed to be military experts to make key strategic decisions.

Question 33

What was the impact of WW2 on the politburo?

Answer 33

Composition remained the same, all members still remained ten years later

Question 34

What was the impact of WW2 on party membership?

Answer 34

The numbers joining the Communist party increased during the war from 3.76 million to 1942 to 5.8 million in 1945.
This was due to additions from the military who were rewarded with official party membership

Question 35

What was the role of the NKVD during WW2?

Answer 35

very active during and after the war, involved in the policing of prisons and deportation of national minorities

Question 36

What was the impact of ww2 on soviet foreign policy?

Answer 36

Poland was forced to concede most of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to Russia but gained some German territory.
Stalin was allowed to influence the nature of government in these areas so he insisted they were ruled by communist regimes

Question 37

When was the Cold War?

Answer 37

1947-1991

Question 38

What political ideology was held in Russia during the Cold War?

Answer 38

The regimes of both Stalin and Khrushchev were based on Marxism-Leninism, which espoused state control of the means of distribution, production and exchange on behalf of the Russia people. There was no element of democracy.
This conflicted to the ideologies in the West

Question 39

What reason did Stalin believe that caused the success of WW2?

Answer 39

The successes of WW2 emphasised the strength of the Soviet economy and system of government.
According to Stalin, without the discipline and collaboration engendered by a communist system of government, the Nazis would never have been defeated.
The Soviet war became a justification for the SOviet “way” to be consolidated (mainly through new Five Year Plans)

Question 40

What short-term events caused the Cold War?

Answer 40

The association of Russia with a newly established communist regime in North Korea
The discovery of a communist spy network in Canada
Kennan’s “long telegram”
Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech

Question 41

What was the Kennan “long telegram”?

Answer 41

1946 a lengthy telegram was sent to the US by Kennan (an acknowledged expert on Soviet affairs) describing how Russia was not a fit ally and Soviets had aggressive tendencies.
According to him the Soviet Union would do all it culd to strengthn the Soviet bloc and challenge capitalism

Question 42

What was Cominform?

Answer 42

The soviets responded the the Truman Doctrine and Marshall aid by setting up in september 1947 Cominform with the aim to co-ordinate economic recovery for Eastern Europe.
It was not a great success, it also heightened tensions

Question 43

What was the impact of the Cold war on the government?

Answer 43

Had little direct impact on structure, however de-stalinisation was an attempt by Khrushchev to present Russia in a more positive light.

Question 44

What was the impact of the Cold war on industry?

Answer 44

Nuclear arms race and space race were very expensive, heavy investment in heavy industry but at the expense of consumer goods. Living standards were much lower than in the West

Question 45

What was the impact of the Civil war on censorship?

Answer 45

-Censorship became more systematic – Spring 1922,
dozens of outstanding Russian writers and scholars
were deported to convince the intelligentsia it was not
good to criticise the government.
 In same year, pre-publication censorship was
introduced (books, articles, poems and other
writings had to be submitted to the Main
Administration for Affairs of Literature and
Publishing Houses)

Question 46

How did the Bolsheviks use the cheka in the Civil War to consolidate power?

Answer 46

The Bolsheviks used this as an
excuse to arrest about 5000 Mensheviks in 1921 for
counter-revolutionary activities.
-Establishment of the GPU (Main Political
Administration) – renamed from The Cheka in 1922:
The Cheka shot approx. 50,000 people in 1918
alone.
In March 1918, Cheka had 120 employees, by
1921 this had risen to 143,000.
Lenin purged 1/4 of party members after the civil war

Question 47

How did the Civil War increase Bolsheviks power?

Answer 47

Exploited the weaknesses of the opposition
Defeated the whites in the civil war – people were made
to support the Bolsheviks to keep the 'grains of the
revolution'
Developed a centralised state to make sure their
policies were carried out.
-Death of Constituent Assembly – Bolsheviks (23.2% of
votes) lost to the Socialist Revolutionaries (40.4% of
votes)
-However, Lenin used army and force to push all other
groups out and established a government represented
by Bolsheviks.
-Decree of Party Unity, March 1921 - ban of all other
parties at this point – establishes full government
control for Bolsheviks.

Question 48

What was the impact of the Civil War on the Economy?

Answer 48

-Inflation between 1917 and 1922 ran at about 1,000,000%.
-Workers were paid in goods not worthless money.
Industrial production collapsed.

Question 49

What changes by government were made during the Civil war to economic policy?

Answer 49

-Trotsky set up the Supreme Council of National Economy (Vesenkha). This body nationalised the banks, shipping, railways and some larger factories.
In June 1918, a decree nationalised all industries. -All production was to be concentrated on the war effort. Production collapsed as the transport of goods and raw materials was totally disrupted by the Civil War.
-In 1922, the government introduced a new currency to replace the old,
devalued rouble.
The NEP

Question 50

What was the NEP?

Answer 50

The payment by peasants of a tax in kind to the government. This was
eventually set at 10% of their crop.
 The reintroduction of a free market, in which peasants were to be ableto sell any extra surplus.
 The legalisation of small businesses.
 Heavy industry, transport, banking, “the commanding heights” of the
economy, were to remain under state control.

Question 51

What were the results of food shortage during the Civil War?

Answer 51

-During the 1920/21 famine people had to resort to cannibalism.
-Lenin’s govt. was slow to act in the famine and had to rely on the Americans to
help.
-5 million people died due to famine.

Question 52

How many people died during the Civil War?

Answer 52

10 million lives lost

Question 53

What impacts did WW2 have on infrastructure?

Answer 53

-28 million Russians killed.
1200 towns destroyed.
70,000 villages destroyed.
65,000 km of railways
40,000 hospitals destroyed.
100,000 Kolkhozy destroyed.

Question 54

What were working hours like during ww2?

Answer 54

11-15 hours a day under hard conditions

Question 55

How is WW2 different to other wars?

Answer 55

They had success and gained lots of land

Question 56

What happened in Leningrad during ww2?

Answer 56

-Siege of Leningrad- shelling, bombing, cold and starvation- lasted 900 days
-3.5 million living in Leningrad prior to the war, by the end only 700,000
-Stalin ended up killing most of the military officers who defended Leningrad e.g General Zuhkov
because he believed they had spent too much time around the Nazis so were influenced by them

Question 57

What impact did ww2 have on methods of repression?

Answer 57

-Stalin’s government intensified political repression
post-war, leading to more purges and show trials.
-The government controlled information and
maintained strict censorship to shape public opinion.

Question 58

What was the economic impacts of the Russo-Turkish war?

Answer 58

creates inflation at 30% a year and 30% of government expenditure was on the army