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Russia Chapter 1
Late Imperial Russia 1894-1905. OCR A Level History, Russia 1894-1941
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Length of the Russian Empire (west to east) | 5000 miles |
| Population change of the Russian Empire from 1815 to 1915 | Quadrupled (40 million to 160 million) |
| Where was most of the population of the Russian Empire concentrated? | European Russia |
| How was Russia governed? | There was an Imperial Council, a Cabinet of Ministers and a Senate, however these were all advisory, as the Tsar had all effective power (absolutist). |
| Political repression in Russia | It was an offense to oppose the Tsar; parties and the press were restricted and secret societies were infiltrated by the Okhrana (secret police). |
| Russian Orthodox Church, benefits and flaws for the Tsar | Benefit - conservative and taught the people to support the Tsar (God's anointed). Flaw - very detached from the urban population |
| Example of how detached the Russian Orthodox Church was from the urban population | One area of Moscow had one priest for 40,000 residents |
| Russian social structure (peasantry and ruling class) | Russia was 82% peasantry. The ruling class held the most power but were 0.5% of the population. |
| Strength of the Russian economy in 1894 | Weak (no efficient transport system, poor banking system, industrial activities such as mining were small scale) |
| Agriculture issues | There was limited fertile land (mainly in Ukraine) and land sales were heavily taxed, so peasants had to borrow from a government fund (creating generational debt) |
| How did the government elite view the peasant population | Referred to peasants as the 'dark masses'. Believed repression was the only way to control them, so education was restricted. |
| Russian army issues | Severe discipline and grim conditions - conscription was more of a punishment. Officer roles were bought by the aristocracy. The army rarely fought in Europe, so mostly suppressed its own people. |
| The issue of Russia's bureacracy | Russia's civil service had become corrupt with nepotism and incompetence, and served only a small elite which sucked tax money out of the population. Local and national governance were in the hands of these officials. |
| Two obstacles to Russian reform | Opinion of Russia - 'westerners' or 'slavophiles' argued over Russia's character as a nation. The Tsar - reforms could only come from a progressive tsar, who would likely not reduce his power. |
| Alexander II's rural reforms | Emancipated the serfs in 1861, and set up rural elected councils called the Zemstva, which created hope for political representation. |
| Alexander II's legal reforms | Simplified court procedures and improved freedom of expression, which encouraged the development of the intelligensia. |
| 'The reaction' to reforms by Alexander III | Alexander reversed many of his father's reforms in 'the reaction', which included empowering the Okhrana, removing liberal officials, controlling Universities and weakening the Zemstva. |
| Pobedonostsev role | Chief of Ministers and personal tutor of Alexander III and Nicholas II. Deeply authoritarian and criticised juries, democracy and free press. Behind the pogroms and russification. Influenced Nicholas' policies. |
| Russification | Carried out by Alexander III and Nicholas. Encouraged Russian language and culture, restricting those of national minorities from public office. Russification was promoted in education, religious and cultural activities. |
| Anti-semitism | 600 new measures restricted the Jewish population, who lived in ghettoes and were used as scapegoats. Ultranationalist groups carried out pogroms, attacking Jews. |
| Response to Nicholas II's policies | Opposition was more organised, especially as Russification turned non-Russians into enemies of the state. Many minorities, including the 5 million Jews, fled or joined anti-tsarist movements. |
| The Great Spurt - what happened | Russian industry grew rapidly in the 1890s, mainly from coal in Ukraine and oil in the Caucasus. Private enterprise boomed, but was sustained by government policy. Engineers and managers were brought in from European countries. |
| The Great Spurt - purpose | Economic expansion was intended to boost the strength of the armed forces. |
| Sergei Witte | Minister of finance, 1893-1903. Chief Minister, 1903-1906. Helped produce the Great Spurt. |
| State capitalism in the Great Spurt | Russia was put on the gold standard and heavy tariffs were used to protect Russian industry. Heavy taxes and loans were used to prop up investments. |
| Railways under Witte | Witte saw railways as significant for industrial expansion. Total rail length increased from 30,000km in 1891 to 70,000km in 1914. |
| Trans-Siberian Railway | Constructed from 1891 to 1916, stretching the length of Russia, However sections were incomplete by 1916, and the route did not improve east-west migration. |
| Production improvements (in millions of tonnes) from 1890 to 1913 | Coal 5.9 to 35.4, pig iron 0.89 to 4.1, oil 3.9 to 9.1, grain 36 to 90. |
| Growth in Russian national production from 1898 to 1913. | Nearly doubled (96.8% increase). |
| Issue with growth figures under the Great Spurt | While production boomed, so did the population, so production per person did not change all that much. |
| Witte's problems | Made Russia dependent on foreign investments, prioritised heavy industry rather than light engineering, paid no attention to agricultural needs. |
| The populist (Narodnik) threat | Populists argued that peasants should control Russia and overthrow the Tsar, although their leaders were from upper and middle classes. Populists would go from Universities to the countryside, or engage in terrorism (e.g. killing Alexander II). |
| Social Revolutionary threat | The SR party was formed in 1901 by Victor Chernov, to provide a base for populism. However, the party became divided between the Left (advocated for terrorism) and the Right (more moderate and open to cooperation). Most popular party until 1917. |
| Left SRs | Dominated the SR party from 1901 to 1905, carrying out over 2000 assassinations. |
| Right SRs | Became more influential after the 1905 revolution, which helped liberals more than revolutionaries. |
| Social Democrats threat | SD were founded by Georgi Plekhanov in 1898, and were Marxist, intent on bringing about a dictatorship of the proletariat. Some SDs preferred the more active revolutionary spokesman Lenin. |
| Lenin and the SDs | Lenin returned from exile in 1900 and founded a party newspaper, criticising Plekhanov. Lenin wanted working conditions to get worse, to drive revolution, while opting not to work with other parties, to form a centralised Russia. |
| Bolshevik-Menshevik split | The 1903 SD Congress saw Lenin argue with newspaper co-editor Martov. Lenin formed the more popular Bolsheviks and wanted an immediate proletarian revolution, whereas the Mensheviks advocated for a bourgeois revolution first. |
| Bolshevik Tactics | Revolutionaries were trained abroad, then smuggled into Russia to stir disorder. Pamphlets were issued and terrorism occurred, although they were not a major challenge to the police |
| Bolsheviks size (pre-1914 and February 1917) | Pre-1914 there were only 5,000-10,000 Bolsheviks, with no more than 25,000 in February 1917. The Mensheviks outnumbered the Bolsheviks in February 1917. |
| Union of Liberation threat | Formed in 1904 and advocated for a constitution and elections. The party tried to find common ground with other liberals. However, the group could not create a coherent reform movement. |
| Octobrist threat | Moderates from the Duma in industrial and land-owning classes. Called for a strong authoritarian regime which worked with the 'representatives of the people'. Dismissed by revolutionaries who saw them as bourgeois, although did criticise the government. |
| Kadet threat | Formed in 1905 and wanted a constitutional monarchy with a powerful constituent assembly, influencing the 1917 revolution. The party contained progressive landowners and businessmen, which criticised the tsar in the Duma. |
| Russo-Japanese War - purpose | The government wanted a quick victory to build support in the face of growing opposition. Russia also wanted to expand in the East, especially with a warm water port. |
| Course of the Russo-Japanese War | Japan attacked the fleet at Port Arthur, then swept through Korea and Manchuria, defeating the Russian army. Russia's Baltic fleet was then defeated at Tsushima and Russia agreed to make peace. |
| Why did Russia lose the Russo-Japanese War? | The Japanese forces were more modernised and westernised, with better equipment and training. Russian logistics were poor as the trans-siberian railway was unfinished. Military commanders were also poor leaders. |
| Reasons for the 1905 revolution | Russians were facing high prison rates, censorship, famine and taxation. All of the classes were dissatisfied. Workers had long and dangerous hours, so went on strike, while the government's incompetence could not help. |
| Bloody Sunday | Father Gapon led a peaceful march of workers and their families to the Winter Palace to petition for better conditions. The police started to fear, so fired on the protesters and charged with cavalry. 200 protestors were killed. |
| Disorder spreading in the 1905 revolution | Strikes broke out and terrorism spread. As Russia was defeated by Japan, further disorder grew. Peasants seized land as they were worried about serfdom debt. Non-Russians pushed for autonomy and parties called for a constituent assembly. |
| Potemkin Mutiny | The crew of the battleship Potemkin mutinied in June 1905 after disputes over poor food, then sailed to Odessa, where authorities killed hundreds in the crowd they had created. |
| The Tsar's response to the 1905 revolution | The Tsar relied on Witte's help, who advised the creation of a manifesto in August. This included the promise of the creation of a Duma, however it was the October Manifesto that gave this legislative powers, freedom of speech, press and parties. |
| The Soviets, formation and crushing | Workers formed elected soviets in Moscow and St Petersburg (the latter headed by Trotsky). These demanded conditions and organised strikes. Both of the soviets were sieged and then stormed by the end of 1905. |
| Significance of the 1905 revolution | The revolutionaries were only a very small part - most disturbances were mutinies or strikes. Reforms were reversed by the Fundamental Laws in 1906. Progressives were unsure about the proletariat and their tendencies. |
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Charlie_M
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