AREA
1 : RUSSIA BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR: POLITICS, SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
Key areas:
n
How was the country governed? The
rule of the Tsar
n
What social, economic and political
problems existed? Opposition to Tsarist rule; the condition of the peasantry;
key events like the Coronation and Bloody Sunday.
KEY
INFORMATION:
·
Autocracy was the form of
government in Russia. It meant that the Tsar had absolute power. He could make
laws, appoint ministers and decide on all polices completely on his own. His
ministers were there to advise him, not to make decisions or laws. To run the
country there was an army of thousands of civil servants, but as they were badly
paid, they were often corrupt and inefficient. Even after the Tsar was forced to
agree to the setting up of the Duma (Parliament) in 1906, Nicholas II was very
reluctant to allow it any real power. This meant that it was impossible to bring
about any changes in Russia without Nicholas agreeing to them.
·
Nicholas II was weak and easily
influenced by others. Even when he took the right decision, e.g. after the 1905
Revolution, he changed his mind later on. He was persuaded that he had to attend
a Ball as it would offend Russias allies otherwise, and so he ignored the
fact that many of his people were mourning the deaths outside his palace and
attended the Ball. He did not want to be Tsar and was not capable of acting
sensibly. But he felt he had to keep going to pass the throne on to his son,
Alexis.
·
The Tsar ruled a vast empire,
covering one-sixth of the world. This empire included 20 different ethnic groups
and for 60% of the population Russian was not their native tongue. The Tsar and
his predecessor had tried a policy of Russification making everyone Russian
by destroying local languages and cultures and forcing everyone to learn
Russian, but this caused huge resentment among the non-Russian population.
·
Nicholas relied on repression to
deal with opposition. His secret police, the Okhrana, were very efficient and
street disturbances were broken up by the Cossacks. This had always worked in
the past and he had no other alternatives. This meant that opposition groups
also tended to be violent. Nicholass grandfather, Alexander II, was killed by
a bomb in 1881.
·
In Russia there were extremes of
wealth and poverty, far greater than in any other European country. These were
made worse by big increases in the populations of the two main cities, St
Petersburg and Moscow. The number of people living in these cities nearly
doubled between 1880 and 1914. This led to overcrowding, shortages of food and
unrest. The opposition groups in Russia took advantage of this situation. In
1917 events in Petrograd were all important.
·
Russia was a very backward country.
Only 2% of the population worked in industry, 80% worked in agriculture, which
was often very primitive, and there was 80% illiteracy. Many Russians distrusted
Western ideas and preferred to use old-fashioned methods. This included the army
commanders who thought the bayonet was the most important weapon.
·
The country belonged to the
Orthodox Church, which was linked to the Tsar, and claimed he had been appointed
by God and had to be obeyed. However there were large religious minorities,
which resented the power of the Orthodox Church, for example 11% of the
population were Muslims. Others resented the wealth of the Church in contrast to
the squalor endured by the people.
· In 1904 the Tsar made a terrible mistake -- he went to war with Japan. There were already problems in Russia after a series of bad harvests and peasant riots. Tsar's advisers thought a war would distract people from these problems. War led to humiliating defeat, more food shortages, inflation and unrest among peasants and workers who had been forced to join the army. Failure convinced many that Russia was badly governed.
· Discontent spread and on 22 January 1905 a group of 200,000 people, led by Father Gapon, marched to see the Tsar at the Winter Palace. They were peaceful, carrying icons of the Tsar and with their wives and children. They wanted to present a petition asking for shorter hours, more pay, better working conditions and an end to the war. The Tsar was not present and the soldiers panicked and opened fire, killing hundreds and wounding thousands, This event became known as Bloody Sunday and led to the Tsar becoming known as Bloody Nicholas
· Russia erupted into violence. The Tsar's uncle was assassinated and strikes, riots and a naval mutiny broke out. There were even fears that the army might turn against the Tsar.
·
In 1905 Nicholas was faced with a
revolution. A General Strike broke out and a workers' council (soviet) was
established in St Petersburg. This posed a serious threat to the Tsar as it
challenged him as the government of the capital. He was saved because the army remained loyal, but in desperation he
issued the October Manifesto, which guaranteed a constitution and set up the Duma, a parliament.
· These promises divided the revolutionaries. The Middle Classes had been terrified by the violence of the workers and were eager to accept this deal, which seemed to guarantee them political power. To win over the peasants The Land Redemption Payments were stopped -- in 1861 when the peasants had been freed from serfdom, many had begun buying their land with loans, which they had been paying back ever since -- these loans were now cancelled. The workers were now on their own and the Tsar moved against them by closing down the soviet and crushing a workers' uprising with force from loyal troops returning from the war with Japan. To deal with the revolutionaries, armed gangs of thugs (known as Black Hundreds) roamed the streets killing hundreds of revolutionaries whilst the government turned a blind eye.
· The Tsar survived because the army had essentially stayed loyal and he had managed to divide his opponents. There had been no clear plan or co-ordinated effort to remove him.
·
However, Nicholas steadily went
back on all his promises and began to rule as an autocrat once again.
· The first Duma was shut down after two months as the delegates argued over issues like land reform. The Duma constantly argued with the Tsar and so he shut it down. In retaliation many Cadets went to Finland and appealed to the people to refuse taxes. Violence broke out and the Prime Minister, Stolypin, used violent methods against the demonstrators.
· The second Duma in 1907 lasted 4 months. The Duma criticised the Tsar over the running of the army and refused to work with the government over land reform. When an alleged plot to assassinate the Tsar was discovered, the Duma was shut down.
· The Third Duma lasted from 1907 to 1912. However the Prime Minister, Stolypin, had rigged the election to ensure that peasants and workers were excluded from voting. This led to few criticisms of the Tsar and some social reforms, like the introduction of national insurance, were introduced.
· The Fourth Duma lasted from 1912 to the start of the First World War in 1914. It achieved little and supported the Tsar's decision to go to war in 1914. Nicholas shut it down shortly after the war began.
· The Tsar had allowed some reforms after 1905. He appointed Peter Stolypin as his Prime Minister. Stolypin tried to get the peasants to buy their land and to eradicate strip farming, but many peasants were too conservative. Some did buy the land but this meant others lost land and became landless labourers. By encouraging education and the development of the economy, Stolypin hoped that this would improve peasants' conditions and prevent a revolution against the Tsar. Yet many continued to oppose the Tsar and Stolypin was forced to execute 3000 peasants and workers. At the same time he continued with the policy of Russification against the various nationalities, which caused discontent in these areas.
· The Imperial Family also lost the respect of many ordinary Russians because of Rasputin. Rasputin claimed to be a holy man with healing powers. The Tsar and Tsarina were worried about the health of their son Alexis, who suffered from haemophilia. Rasputin became a trusted adviser to the Imperial Family who believed that he had saved heir son's life. He became a close confident of the Tsarina and there were soon rumours that the were having an affair and that he was selecting and firing ministers. This made the Tsarina unpopular and also the Tsar, whom many felt was turning a blind eye to the scandal. There were rumours about Rasputin's hedonistic lifestyle with drunken orgies. Many aristocrats also disliked how he had more influence with the Imperial Family than they did.
· The period after 1905 saw the growth of industrial unrest in Russia. The expansion of Russian industry led to an industrial boom. This saw the growth of factories and the need for industrial workers, but they lived in squalid conditions for little pay. By 1912 the wages of peasants could buy less than they had in 1903 and many faced starvation. This saw the growth of riots. he most famous was at the Lena Goldfields in 1912 where 200 miners were killed and thousands injured by troops after they went on strike. This caused an outcry in Russia and 1912-14 saw waves of protests across Russia, resulting in a General Strike in St Petersburg in July 1914. However, these were mainly worker demonstrations and lacked the support of the peasants or the army.
· In August 1914 Russia entered the First World war and people seemed willing to rally around the Tsar. However, disaster in the war could change all that.
KEY
QUESTION : HOW STRONG WAS THE TSARIST GOVERNMENT BEFORE 1914?
REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE
EXPECTED TO LOOK AT BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT AND THEN REACH A JUDGEMENT
Strengths
1.
The Peasants loved the Tsar as their father, and revered him as
empowered from God though this was shattered in St Petersburg in 1905, when
the Cossacks attacked a peaceful demonstration (Bloody Sunday).
2.
The Romanov dynasty had ruled since 1613 the 300th
celebrations saw a wave of popularity for the Tsar.
3.
The church was powerful and supported the government.
4.
Government and the army were controlled by the nobles and supported the
government, which used the Cossacks to put down protests (eg Bloody Sunday 1905)
5.
The secret police (Okrana) and press censorship.
6. There were some who believed the Tsar's promises of reform and who were prepared to work with him. The Octobrists had been formed in October 1905 after the Tsar issued the October Manifesto. They were prepared to believe his promises and work with him. They were mainly middle class.
7. The opposition groups were divided. The peasants and the army remained loyal during the unrest of 1912-1914.
8. The Tsar was able to close down the Duma everytime it caused problems.
Weaknesses
1.
Russia had been humiliated in a war with Japan, 1904.
2.
There were many nationalities, languages and religions (the only unity
was the Romanov dynasty).
3.
Russia was vast 125 million people spread across Europe and Asia.
This made government difficult, especially because of poor communications
bad roads and few railways.
4.
An out-of-date farming economy.
Most of the population were peasants who lived in the country and are
under the control of the nobles.
5.
Russia was beginning to industrialise.
Towns/ factories were starting to grow up.
But there was worker poverty and poor living conditions which created
a large workforce, disaffected and concentrated in Petrograd, the capital.
Also a small wealthier middle class were beginning to want a say in the
government.
6.
Tsar Nicholas was an autocrat in 1905, he had been forced to accept a
Duma (parliament), but it had no power and the Tsar dismissed it if it disagreed
with him. Nicholas carried
out all the business of government alone, without even a secretary, an
impossible load He was a weak
Tsar. At first he refused to
compromise then, in the crisis of 1917, failed to act.
7.
There was opposition to the government from:
· Socialist Revolutionaries, founded in 1901. They wanted a peasant revolution against the Tsar. They wanted to share the land among the peasants and to form small peasant communities. There was division within the movement over how to achieve their aims : some felt violence was the only way, whilst others wanted to use constitutional methods. The use of terror measures led to 2000 government ministers being killed by the SRs between 1901 and 1905.
·
The Communists (followers of Karl
Marx), who were divided into the moderate Mensheviks and the extremist
Bolsheviks.
· The Cadets (the Constitutional Democratic Party) was founded in 1905 and was essentially a middle-class movement campaigning for a constitutional monarchy and elected parliament along British lines.
· After 1900, there were many assassinations and protests (eg Bloody Sunday, 1905 and the murder of Prime Minister Stolypin in 1911).
8. The Duma was openly criticising the Tsar
9. There was growing unrest from 1906 to 1914.
KEY
QUESTION : WHAT WERE CONDITIONS LIFE FOR PEOPLE BEFORE 1914?
LOOK AT EACH GROUP IN TURN:
PEASANTS:
1 They accounted for 85% of he population.
2 -- They had no political
rights. Could be arrested for criticising Tsar
3 Most did not own their
land but rented from the local noble. Often high rents. Thrown off land if could
not pay. Had no rights.
4 Most
owned or rented small patches of land grew enough to
feed family. Often no surplus.
5 -- Staple diet was rye brad, porridge and cabbage soup.
6 -- Life expectancy was less than 40 with starvation, typhus and diphtheria being main causes of death
7 Heavily taxed.
8 Illiterate and not
educated.
9 Traditional farming
methods no modern machinery
10 -- To make matters worse population grew by 50% between 1860 and 1900 -- meant more peasants trying to exist on even smaller plots. Discontent was growing.
YET : many believed that
this was the system. Many saw the Tsar as their Little Father. Many were
religious and believed it was their duty to serve the Tsar. However, events like
Bloody Sunday did lead to some disillusionment with the Tsar.
WORKERS:
1 -- Russia was way behind the West in terms of industry. But in 1890s the government set out to encourage industrialisation through use of foreign experts. Result was industrial stimulation.
2 -- Industrial expansion led to many peasants moving to cities and becoming industrial workers -- led to problems with working and living conditions.
1 They had no political
rights. Could be arrested for criticising the Tsar.
2 Trade unions were
banned.
3 Worked long hours for
low rates of pay.
4 Lived in slum housing.
Some lived in factories.
5 -- Staple diet was cheap black bread, cabbage soup and wheat porridge.
5 Had little leisure
facilities.
6 Heavily taxed
7 Demonstrations for
better pay etc led to arrests and attacks, eg Bloody Sunday
8 Growing discontent
among workers against Tsarist regime.
9 Growth of radical
movements, eg Bolsheviks.
ARISTOCRACY
1 -- They accounted for 1% of the population
2 -- They owned 25% of the land
3 -- Many were excessively wealthy with numerous houses or palaces throughout Russia, and lots of servants
THE MIDDLE CLASSES
1 -- Industrialisation also led to growth of the middle classes at end of Nineteenth Century
2 -- Tended to be bankers, merchants and factory owners
3 -- Became wealthy and lived lavish lifestyle -- saw growth of restaurants and theatres to accommodate their expectations
4 -- They lacked political rights and wanted parliamentary system like UK where they could exercise political power.
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