Russia
Pre-1917- Revolution
History 12
Ms Leslie
Very very beginning
Russia has been around since the 10th
century
Mostly made up of Ethnic Slavs who
went north escaping the Turkish empire
These migrating Slavs clashed with
Mongolians and Tartars
15th century - Grand Duchy
of Moscow established =
creation of a strong
Tsardom or Czardom
The first Tsars were the
likes of Ivan the terrible and
Ivan the Great
Took a lot of territory from
the Tartars, Kazans and
Crimeans
Imperial Russia
17-19th Century
A great time for
Russia
Grew culturally
and territorially
Rulers = Peter the
great and
Catherine the
Great
The people were mostly illiterate
farmers
Feudal system
Czar Alexander II abolished slavery in
1861
Factories had horrid working conditions
Alex II assassinated in 1881 and
replaced by this son
Alexander III 1881-1894
Authorities shifted attention from the
failings of the government by creating
scapegoats and encouraging pogroms
Pogroms -
Was physically
intimidating - a
body builder to
make up for his 5’6”
height
Died of kidney
failure from trauma
from a train
accident
Nicolas II
Started his reign in 1894
Autocratic and ineffective
Romanov family very wealthy
Population of 165 million
Secret police (OKHRANA)
Censorship of the press
Czar’s word was law
Despite this, the
people loved
Nicolas II
Believed he was
appointed by God
Kept pictures of him
in their homes and
worshipped him
Related to heads of
Greece, UK,
Denmark, Germany
What was Nicholas II like?
Not very smart
Easily manipulated by his
advisors
Relied on
His son,
His allowed Rasputin to gain
dangerous control of the
government.
Population of the 1910’s
1910 1914 Only 40%
80%
Life expectancy = 40 years
Well educated middle class - had the
most books per capital in 1913
Most lived on communal farms called
Obschina or Mir.
The Obschina organized taxes and
allotted land to households
Peasants could not
Punishment =
Agricultural reforms had not caught on
eg crop rotation
famine
Lots of famines
1891 - famine +cholera
+ typhus = 400,000
dead
1890 - 64% of
conscripts declared
unfit to serve
Revolutionary movement
1. Nihilists –
2. Populists –
3. Marxists 4. Liberals -
Problems with Industrialization
Far behind rest of Europe
Because of late start industry was modern
and they lacked skilled workers
Relied heavily of foreign loans and taxes for
growth
France owned 2/3rd
Germany owned
Britain owned
Biggest problem - massive, abused
proletariat
Industry
5th
Average hard labour work day
Child labour common. Start age 4
Kids worked in cotton mills. Injuries
common, rickets, cotton lung
Unions Banned
Labour Problems
Industrial workers small in number
Exploited
Demanded
Started to demand
Peasant Problem
3/4 of the population
Although no longer serfs, still had a
separate administration and courts
Illiterate and superstitious
Excessively taxed - main source of
tsarist revenue.
1896 the people had enough and rioted
in St Petersburg
1902 street demonstrations
1901-1907 arson in rural areas
common
1904 a social revolutionary
assassinated the minister of the interior
1905 Revolution causes
1. -
2. 3. 4. -
5.
6. Liberals organized the Constitutional
Democratic Party (Cadet). Wanted
democratic reform
7.
Bolsheviks (Majority) –
Mensheviks (minority) -
1905 Rebellion/Revolution
Jan 22/Jan 9
Workers under the
leadership of Father
Gapon marched on
the Winter Palace
Wanted:
Bloody Sunday
Result
Showed tsar’s incompetence
Tsarist supporters changed their minds
creation of the ‘Shildlovski
Commission’
Oct 1905
Oct 20-30 –
First soviet formed in St Petersburg
Soviet (council) =
The Tsar responded with the October
Manifesto promising:
Extremists not appeased, but
moderates happy and a full revolution
didn’t happen
The Duma
Russian Parliament
Long term impact 1905
Tsar used him powers to arrest and
harrass opposition
1906-07, 4,400 deaths due to terrorism
Catch 22 -
Marxism
Came to Russia in the
1880s
Lenin knew revolution
would happen in Russia
first as it was the weakest
capitalist state (contrary to
Marxism)
1903 the Russian Marxist
movement split in two
Bolsheviks
Professional
revolutionaries
Majority
Mensheviks
Moderate
Feared Lenin would
become a dictator
Minority
WWI and the revolutionary
movement
Bolsheviks
opposed the war
from the start
Lenin exiled in
Zurich, Switz.
Most Bolsheviks
banished to
Siberia
Home front
War meant more food shortages
1914
1915
This left the Tsarina in charge - she let
Rasputin make decisions…
War stats
15.5 million man army
1.65 million died
3.85 million wounded
2.41 million POWs
1917 1.5 million deserted
Lack of medical attention
Not enough equipment for soldiers. 1 in 3
didn’t have a gun
Beginning of the collapse
1917 Little transportation
February Police joined rioters and a general
strike formed
Army called in and they shot the rioters
Fear of civil war causes Czar to resign
and the provisional government is
formed
But more on all that later
The end
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