The End of Tsardom

Why did the size of Russia make it difficult to rule?

• spanned over 17mil km²

• would take a week to get across

• lot of land for the Tsar to rule and travelling to different places took a lot of time

Why did the climate of Russia make it difficult to rule?

• high mountains that were good for defence but kept warm arm from spreading from the south

• left Russia open to cold air so most of it was useless for farming

• in 1900, only 5% of Russia used for farming - lots of pressure to provide

Why did the trade and transport in Russia make it difficult to rule?

• most of Russia’s coastline was frozen most of the year

• in 1904, the Trans-Siberian Railway allowed for trade all year as it linked the east and west - but unreliable and no link north to south

Why did the population diversity make Russia difficult to rule?

• population of 170 mil in 1914

• 6/10 of had Russian as a foreign language

• overcrowded cities

• the cold-lands of Siberia became isolated

Why did Russification make Russia difficult to rule?

• made people follow Russian customs

• forbidden to teach Polish in Polish schools

• people became unhappy with the Tsar

What was life like for peasants in Tsar’s Russia?

• 4/5 were peasants

• 400,000 died due to crop faliure in 1891

What was life like for workers in Tsar’s Russia?

• often lived in barracks next to factories - could sleep up to 30 people

• new industry workers lived in cheap lodging

What was life like for nobles in Tsar’s Russia?

• made up 1% of the population but owned ¼ of the land

• some were extremely rich

Opposition to the Tsar - Liberals

• wanted a gov elected by the people

• Tsar to have less power but still run the country

• peaceful

• lots of support from middle class but hardly any from peasants and workers

• could easily be manipulated by the Tsar

Opposition to the Tsar - Social Revolutionaries

• aimed to abolish ownership of the land by the rich

• collective ownership of land

• remove the Tsar

• huge support from peasants but little in the cities

• used propaganda and terror tactics

• split and divided

Opposition to the Tsar - Social Democrats (Bolsheviks and Communists)

• wanted a violent revolution

• remove factories, mines and money from the rich

• huge support from the working class

• violent tactics

• split into two groups which could cause tension

How did the Tsar used the civil service to keep control?

• yes men

• lack of loyalty = loss of job

• made of administrators and officials which carried out instructions of the Tsar and his ministers

How did the Tsar used the Orthodox Church to keep control?

• Tsar was head of the church

• church reinforced his authority and was very influential amongst peasants

• tsar was appointed by god and any challenge was an insult to god

How did the Tsar used cencorship to keep control?

• all books and newspapers had to be censored so people couldn’t be influenced by liberal or social ideas

How did the Tsar used the Okhrana to keep control?

• established in 1866

• the Tsar’s secret police force

• used exile as a punishment

• infiltrated revolutionary groups and brought them down from the inside

• too small to spy on revolutianary groups

How did the Russo-Japanese War cause the revolution?

• Russian army were forced to surrender

• humiliating because Japan was so small

• over 60,000 Russians died

How did economic problems cause the revolution?

• workers had low wages so struggled to afford food

• for harvests in 1900 and 1902

• the tsar used troops to brutally put down and crush disturbances which only made the peasants angrier

How did Bloody Sunday cause the revolution?

• 22nd of January 1905

• a peaceful protest where the Tsar troops open fired

• approx. 1000 died

• spark of the revolution

October Manifesto

• the Tsar had to compromise after the 1905 revolution

• the Duma (parliament) was elected by the people however the Tsar dissolved it after 2 months because he felt it was too radical

• freedom of speech

Pyotr Stolypin

• in July 1906 became the Prime Minister of Russia

• created a new class, kulaks

• number of strikes halved between 1908 and 1911

• living / working conditions didn’t improve for workers and peasants - 2500 strikes in 1914

Rasputin

• became an advisor to the Tsar and Tsarina

• people in Russia were very suspicious of him

• people didn’t like Rasputin so therefore the royal family became less popular