IB HISTORY: Imperial Russia, revolution and the establishment of the USSR (1855-1924)

who was Alexander II

1855-1881

-the Tsar liberator

-believed was appointed by God was the father of the people

background to Russia

-95% population lived in small isolated villages

-contained many different nationalities

background to Russian society

nobility- owned serfs living in country estates in Moscow with government positions

middle class- very few, shopkeepers and teachers, beginning to increase criticism for regime

peasants- paid feudal dues to owner, basic farming methods, lived in Mirs

background to russian rule

-tsars were autocratic rulers with no checks

-tsar was father of all russians

-orthodoxy and appointed by divine right

background to repression

- Third section was the secret police "Royal Chancery department" run by Benckendorff close friend of Tsar

- investigated opposition and relied on spies

- intervened in business disputes

what was the emancipation of the serfs

1961

- meant 50 million peasants no longer owned by landlords

- 85% of former serfs became landowners

reasons for the emancipation

- 1856 humiliating defeat in the Crimean war showed army was backwards and ill-diciplined

- Alexander belief he was appointed by God to care for people

- belief peasants might rise up for themselves

- 1857 secret committee to investigate and public found out

details of emancipation

- 23 million serfs given freedom

- landlords kept land and hired labour

- serfs kept cottages and bought land from landlords

- communal areas to Mir

- serfs made redemption payments over 45 years to landlords

nobility consequences of emancipation

- loss of social importance

- felt betrayed (statute drafted without them)

peasants consequences of the emancipation

- economically landowners over-valued land

- redemption payments lead to 49 year mortgage at 6% interest (lots of debt)

- peasant was in temporary obligation until debt cleared

- riots such as Bezdna

- profiting peasants called Capitalists

- Mir increased in power as needed to collect payments and tax office passports to leave

positives of local government reforms

- rearranged into councils called zemstva 1864

- limited powers to approve community projects

- improved public health and hygiene

- middle class leadership experience

- council members chosen by 3 electoral colleges

negatives of local government reform

- zemstva didn't have capacity to make radical change

- voting restricted to rich

- dependent on central government for funding

positive militant reforms

- modernise army post-crimean war defeat

- reduced length of military service from 25-10 years

- technology and equipment with modern weapons introduced

- 1874 conscription act educated soldiers in schools

negative militant reforms

- illiterate peasant troops

- rich pay to avoid conscrtiption

- did not keep pace with West to produce rifles or ships

positive educational reforms

- universities given greater freedom

- 1856 there were 400,000 in primary education and by 1878 over a million

- no longer controlled by church

1863 university statute enabled faculties to control own admissions and women attend courses

negative education reforms

- unis still inspected regularly and told what to teach

- 1866 Tolstoy Orthodox minister who restored position of church

- subjects with independent thought replaced

- high schools follow traditional curriculum

- used right to veto uni appointments leading people seeking freedom abroad

positives of censorship reforms

- 1863 relaxation of censorship

- increase in publications which could share public opinion

- ideas circulated in response to uncertainty with emancipation

- authorities could not respond to dangerous articles as if newspaper closed readers assumed gov had something to hide

negative censorship reforms

- 1873 new laws prevented students discussing some issues

ministry could still order withdrawal of publications and prosecute the publishers

positives legal reforms

- alexander transformed corrupt legal system

- established new courts with better paid judges to avoid bribery

- 1864 adversarial system with defendant given legal representation, witness and jury

- gave rise to new legal profession

negative legal reforms

- juries not deal with treason

- many peasants still under volost courts with limited gov intervention

- trained lawyers took a long time

- Third section still had powers to arrest

- new courts slow to spread and no courts in Poland

treatment of nationalities reforms

- allowed jews to attend university and then live outside Pale

- greater independence for Finns

- relaxed restrictions for Catholic Poles

- allowed finish to become sole language in Finland 1863 and 1874 their soldiers not serve outside the country

negatives of treatment of nationalities reforms

-Jews still barred from owning land and living outside Pale

- Poland refused separate constitution and 1863 uprising crushed

- to press Polish nationalists into army January 1863 lead to formation of Polish Central National Committee declared Poland in state of rebellion against Russian rule

when did alexander II die

1881

when did Alexander III come into power

1865 when he was 36 following his brother Nicholas' death

when did Nicholas II come into power

in 1894

what was the Statute on Measures for the Preservation of Political Order and Social Tranquility

August 1881

- any area of the empire where trouble was suspected could be designated an area of extraordinary security

- the commanders-in-cheif appointed had full power to search property and arrest, imprison and exile suspecs

- the untrustworthy would have no right to legal representation

who was the head of the police department

Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve

- supervised the gendarmerie and the Okhrana secret police network

what was the Statute on Police Surveillance

March 1882

- permitted police to conduct searches and monitor exiles' correspondence as well

- drive to recruit spies and counter spies to watch the central government

who was the Okhrana

- dealt with communists, socialists, and militant unionists using torture and execution

- thousands were sent to Siberia as a result

- even after they were released ex-political prisoners were excluded from employment in government or public service positions

how was the noble influence re-established

- land captains created

- appointed by minister of internal affairs

- picked from eligible hereditary nobles and made responsible for enforcing government laws in their areas

- given powers to root out sedation

- could override elections and overturn the decisions of local courts

how was semi-surfdom re-created

- land captains could undermine the tradition of self-government in the mirs

- the dominance of the nobility was re-instated and it removed some of the autonomy the peasants enjoyed from the emancipation

-

suspicion of the zemstva and dumas

- their political criticisms suggested they were centres for dangerous liberal thinking

- adjusted their membership to give more weight to the nobility

changes made to the zemstva

- 1890 the constitution was changed so the nobles had 57% of the places available

- the ministry of internal affairs assumed direct control

- any decisions could be vetoed by the land captain

changes made to the dumas

-1892 the qualification for voters was raised

- in St Petersburg the electorate was reduced by 2/3

- members were turned into state employees who were directly responsible to the state government

changing role of the zemstva and dumas

- they moved from political into social discussion

- education, health, transport and engineering

- the local government came effective according to the land captains

- the district marshals avoided interfering

judicial changes

- 1885 the minister of justice given greater control over the dismissal of judges whose decisions he disliked

- closed court sessions were made legal from 1887

- jurors now needed more property and higher education to serve on juries

- 1889 local magistrates disappeared and the central ministry of justice took over town judge appointments

educational changes

- restriction at all levels with schools, universities censorship of newspapers and books

- 1884 unis deprived of independence and chancellors and deans had to be approved by ministry of education

- chosen according to religious moral rather than academics

- only upper classes became eligible for higher education

- 1882 legislation barred women from uni altogether

younger educational changes

- all secondary schools stop accepting the children of domestic jobs

- 1887 fees for secondary education raised to keep the lower orders out

- elementary schools put under Church control

- constant religious indoctrination

- 1897 census revealed only 21% of the population could read and write

- 27% of Russian children were at school

attitudes towards other religions

- 1883 members of non Orthodox Churches could not wear religious dress, spread propaganda or build new places of worship

- the crime of converting an Orthodox Christian to another faith was made punishable by exile to Siberia

propaganda changes

- 1882 committee established giving the government power to close offending publications and ban the editors and publishers from any more activity

- 3 warnings would be presented to the Board of Censors before publication

- censorship of theatre, arts and culture linked to the Russification campaign

what was the Russification campaign

- turning a multinational empire into a single country with shared sovereignty and nationality

- encouraged by Pobedonostsev

- enforced use of Russian language in schools in Poland, Finland and Asia

- 1883 all Ukrainian literature outlawed

- 1885 national bank closed in Poland

-1899 Finnish constitution was abolished

attitudes towards Jews

- government encouraged anti-jewish pogroms

e.g. April 1881 Elisavetgrad Ukraine was sparked off by the Tsar's secret police

- women raped and shops set on fire

- over 200 communities with a high concentration of Jews experienced similar outbursts

- 1882 May Laws

further repressive laws placed on Jews

- 1887 quota placed on Jews in primary, secondary and higher education

- the war ministry limited the number of Jews in medical corps to 5%

-1891 artisans forbidden to live in Moscow and over 17,000 forcibly deported during the winter of 1891-92

- 1894 onwards could not hold licences to sell alcohol

-1903-1906 300 Jews died in Odessa

how did life for the serfs improve

- 1881 law to reduce the land redemption payments and cancelled arrears in 37 provinces of the empire

- 1881 salt tax abolished

-1886 hated poll tax began to be phased out

- 1902 commission held to consider the position of agriculture

tax changes for the peasants

- taxes on private businesses and inheritance tax introduced

- gained the right to appeal to higher court in cases

- given services of the peasants' bank in 1883

workers changes

- factory legislation regulating child labour and working hours

- lower fines and less enforced payment

- inspectorate set up to check living and working conditions

social problems

- poor living and working conditions created by growth of industrial cities, high taxes and land hunger

- more frequent strikes and agrarian disorder

economic change under Vyshnegradsky

- economic policies based on a reduction in imports through the imposition of tariffs

- 1892 grain exports increased by 18%

- Medele'ev Tariff Act of 1891 the highest tariffs in Russian commercial history

peasant suffering from Vyshnegradsky's economic change

- left many of the most vulnerable members of society on the edge of starvation

- struggling to buy goods as the prices were inflated by high import duties

- peasants left without any grain for the winter

- 1891 famine caused by his ruthless policy leading to his 1892 dismissal

what were Witte's ideologies

- used government propaganda to stimulate industrial development

- saw the state's role to drive industrial change

- encouraged private businessmen through the funding of credit institutions

- praised the peasant commune system on which his policies of heavy taxation and grain exports depended

Witte's attitudes to the peasants

- aware of the pressures on the peasants and saw them as unavoidable

"a neccesary evil"

Witte's economic successes

- stabilized the rouble by putting it on the gold standard in 1897

- foreign investment grew from 98 million in 1880 to 911 million in 1900

- the foreign capital invested in the industrial companies rose from 26% in 1890 to 41% by 1915

- engineers and workers were attracted from France, Belgium, Britain and Sweden to develop Russian industry

changes to the heavy industry

- coal production doubled and by 1900 Russia had replaced France as the 3rd largest global producer of iron

- Russia's growth rate was the highest in the world and by 1897 was the 4th largest industrial economy

- 1900 was entirely self-sufficient in petroleum products and its oil production trebled between 1885 and 1913

- 95% of electricity was used for industrial enterprises

other industrial developments

- the textile industry represented 40% of industrial output in 1910

- productivity in the urban workforce must have incresed

- industrial workers grew from 1 to 3 million between 1887 and 1897

- 800,000 people working in small domestic industries in 1861 and 3 million by 1913

changes made to the railways

- mid 1890's 60% of the network was state owned

- railway track increased from 14,000 in 1960 to 30,000 in 1890

- government gained valuable revenue from freight charges

- more extensive exploitation of Russian raw materials

- reduced the cost of transporting grain

- by 1890 18% of the grain harvested was exported

what was the Trans-SIberian Railway

- linked central European Russia with Vladivostock and the Pacific

- labourers died from plague, cholera, hunger and influenza

- helped open up western Siberia and increased migration into the area

foreign involvement changes

- New Russia Company founded by Welsh ironmaster John Hughes

- company became largest producer of pig iron in the Russian empire

- responsible for half of Russia's total steel production

agricultural changes

- still remained primarily an agricultural economy only 30% of national production from industry

- only 12% of the Russian population lived in towns in 1900

- production remained low as peasants only received small landholdings and relied on traditional farming methods

- during regular faminines hundreds and thousands died of starvation

- the gap between the Kulaks and the poor peasants grew wider

social consequences of Witte's reforms

- small overall growth rate in the Russian economy which resulted in slowly rising living standards in all sectors

- average life expectancy for males only 27.5 compared to 45.25 in England at the time

- peasants stayed in a state of semi-servitude and the 1899 famine caused significant unrest

- rapid rise of the urban proletariat comprising 12% of the population by 1914

- overcrowding and lack of electricity and sanitation

- grew more politically conscious

why was there a need for economic change

- Geography due to the vastness of Russia

- Crimean War showed the economy needed modernising

- industrial problems none of the 3 types of industrial enterprise suited the modern world

opposition groups to alexander II and nicholas II

narodniks- middle class who went to live with the peasants hoping to rise them up

- developed into the first revolutionary party the people's will

land and liberty- students of the middle class wanting perfect peasant society

- arranged prison escapes and assassination of government officials

social revolutionaries- demanded redistribution of the land to the peasants

- encouraged strikes and discontent in the countryside, assassinated plehve 1904

- 50,000 members by 1906

social democrats- wanted to overthrow marxism and introduce socialism

- distributed propaganda and encouraged strikes

mensheviks- proletarian revolution

bolsheviks- swift move to revolution

liberals- nobles and middle class wanting constitutional monarchy and freedom of speech

long term causes of 1905 revolution

- groups dissatisfied for a long time e.g. peasants with the consequence of the emancipation and suffering from famines, backwards nature of life and dreadful conditions

- lack of political change as repression kept a lid on the problems e.g. growing literacy and improved communications grew political consciousness

what happened 1905

- father gapon led peaceful group of workers in st petersburg to winter palace to beg for nicholas's help with their conditions

- responded by ordering troops to fire on them

- death included women and children

- sparked range of protests e.g. peasant disturbances, properties on fire, general strike with trade unions

may 1905

embarrassing defeat of russo-japanese war

e.g. battle of tsushima saw 11 battleships lost

- led to protests e.g. soldiers who found maggots in their meat

e.g. mutiny of sailors on potemkin battleship

- gov response to send in 2,000 protestors were killed

- october- december 1905 211 mutinies affecting 1/3 of the army

consequences of the 1905 revolution

- the october manifesto nicholas promised constitutional monarchy (freedom of speech) and would introduce consultative duma

- brutal repression e.g. soviets dissolved and members arrested, strikes put down, harsh punishments to peasants in countryside- all imposed by stolypin "stolypin's necktie"

- stolypin's land reforms- limited numbers of wealthier peasants to accumulate large pieces of land

but

- nicholas reluctant with move to democracy and wanted autocratic control

- dissolved 1st and 2nd dumas

- the further dumas elected on smaller electorates

- 1906 fundamental laws- he could veto all legislation

significance of the russo-japanese war

- wanted to obtain more coastline and an ice-free port and 1896 russians built railway to port arthur

- japanese attacked port arthur 8th february 1904

- port arthur 6000 miles away and cut off by sea- all troops and supplies had to be sent along the trans-siberian railway

- rapid loss of morale and ministers ignorance

- forced to surrender to the japanese in december 1904 defeated along the yalu river

- in the 1905 battle japanese destroyed 8 battleships and 4 cruisers

- wasted resources and brought humiliation

- triggered hug waves of demonstrations

economic factors for 1905 revolution

- poor harvest 1897-1901 unemployment grew

- annual growth rate fell from 8% to 1% after 1899

- 90,000 strikes in 1904

- set up unions 1901-03 to channel working class grievances

- father gapon organised assembly of st petersburg factory workers with 80,000 members

- attacks on landlords property from 1890s which tsar relied on local officials to control the army but the zemstva and dumas often took the sides of the peasants

political factors for 1905 revolution

- zemstva members wanted a moderate state duma

- demanded a national legislative assembly wanting autocracy replaced by a constitutional monarchy

- organised 50 revolutionary banquets to attack the government

- social revolutionaries assassinated government officials e.g. the tsars uncle grand-duke sergei in 1905

short term factors towards 1905 revolution

- unemployment, high food prices, disrupted electricity

- putilov metal works led 111,000 person strikes

- father gapon organised march to winter palace with petition for the tsar 9th january

- the police fired on the masses killing 130 (bloody sunday)

- gave a huge boost to the radical opposition

- by autumn 2.5 million workers had striked

- the st petersburg soviet encouraged general strike in st petersburg and moscow (could coordinate the protest)

- students went on strike unis closed

- kronstadt naval mutiny and the potemkin sailors protested

constitutional change

- 1905 government agreed to set up national assembly but was consultative

- railway striken and october general strike made communications com to stand still

- too few soldiers at home (at the russo-japanese war) so disorder

- 17th october issued october manifesto- promised full civil liberties and establish state duma with legislative powers elected by universal manhood suffrage

- 3rd december troops crushed st petersburg soviet and 260 members arrested and sent to exile

- fundamental laws 1906- tsar could veto decisions of the duma and dissolve it when he chose

stolypin and the dumas

1st 1906

- all moderate and left wing representatives wanted transfer of agricultural land to the peasants

- tsar dissolved the duma 9th july

- stolypin put down any disorder and used his necktie e.g. executed 2390 people on terms of terrorism

2nd 1907

- the radical left increase strength and refused to pass stolypin's agrarian land reform so dissolved the duma

- gov passed new electoral law favouring landowners and pesantry

3rd 1912

- agreed to carry out some agricultural reforms but still clashes and suspended twice

- stolypin assassinated 1911 (signalled the return of reaction and the end of reform)

stolypin and the peasantry

- 1902 abolished the collective responsibility of the commune to collect community taxes

- ended corporal punishment

- november 1905 law cancelling redemption payments

- believed the kulaks (independent and wealthy peasants) would provide stability

- collective ownership of land abolished and peasant could apply to farm land privately

- peasant bank established

- peasant hereditary ownership of land increased to 50% by 1915

state of russia 1914

- factory output grew 5% a year

- 60% illiteracy

- summer 1913 more workers on strike than 1905

- met rasputin "the holy man"

long term causes of the crisis of autocracy feb 1917

- industrial development not at a stage where could support the army at vast distances

- agriculture not producing food at a level that was capable of providing for army and workers

- politically tsar no longer had the respect that he previously did

- damaged the relationship between people and the tsar

- 1905 provided merely a veneer of stability

the army cause of crisis of autocracy feb 1917

- poorly supplied with lack of care

- some soldiers had a bullet a day and only 1/3 of army had rifles

- limited 1st aid supplies

- significant proportion of the army illiterate peasants who didn't know how to fight

-

the cities cause of crisis of autocracy feb 1917

- poor working and living conditions

- war added pressure with long factory working hours

- gov tried to place ban on the sale of alcohol to improve productivity, damaged morale

- poor railway prevented grain from countryside into the city

- 1917 prices risen by 400%

- many peasants in the army rather than working on the fields

nicholas cause of crisis of autocracy feb 1917

- lead to the troops from september 1915

- was no a capable military leader --> left russia to his wife

- she was not popular due to german roots and close association with rasputin

- gossip spread around the city ruining royal family reputation

- she continued to take advice from rasputin and ignored advice from politicians (ignored suffering of people)

the impact of WW1 on russia

- germans defeated russians at battle of tannenberg 1914 with 300,000 russian soldiers killed

- military incompetence e.g. austro-german offensive pushed them out of galica

- 4 million russian troops captured or missing

- duma met and demanded a state duma to give public confidence in government but nicholas rejected their demands and suspended its sitting

- nicholas went to the front and placed himself physically further from government

- when the tsarina fueled all administrative continuity was lost and the future seemed to be in the hands of a degenerate mystic

military issues of WW1 in russia

- country struggled to equip and provide for so many soldiers e.g. in 1913 only 4.7 million rifles were available for 6.5 million

- basic discipline a struggle to keep up on the front lines

- brusilov offensive advanced for 10 weeks over 200 miles and then called off when the germans sent reinforcements

- desertions increased with peasants soldiers returning home to take their farms

economic and social problems of the war

- 1914 prohibition of alcohol sales reduced igov income by 30%

- raised money from income taxes and excess profits

- indirect taxation brough inflation and rise in the cost of living

- army recruitment reduced industrial production and agricultural output --> insanitary lodgings, fuel shortages

- peasants reluctant to sell grain at low prices offered by the state

- 25% of grain harvest sold 1914 but only 15% 1917

the cities leading to the february revolution

- putliov steel works 18 february strike

- 23 february international womens day strike

- 25 february general strike with 240,000 workers on the streets e.g. shops were looted

these were spontaneous uprisings from a hungry population

- soviets took control of factories and issued orders to soldiers telling them to ignore the orders of their officers

- 28 february provisional government was formed

- nicholas abdicated

nicholas II's role to the february revolution

- response to protest was to send in the army to stop the protestors

but --> no longer held the support of the soldiers and the petrograd garrison mutinied (170,000 troops)

- by 28 february the sailors at kronstadt joined the mutiny

overall reasons for the february revolution

- citizens suffering from constant food shortages and rumors bread would be rationed form 1st march

- protestors brought transport network to standstill

- over 1/2 the capital's workforce came out on strike

- 26 february 200 men, women, children slaughtered by cossacks

- 3 march nicholas abdicated and the duma met at the tauride palace and announced the provisional government