The collapse of Autocracy, 1894-1917

When did Nicholas II rule between?

1894-1917

Why was Nicholas II unsuited to the role of an autocrat?

He was charming, kind and generous

Who was Nicholas II married to and when?

Empress Alexandra Feodovna, 1896

Why did Nicholas II refuse to give up autocracy despite disliking it?

He believed he was chosen by God to do this

If he could have accepted changes, what would Nicholas II have made?

A good constitutional ruler

What personal prejudice did Nicholas II possess?

He was deeply antisemitic

How did Nicholas II’s antisemitism affect him?

He could see Jewish influence in anything that went wrong

What did Nicholas II famously call hope for reform?

‘Senseless dreams’

How many children did Nicholas II have?

4 daughters, one son

What did Nicholas II’s son have?

Haemophilia where your blood cannot clot

What was Nicholas II’s son’s haemophilia caused by?

Slight inbreeding

Did the Russian public know about the son’s haemophilia?

No, making the empress desperate for a cure

Who did the Empress fall under the influence of?

A staret named Rasputin

Who was Rasputin popular with?

The upper classes

Dichotomy of Rasputin

At the same time as preaching, he was drinking and being lewd

What did many people suspect, due to not understanding why Rasputin was constantly around?

He was having affairs with the Empress and her daughters

What was Russia at the peak of when Nicholas II came to power?

It’s economic and political power

Where did peasants gather to celebrate the new Tsar’s coronation?

Khodynka Field

How many peasants arrived at Khodynka Field?

One million

How many peasants was the Khodynka Field celebration meant for?

400,000

Why were so many peasants attracted to Khodynka Field?

They were promised free food, drink and gifts

How many policemen were there at Khodynka Field?

Barely 2000

How many died at Khodynka Field?

1389

What did Nicholas want to do when he heard about the stampede at Khodynka Field?

Go immediately to visit the injured

Why was Nicholas II not allowed to visit the injured from the Khodynka stampede?

He was meant to attend an evening with the french

Why was the France-Russia relationship important?

For defence, and reliance on French loans

How did Nicholas not immediately visiting the injured of Khodynka make him look?

Callous

What were the years after 1894 a time of in Russia?

Serious unrest

How had the Great Famine of 1891-92 affected society?

It had become more politicised

What had the overly bureaucratic tsarist government failed to do in the famine?

Cope with the crisis, meaning zemstva took over

What had zemstva action in the Great Famine meant for the population?

They believed in the competence of ordinary people in the nations affairs

Where were there new outbreaks of trouble in Russia?

Universities

How did the Okhrana react to student rebellions?

Expelled, exiled, or drafted them into the army

Where was the unrest worst in this period?

Central Russia where conditions were still most primitive

Where did peasant unrest spread to in this period?

Georgia, Ukraine and Poland

How did the Tsar’s minister Stolypin cope with the disturbances?

Aggravated them by having peasants flogged and killed

How many industrial strikes were there in 1904?

90,000

How did the Okhrana try and control the proliferation of illegal unions?

Created police sponsored trade unions in 1900

What was the point of the police sponsored trade unions?

To create official channels for complaints

What would the official channels for complaints prevent?

Workers turning to radical socialists

When did the police sponsored trade unions last until?

1903

Why did the police sponsored trade unions only last until 1903?

Okrana leader was exiled due to a union striking at Odessa

Who founded the Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers union?

Father Georgi Gapon

Who’s support did the Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers have?

Plehve’s and the Orthodox Church

How many branches and members did the Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers soon have?

12 branches, 8000 members

When was the Russo-Japanese war?

1904-5

What did Plehve, Minister of the Interior, state about the war?

‘What Russia needs is a short, victorious war’

What did Plehve believe about the Russo-Japanese war?

Everyone would unite behind the tsar, removing opposition

Russo-Japanese war fuel: Superiority

Sense of cultural and racial superiority over the Japanese

Why was there a sense of superiority over the Japanese?

No European country had ever lost to the Asiatic countries

Russo-Japanese war fuel: Trans-Siberian railway

Russian and Japanese interests in the Middle East were becoming closer

When was the Battle of Mukden fought?

1905

Significance of the Battle of Mukden

Largest known battle in world history before WW1

When was the Battle of Tsushima fought?

May 1905

What was occurring in Port Arthur in 1904?

Pacific Russian fleet was being besieged by the Japanese

What near catastrophe occurred to the Baltic Russian fleet?

They shot at some British fishing boats, narrowly avoiding them

What did the Baltic Russian fleet encounter at Tsushima?

Real Japanese torpedo boats who sank them in a day

How did the Russo-Japanese war end?

With American intervention

When was the Treaty of Portsmouth?

September 1905

Who was present at the Treaty of Portsmouth?

Roosevelt and Witte

What allowed Russia to build up their forces again after the Russo-Japanese war?

French loans

Why was the war damaging to Russia’s image?

They portrayed the Japanese as inferior and lost to them

What did the series of defeats in the war turn anti-Japanese patriotism into?

Opposition to the government

When was Plehve assassinated?

July 1904

What emerged after Plehve’s death?

Renewed calls for a National Assembly

Who replace Plehve as Minister for the Interior?

Mirsky

Who were all revolutionaries in Russia after 1870 inspired by?

The example of the populist challenge to tsardom

Where did the Social Revolutionary Party grow from?

Directly out of the populist movement

What did populists view as an opportunity to gain recruits?

The new interest in political and social issues sparked by 1890s industrialisation

Who did the populists begin to do to attract urban workers to the cause?

Broaden the concept of the ‘people’

What did the populists broaden the concept of the ‘people’ to?

All those who wanted to destroy the tsarist system

Who was an important figure in reshaping populist strategy?

Victor Chernov

What did Victor Chernov play a part in founding?

The Social Revolutionary Party in 1901

Who became leader of the SRs?

Victor Chernov

What other organisation was Chernov a member of?

The intelligentsia

Chernov’s goal

To create a firmer theoretical base for populism than its previous vague ideas

What were the SRs weakened by?

Internal disagreements

What did the SRs eventually split into?

Anarchists and revolutionaries

What did SR anarchists seek to do?

Continue the terrorism of the People’s Will

What did SR revolutionaries seek to do?

Co-operate with other parties to rapidly improve worker and peasant conditions

Between 1901 and 1905, which faction dominated?

The anarchists

Between 1901 and 1905, how many political assassinations were SR anarchists responsible for?

Over 2000

Notable victims of SR anarchists

Plehve and the Grand Duke Sergei (Nicholas’ uncle)

Downside of SR anarchist political assassinations

They did little to forge links with urban workers

Who did the 1905 revolution bring gains to?

The liberals

Effect of the 1905 revolution on the SRs

The revolutionaries gained greater influence over party policies

After 1905, when the revolutionaries took over, who did SRs gain support from?

Professional classes, trade unions, All-Russian Union of Peasants

When was the SR’s first congress?

1906

What did the SR party commit itself to at its first congress?

Revolutionary socialism

What did the SRs pledge to the peasants at their first congress?

To end ‘the bourgeois principle of private ownership by returning the land to those who worked it’

Therefore why were the SRs the most popular party to the peasants?

Their land policy

What did the congress decisions eventually bring?

Disruption rather than unity

Why did the SR left wing revolutionaries eventually break away?

The party’s programme ignored the industrial proletariat

Why did the SR right-wing anarchists eventually break away?

Congress policy was unworkable in current Russian conditions

What did Chernov try and do in vain?

Try to hold the two factions together

From 1906 onwards, what did the SRs constitute as?

A collection of radical groups rather than an organised party

Until they were outlawed by the Bolsheviks, what did the SRs remain as?

The party with the largest popular following in Russia

When was the All-Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Social Democrats/SDs) founded?

1898

What sort of party were the SDs?

A Marxist party

What did the great industrial spurt of the 1890s do for Russian beliefs?

Give Marxist ideas particular relevance