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