The collapse of Autocracy, 1894-1917

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530 Terms

1

When did Nicholas II rule between?

1894-1917

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2

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

He was charming, kind and generous

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3

Who was Nicholas II married to and when?

Empress Alexandra Feodovna, 1896

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4

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

He believed he was chosen by God to do this

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5

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

A good constitutional ruler

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6

What personal prejudice did Nicholas II possess?

He was deeply antisemitic

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7

How did Nicholas II’s antisemitism affect him?

He could see Jewish influence in anything that went wrong

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8

What did Nicholas II famously call hope for reform?

‘Senseless dreams’

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9

How many children did Nicholas II have?

4 daughters, one son

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10

What did Nicholas II’s son have?

Haemophilia where your blood cannot clot

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11

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

Slight inbreeding

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12

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

No, making the empress desperate for a cure

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13

Who did the Empress fall under the influence of?

A staret named Rasputin

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14

Who was Rasputin popular with?

The upper classes

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15

Dichotomy of Rasputin

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

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16

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

He was having affairs with the Empress and her daughters

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17

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

It’s economic and political power

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18

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

Khodynka Field

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19

How many peasants arrived at Khodynka Field?

One million

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20

How many peasants was the Khodynka Field celebration meant for?

400,000

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21

Why were so many peasants attracted to Khodynka Field?

They were promised free food, drink and gifts

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22

How many policemen were there at Khodynka Field?

Barely 2000

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23

How many died at Khodynka Field?

1389

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24

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

Go immediately to visit the injured

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25

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

He was meant to attend an evening with the french

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26

Why was the France-Russia relationship important?

For defence, and reliance on French loans

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27

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

Callous

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28

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

Serious unrest

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29

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

It had become more politicised

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30

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

Cope with the crisis, meaning zemstva took over

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31

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

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

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32

Where were there new outbreaks of trouble in Russia?

Universities

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33

How did the Okhrana react to student rebellions?

Expelled, exiled, or drafted them into the army

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34

Where was the unrest worst in this period?

Central Russia where conditions were still most primitive

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35

Where did peasant unrest spread to in this period?

Georgia, Ukraine and Poland

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36

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

Aggravated them by having peasants flogged and killed

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37

How many industrial strikes were there in 1904?

90,000

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38

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

Created police sponsored trade unions in 1900

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39

What was the point of the police sponsored trade unions?

To create official channels for complaints

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40

What would the official channels for complaints prevent?

Workers turning to radical socialists

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41

When did the police sponsored trade unions last until?

1903

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42

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

Okrana leader was exiled due to a union striking at Odessa

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43

Who founded the Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers union?

Father Georgi Gapon

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44

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

Plehve’s and the Orthodox Church

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45

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

12 branches, 8000 members

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46

When was the Russo-Japanese war?

1904-5

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47

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

‘What Russia needs is a short, victorious war’

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48

What did Plehve believe about the Russo-Japanese war?

Everyone would unite behind the tsar, removing opposition

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49

Russo-Japanese war fuel: Superiority

Sense of cultural and racial superiority over the Japanese

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50

Why was there a sense of superiority over the Japanese?

No European country had ever lost to the Asiatic countries

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51

Russo-Japanese war fuel: Trans-Siberian railway

Russian and Japanese interests in the Middle East were becoming closer

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52

When was the Battle of Mukden fought?

1905

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53

Significance of the Battle of Mukden

Largest known battle in world history before WW1

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54

When was the Battle of Tsushima fought?

May 1905

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55

What was occurring in Port Arthur in 1904?

Pacific Russian fleet was being besieged by the Japanese

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56

What near catastrophe occurred to the Baltic Russian fleet?

They shot at some British fishing boats, narrowly avoiding them

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57

What did the Baltic Russian fleet encounter at Tsushima?

Real Japanese torpedo boats who sank them in a day

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58

How did the Russo-Japanese war end?

With American intervention

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59

When was the Treaty of Portsmouth?

September 1905

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60

Who was present at the Treaty of Portsmouth?

Roosevelt and Witte

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61

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

French loans

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62

Why was the war damaging to Russia’s image?

They portrayed the Japanese as inferior and lost to them

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63

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

Opposition to the government

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64

When was Plehve assassinated?

July 1904

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65

What emerged after Plehve’s death?

Renewed calls for a National Assembly

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66

Who replace Plehve as Minister for the Interior?

Mirsky

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67

Who were all revolutionaries in Russia after 1870 inspired by?

The example of the populist challenge to tsardom

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68

Where did the Social Revolutionary Party grow from?

Directly out of the populist movement

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69

What did populists view as an opportunity to gain recruits?

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

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70

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

Broaden the concept of the ‘people’

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71

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

All those who wanted to destroy the tsarist system

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72

Who was an important figure in reshaping populist strategy?

Victor Chernov

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73

What did Victor Chernov play a part in founding?

The Social Revolutionary Party in 1901

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74

Who became leader of the SRs?

Victor Chernov

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75

What other organisation was Chernov a member of?

The intelligentsia

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76

Chernov’s goal

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

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77

What were the SRs weakened by?

Internal disagreements

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78

What did the SRs eventually split into?

Anarchists and revolutionaries

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79

What did SR anarchists seek to do?

Continue the terrorism of the People’s Will

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80

What did SR revolutionaries seek to do?

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

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81

Between 1901 and 1905, which faction dominated?

The anarchists

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82

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

Over 2000

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83

Notable victims of SR anarchists

Plehve and the Grand Duke Sergei (Nicholas’ uncle)

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84

Downside of SR anarchist political assassinations

They did little to forge links with urban workers

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85

Who did the 1905 revolution bring gains to?

The liberals

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86

Effect of the 1905 revolution on the SRs

The revolutionaries gained greater influence over party policies

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87

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

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

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88

When was the SR’s first congress?

1906

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89

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

Revolutionary socialism

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90

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’

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91

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

Their land policy

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92

What did the congress decisions eventually bring?

Disruption rather than unity

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93

Why did the SR left wing revolutionaries eventually break away?

The party’s programme ignored the industrial proletariat

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94

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

Congress policy was unworkable in current Russian conditions

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95

What did Chernov try and do in vain?

Try to hold the two factions together

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96

From 1906 onwards, what did the SRs constitute as?

A collection of radical groups rather than an organised party

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97

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

The party with the largest popular following in Russia

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98

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

1898

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99

What sort of party were the SDs?

A Marxist party

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100

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

Give Marxist ideas particular relevance

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