The rule of Nicholas II 1894-1905 Terms

Nicholas I

Tsar of Russia. Introduced the fundamental laws

Alexander II

aka the ‘Tsar Liberator’, emancipated serfs and introduced zemstvo. peasantry were forced to pay redemption payments lasting 49 years. became resented and disappointing resulting in the people's will blowing him up

Alexander III

Tsar of russia and introduced repressive measures to gain control as well as extending the power of the Okhrana. Died suddenly

Nicholas II

Unprepared to be tsar, he makes many mistakes and ultimately causes the fall of the Romanov dynasty

Tsarina Alexandra

German wife of Nicholas II. becomes unpopular and has alleged affair with Rasputin

fundamental laws

these allowed there to be no restriction on the Tsar’s power. The people owed obedience and the imperial court, cabinet of ministers, and senate were only advisors to the tsar

Okhrana

tsarist secret police

Russian Industry

Russia had very slow economic growth. All industry was relatively small scale such as textile factories in Moscow and St Petersburg. There was also no effective banking system

governing class

<1% of population. This group had ingrained prejudice against granting rights. feared that education of the peasantry would be socially and politically dangerous

Peasantry

80% of population. Their size caused the ruling elite to name them the ‘dark masses’

Russian army

this was notorious for severity of punishment and poor quality of living condition. conscription was used to keep the peasantry in check. forces were maintained at . million taking up 45% of government expenditure. high ranks were reserved for the aristocracy

redemption payments

these took over 49 years causing the peasantry to resent the Tsars

Pobedonostsev

very conservative chief minister who advised Nicholas II

industrialisation

this was wanted by Russian leaders to modernise Russia but proved difficult because of its size. This boomed in the1890’s causing urbanisation however people were met with inadequate conditions causing resentment of the tsar

national independence

less than 1/3 of the Russian empire were russian causing a big demand for this in areas such as Ukraine

Russian Geography

The Russian Empire took uo 1/6 of the total land size in the world with a population of 164 million which made change incredibly difficult to implement

Sergei Witte

Finance minister. He was successful at expanding the Russian economy and encouraging industrialisation but relied on foreign investment and focused on hard industry.

Witte’s improvements

These raised foreign capital by improving Russian transport and backing the ruble with a gold standard. tariffs prioritised growing national industries from cheap imported goods and brought a transport revolution

Witte’s consequences

compared to population increase, production had fallen not improved. Russia became dependant on foreign loans and investments and agricultural needs were ignored. focus on heavy industry prevented the growth of light engineering that would modernise Russia. Price of goods increased and facilities for workers were inadequate

Pillars of Tsardom

These ensured the Tsar had total control

autocracy

A form of government where one person holds unlimited power. Nicholas believed this was his right and he could introduce repressive laws and the secret police and there was no parliament or safeguards to protect the people. The success of this depends heavily on the strength of the Tsar. Nicholas II was naive, indecisive and distrustful making it unsuccessful

orthodoxy

the traditional beliefs of the Russian Orthodox church. It was a form of social control which put the tsar at the head of the church and preached that the tsar was appointed by God. This was incredibly successful, viewed as the opium of the people as it could be used to control people everywhere. Lenin wanted to destry religion

nationality

Russification imposed russian ways on other nations, reducing the influence of non-Russian nationalities in the Empire. 600 measures were imposed on Polish Jews and they were viewed as scapegoats, limiting the power if minorities. This was unsustainable as treating half of the country as inferior led to jews fleeing to join anti-tsarist groups

zemstov

the people’s will

trans-siberian railway

6000km long, this meant to connect remote regions of central and Eastern Russia to the industrial West. It acted as a symbol of Russian Enterprise masterminded by Witte but sections remained unfinished in 1914

bourgeoisie

Middle class/businessmen who owns the means of production and goods produced

proletariat

the workers/wage earners. they produce the goods but do not own the goods nor the means for their production

Bolsheviks

Led by lenin this was the minority part of the Social Democrats (despite its name). it had a dictatorship and wanted a small group dedicated to the worker’s revolution. there was little cooperation and it was less democratic

Mensheviks

led by Julius Martov, this was the majority of the social democrats (until 1917). they were democratic, open to all and willing to work with liberals

Social democrats

a political group of mainly the working class who wanted more workers rights. some wanted trade unions while others wanted to focus on the workers revolution. It was organised and targetted teh working class however weakened by disputes over party direction leading to a split, and the working class made up only ~3% of the population

Socialist revolutionaries

This was a political group of moderates and radicals led by Victor Chernov who wanted a popular uprising to replace the tsarist government with a democracy. they had a large peasant base, attracted intellectuals and assassinated government officials but they were never well coordinated, were split between moderates and radicals and the peasantry were illiterate

Populists

This was a political group of intellectuals that targeted the peasantry believing that they could form socialism based on cooperation and sharing in communes. they used peaceful propaganda but they were powerful and willing to use violence (assassinated Alexander II). However there was no coherent programme and achievement was unclear. they were also rejected by the peasantry and most people aren’t terrorists

Liberals

not an official political party but this was made up of middle class and intellectual groups who wanted reform over violence and change to the tsarist system. They had some autonomy, were organised, educated and grouped together however did not have a large base and there were few active members outside of cities. they were also unwilling to form a party

Lenin

He was educated and middle class however believed in Marx’s communism. he was a passionate leader and was happy lose lives for the cause of a worker’s revolution

Russo-Japanese War

this started as russia seemed weak in Europe, needed to boost morale, and needed an ice port whilst both Japan and Russia wanted control of port Arthur. Russia viewed Japan as a weak and backwards country however their loss made them look incompetent and liberals aggressively turned against the government

Bloody Sunday

an attempted peaceful march to beg the tsar to relieve the desperate condition of his people. The march induced panic and were fired upon and charged by cavaly. c.200 marchers were killed. resulted in an outbreak of disorder, strikes, and riots.

Father Gapon

an Orthodox priest that tried to lead a peaceful march that led to bloody Sunday

Milyukov

Established the ‘Union of unions’

union of unions

suggested by Milyukov, this combined liberal groups with the aim of organising an alliance with peasants and factory workers and push through governmental reform.

Battleship Potemkin

the crew of this ship killed some of their officers, took control and bombarded port Odessa. The crew had initially protested to the rotting food and foul water they had but their elected representative was shot by the captain. The army was sent to crush the mutiny

August Manifesto

This was the tsar’s first concession. he promised to create an elected assembly (the Duma) but he would maintain absolute control. The tsar did not specify how much power the duma would have and elections would favour peasants and landowners not workers, so it was rejected.

Duma

an assembly of elected representatives created by the October manifesto

St Petersburg soviet

The first assembly of workers that soon after its creation consisted of 562 representatives from 147 factories, 34 shops and 16 trade unions. It soon had a 30 member executive committee including Trotsky. It published debands for radical change but mainly organised workers strikes and ensured workers were fed

October Manifesto

This guaranteed basic freedoms (speech, assembly, trade unions, political parties), a Duma with power to approve new laws and an extension to the right to vote.

Octobrists

This was a group of liberals that feared mob rule in the streets so accepted the October Manifesto

Constitutional democrats

(Kadets) This group was led by Milyukov and did not think concessions made in the October manifesto went far enough and when peace returned, they would be undone

Moscow Soviet

This was formed after the siege of the St Petersburg soviet to organise more general strikes.

12 day uprising

This was started by the Moscow soviet. They seized the post office and railway station and were crushed by heavy artillery fire. it is estimated this caused the deaths of over 1000