russia KQ1- the rule of nicholas ii (1894-1905)

COMPLETE

3 core tsarist principles

autocracy, nationality, orthodoxy

autocracy

russia was the most autocratic state in europe under the tsar, nicholas saw reform as ‘senseless dreams’ and there was no written constitution, parliament, or legal safeguards for individual rights

structure of central gov under the tsar

tsar, council of state (offered advice), imperial chancellery (tsar’s personal administrative staff), central gov departments

structure of local gov under the tsar

provincial governors who represented the tsar and could overrule zemstva decisions (elected rural councils)

land captains

introduced in 1889, nobility who supervised peasant affairs and could punish them and overrule village courts (evidence of class-based oppression)

orthodoxy

church was a state institution controlled by gov, preached obedience to tsar and reinforced autocracy

declining influence of orthodox church

credibility weakened, priests often corrupt, didn’t appeal to urban, industrial workers

nationality

western ideas of liberalism and socialism dismissed as ‘un-russian’, russians seen as superior as they had built their empire

russification

used to justify suppression of minority languages/cultures, imposition of russian language, laws and orthodoxy, introduced under alexander iii and applied most harshly to areas with strong nationalist sentiment eg north western borderlands

methods of oppression of nationalities

russian language made compulsory in courts/schools in poland and baltics, and state funding used to promote conversion to orthodoxy and non-orthodox churches harassed (protests at gandzak were suppressed by troops and 10 killed)

number of jews in russian empire by 1900

5 million

anti semitism in tsarist russia

jews legally confined to the pale of settlement, limits on access to higher education, pogroms occurred and were tolerated/inadequately suppressed by authorities

okhrana

tsarism’s political police force and instrument of repression for revolutionary and terrorist organisations, worked alongside censorship of media and the army

effectiveness of okhrana

small - only 2500 full time agents in 1900 with 1/3 in st petersburg but effective as it used informants and agents provocateurs and attacked leaderships of SRs and SDs. had a fearsome public image but only used torture sparingly

peasant unrest in tsarist russia

anger mainly at local landowners, not tsar, but worsened by gov policies like redemption payments and high indirect taxes

causes of peasant unrest under the tsar

• poverty/desperation

• poor soil, short growing seasons and famines

• strip farming and redistribution led to very low crop yields

working class unrest in tsarist russia

mainly shown by strikes (often met with force), army used against strikers nearly 300 times in 1901 and over 500 times in 1902

causes of working class unrest in tsarist russia

low pay, long hours (60 a week), poor health and safety, overcrowded urban slums and widespread disease eg cholera and typhus

types of liberals in tsarist russia

• moderate liberals wanted a constitutional monarchy

• radical liberals wanted republicanism

arose as middle class and intelligensia grew

liberal opposition to the tsar

• a university protest left 13 students dead when authorities intervened

• zemstva was frustrated by gov’s refusal to engage and reform

league of liberation

formed in 1904 at a secret meeting in st petersburg, led by milyukov

socialist revolutionaries

founded in 1902, led by middle/upper class people but sought alliance with peasantry to overthrow tsar but they were loose and undisciplined with no strict ideological discipline

core ideas of SRs

• socialism should be peasant not worker based

• land should be collectively owned by village communities

• decentralisation

• violence was unavoidable in a revolutionary uprising

• extremists used assassination

social democrats

based on marxism, led by lenin and martov but conflict over whether russia was ready for proletarian revolution so it split into bolsheviks and mensheviks in 1903

reasons for lack of success of opposition groups to the tsar

• small working class

• difficult organising peasantry

• low literacy levels

• social distance between leaders and masses

• repression by tsarist state

• revolutionary leaders exiled

• armies used against unrest

• divisions between opposition groups (liberals vs socialists, SRs vs SDs)

size of working class in 1890s

2% of population

literacy levels in 1897

21%

key defeats in russo japanese war

jan 1905 they surrendered at port arthur and were defeated at mukden in feb, they entered the war underprepared and overconfident

treaty of portsmouth

ended russo japanese war in sep 1905

consequences of defeat by japanese

• exposed corruption and incompetence at the top of the regime

• encouraged opposition

• economic disruption eg rising food prices and unemployment

bloody sunday

in jan 1905 around 150,000 unarmed workers marched peacefully to winter palace to present a petition to tsar but on the way they were fired upon, 200 killed

demands on petition from bloody sunday

• legalisation of trade unions

• higher wages

• 8 hour day

• free speech

• no demand for abolition of capitalism

• no explicit attack on autocracy

father gapon

orthodox priest and charismatic speaker who organised the march, he was funded by the okhrana to keep workers away from socialism

consequences of bloody sunday

triggered nationwide strikes with around 500,000 workers, one liberal newspaper declared ‘we can no longer live like this’ and liberals flooded gov with petitions for reform and student strikes forced unis to close

how did ascher describe revolutionary activities in russia?

‘parallel revolutions’ not 1 single uprising

groups involved in revolutionary activity in tsarist russia

• middle class liberals

• industrial workers

• peasants

• national minorities

• military mutinies

these were in isolation so there was fragmentation

response to national minorities revolting

over 250,000 russian troops deployed to poland to maintain order in 1905

st petersburg soviet

• formed in 1905 as a council of elected representatives of industrial workers

• organised the october general strike

• then expanded to act as an unofficial local authority, formed armed workers’ militia and distributed food/financial aid

• founded by grassroots activists not middle class leaders

• dominated by mensheviks and trotsky

• campaigned for 8 hour day, support for polish rebels and naval mutineers

• in dec 1905 forcibly disbanded and arrested by gov

august manifesto

concession made by tsar in 1905 to buy time but it failed to satisfy opposition as liberals wanted a constitution and real parliament and it was dismissed by workers/socialists as a cosmetic reform that preserved autocracy

proposals in august manifesto

• creation of elected duma (purely advisory with no legislative power)

• heavily restricted franchise, excluding urban workers, national minorities, jews, and many intelligensia

• electoral bias towards peasants and landowners

reasons for oct manifesto

oct 1905 there was a huge general strike, regime on the brink of collapse and witte returned after negotiating treaty of portsmouth and warned nicholas he risked military dictatorship or major concessions

terms of october manifesto

• free speech, assembly, association

• legalised trade unions and parties

• duma with real power- needed to approve new laws

• franchise extended to all social classes

positive impact of oct manifesto

• celebrations in major cities

• seen as victory over autocracy

• general strike called off

• regime gained breathing space

response to oct manifesto from different groups

• moderate liberals welcomed it as a reasonable compromise that offered stability, formed octobrist party

• radical liberals rejected it as insufficient, wanted a constituent assembly and democratic constitution, thought concessions would be withdrawn, formed kadet party led by milyukov

• socialists denounced it, saw it as a bourgeois trick to save autocracy but couldn’t cooperate with liberals as class differences were too great (benefitted tsarist regime)

right wing groups that grew after oct manifesto

• union of russian people defended orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality

• black hundreds were paramilitary gangs linked to the union that targetted radicals, socialists, jews and were responsible for pogroms at odessa where 800 jews were murdered, they were subsidised and armed by interior ministry

moscow uprising

dec 1905, led by counterpart of st petersburg soviet, called for a general strike to overthrow the ‘criminal tsarist government’, distributed weapons to workers leading to a full armed uprising and army units were deployed by the gov, leading to mass arrests, beatings, and executions without trial, over 1000 killed

how tsarist power recovered after 1905

• oct manifesto won support of moderate liberals and split opposition

• st petersburg soviet disbanded and moscow uprising crushed

• army, nobility and church remained loyal

• union of russian people and black hundreds actively defended tsarism using violence

• dec 1905 electoral law kept promise to extend the vote but elections were not fully democratic

limits of recovery of tsarist power in 1905

• it was only partial recovery

• rural unrest continued, peasant grievances unaddressed

• issues with national minorities esp in poland persisted

• autocracy eroded after oct manifesto

• legalised opposition (unions and political parties)