Tsarist Russia: The Collapse of Autocracy 1894-1917 Study Notes

The Personal Rule of Nicholas II ($1868-1918$)

• Upbringing and Character: Nicholas grew up in the shadow of his father, $Alexander\,III$, who regarded him as a "weakling" and a "dunce." Though he possessed excellent manners, a good memory, and was multilingual, he lacked practical aptitude and found politics boring.

• Ideology of Autocracy: Nicholas viewed his inheritance as God-given and ruled in the "Romanov way." He rejected the reforms of $Alexander\,II$, believing "westernised ideas" would undermine autocratic power. He failed to develop a domestic policy and was notoriously indecisive.

• Administrative Style: To prevent collective opposition, he changed ministers frequently and avoided calling the Council of Ministers. He largely ignored the growing unrest of the working class and the rise of revolutionary strikes.

Demand for Change and Government Reaction ($1894-1904$)

• Politicisation of Society: The Great Famine of $1891-2$ increased mistrust in the government, which failed to handle the crisis while the zemstva (local councils) and voluntary organisations provided relief.

• University Unrest: Student outbursts led to the increased use of the $Okhrana$ (secret police). In $1901$, mounted $Cossacks$ charged students in St Petersburg, killing $13$ and imprisoning $1,500$.

• Rural Disturbance (The "Red Cockerel"): Between $1902-7$, widespread arson and attacks on landlords occurred in the countryside. The name "Red Cockerel" referred to the leaping flames resembling a cockerel's comb.

• Stolypin’s Response: He used severe repression, including floggings and executions. The gallows became known as "Stolypin's necktie."

• Early Labour Organisation:

  • The Assembly of St Petersburg Factory Workers: Formed by $Father\,Gapon$ in $1904$ with the support of the Orthodox Church and Minister $Plehve$. It reached $8000$ members across $12$ branches.

  • Police Unions: In $1900$, $Sergei\,Zubatov$ (head of Moscow $Okhrana$) organised police-sponsored unions to provide official grievance channels. These were shut down in $1903$ after a strike in Odessa escalated.

Causes and Events of the $1905$ Revolution

• Repressive Governance: Nicholas made no concessions to national minorities or constitutional demands. He was heavily influenced by the arch-reactionary $Pobedonostsev$, who viewed parliamentary government as "un-Russian."

• The Svyatopol-Mirsky Interlude: In $1904$, any attempt at moderate reform (like reduced censorship) only served to inflame tensions by heightening expectations without satisfying them.

• The Urban Worker Crisis:

  • Rapid industrialisation created a new urban class concentrated in squalid conditions (averaging $16$ people to an apartment, $6$ to a room).

  • High fatality rates (e.g., $500$ deaths in metallurgical industries in $1905$) and child labour were common.

  • Life expectancy in towns was only $37$ years.

• Peasant Grievances: Comprising $80\,\%$ of the population, peasants suffered from backward farming (strip system), famine, and the harsh discipline of "Land Captains." Life expectancy was under $40$.

• Russification and Anti-Semitism: Policy promoted Russian culture at the expense of non-Russians ($44\,\%$ of the population). State-condoned violence against Jews, known as $pogroms$, was rife.

• The Russo-Japanese War ($1904-1905$): Provoked to rally patriotism, the war resulted in a humiliating defeat. It showed military incompetence and crippled trade via the Trans-Siberian railway.

• Bloody Sunday ($5\,th\,January\,1905$): $Father\,Gapon$ led $150,000$ demonstrators to the Winter Palace with a petition. Guards killed approximately $1000$ people, triggering the revolution.

The Restoration of Autocracy and the October Manifesto

• The October Manifesto ($1905$): Advised by $Sergei\,Witte$, Nicholas promised civic freedoms (speech, assembly) and an elected $Duma$ (parliament) with legislative oversight.

• The Fundamental Laws ($April\,1906$): Nicholas reclaimed absolute power, stating "The supreme autocratic power is vested in the Tsar." He maintained the right to dismiss the $Duma$ and appoint all ministers.

• Survival Strategies: The Tsar survived because the army remained loyal, the Russo-Japanese War was ended (releasing troops), and the liberal opposition (middle class) feared the violence of the "primitive" masses. $Peter\,Struve$ remarked, "Thank God for the Tsar who has saved us from the people."

The Era of the Dumas ($1906-1914$)

• The First Duma ($1906$): Dominated by $Kadets$. Lasted only $73$ days before dissolution. Radical deputies issued the Vyborg Appeal, urging non-payment of taxes.

• The Second Duma ($1907$): More radical, including $SD\,s$ and $SR\,s$. Dissolved after $3$ months due to criticism of the army.

• The Third Duma ($1907-1912$): Successful through illegal electoral changes by $Stolypin$. Voting power of the wealthiest $1\,\%$ was increased to elect $66\,\%$ of deputies. It lasted its full $5$-year term.

• The Fourth Duma ($1912$ onwards): Marked by stagnation and incompetence. Even loyalists reached the conclusion that $Duma$ membership was pointless.

Stolypin’s Reforms and the Russian Economy

• Wager on the Strong: $Stolypin$ aimed to create a class of independent, conservative peasants ($Kulaks$) by breaking the power of the mir (communes).

• Key Land Measures:

  • Redemption payment debts cancelled in $1907$.

  • Peasant Land Bank provided loans for investment.

  • Siberian migration encouraged ($3.5\,million$ settlers, though $0.5\,million$ returned).

• Economic Results: Grain production rose from $55\,million\,tons$ ($1900$) to $90\,million\,tons$ ($1913$). However, by $1914$, only $10\,\%$ of farms were economically viable.

• Industrial Boom: Between $1908-1913$, Russia saw an $8.5\,\%,pa$ growth rate. By $1914$, Russia was the world’s $4\,th$ largest producer of iron, steel, and coal, and the $5\,th$ largest industrial power overall.

Social and Cultural Developments

• Urban Growth: The urban population quadrupled from $7$ to $28\,million$ between $1867-1917$. By $1914$, $3$ out of $4$ residents in St Petersburg were peasants by birth.

• The Lena Goldfields Massacre ($1912$): Soldiers shot $500$ striking miners, triggering $9,000$ sympathy strikes involving $3\,million$ workers.

• The Middle Class and Professions: Growing numbers of doctors ($28,000$) and teachers ($20,000$ by $1914$) pushed for reform via the "Third Element" of the zemstva.

• Culture and Literacy: The "Silver Age" saw modernist experiments (e.g., $Stravinsky$) and influential writers like $Tolstoy$, $Chekhov$, and $Maxim\,Gorky$. Primary school provision rose $85\,\%$ between $1905-1914$, yet illiteracy remained at $60\,\%$.

Political Opposition Groups

• Liberals: Wanted peaceful, constitutional reform. Groups included $Bedesa$ and the $Union\,of\,Liberation$ (founded by $Pyotr\,Struve$).

• Social Revolutionaries (SRs): Led by $Viktor\,Chernov$. Combined Populism and Marxism, focusing on the peasantry. Their "Combat Detachment" carried out $2,000$ assassinations between $1901-1905$.

• Social Democrats (SDs): Marxist party that split in $1903$ into:

  • Bolsheviks (Lenin): Required small, disciplined cells of professional revolutionaries.

  • Mensheviks (Martov): Favoured broad working-class membership and waiting for a bourgeois revolution.

The Impact of World War I ($1914-1917$)

• Military Decay: $15\,million$ men were conscripted. By $1914$, the infantry had only $2$ rifles for every $3$ soldiers. Defeats at $Tannenburg$ and $Masurian\,Lakes$ shattered morale.

• Institutional Crisis: Nicholas appointed himself Commander-in-Chief in $September\,1915$, making him personally responsible for defeats.

• Rasputin’s Influence: In the Tsar’s absence, $Alexandra$ and the holy man $Rasputin$ controlled ministerial appointments, alienating the nobility. $Rasputin$ was murdered by $Prince\,Yusupov$ in $December\,1916$.

• Economic Collapse: War costs reached $14,500\,million\,roubles$. Inflation rose over $300\,\%$. By $1916$, food and fuel in Petrograd were at $1/3$ of required levels due to railway breakdowns.

The February Revolution of $1917$

• Timeline of Collapse:

  • Jan 9: $150,000$ workers demonstrate on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

  • Feb 23 (International Women’s Day): Women joined by $Putilov$ steel strikers and bread queuers. $240,000$ people marched.

  • Feb 27: The turning point where riots became a revolution. $66,000$ soldiers mutinied, refusing to fire on protesters.

• Dual Power: The $Duma$ set up a Provisional Committee while socialists formed the $Petrograd\,Soviet$.

• Abdication: On $March\,2\,nd$, under pressure from generals, Nicholas II abdicated. His brother, $Grand\,Duke\,Mikhail$, refused the throne, ending $304$ years of Romanov rule.

Historiographical Perspectives on $1917$

• Soviet View: The revolution was a rising of the proletariat guided by Bolshevik cells and Marxist ideology.

• Western View: The revolution was a spontaneous outbreak by an "anarchical mob" triggered by the chaos of war and the total incompetence of the Tsar and his ministers.

Questions & Discussion

• How was Russia governed and how did political authority develop? Autocracy remained the core, but the introduction of the Dumas after $1905$ represented a failed transition toward constitutionalism.

• How effective was opposition? Radical groups were often exiled or divided, and the Liberals were easily appeased by the October Manifesto until WWI intensified the crisis.

• Why was Nicholas II forced to abdicate? A combination of military failures, economic starvation in the cities, the defection of the army, and his own refusal to share power with the Progressive Bloc.