RI Y3 History Notes – Russian under Tsar 2021

1 Introduction What is a Revolution? What causes a revolution? • Different ideology • Change and overhaul to current system • Eradication to old system usually through violent means Why can a revolution happen? • Unhappiness towards old system, flawed system • Unhappiness with living conditions o Govt not supporting peasants • Inequality • Economic strain o War o Excessive government spending o Accidents/natural disasters o Military blunders, govt is seen as incapable • Ineffective old leader that is not inclusive of entire population • Better system proposed How can a revolution happen? • Protests by few (demonstration) • Revoult, riots o Overthrowing of current system (including government, monarch and everyone on the succession) What is an uprising rebellion? • Not about oppressing old order • Changing of conditions for the better • Old order still remains Causes of 1905 Revolution 1. Socio-economic grievances and challenges posed by social groups - Peasantry ❏ Made up almost 80% of the population ❏ Many slogged out their lives on small patches of land that they owned and worked on estates of the elite ❏ Lived in poverty as they could not afford to pay for the yearly redemption payments and taxes that the government had demanded from them. (Exacerbated by Witte; see below) ❏ Although 23 million serfs were emancipated (i.e. given the right to

2 marry without consent , own property, own businesses ) in 1861, the peasants were subject to restrictions on the freedom placed by their village commune (mir) that they lived in. Punishments for breaking the mir’s rules included conscription of young males in the village. ❏ Backward nature of agricultural methods (outdated strip system of farming; outdated tools like wooden ploughs and sickles with a lack of modern fertilisers and machinery) This led to poor harvests and thus widespread starvation. In part caused by communalism which discouraged peasants from innovating. ❏ 375,000 -500,000 died in the Russian Famine of 1891-92, causing a reawakening of Russian Marxism and populism and fomenting discontent against the Tsar, because grain exports were not stopped until mid-August during the famine and merchants had a months’ warning so they could export their reserves. ❏ Poor living and working conditions, disease was widespread, with regular epidemics of typhus and diphtheria ❏ Huge debt (forced labour for landlords) ❏ Therefore, increased resentment. (Posed threat due to sheer population size)

3 - Middle classes ❏ Comprised of skilled workers (doctors, lawyers, teachers), business owners ❏ Desired a say in the government to push policies that would bring them benefit, as they were not a part of the nobility ❏ Some already held significant positions in local government ❏ Therefore, yearned to actively participate in politics (Posed threat of political awakening) - Urban workers ❏ By 1900, urban workers numbered at 3 million, 2.5% of the population, many of them being ex-peasants ❏ Poor working conditions → long working hours, over 11 hours a day, with 10 hour day on Saturdays , faced a harsh environment where they were disciplined and fined for the smallest infractions , and little concern was shown for the workers’ health caused by accidents and safety. Attempts by workers to form trade unions were resisted by the factory owners. ❏ Poor living conditions →Overcrowded cities/unsanitary/cramped due to rapid population growth: appalling living conditions, many shared rooms in tenement blocks or in barrack -style buildings next to factories or mines. There was a high rate of disease and rarely any privacy as rooms were only divided by curtains ❏ Low wages not enough to live on ❏ By 1903, only 23 of the 35 blast furnaces were functioning and mines were being shut down, the lack of facilities resulting in greater unemployment ❏ Thus, increased resentment as they were being exploited. (Posed threat due to high literacy rates, thus were receptive to revolutionary ideas that prompted them to go on strike) - National Minorities ❏ Russia at the time was made up of an estimated 200 different nationalities, with a majority of the population being Slavs.

4 ❏ However, there was much ethnic and religious diversity, and coupled with the defeat in the Crimean War in 1856 and the Polish Rebellion in 1863 (caused by the Polish attempting to gain autonomy/independence from Russia) prompted Tsar Alexander II to undertake the policy of Russification to quell and reduce future threats of similar rebellion and to unite the peoples living in the Russian Empire ❏ To quell demonstrations and strikes, the Tsarist regime had to keep a force of 300,000 soldiers in Poland that they needed in the Russo- Japanese War ❏ Russification: Included forcing non-Russians to use the Russian language instead of their own, adopting Russian customs and habits (illegal to teach polish in schools of poland) Russian officials were brought to run regional governments in parts of the empire like Poland, Latvia and Finland. ❏ Subject to frequent pogroms(organised attacks on their homes and businesses by nationalists) ❏ Religious sects such as the Catholic Church in Poland, the Georgian Orthordox Church resented governmental interference , and Jews were subject to anti-semitic policies of relocation. ❏ Thus, increased resentment. (Posed a threat as they revolted in large numbers and were receptive to revolutionary ideas) - Sergei Witte’s policies (finance minister) ❏ Modernisation and industrialisation were key to play a major role on the world stage. Russia’s industry was lagging behind world superpowers like the USA and Germany, thus calling for the need for industrialisation(for warfare, infrastructural facilities etc.) ❏ Witte funded this through increasing taxes and foreign investment ❏ Witte devoted himself to the construction of railways, which he believed were agents of industrial growth , pushed for the construction of Trans-siberian railway (started 1891, finished 1904) to improve connectivity of East/Western Russia ❏ Impacts: ❏ (E.g. 6% annual economic growth compared to 2% in Britain and France) ❏ By 1900, Russia had become the 4th largest producer of steel ❏ However, the Russian people, who mainly comprised peasants, are taxed heavily to fund this industrialisation, for everyday

5 2. Tsar Nicholas II - Policies items such as salt, kerosene and alcohol . Russia imposed high tariffs on foreign industrial commodities , making goods expensive for the people. Peasants and urban workers especially were being squeezed intensely, to pay for the fledgling industry. ❏ Furthermore, Witte’s ignorance of the underinvested agricultural sector which the peasants relied on for income only served to be detrimental for the peasants. ❏ Repressive, suppressing dissent ❏ Denying freedoms ● Exile of political opponents ● Suppression of political parties through the Okhrana, the secret police ● Censorship of newspapers and mass media ❏ Russification: Nicholas’ firm belief in the continuation of this policy, which was introduced to try and unite those living in the Empire, had conversely brought about widespread dissatisfaction. This is because several of these nationalities wanted regional control away from the influence of the Tsar, thus increasing tensions. - Personality ❏ Unprepared to rule (weak, indecisive), had religious convictions and a deep sense of affection for his wife and children, even having their photos in the lavatories, displayed a great indifference towards the world around him. (E.g. Deeply moved by the death of his favourite dog, but gave little attention to 1905. ) ❏ Firm belief in autocratic rule, absolute monarchy, unwilling to share power/ grant concessions and ruled with his own idea of duty witho