Unit 1: Russia in Revolution1905 - 1917

Background to the 1905 revolution.

Task 1:

Look at the information on the following

slides. Make detailed notes on the following

Question.

• What problems did the Tsar face when trying to govern Russia?

–Russia covered 2 continents Europe & Asia.

–From W to E it covered over 6400km.

–From N to S it covered over 3000km

–It covered 1/6th of world’s total land mass. America could fit into it 2.5 times.

–Large parts were (are) uninhabited or sparsely populated.

– 11 different time zones

Communication

• Few paved roads outside cities

• Roads were earth and turned to mud

Railway– Limited track– Trans-Siberian railway took a long time.

Siberia

Trans-Siberian railway

Nationality Millions

Russian 55.6

Ukranian 22.4

Polish 7.9

Jewish 5.0

Finnish 3.1

Lithuanian 1.2

Estonian 1.0

Georgian 0.8

and many more

Different nationalities living in Russia.

Diversity of population

Resentment towards Russia and their policy of Russification

– National minorities resented Russian control

– Minorities resented “Russification” policy (making non-Russians use Russian language, clothes and customs rather than their own.)

– During the 19th century there were a number of uprisings because people wanted more self government.

Social Structure of

Russia

Breakdown of Russia by class in 1900, based on 1897 census

76%

1%

11%

1%

8%

1%2%

Clergy

Nobility

Others

peasants

Merchants

Urbanites

Cossacks

Nobility

• Just over 1% of population but owned 25% of land.

• Enormous and expensive estates but most lived in St Petersburg or Moscow

Middle classes

• A growing class of merchants, bankers and industrialists.

• The professionals were beginning to play a significant role in local government

Urban Workers• Literacy in 1897 was 57.8%, twice the national average.

• Workers could express their opinions and were receptive to revolutionary ideas.

• Working conditions were poor e.g. average working day was 14 hours, Trade unions banned but some strikes took place and wages were low

• Living conditions poor.

Peasants • 80% of pop.

• Subsistence farmers

• 60%+ = illiterate

• Life expectancy = 40 yrs

• Land ownership rare. They worked on small patches of land and on the nobles estates

• Land owned by OBSCHINA (Commune)OBSCHINA (Commune) which allotted strips of land to each household

• They could not leave the commune without the consent of the elders

• Discipline and punishments harsh

• Drought and crop failure common

• 1891 = famine + cholera and typhus = 400,000 dead

Agricultural methods were inefficient and backward.

• Peasants used a strip method of farming and wooden tools.

There was not enough land for everyone because of

– The vast increase in peasant population

– Only 25% of Russia was really good farmland.

The best farmland – the “black earth” regionSt Petersburg

Moscow

Emancipation Act of 1861 gave peasants their freedom.

They were

• given land from the nobles estates.

• BUT they had to pay for this their land with yearly redemption payments to the government.

• Most could not afford this and went further and further into debt. They felt betrayed by this as they felt the land belonged to them as they worked it.

Tsar • Autocracy = unlimited government by one person

“Fundamental laws” 1832 (Article 1)

“The Emperor of all the Russians is an autocratic and

unlimited monarch; God himself ordains that all must

bow before his supreme power, not only out of fear but

also out of conscience”

• He appointed his ministers and could ‘hire and fire’ them at will

• Backed by an army of 1 million and also the secret police (OKHRANA)

• Political parties banned – critics ended up in prison or exile

• Press was censored

Unrest prior to 1905

The Russian people had their limits though

• May 1896 – riots in St. Petersburg

• 1902 - Street demonstrations in Rostov on Don

• 1901-1907 arson of manor houses in rural areas became commonplace

• 1904 – Viacheslav Plehve – Minister of the interior assassinated by Social Revolutionary party

Task 2: Look at the notes you have made.

What do you think are the 3 most important factors that could lead

to a revolution? WHY?