Russia Before the Revolutions

Kevin J. Benoy

Tsarist Russia• All nations at all times

face significant problems.

• Tsarist Russia was no exception.

• Key issues that it faced were:– Nationalism– Need for agricultural

reform.– Outmoded and inefficient

government – Autocracy.

Nationalism• Except for Russia proper, the

Russian Empire consisted of many conquered people, such as Finns, Ukrainians, Kazaks, Armenians, Georgians and Poles. Not all were happy with their lot.

• In theory, all were treated equally, In practice the Tsars were often chauvinistic. Groups seen as disloyal, such as Poles and Jews, were discriminated against.

Nationalism

• The Government had a policy of Russification.

• Russian was taught in schools and universities.

• Russian colonies were established in non-Russian lands,.

Nationalism

• Nationalists called for:– Teaching native

languages in schools.– Native language

publications.– National political parties.– Local regional

autonomy.– Total independence.

Agriculture

• 80% of Russia’ population lived in the countryside.

• Standards of living were low and illiteracy high.

• Things were improving slowly because of new schools and education of young men in the military.

Agriculture• Until the 1890s and often

beyond them, most peasants belonged to the Mir system (village communes), which held the land distributed to the peasants after the emancipation of the serfs in the mid 19th century.

• More than ½ of the land still belonged to the nobles – something that upset many peasants.

Agriculture• The Mir system was

egalitarian but not efficient.• Land was distributed each

year by lottery, so there was no incentive to improve the land.

• Improvements cost money and the gain would be had by the next occupant.

• The system also meant that there was no efficient system of crop rotation.

Agriculture• Some called for reform.• Prime Minister Stolypin

introduced reforms allowing peasants to leave the Mir and become freeholders.

• Some feel his reforms might have resulted in Western style agriculture had not the war and revolutions intervened.

• In the end, only 2 million peasants opted out.

• Big land owners only slowly sold off land.

Agriculture

• 3 solutions were seen to the rural problems of low productivity, overpopulation and underemployment:– Preserve the Mir system

for its egalitarianism – thus sharing suffering equally.

– Divide the land– Nationalize the land

Agriculture• If no solution was found,

peasants could:– Migrate to cities (but there

wasn’t enough employment there for them).

– Join the army to find work.– Remain on the land and

either accept one’s lot or fight for change. (Peasant uprisings were frequent – but put down by the police or military).

Autocracy to 1905• Power rested in the

hands of one man, “the Autocrat of all the Russias.”

• Autocracy was said to be superior to democracy.

• Decisions were always reached and leaders were bred to rule – though they were held responsible to look after those less fortunate.

• Tsar Nicholas II referred to himself as “the little father.”

Autocracy to 1905

• Tsar Nicholas was weak and not overly bright.

• Advisors manipulated him.

• He was influenced by his strong-willed wife.

• He had a hemophiliac son who he loved desperately – leading him to rely on quacks to help him.

Autocracy to 1905

• The humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese war brought demand for change.

• The government could no longer contain demand for constitutional rights.

1905 Rebellion• Liberals found themselves

allied to Socialist revolutionaries in calling for change.

• On Bloody Sunday a peaceful march led by a quasi-political priest – Father Gapon – was fired on by order of a Grand Duke as it went to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar (who was not there at the time).

• This was symbolically fatal for “the little father.”

1905 Rebellion• Strikes and

demonstrations followed as a revolutionary movement grew.

• Councils of workers, calling themselves Soviets were formed.

• In the Black Sea, the crew of the Battleship Potemkin mutinied.

1905 Rebellion• Enraging conservatives, the

Tsar promised reforms:– Constitutionally guaranteed

rights.– A Duma (elected parliament).

• This satisfied neither political extreme, but it did separate the liberals from the radicals.

• Revolutionary activity collapsed.

• Socialist screamed that they were sold out.

• The result was neither autocracy nor democracy.

Pre-War Russia• The elected Duma

included supporters and opponents of the Tsar.

• Non-Russians were also represented, but minimally as the elections were rigged against them.

• The Tsar often dismissed the Duma and little could be done about it.

• Nonetheless, there was significant freedom of expression in Russia – despite some censorship and the closing of some presses.

Pre-War Russia• Russia modernized quickly in the

10 years before the war – but productivity remained the lowest in Europe.

• However, the growth rate was faster than Germany or America and there was a higher % of workers in factories of more than 1,000 workers than in France or Britain.

• New, large, Russian factories could afford the latest techniques and equipment.

• Russia was the #5 economy in the world.

• Its population was growing rapidly – 111 million in 1910 and 170 million in 1914.

Pre-War Russia

• Russia’s middle class was highly educated and well read.

• Russia published more titles than any other country in 1913.

• The country was a cultural pace-setter – especially in literature and ballet – though on balance it was still a backward society

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• In the 1830s and 1840s French revolutionary ideas came to Russia with the educated young.

• In 1848 the government cracked down.

• Suspected socialists were exiled to Siberia.

• Dostoyevsky wrote about it in his House of the Dead.

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• After the unsuccessful Crimean War, Alexander II granted liberal concessions:– Freeing the serfs.– Introducing trial by jury.

• Some liberals felt this wasn’t enough and were radicalized.

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• In the 1860s student movements developed.

• Nihilists (who believed in nothing) questioned all values.

• A Nihilist tried to kill the Tsar, provoking another government crackdown.

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• Secret societies were formed and underground newspapers circulated.

• Intellectuals, calling themselves Narodniks tried to organize peasants to revolt, but they would not because:– They were grateful to the

Tsar for emancipation.– They were too busy working.– They were tradition and

respected age, not youthful radicalism

• Many revolutionaries moved abroad, mostly to France and Switzerland. Narodnik Vera Figner

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• The Tsarist government sought to deflect public anger by encouraging attacks on scapegoats.

• The Jews were particular targets of government sponsored Pogroms.

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• In the 1880s, Marxism came to Russia – but what would its goals be in backward Russia?– To help achieve liberal

reforms?– To get a republic?– To act independently,

attacking liberals and conservatives?

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• Lenin argued that Russia was “the weakest link in the capitalist chain.”

• He felt, contrary to popular Marxist dogma, that a revolution might happen in Russia before it happened in the developed West.

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• In 1903 Russian Marxism split into two factions.

• Meeting in London, after police foiled a previous attempt to found a Russian Social Democratic Party, this 2nd Congress split over control of the editorial board of Iskra – “the Spark.”

• Lenin’s faction was the big group at this meeting – hence they became the Bolsheviks.

• Martov’s group became the Mensheviks.

Background to the Revolutionary Movement

• Lenin wanted a tight, professional group of determined revolutionaries to organize a revolution – a group that the Okhrana (secret police) would have trouble penetrating.

• Moderates wanted a broadly based organization. They feared Lenin’s idea would lead to dictatorship and loss of connection with the working class.

World War I• As elsewhere,

there was tremendous support for the war at its start.

• Many leftists even saw it as an opportunity to eliminate Prussian (German) militarism.

World War I

• Only the Bolsheviks opposed the war from the start.

• Lenin fled Russia for Zurich, Switzerland.

• Until the February revolution of 1917, most Bolshevik leaders were in exile in the west or banished to Siberia.

World War I

• The war devastated Russia.

• It could not produce enough equipment and other allies could not fill the gap.

• 1 in 2 East European soldiers was a casualty.

• 1 in 3 Russian soldiers did not even have a gun.

World War 1• Russian war-time

leadership was inept.• The Tsar decided to take

command, moving to Mogilev to direct the war effort. He was not up to the job and was now too far from the capital to direct civil government

• The Tsarina, left in the capital, was regarded by many as disloyal (she was German).

World War 1• Making matters worse, Rasputin’s

scandalous behavior brought the Romanovs into disrepute.

• The Left saw him as a symbol of court corruption and decay.

• The Right saw him as a threat to efficient government.

• In December, 1916 he was assassinated by courtiers Prince Feliks Yusupov, Vladimir Purishkevich and Grand Duke Pavlovich. At Yusupov’s home he was poisoned, shot twice, bound up, and thrown into the Neva River.

• His autopsy indicated death by drowning.

World War I

• Losses in battle were huge. Discipline wavered.

• By 1917, Russia was ripe for collapse.

• Fuel and food were in short supply.

• Transportation was breaking down.

• Long lines formed at bakeries in big cities.

World War I

• In February riots broke out as bread supplies were insufficient.

• The police could not restore order – some joined the rioters.

• A general strike was declared and police could not or would not disperse the crowds.

World War I

• The army was called in.

• On the first day they shot rioters.

• Soon only the Cossacks were reliable.

World War I• Fearing civil war, the Tsar

was persuaded to resign.• A Provisional Government

was proclaimed.• Royalists were shaken and

leaderless.• Liberals and

revolutionaries were left to govern, but they feared a Tsarist return and they inherited chaos.

finis