russia pre-1917- revolution history 12 ms leslie
TRANSCRIPT
Very very beginning
Russia has been around since the 10th century
Mostly made up of Ethnic Slavs who went north escaping the Turkish empire
These migrating Slavs clashed with Mongolians and Tartars
15th century - Grand Duchy of Moscow established = creation of a strong Tsardom or Czardom
The first Tsars were the likes of Ivan the terrible and Ivan the Great
Took a lot of territory from the Tartars, Kazans and Crimeans
Imperial Russia17-19th Century
A great time for Russia
Grew culturally and territorially
Rulers = Peter the great and Catherine the Great
The people were mostly illiterate farmers
Feudal system Czar Alexander II abolished slavery in
1861 Factories had horrid working conditions Alex II assassinated in 1881 and
replaced by this son
Alexander III 1881-1894
Authorities shifted attention from the failings of the government by creating scapegoats and encouraging pogroms
Pogroms -
Was physically intimidating - a body builder to make up for his 5’6” height
Died of kidney failure from trauma from a train accident
Nicolas II
Started his reign in 1894 Autocratic and ineffective Romanov family very wealthy Population of 165 million Secret police (OKHRANA) Censorship of the press Czar’s word was law
Despite this, the people loved Nicolas II
Believed he was appointed by God
Kept pictures of him in their homes and worshipped him
Related to heads of Greece, UK, Denmark, Germany
What was Nicholas II like? Not very smart
Easily manipulated by his advisors Relied on
His son,
His allowed Rasputin to gain dangerous control of the government.
Population of the 1910’s
1910- 1914 - Only 40% 80% Life expectancy = 40 years Well educated middle class - had the
most books per capital in 1913
Most lived on communal farms called Obschina or Mir.
The Obschina organized taxes and allotted land to households
Peasants could not Punishment = Agricultural reforms had not caught on
eg crop rotation
famine
Lots of famines 1891 - famine +cholera
+ typhus = 400,000 dead
1890 - 64% of conscripts declared unfit to serve
Problems with Industrialization
Far behind rest of Europe Because of late start industry was modern
and they lacked skilled workers Relied heavily of foreign loans and taxes for
growth France owned 2/3rd Germany owned Britain owned
Industry
5th Average hard labour work day
Child labour common. Start age 4 Kids worked in cotton mills. Injuries
common, rickets, cotton lung Unions Banned
Peasant Problem
3/4 of the population Although no longer serfs, still had a
separate administration and courts Illiterate and superstitious Excessively taxed - main source of
tsarist revenue.
1896 the people had enough and rioted in St Petersburg
1902 street demonstrations 1901-1907 arson in rural areas
common 1904 a social revolutionary
assassinated the minister of the interior
1905 Rebellion/Revolution
Jan 22/Jan 9 Workers under the
leadership of Father Gapon marched on the Winter Palace
Wanted:
Result
Showed tsar’s incompetence Tsarist supporters changed their minds creation of the ‘Shildlovski
Commission’
The Tsar responded with the October Manifesto promising:
Extremists not appeased, but moderates happy and a full revolution didn’t happen
Long term impact 1905
Tsar used him powers to arrest and harrass opposition
1906-07, 4,400 deaths due to terrorism Catch 22 -
Marxism
Came to Russia in the 1880s
Lenin knew revolution would happen in Russia first as it was the weakest capitalist state (contrary to Marxism)
1903 the Russian Marxist movement split in two
WWI and the revolutionary movement Bolsheviks
opposed the war from the start
Lenin exiled in Zurich, Switz.
Most Bolsheviks banished to Siberia
Home front
War meant more food shortages 1914 1915
This left the Tsarina in charge - she let Rasputin make decisions…
War stats
15.5 million man army 1.65 million died 3.85 million wounded 2.41 million POWs 1917 1.5 million deserted Lack of medical attention Not enough equipment for soldiers. 1 in 3
didn’t have a gun
Beginning of the collapse
1917- Little transportation February - Police joined rioters and a general
strike formed