1. RUSSIA – A BACKGROUND
PRE – REVOLUTION

2. By the 20th Century A major crisis was due and had to happen
Russia was an unfair society and needed social, economic and political reform.
WHY????

3. Political Nicholas II – autocratic and ineffective
Ruled a country covering one-sixth of the earth’s total land surface
Massive personal wealth
Backed by an army of 1million and secret police (OKHRANA)
Political parties banned – critics ended up in prison or exile
Press was censored

4. Yet Many Russians worshipped the Tsar and peasants
typically had a picture of the Tsar on a wall of their hut.

5. His rule His word was law He appointed his ministers
But did not have to listen to them
AND could ‘hire and fire’ them at will
He was a true autocrat.

6. SOCIAL

8. Russia was….. Only 40% ethnic Russians
80% were peasants – subsistence farmers
60%+ = illiterate
Life expectancy = 40
Low tech and low investment
Land ownership rare
Land owned by OBSCHINA (Commune)
It also organised taxes and allotted strips of land to each household

9. Peasants cont’d
Peasants could not leave the commune without the consent of the elders
Discipline and punishments harsh – even to exile in Siberia
Drought and crop failure common
1891 = famine + cholera and typhus = 400,000 dead
1890 – 64 % of peasants called up for military service were declared unfit.

10. YET..Yet…
Some did prosper and it was generally the shortage of land rather than shortage of food that was the irritant.
Rural population grew but land owned by peasants and land size failed to keep pace.
Faith in Tsar remained strong
BUT hunger for land would grow.

11. Industrial and urban
Russia had grown industrially but living and working conditions were horrendous
Average working day was 14 hours
Trade unions banned but some strikes took place
Potential for hotbed of political activism

13. Unrest prior to 1905 The passivity of the Russian people had limits
May 1896 – riots in St. Petersburg
Street demonstrations in Rostov on Don
arson of manor houses in rural areas became commonplace
1904 – Viacheslav Plehve – Minister of the interior assassinated by Social Revolutionary