1. The Russian Revolution
Here come the rabble with their frozen potatoes.

2. When did this happen?
Russia experienced a series of revolutions in the early 20th Century.
Obviously there was a period preceding these revolutions of awful conditions that stimulated a bubbling fervour for change.
The first part of the revolution occurred in 1905.
The next and - more complete - revolution happenned in February 1917.

3. Areas of Study: Our areas of study looks at 1896-1917 and 1917-1927.
It is important to note that the consolidation of the new regime continues on through the 20th Century until 1991 with the collapse of the USSR.

4. But first, let’s get our heads around Russia…

6. Russia Russia is big … very big!
It covers about one-sixth of the world’s surface.
17.1 million square kilometres.
(Australia is around 7.7 million km²).
Stretches from Europe to Asia.
Straddles Central Asian region.
That’s a big country.

7. Geography – land and climate
It crosses two continents, 11 time zones and five vegetation zones.
The sun sets in the west at the same time as rising in the east…

8. Major Geographic biomes:

9. Temperate Forest

10. Steppe

11. Taiga

12. Although Russia is vast, much of the land is not arable.
Cold air from the Arctic Ocean sweeps across much of North-Eastern Russia resulting in land that is mostly useless for farming.
In 1900 only 5-10% of land in Russia was able to be farmed.
Within the Arctic Circle the land is tundra where nothing grows except moss and small scrubs

13. For more than 1000km south of the tundra stretches the taiga, cold land covered in forests of pine trees and conifers.
It is only in the warmer, temperate regions of the south-west that the soil can be used for farming.

14. The cold climate affected Russia’s industry and commerce.
Much of Russia’s coastline is within the Arctic Circle and therefore frozen most of the year.
Major rivers are also frozen for most of the year making sea and river trade impossible until late spring, early summer.

15. Big Empire By 1900 Russia was a huge empire.
About 125 million people lived in this empire, with less than half of them actually being Russian.
(To put this into context Australia’s population in 1900 was 3.7 million.)

16. Russian People: Only 40% ethnic Russians.
Population: 1897 census – 123 million.
(By 1910 – 160 million.)
80% were peasants – subsistence farmers
60% + were illiterate
Life expectancy was an average of 40 years.
Low technology (high use of “manpower”)
Nobility owned land.
That’s a lot of people.

17. Population of the Russian Empire – 1897 census
Ukrainian
Polish
Belorussian
Jewish
Kirghiz
Tartars
Finnish
German
Lithuanian
Lettish
Georgian
Armenian
Romanian
Caucasian
Estonian
Iranian
Other Asiatic people
Mongols
Other
55,650,000
22,400,000
7,900,000
5,900,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,700,000
2,500,000
1,800,000
1,650,000
1,400,000
1,350,000
1,150,000
1,110,000
1,000,000
5,750,000
500,000
200,000

18. A large proportion of people within the Russian Empire were Polish and Ukrainian,
Conquered by the ancestors of Nicholas II.
These people each their own language, customs and way of life.
Six out of ten of the Tsars subjects did not speak Russian, or spoke it as a second or third language.

19. The population was not spread evenly throughout the country.
Most lived on the 10% of land that was good for farming in the Eastern part.
Fertile land in the south west and the cities were often overcrowded.
The cold lands of Siberia (east of the Ural Mountains) were thinly populated.

20. By the 20th Century
Russia was an unfair society in need of social, economic and political reform.
With it’s drastic imbalance of powers, wealth and health, it was a catastrophe waiting to happen.

21. Tsar Nicholas II
“The Colonel” as his cousins called him. Or “Dear Nicky” as his nanna called him.

22. Introduction to Tsarism:
Until 1917, Russia was governed autocratically by the Tsar, whose power was backed by landed gentry and ranked noble officials and a powerful army.
Tsar Nicholas Romanov II came to power in 1896 (at the age of 28) after his father Tsar Alexander III died in 1894.
The Tsars were guided by the values of the Orthodox Church.

23. Saint Basil’s cathedral, Moscow.

24. Political History Nicholas II was autocratic but ineffective.
His word was law. (Absolute rule)
He appointed his ministers, but did not have to listen to their advice.
He was often “guided by God”.

25. A Long Line. The Romanov family had ruled Russia for centuries.
In 1913 they celebrated 300 years of Romanov rule.
They considered their rule to be appointed by God.
300 hundred years is a really long time, no wonder they had big heads.

26. The Romanovs

27. Wealth & Power Nicholas had massive personal wealth
Was backed by an army of 1 million and a secret police force (called the Okhrana).
Political parties were banned.
Critics ended up in prison or exiled.
The press was censored.

28. …Autocrat? …Despot? What is an autocrat? What is a despot?
A ruler who holds absolute, unlimited political power.
(Hence, the people, institutions and processes surrounding an autocrat are called an autocracy.)
What is a despot?
An autocratic ruler who holds complete power but is considered to use this power in a cruel or oppressive way.

29. The Limits of Tsarism Under tsarism, there was no:
National parliament (until after 1905)
Free press (independent media)
Unions (workers associations)
Elections (the right to vote)

31. LOYAL SUBJECTS? Russia had no citizens, only subjects.
Most Russians were peasants – poor subsistence labourers or farmers of low social status.
Russia peasants had only been emancipated from serfdom in 1861.
Although they were “free” they were still overworked and underpaid.

32. Due to Russia’s size, no one man would be able to govern the entire nation.
Thousands of civil servants that were organised like an army into 14 ranks.
The top ranking officials were ministers in charge of government departments.
The bottom ranked officials were overworked and underpaid minor officials such as postal workers, customs inspectors and teachers.
The underpaid officials made ends meet by taking bribes.

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

34. Peasants
Peasants could not leave the commune without the consent of the elders.
Discipline and punishments harsh – even to exile in Siberia in the far-east.
Drought and crop failure common. (i.e Starvation.)
1891: Famine + cholera and typhus = 400,000 dead
1890 – 64% of peasants called up for military service were declared unfit.

35. Industrial and urban
Russia had grown industrially but living and working conditions were horrendous.
Rural – Urban migration.
Average working day was 14 hours!
Trade unions were banned but some strikes took place.
Potential hotbed for political activism.
Under Witte’s reforms. ..

36. So what happened?
A series of crises hit Russia hard in the late 19th century and into the 20th.
War
Famine
Economic disasters
Starving population
Backward economy and society lagging behind the booming western Europe.
Dissatisfied nobility learning from enlightened Europe.

37. Most Russians saw things differently to the Tsar:
Traditional religious values no longer formed the basis for political aspirations.
Almost everybody wanted a parliament.
Most peasants wanted to own whatever village lands their landlords held.
Educated people blamed the autocracy for Russia’s backwardness.
Working and housing conditions in Russian cities were the worst in Europe.

38. Unrest prior to 1905
The Russian people were reasonably passive but they had limits…
May 1896 – riots in St. Petersburg
1901 onwards, arson of manor houses in rural areas became commonplace.
Street demonstrations in Rostov on Don
1904 – Viacheslav Plehve –
Minister of the interior was assassinated
by Social Revolutionary

39. 1905 Uprising: “Bloody Sunday”
Led by priest Father Gapon, workers marched on the Winter Palace in an effort to petition Tsar.
Army protecting the palace opened fire killing between people.
Known as Bloody Sunday
Nicholas developed the DUMA – a legislative assembly designed to advise Nicholas’ decision making. It failed – he never listened or really consulted them.

40. Russia’s Revolutions were created by a mismatch of the hopes of the people for democracy and the Tsar’s unwavering faith in order and tradition.

41. Following France’s example, Russia’s educated and well travelled classes wanted to assert the sovereignty of the people.
The new order imagined, far exceeded France’s liberalism of 1789.
Russia’s liberties now had to be free and equal in laws and rights.
Most Russian’s thought their new society should be Socialist – free and equal in property as well as rights.
They also knew that the stubbornness of the Tsar would mean freedom and equality would have to be won with revolutionary forces.

42. Pre-revolutionary Russia was once seen as Europe’s most stable and conservative state.
Russia’s Revolutions made everyone in Europe take notice.

43. What did officials do? Collect tax Enforce the Tsar’s decisions.
Manage individual portfolio’s

44. Okhrana
The Tsar did not allow people to question his authority or challenge power.
Nick used a secret police force known as Okhrana or Protective Section.

45. Censored all books and newspapers
Spied on individuals and groups thought to harbour political ideas
Arrested people who criticised the government.

46. At its peak through the 1900’s the Okhrana used typical secret police methods:
Surveillance
Infiltration
Espionage
Interrogation
Paid informants
Torture
Extra-legal killings

47. Agents refined existing techniques or invented new methods that are still used by intelligence agencies today.
Cold War KGB spy manuals written as late as the 1970’s were often rehashes of old Okhrana manuals.

48. Political prisoners were tried by special courts without juries, and usually ended up in exile in Siberia.
This happened to Lenin, Dzerzhinsky and the novelist Dostoyevsky.

49. There was also an ordinary police force that enforced general law and order.
Due to the large population and the limited number of police officers severe and oppressive measures were often used to control the population.
During particularly troubling times when the Okhrana and the police force were swamped is was the Cossacks who came to the Tsar’s rescue.

50. Cossack’s were feared mounted soldiers armed with sabres.
They specialised in breaking up mobs by butchering anyone not able to run away fast enough

51. Church
Orthodox Christianity had been the official religion of Russia since 989 AD.
Played a crucial role in legitimising the Tsar’s autocratic powers – supporting divine right tsarism.
Rather than being independent, the Orthodox Church had been under state control since 1721.

52. Criticisms
Widely criticised by the intelligentsia as manipulative and too closely linked to the tsarist regime.
The church both supported and benefitted from the tsarist regime
There was no separation of church and state.