1. Revolution in Russia 2010 Practice Exam Week Content Knowledge Test

2. Part 1 Group 1 Peasants. Poverty & hardship in countryside Worked long hours farming small strips of land in villages Peasant life the same as centuries before Peasants didn’t read or write Farming methods inefficient Were serfs and legally belonged to landlord Had hardly any more rights than the landowners’ animals Couldn’t make decisions of their own (marry who & when they like)

3. Part 1 Group 2 Workers. Lived in cities (mostly Moscow & St Petersburg) 10% of Russian population by 1914 Worked in factories Lived and worked in slum area surrounding the polluting factories – in cold, overcrowded barracks Hard life: wages low so couldn’t rent own room 1/3 workers were women: paid even less than men Hardly any safety rules: no workers’ compensation if injured No unions allowed Tsar Nicholas believed industrial development more important than workers’ problems Special police guarded and spied on discontented workers

4. Group 3 Rich & middle class Very few people 1.5% owned most of Russia’s land & resources Wealthy nobles & landlords owned huge estates in the country Grand mansions & palaces in the city Glamorous life: ballets, operas, parties Middle class = 10% population in 1910 Middle class = doctors, lawyers, teachers, bureaucrats, merchants

5. Difficulties faced by peasants Poverty & hardship in countryside Worked long hours farming small strips of land in villages Peasant life the same as centuries before Peasants didn’t read or write Farming methods inefficient Were serfs and legally belonged to landlord Had hardly any more rights than the landowners’ animals Couldn’t make decisions of their own (marry who & when they like)

6. Edict of Emancipation 1861 – a law to give serfs freedom Peasants could now decide who and when to marry, and to leave the estate they worked on Legally allowed to own land BUT weren’t given the land they had worked on Despite protests, they were given small amounts of land and had to pay for it

7. Disappointment about Edict of Emancipation Gov’t lent peasants $ to buy land but peasants had to make large redemption payments for 49 years Until land was paid off, mirs would ‘own’ and administer land Peasants did not own (couldn’t buy or sell) their small strip of land Paid high taxes – more per hectare than landlords Peasants flogged if didn’t pay taxes on time Peasants couldn’t afford to support themselves, so moved to the cities to work in factories

8. Part 2 – Key words Industrialisation: A country building up its industry (usually factories) Western Europe (esp. Britain & Germany) were the most industrialised Mass-producing products Workers in bad conditions, ‘alienated’ from the products they make

9. Russification Tsar believed every non-Russian (Poles, Ukrainians, Georgians) should adopt the Russian way of life 50% of the Russian Empire were non- Russian Non-Russians weren’t taught in their own language in school and couldn’t practice their own religion

10. Autocracy The political system in which one-person rules No or little influence of parliament Inherited (just like a king/queen)

11. Serfdom A person who is the property of a landowner Peasant, extremely poor in the countryside

12. Liberalism A parliamentary government (elections) Freedom of speech People are born free Britain, France, Germany (Western Europe)

13. Okhrana Secret police in Tsarist Russia Tsar Nicholas expanded it Could arrest anyone they suspected of opposing the Tsar or his government Okhrana spies everywhere

14. Russian Orthodox Church Main church in Russia A form of Christianity Run by the government Head of the church appointed by the Tsar Priests preached sermons supporting the government God = Great Father, Tsar = Little Father of his people

15. Proletariat Communist word for workers Unskilled Worked in factories

16. Tsar Autocratic leader of Russia Had total power Had ministers to give him advice, but when they told him things he didn’t want to hear, he dismissed them Used the army to control the people Cossacks broke up protests/riots by slashing them with swords No one was allowed to complain or oppose the Tsar

17. Pogroms Violent attacks on Jews and Jewish communities Stealing possessions, burning houses, raping & killing Blame all problems on Jewish people Part of Easter celebrations in Russia Army & police didn’t stop them

18. Part 3 Political Organisation 1 Liberals Wanted change without violent revolution Believed government could be improved without being overthrown Possible for Tsar to be part of reform Wanted parliament to be elected by people like in Britain Constitutional monarchy Middle-class people Kadets = most important liberal political party in 1917

19. Political Organisation 2 Socialists Revolution, not reform Overthrow the Tsar Reorganise Russia from top-to-bottom Wealth & power should be shared equally 3 parties: Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, and Bolsheviks

20. Political Organisation 3 Nationalists Many nationalist organisations Ethnic minority groups Hostile to Russian rule Opposed Russification Poles, Jews, Ukrainians and Tartars

21. Marxism – Idea 1 Most important conflict throughout history was between social classes. A small ruling class controlled the means of production and became wealthy at the expense of the poor majority. The capitalists’ wealth comes from profits resulting from the exploitation of an increasingly impoverished mass working class (proletariat). As the rich become richer and the masses became poorer and alienated from society and the means of production, a time would come when the proletariat would rise up.

22. Marxism – Idea 2 Marx envisaged an ideal society, a “communist” society. Aspects of communist society, according to his theory: No social classes No private ownership of land No wages No state bureaucracy Economy is owned by the proletariat – the employees own the wealth they produce

23. Part 4 - Paragraph Describe and explain how Marxism/communism might influence groups of Russians to try to improve the lives of their fellow countrymen and women. (2009 NCEA essay question). A) Describe the ideas of communism. B) what groups of Russians would be affected by communism? How?