1. Revision Session 3 Russia 1855-1917 Reaction

2. Opposition to Tsarist Rule  Problem with autocracy is it doesn’t allow a legal way of complaining or protesting  People had to use demonstrations or violence to be heard  1876 a group called Land and Liberty was formed  It lead the Populist Movement  The intention of this group was to encourage the peasants to rebel against their communes  But peasants were conservative and any uprisings were easily crushed by the police

3. Opposition to Tsarist Rule  A more dangerous group was called ‘The People’s Will’  They formed the extreme section of the Populist Movement  Prepared to use violence against the government  They managed to assasinate Tsar Alexander II in March 1881  The new Tsar used violence to crush all terrorist organisations. He ended his father’s reforms and dissident groups were arrested

4. Opposition to Tsarist Rule  The suppression of opposition groups continued throughout reign of Alex III and his son Nicholas II  Until in 1898 The Social Democratic Party was set up by Georgi Plekhanov  Plekhanov was a Marxist  He believed that power lay with the peasants and workers NOT with the nobility or the traditional ruling classes

5. Opposition to Tsarist Rule  The Social Democrats remained a small organisation  In 1901 The Socialist Revolutionaries were founded  They concentrated on winning the support of the peasants  They were more successful at recruiting then the Social Democrats  They were very violent between 1902 and 1904 killing the uncle of Nicholas II (Grand Duke Sergei) and Plehve, Minister of the Interior

6. Opposition to Tsarist Rule  Nicholas II took no notice of the protests  When a peaceful organisation ‘The Union of Liberation’ was set up he had nothing to do with it  He believed he was chosen by God  Noone could tell him what to do  People began to realise that violence might be the only way

7. Growth of Terrorism  Key moment in growth of terrorism was 1903 when the Social Democrats met in London for a Party Congress  They were forced to leave Russia having been hunted down by the Okhrana  In London Plekhanov and Lenin (leader of the more radical wing) disagreed over many things  There were more people there who agreed with Lenin’s views and so the majority (Bolshevik’s) broke away and formed a new group under Lenin

8. Growth of Terrorism  The Bolsheviks (under Lenin) believed in a small party, committed to revolution to overthrow the tsar, prepared to use any means including violence  The Mensheviks (under Plekhanov) believed that anyone who opposed the tsar could join and that they should win power peacefully  Although the division of the Social Democrats was very important. Both groups were banned from Russia in 1903 and forced to live abroad

9. Russia under Nicholas II  Even at the beginning of the 20th C Russia was a very backward country  2% of the population worked in industry  80% worked in agriculture  80% Illiteracy  Many Russians distrust western ideas  Extremes of wealth and poverty  2 main cities St. Petersburg and Moscow (number of people living here doubled between 1880 and 1914)

10. Russia under Nicholas II  Nicholas was weak and easily led  He did not want to become Tsar  He often changed his mind – after 1905 he set up a Duma but went back on his word and never really let it have any power  He believed that he had the RIGHT to be Tsar and an autocrat

11. Russia under Nicholas II  Some things had changed for the better  Finance Minister – Sergei Witte – had encouraged Russian industry to develop  He borrowed money from French banks to pay for new factories  Most were built in St. Petersburg  Thousands of people flocked to cities to find work  They found themselves living together in crowded blocks of flats  Whilst population of cities rose (by up to 50%) little was done to change living conditions  More strikes, rising food prices and unrest  These were conditions which encouraged people to support Lenin and the Bolsheviks

12. The 1905 Revolution  1904 Russia went to war with Japan  Humiliating defeat led to protests in 1905  Most important = Bloody Sunday  9th January 1905 Father Gapon led a procession of Russian Workers to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg with a petition  Nicholas II’s troops opened fire on the crowd  At least 200 died and 800 were wounded

13. What effects did Bloody Sunday have?  Massacre is an important factor in the outbreak of revolution  Father Gapon was a government spy! And was killed later by a Socialist Revolutionary  The event showed that Nicholas II did not care for his people  It led to an outbreak of terrorism and unrest  Grand Duke Sergei was assasinated  Along with this there were two major defeats in the war with Japan – in March 89,000 Russian soldiers were killed at Mukden andin May the Russian Fleet was destroyed at the battle of Tsushima

14. The Russian Revolution of 1905  It was a spontaneous protest at the rule of Nicholas II  In March Nicholas II announced his intention to call a consultative assembly but didn’t  In May Paul Miliukov created the Union of Unions to demand parliamentary government and universal suffrage

15. The Russian Revolution of 1905  In August the Tsar annouced the creation of a Duma which was to be elected under limited franchise  This was rejected and a general strike began in October  This spread rapidly  On 26th October the St.Petersburg Soviet was formed  This represented the workers of the city and seemed to control the city  It forced the Tsar to take action  The Tsar finally acted and published the October Manifesto on 30th October 1905

16. The October Manifesto  Nicholas II promised  Civil Liberties for all people  Freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association  Creation of a state Duma  This would have to agree all laws and would be elected by universal suffrage

17. The October Manifesto  Nicholas set up a Duma in 1906  He ignored it and closed it down after a few weeks  The following Dumas all had less power than the one before  Nicholas had no intention of sharing the power

18. The Impact of the First World War  Russia declared war in Austria and Germany in 1914  Russia did not realise how strong the German army was  Russian army was poorly equipped and old-fashioned  Messages were sent by radio which could be easily translated by the Germans  The army relied on the bayonet  Had very few machine guns

19. The Impact of the First World War  Russian industry was not able to keep the army supplied  Troops were poorly trained  6 million men in the army but only 4.5 million rifles  Inadequate medical supplies  Thousands of casualties left unattended  Railway network was inadequate and soon broke down  Plenty of food but not enough locomotives to pull the trains  This led to severe food shortages

20. The Impact of the First World War  In Petrograd (St. Petersburg) the prices rose by 300%  People flocked to the cities to work in munitions factories but the infrastructure couldn’t cope  Nicholas II appointed himself Commander in Chief of the army to try to deal with the problems  He left his wife, Alexandra, in charge  Rasputin became more powerful through the Tsarina and influenced politics e.g. by dismissing ministers

21. The Impact of the First World War  Alexandra was very unpopular – she was ignorant a easily led and German  She gave her husband a misleading view about what was going on in Petrograd – she thought the unrest was unimportant ‘hooliganism’ and failed to tell Nicholas what was going on  In 1916 Rasputin was murdered  By 1917 the unrest in Russia was spiralling out of control and another Revolution was underway… this time Lenin and the Bolsheviks were able to take control