InNo+Russian+Revolution+Notes+Nicholas+Lim+10.12.10

An Overview About the Tsar First media type="custom" key="7225199"

= The Russian Empire in 1900 =
 * Russia is extremely large, sun can rise in the east and set in the west on the same time.

= The Land and the Climate = = = = An Empire of Many Peoples = Chart of the Population of Russian Empire in 1897
 * Much of the land is useless because mountains on the southern border blocks both enemires and warm air from entering.
 * Cold air from the Artic Ocean flods Russia
 * Lands where not much grows are called "tundras"
 * 1000 km south of the tundras are "taiga" cold land covered in forests of pine trees.
 * Only warmer in south west, soil can be used for farming.
 * Only 5% of all Russia could be used for farming.
 * Cold climate affected Russia's industry, commerce and farming.
 * Arctic circle frozen for much of the year,Siberian rivers, the Ob, Yenisey also remained forzen preventing trade among the seas and rivers until spring.
 * Before, ice breaking technology was not as advanced as it is today.
 * The Trans-Siberian railway was being built to allow trade between east and west but only half built in 1900.
 * 1900s, Russia was ruled by Tsar (Emperor) Nicholas II
 * 125 million people lived in the empire, less than half were Russians.
 * Race || Population ||
 * Russians || 55,650,000 ||
 * Ukrainians || 22,400,000 ||
 * Poles || 7,900,000 ||
 * Byelorussians || 5,900,000 ||
 * Jews || 5,000,000 ||
 * Kirghiz || 4,000,000 ||
 * Tartars || 3,700,00 ||
 * Finns || 2,500,000 ||
 * Germans || 1,800,000 ||
 * Lithuanians || 1,650,000 ||
 * Letts || 1,400,000 ||
 * Georgians || 1,250,000 ||
 * Armenians || 1,150,000 ||
 * Romanians || 1,110,000 ||
 * Caucasians || 1,000,000 ||
 * Estonians || 1,000,000 ||
 * Iranians || 1,000,000 ||
 * Other Asiatic Peoples || 5,750,000 ||
 * Mongols || 500,000 ||
 * Others || 200,000 ||
 * Majority were Poles and Ukrainians that were conquered by previous Tsars
 * All had their own customs, language way of life.
 * 6/10 Tsars subjects were foreigners
 * People were not spread out evenly throughout the country, most lived in 5% of good farming land

= The Government of Russia =
 * Tsar Nicholas II was an autocrat, a monarch who did not have to share power, he could do anything he wanted.
 * He employed civil servants to help run the affairs of 125 million Russians.
 * Organized with 14 ranks
 * Helped to collect taxes and make sure Tsar Nicholas's orders were carried out
 * Underpaid and often took bribes as a result.
 * Organized the Okhrana, also known as "Protective Section" to stop people from opposing him
 * Censored books and newspapers, spied on political groups and arrested those who criticized the government
 * When Okhrana could not handle situations, usually during famines. The Cossacks would take their place and support the Tsar
 * Cossacks were fierce mounted soldiers with sabres and were specialized in breaking up mobs by butchering anyone in their way.
 * The priests of the Russian Orthodox Church also helped the Tsar.
 * Taught people to respect autocracy and the Tsar.
 * The head of the church was a government minister, Bishops took orders from him, priests took orders from bishops.

= Nicholas and Alexandra = = = = Russian Society = = The Peasants =
 * Nicholas was a "gentle but uneducated Emperor...is weak on every point except his own autocracy"
 * Hated being a tsar and found it boring, preferred ministers that entertained him rather than talk about business.
 * Alexandra was confident and strong willed, encouraged Nicholas to rule as an autocrat, ignore new ideas of shared power.
 * They had five children, four girls and one boy.
 * In 1900, 4/5 citizens of the Russian Empire were peasants
 * Peasants were serfs and slaves of landlords with no rights, freedom or land until 1861 when Tsar Alexander II and Nicholas II's grandfather freed them from serfdom.
 * Allowed them to grow their own food on land.
 * There were deals where peasants had to give their food to a village commune or mir.
 * Had to pay for the land given to the commune in yearly installments called redemption payments over 49 years to own the land.
 * Land was given according to the size of their family, as years passed, the plot of land grew smaller.
 * By 1900 the average size halved, got harder and harder for peasants to support families and keep up with redemption payments.
 * Hard life, half of new born children pass away before 5 while the average life expectancy was 50 years old.
 * Rarely had enough to eat, bread vegetable and a few extras to sell at market for tax and redemption payments.

= The Town Workers =
 * Peasants tried to improve lives by working in nearby towns or cities until harvest time
 * St. Petersburg was the largest city in Russia with a million in search of a job
 * Workers were malnourished, underpaid and overcrowded
 * Were not allowed to trade or go on strike.

= The Rich = = = = Opponents of the Tsar = = Terrorism =
 * Russian nobles were very rich, consisted of 1 percent of the population but owned 25 percent of land.
 * Tsar Nicholas had eight different palaces and 15,000 servants.
 * Those who farmed made large profits while those who didn't could sell their land to pay for their luxurious lifestyles.
 * By 1900, new class was becoming rich, the capitalists.
 * Made money from baking, industry and trade
 * The Minister of Finance Sergei Witte gave them government contracts, loans and cut taxes to allow easy profits.
 * Capitalists did little to improve the worker's conditions and more and more people hated them
 * Many people did not question Tsar's autocracy because they believed that God had appointed them.
 * Others did not accept this and went to great lengths to change Russian government and society.
 * Tsar Alexander II assassinated in 1881 by the "People's Will", a terrorist group.
 * This did not get rid of autocracy but resulted in even more paranoia
 * Successor, Alexander III and grandson Nicholas II both used Okhrana to arrest critics and opponents to avoid such ploys.
 * By 1900, there were still three important groups of opponents.

= The Socialist Revolutionary Party =
 * The first group was the Socialist Revolutionary Party, known as the SRs.
 * Wanted all land in Russia to be given to the mirs so that peasants would have bigger shares of lands to farm on.
 * Land was to be taken from the Tsar, nobles and church.
 * They built "Fighting Organization" to achieve goals and organize terrorist campaigns
 * Managed to kill three government ministers and dozens more of government officials.
 * Gained support from millions of peasants who wanted own lands but could not pay yearly redemption payments.

= The Social Democratic Party = = = = Liberals =
 * The Social Democrats followed ideas from Karl Marx (Wrote the Communist Manifesto)
 * Marx predicted violence when working class overthrew the capitalists who were the rich in the country.
 * Workers would take away factories, mines, machinery and raw materials from capitalists to share among themselves, known as Socialism.
 * He believed that people would work together for the benefits of everyone in a socialist society.
 * Stop being selfish and take what they needed as payment for work. (Communism)
 * The Social Democratic Party was set up in 1898 and argued on how to start a revolution.
 * Split into two groups, Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in 1903.
 * Bolsheviks believed that revolution should be under a small group of dedicated and skilled revolutionaries.
 * The leader was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin who argued that it would take years to start a revolution through wasted time on argument and discussion.
 * Mensheviks believed that the Party should be a mass with many working class members as possible, it would be run democratically with members electing leaders and deciding policies.
 * Julius Martov was their leader and believed that the revolution would fail without support from the working class.
 * They remained split and resulted in three revolutionary groups from then on, the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries.
 * Most law-abiding Russians were liberals, supported Tsar but wanted their share of power.
 * Fought for a democratic system of government
 * Alexander II made plans for a Russian parliament a day before his assassination, Alexander III did not want to ruin his plan.

= The 1905 Revolution = = War against Japan = = = = Bloody Sunday =
 * Japan and Russia fought over Korea and Manchuria.
 * Tsar Nicholas II was glad to go to war, thinking a quick victory would stop people from criticizing the government
 * Results were opposite, Russia suffered terrible losses and in the Battle of Tsushima, he lost all but 3 ships
 * Weakened his positions and made the working conditions for people worse
 * Food supplies to the cities broke down, factories shut down, raw materials ran out and workers became jobless
 * Sunday 22 January 1905, 200,000 workers and families marched through streets of St Petersburg towards the Tsar's Winter Palace.
 * Aim was to ask for better working and living conditions, also to end war against Japan.
 * Led by a priest called Father Gapon
 * When they reached the centre of St Petersburg, the police and soldiers opened fire when scuffles broke out.
 * 500 were killed and thousands more injured
 * Became known as Bloody Sunday, news of this spread causing riots and strikes all over the countryside and towns.
 * Hundreds of government officials were murdered, including the Grand Duke Serge (Tsar Nicholas's uncle).

= The 1905 Revolution = = = = The Aftermath of the 1905 Revolution = = The Dumas =
 * In June 1905 the crew of Potemkin (battleship), threw their officers overboard and took control.
 * Had no plan and gave themselves up a few weeks later.
 * Threatened Tsar Nicholas II, showed that he could not trust his armed forces
 * Peasants in the countryside also started to rebel, killed landlords and burned their farms.
 * The non-Russian people in the Empire also began to declare independence from the Russian rule.
 * On September 1905, strike began.
 * Russian factories, offices, shops, railways, hospitals and schools closed down.
 * Strikers set up councils called Soviets to run towns during the strike.
 * Became an alternate government, striking workers obeyed the soviets and not the Tsar's government.
 * October 1905, the Tsar issued the October Manifesto, allowing Russia to have a Duma (Elected Parliament) to help run the country and give them rights to form political parties and frees speech.
 * Liberals were happy, but revolutionary parties did not trust them, December, 15 members of the St Petersburg Soviet were arrested and exiled.
 * Army crushed the Soviet, killing over a thousand people in Moscow.
 * By 1906 all other areas of revolution was crushed.
 * Bands of thugs known as Black hundreds also organized massacres of revolutionaries.
 * People who joined the revolution in over 100 cities were killed in bloodbaths, government forces did nothing to stop it.
 * Revolution was over in March 1906, elections for Duma was held.
 * In their first meeting in May, Tsar Nicholas II issued set of Fundamental Laws, "To the Emperor of all the Russias belongs supreme autocratic power". Meaning the Duma had changed nothing.
 * The First Duma had no real power and was broken up in 75 days
 * Second Duma elected in 1907, contained liberals, Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats who wanted todestroy autocracy.
 * Broken up in 3 months
 * Third Duma created in 1907 lasted 5 years, Tsar Nicholas II changed the voting laws to prevent revolutionaries from being elected.
 * Mostly made up of politicians who obeyed the Tsar.
 * No power at all and was only put up to show democracy
 * In 1906, he appointed a new Prime Minister to prevent revolution, Peter Stolypin.

= The Stolypin Reforms = = = = Rasputin =
 * Stolypin believed in strict government.
 * His first action was to stop terrorism, in 1906, 1008 terrorists were arrested, tried in special military courts and executed
 * 21,000 people were exiled to Siberia
 * Terrorism was no longer a threat.
 * He helped peasants to own their own land, abolished redemption payment, gave chances for bigger and more productive farms.
 * Conditions in Russia improved, industry and economy grew, millions of peasants began farming efficiently.
 * In 1911, Stolypin's own police agent was a terrorist himself and shot Stolypin dead.
 * Also known as Gregory Efimovitch, he claimed to be a Starets (holy man of God)
 * He claimed to have the power to heal, the Tsar's only son Alexis was hemophiliac (blood cannot clot), when he fell down and suffered from internal bleeding, the Starets prayed at his bedside allowing him to recover.
 * Resulted in him being the most trusted member of the court.
 * Nicknamed Rasputin because of his heavy drinking, affairs and rape.
 * After the death of Stolypin, his influence over the royal family increased, and he began to give political advice to Alexandra.
 * Politicians gained promotions when they were friendly with Rasputin
 * Business men who entertained Rasputin got government contracts easily
 * Hatred of him increased and all Russia knew of his corruption except Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra.

= Summary = Russia was a large and cold empire with a wide range of people. The country was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II under autocracy. The Okhrana, Cossacks and Russian Orthodox Church helped to enforce this and prevent rebellion. The three of the most important revolutionary groups in Russia, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries, were created to change Russia for the better. They attempted to start a revolution but failed. Loss in Russo-Japanese war, Bloody Sunday and strikes forced the Tsar to create the Duma giving them parliament. But he made sure he was still on top by issuing a set of Fundamental Laws, making the Duma ineffective. He also placed a lot of trust and took advice from Rasputin who was seen as corrupt by the Russian people.

= Questions = How did Rasputin gain so much of the Tsar's trust? What is the Stolypin Reforms most similar/different to the Reign of Terror? What was Bloody Sunday, and what caused it? Why didn't the presence of the Duma greatly change anything in Russia? Name all forms of the Russian Society and their differences in life.

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