Social developments to 1914

• • There were more factories in Russian major cities and growing numbers of small workshops, swelled urban opportunities
  • There were 2 million factory workers in Russia by 1900 and 6 mil by 1913
  • Between 1867-1917 the urban population x4 from 7 mil to 28 mil due to more peasants looking for work in the city. 


  Population of workers by 1917
• • Some settled temporarily: retaining their land and returning to their villages to help out families for harvest
  • Some joined migrants who stayed in one place for a few years and moved to the next
  • Others put down their roots and had children in one place.
  • By 1914, 3 out of 4 people living in St Petersburg were peasants by birth compared to 1 in 3 50 years prior.
  • More than half of the cities population arrived in the last 20 years 


  Groups of people who migrated to cities
• • Peasants often lived in barrack-like buildings owned by factory owners, overcrowded and unsanitary
  • Workers had to eat in communal spaces and share bathrooms
  • About 40% of Russian houses had no running water or sewage system in St P.
  • Excrements were placed in backyards and collected by carts at night... so in 1908-09 around 30,000 people died of cholera. 


  Living conditions of peasants
• • Wages were really low and rent prices were high, often took up half of an average workers wage
  • Those who couldn't afford rent would either sleep in the factory or rough sleep outside
  • The amount they got paid varied depending on if they were skilled or unskilled
  • Women: compromised 1/5 of industrial workforce in 1885 and 1/3 in 1914 were paid the lowest and earned less than half of the average industrial wage. 


  Wages
• Increased from just 245 to 264 roubles pr month down to 1914 despite of the 1900-08 depression. Inflation was at 40%. 


  Average industrial wage
• • Normal factory working hours were reduced to 10 by 1914, not applying to workshops which were more common
  • Education was more widespread, with 85% rise in primary school provision between 1905-1914 and gov promoted technical schools and universities
  • By 1914, 55% of children were in full-time education 


  Work and education
• • 1885: prohibited night-time employment of women and children
  • 1886: workers had to be employed according to contracts overseen by factory boards
  • 1892: employment of children under 12 is forbidden and female labour banned in mines
  • 1897: hours of work reduced to 11.5 hrs
  • 1903: more efficient system of factory inspection
  • 1912: sickness and accident insurance for workers

  Workers legislation 1885-1912
• • strikes used to be rare before 1905 due to strike activity being illegal and the Secret Police became more efficient
  • As well as a smaller number of workers and their desperation of retaining their jobs
  • From 1912 strike activity started again and in 1914 were there was 3574 stoppages
  • The only response to these strikes from the gov was repression 


  How were towns and cities breeding grounds for political discontent
• • Gold miners of Lena riverbanks in northern Siberia worked for long hours for low pay in an inhospitable climate
  • In 1912, a group of miners went on strike over inedible horsemeat and Bolsheviks helped to spread these activities
  • When ringleaders were arrested, miners converged into one mine to present a petition
  • As they approached, they were fired at and around 500 were killed/injured. 


  Lena goldfields massacre 1912
• • conditions didn't really improve and strip farming persisted on 90% of land and there was still rural poverty
  • There was still a massive gap between the richest and poorest. Kulaks still took advantage of the poorer peasants

  Peasant farms
• Only 3.5 million from the peasant population of nearly 97 million were only able to take advantage of this scheme. 


  How far did the migration to Siberia scheme work
• • Village commune remained at the heart of peasant life and the proportion of land held by communes fell from 73% to 60% even after Stolypin's reforms.
  • Within the commune, peasants supported one another through bad weather, illness and had community solidarity.
  • Religion brought them closer together and with cohesiveness of rural society


  Peasant communities
• • their position suffered from the emancipation but some did benefit from the land distribution, industrial enterprises and financial speculation. Others maintained their position in gov or military positions
  • Around 1/3 o fall nobles' land was transferred to towns people or peasants between 1861-1905
  • There were some peasants who struggled to pay off debts, failed to understand modern money management and investment in the future. 


  The Nobility
• The traditional structure was nobles, merchants, clergy and peasantry. The middle class challenged this as the economy grew. New businessmen and professionals could carve out their lives so there was some social mobility as some nobles sons could chose to take the business route and even mobility was present in the peasantry. 


  How did the middle class challenge the traditional legal structure of Russia
• Force as management and professional positions became more in demand in the increasingly complex industrialised society. There was a development of infrastructure and plenty of opportunities for enterprise. The growth of education also allowed this chnage to happen and the middle class found their way into the zemstvo's and state duma which meant they exerted more influence than they had hoped.


  Why did the middle class grow?
• • Russia's industrialised society required specialists and those with professional training and by 1914 there was a growing number of the new positions such as managers, statisticians, pharmacists and civil engineers.
  • The number of doctors rose to 28,000 from 17,000 between 1897 and 1914 and a total of graduate teachers doubled between 1906-14 reaching over 20,000
  • Professional associations, scientific societies and voluntary organisations were created by professionals rather than the nobility 


  The new industrial society
• Population growth and economic development affected this group the most. In the countryside social adjustments were taking place. Before 1914, most peasant protests were due ot traditional grievances such as failed harvest or unfair land allocation, this time is the exposure and interets in politics that set them of. 


  Workers and peasantry
• Former peasants alienated from their families and their roots, loosing something from their former identity and began to associate with the others that lived there and worked in close proximity to share their grievances with. This is an opportunity for political agitators to share their thoughts which is one of the biggest mistakes that Nicholas had chosen to ignore because this is how many people would be discontent at once. 


  Workers in urban areas
• • Remained largely untouched alongside family and household structures.
  • Economic and political changes did allow for some degree of change and despite Alex III and NICHOLAS trying to limit women's educational opportunities, they did grow and women did find some level of independence working in factories.
  • In December 1908, the First All-Russian Congress of Women was attended by 1035 delegates in St P and it campaigned for a female franchise. 


  Patriarchy in Russian society
• • Gov education, in primary schools, expenditure grew from 5 million roubles in 1898 to over 82 million by 1914
  • By 1911, over 6.2 million children between 8-11 were receiving primary education, only 1/3 were girls and in urban areas there were more opportunities for them than in the rural ones.
  • Still 40% illiteracy by 1914 but a basic form of education did help
  • Number of books and publishers increased especially after 1905 and the press boom.

  Growth of education
• • 1700 newspapers being published weekly by 1914
  • Reading rooms established and literature flourished in which a theme of those who better themselves was common
  • Most writers and artists used their art to address problems in Russian society

  Popular press boom
• • Remained largely elite
  • Number of students in uni 1860-1914 grew from 5,000 to 69,000 (45% of which were women)
  • In 1911, 1/4 students in secondary schools came from peasantry background, this only amounted to 30,000 ppl.

  Secondary and higher education
• • Relaxation of Russia censorship controls since 1905 dominated by poets
  • There was modernisation in the arts such as Stravinsky's music or Malevich's paintings
  • Russia was a part of the modern work and was more advanced than their economic neighbours in terms of culture.

  The 'Silver age' of Russian culture
• The year of 1913 was a tercentenary year of the Romanov dynasty, jubilee rituals to celebrate the permanency of the Romanovs, encouraging the wearing of traditional Muscovite costumes and orthodox ceremonies to mark the occasion. Whilst touring Russia Nicholas said 'my people love me' and Alexandra also said 'We need merely to show ourselves and at once their hearts are ours'. 


  How did some tradition stay in Russian culture