dark masses

• • 66% of the empire were non-Russians.
  • Over 100 different ethnic groups, such as Poland, Ukraine, and Georgia; spanning over 7000 miles from the Baltic States to the East finalnd to estonia : multitude cultures european/asian + 25% of the Empire’s industrial output came from Poland and the Ukraine was the ‘bread basket’ of Russia imp russian economy
• resented Russification policies

  • Hotbeds of nationalism and revolutionism, viewing independence as a solution.
  • Examples include Muslim revolutionary groups in the Chechen region, Georgian nationalists in the South, and Polish Socialist Party and Finnish independence groups in the North.
• 1905 rev 


  goups would become very active during the crisis of 1904-5 when the economic hardship resulting from the Ruuso-Jap War affected these areas accutely.