RUSSIA 1894-1921

• At the end of the 19th century, Russia was the largest state in Europe, covering almost 123 million square kilometres and with a population of around 130 million
• Compared with the other great powers – Britain, France and Germany – Russia was economically underdeveloped, and there was a great gulf between the rich and the poor
• Tsar Nicholas II


  An autocrat with unlimited power who ruled Russia from 1894 to 1917
• Nicholas II belonged to the Romanov dynasty, which had governed Russia since the early 17th century
• Nicholas II was staunchly opposed to reforms which might have reduced the inequalities that plagued Russian society
• Russia


  • A multiracial, multifaith empire
  • Only 45% of the population were ethnic Russians, the rest comprised Armenians, Germans, Georgians, Poles, Ukrainians, and many Asiatic peoples
• The tsarist regime alienated the different ethnic groups through a policy of 'Russification' – enforcing the Russian language as well as the Orthodox Christianity and laws throughout the land
• Almost 70% of the empire's population followed the Orthodox faith, but there were significant Catholic, Muslim and Jewish minorities
• Russia's 5 million Jews endured frequent persecution, were blamed for Russia's troubles and subjected to periodic pogroms, and many fled to Western Europe or the United States
• Social hierarchy in Russia

  • The tsar governed with the support of the landowning aristocracy
  • There were no truly independent institutions in Russian society
  • The leaders of the Orthodox Church were appointed by the tsar
  • The vast majority of Russians were peasants
• Peasants had been free (not bound to a landlord) since the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, but this had brought few changes
• Peasants belonged to communes or mirs – agricultural cooperatives which organised the distribution of land between households
• Peasants had to make 'redemption payments' for the land they received
• Famines were frequent, and the government could not move food from places where it was plentiful to those where it was lacking
• There was widespread poverty, and production levels were low
• Peasants were encouraged to move from the west of Russia to Siberia, where land was plentiful but natural conditions were too harsh to support a prosperous agriculture
• In 1882, a Land Bank was founded to provide money for local communities and individual peasants to buy land
• In 1905, redemption payments were cancelled, but in reality this made little difference to the peasants
• Economic structure


  • Agricultural methods were underdeveloped
  • Russia exported wheat, but profits did not benefit the peasantry
  • The government's revenues were limited by an inefficient and corruptible taxation system
  • The regime spent its money unwisely, allocating funds generously to the army and police but little on improving the economy
• Nicholas II was simply not interested in modernisation or reform, and remained firmly committed to autocracy
• The general Russian populace became increasingly alienated from the government and their landlords, although most peasants continued to believe in the tsar as an individual
• Autocracy


  A system of government in which unlimited power is held by a single ruler
• Nicholas II announced, 'I shall maintain the principle of autocracy just as firmly as did my unforgettable father'
• Alexander III, who ruled from 1881 to 1894, had opposed any reforms in Russia, believing they threatened his power and the ancient traditions on which the Romanov dynasty had been built
• Nicholas II kept his promise throughout his reign: resisting change however much circumstances within Russia altered
• The 'Khodynka tragedy' occurred during the festivities of Nicholas II's coronation in May 1896, where more than 1300 people were crushed to death and a similar number injured when the crowd stampeded
• Nicholas II attended a celebratory ball the same evening, despite the tragedy
• Tsarist political system


  • The tsar was in charge of appointing and dismissing ministers, and there was no parliament to limit his authority
  • The army put down violent unrest and the secret police (Okhrana) kept political dissidents under observation
  • The Orthodox Church fully supported the tsar's rule
• Nicholas II


  Personally a kind man, devoted to his wife and children, but lacked the qualities required in an effective ruler
• Nicholas II focused on the detail of day-to-day administration, and failed to get to grips with larger issues
• The State Council and Senate, which were supposed to help the tsar govern, did not restrict his personal power
• Russia was administered much less efficiently than the more modern states in Western Europe
• Sergei Witte


  • A forward-thinking Russian statesman who believed the answer to Russia's problems lay in foreign loans and foreign exports
  • Increased taxes and raised money abroad to fund industrial growth and railway development
  • His policies led to impressive increases in industrial growth, but also caused problems like increased national debt and declining living standards for most of the population
• Nicholas II gave Witte little support, and he was despised among members of the court and other nobility, who considered his ideas dangerous
• By the end of the 19th century, liberals in Russia were pressing for constitutional political change and increased civil liberties, but they were not very powerful
• Opposition to the tsarist regime often turned to political violence, as critics could not find legal opportunities to express their views
• The most significant political killing was the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by bomb-throwing members of a revolutionary society in 1881
• The liberal political movement in Russia in the late 19th/early 20th century was middle class and did not appeal to the peasants. There were no official liberal parties until the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution, when the political climate became a little more favourable to their activities. The main liberal party in 1905 was known as the Kadets, which campaigned for a reformed monarchy, subject to limitations on its power.
• The oppressive nature of the tsarist political system meant that opposition tended to be driven underground. Critics of the government could not find legal opportunities to express their views. Consequently they often turned to political violence.
• It was a common saying among educated foreign observers of Russia in the 19th century that its political system consisted of 'autocracy tempered [moderated] by assassination'.