The collapse of autocracy

• Personal rule of Nicholas II

  • Became Tsar in September 1894
  • He had little idea of how to rule but felt he had a divine right to uphold
  • Relied on the army and the Okhrana to deal with any challenges to his authority
  • He dismissed Witte in 1903, leaving himself surrounded by reactionary ministers
  • Every decision he made, he believed was Gods will so he was unwillig to comprimise, which led the peasants to fully rebel
• Russo-Japanese war

  • In January 1904, the Japanese attacked the Russian naval base at Port Arthur in China
  • Russian forces were defeayed at Mukden in March
  • In May, 24/27 ships of the Russian fleet were sunk
  • December, Russia surrendered Port Arthur
  • The defeats turned from anti-Japanese patriotism into discontent and increased opposition to the government
  • Russian people felt humilliated and it felt like the loss at Crimea - highlighted that nothing seemed to have chaged
• Unrest

  • After the famine, there was serious unrest
  • There was public distrust and a belief that ordinary members of society should have a bigger role in the nations affairs
  • Industrial strikes esculated in towns, numbering from 17,000 in 1894 to 90,000 in 1904
  • Peasants suffering from land hunger destroyed landlords barns
  • Industrial workers formed illegal trade unions and became involved in strikes
  • In 1904, an offical union was formed by Father Gapon, supported by the government in order to prevent workers joining radical socialists
• Bloody Sunday - 9th January 1905

  • A strike began at the Putilov Iron Works in St Petersburg involving 150,000 workers
  • 12,000 troops were sent to break up the demonstration, despite the wish of Gapon to present a peaceful petition to Nicholas II
  • They opened fire - 40 people died and thousands were wounded
  • The point that people realised something had to change and Nicholas II would not be convinced by peaceful methods
• Mutiny on the battleship Potemkin - 14th June 1905

  • There was a protest on one of the Russia Black Sea ships which began over a mouldy meat ration and led to a full scale muitiny where 7 officers were killed
  • They hoisted the red revolutionary flag and sailed to Odessa
  • When the townsfolk arrived to show solidarity, troops fired on them - 2,000 were killed and 3,000 wounded
  • It showed that the government didnt care about the military
  • There was very little support for autocracy left and the rebels got hope as the troops were the thing stopping them from revolting
• The October Manifesto

  • The economic crisis compelled Nicholas to introduce the October Manifesto in the Autumn
  • Established an elected national parliament for the first time
  • Political parties became legal and a range of civil rights were granted
  • The Liberals supported it, viewing it as a first step towards a consitutional government
  • The socialists felt that it was not enough and fighting broke out
  • Despite the promise of 'full civil rights', striking workers were forced back to their factories with violence
• Reason the Tsar survived

  • The revolutionary parties were not very involved
  • The army remained loyal to the Tsar despite mutinies - the anger within the military was not widespread and after their pay was increased and service reduced they were brought back onside
  • The violence scared the middle classes so they did not join
  • The October Manifesto split the opposition which made it easier for the government to crush the socialists
  • Nicholas‘ brutal suppression was effective in reestablishing control
• The Fundamental Laws - April 1906

  • A new constitution was drawn up and political parties were legalised for the election - although the SRs and Bolsheviks refused to participate
  • Four days before the first Duma met, the Tsar issued the Fundamental Laws which gave him the right to:
  • Exercise supreme autocratic power
  • Initiate legislation and approve laws
  • Appoint and dismiss ministers
  • Summon and dissolve the Duma
  • Rule by decree in an emergency or when the Duma was not in session
• First Duma - May-June 1906

  • It was dominated by Kadets and radicals, with many peasant representatives
  • It demanded radical constitutional change
  • It passed a vote of no confidence in the government and was dissolved
• Second Duma - February-June 1907

  • Stolypin, the new PM, engineered elections to increase the number of Octobrists
  • The Bolsheviks and SRs participated, increasing the number of radical deputies
  • It opposed most Tsarist proposals, including agrarian reform
  • It was dissolved and leading radicals were exiled
• Third Duma - November 1907 - June 1912

  • Stolypin introduced an emergency law to reduce the representation of peasants and workers
  • Consequently, Octobrists and Conservatives dominated and the Duma was more compliant
  • However, there were still some disputes with the Tsar and it was twice suspended
• Fourth Duma - November 1912 - 1917

  • The right and left wing deputies could not cooperate and the fourth Duma was increasingly ignored
  • It voted for war credits in 1914 but was suspended in 1915 after demanding power
• Industrial transformation of Russia

  • Witte believed that industrialisation was essential to curb revolutionary unrest
  • The Russian economy grew at a rate of 8% per annum from 1892-1914
  • Interest rates were raised to encourage foreign loans
  • A new rouble, backed by the value of gold, was issued to increase business confidence
  • Foreign capital was raised to fund the development of railways, electricity plants, mining and oilfields
  • Heavy industry was prioritised over light industry
• The extent of growth

  • By 1914, Russia had 62,000 kilometres of railway track, the second longest in the world
  • The Trans-Siberian railway was built to link European Russia with the East Asia
  • Railway development stimulated heavy industries, reduced transport costs for manufacturers and provided government revenue
  • However, the cost of industrialisation was high and Russia became dependent on foreign investment
  • By 1914, Russia was the 5th largest industrial power
• The development of agriculture

  • Agriculture remained small scale and inefficient
  • Stolypin believed that a radical reform of agriculture was required to prevent further peasant unrest
  • The mir system and collective ownership of land by families was abolished in November 1906
  • Redemption payments were abolished in January 1907 and peasants became free to leave their villages
  • Peasants could apply for permission to consolidate scattered strips into single farms
  • Government subsides to encourage people to move to colonies in Siberia were increased
• Successes of Stolypins agricultural legislation

  • Peasant ownership of land increased from 20% in 1905 to nearly 50% in 1915
  • Grain production rose annually and, by 1909, Russia was the worlds leading cereal exporter
  • Some peasants, the Kulaks, consolodated their land, often 'buying out' poorer peasants to create more efficent and profitable farms
  • Around 3.5 million peasants moved from overpopulated areas to Sibera, creating a major agricultural region there for dairy and cereals
  • Some peasants sold out and moved to the towns to find work, so boosting the industrial labour supply
• Faluires of Stolypins agricultural legislation

  • By 1914, only around 10% of land had been transferred from communal to private ownership
  • In 1914, 90% of peasant holdings were still based on scattered strips and peasants were still reluctant to change farming methods
  • The poorer peasants lost their land and many became migrants looking for seasonal farm work or factory employment
  • Siberia proved difficult terrain for those who relocated there
  • Stolypins reforms did not adress the key issue - the redistribution of land held by the nobility, who retained 50% of the land - and land hunger remained
• Impact of industrialisation of the middle class

  • Factory and workshop owners, managers, traders and professionals became more prominent in society and played a major role in the Zemstva
  • The lack of an elected national assembly until 1906 often made them opponents to the regime
• Impact of industrialisation on urban growth

  • The urban population quadrupled from 7 to 28 million between 1867 and 1917 and by 1914, factory workers made up nearly 10% of the population
• Impact of industrialisation on urban conditions

  • Most suffered appaling working and living conditions
  • Mortality rates were high
  • Some rented rooms in overcrowded blocks and some slept alongside their machines in the factories
  • Around 40% of rented houses in St Petersburg had no running water
  • There was limited regulation in the workplace and employers were able to pay minimal wages that failed to keep pace with inflation
  • An industrial depression from 1900 to 1908 hit workers hard
• Laws to improve working conditions

  • 1880s - Night time work for women and children was banned and contracts of employment had to be drawn up
  • 1890s - Employment of children under 12 and female labour in mines was banned and working hours were reduced to 11.5 per day
  • 1900-1905 - Factory inspecorate was expanded and trade unions were made legal
  • 1910 - 1914 - Sickness and accident insurance for workers was introduced and normal factory hours were reduced to 10 hours per day
• Industrial militancy

  • Real wages (what workers could buy with earnings) declined in the years 1910 to 1913 because of inflation - there were increasing strikes in these years
  • In 1912, the some miners in Sibera went on strike, working long hours for poor pay in harsh climate- around 500 were killed when the army intervened
  • In 1912 there were 2,000 seperate strikes across Russia
  • In 1913 there were 24,000
  • In 1914 there were over a million
  • In July 1914, a general strike started in St Petersburg, but ended just before the war began
• Nobility change

  • About a third of nobels land was transferred to peasants and town dwellers between 1861 and 1914
  • However, the majority of nobels retained their landed wealth while the Tsar relied on them to fill the top positions in government
• Living and working conditions in the countryside

  • Most peasants continued to live a a subsistence level, subject to reccurent famine (1891-1892 / 1898-1901)
  • Grain output per acre was less than a third of that of Britain or Germany yet peasants were driven hard to to produce a surplus for export and pay high taxes
  • Rural population growth made conditions worse
  • The gulf between the Kulaks and poor peasants widened
  • Peasant mortality rates were high
  • Living standards varied - in Ukraine there was much prosperous, commercial farming whereas backward farming methods dominated in central Russia
• The influence of the Church

  • The Orthodox Church had close ties with the Tsarist regime (divine right)
  • The had considerable sway over the peasantry
  • Priests had close ties to the village and were expected to read out Tsarist decrees and inform the police of subversive activity
  • They excersised censorship controls and Church courts handed out punishments for social and moral crimes
  • Under Alexander III the Church was given increased control over primary education and it became an offence to convert from Orthodoxy to another faith
• Cultural changes

  • The Orthodox Church had less hold over the growing working class in the cities, for many of whom socialist ideas had more appeal
  • Economic development from 1894 to 1914 brought new opportunities for women as educational provision was expanded
  • By 1914, 45% of children aged 8-11 were in primary school
  • By 1914, an increasing number of books were being published and the popular press florished after censorship was ended in 1905
  • Nevertheless, millions remained respectful of the autocracy and Orthodox Church
• Zemstva and growth of liberal opposition

  • The liberals were strongly represented in the Zemstva
  • Many of them were professionals who were highly critical of autocracy
  • Alexander IIIs introduction of Land Captains in 1889 to remove complaining Zemstva members and over rule desisions only increased their opposition
  • The governments inability to coordinate famine relief which the Zemstva were left to provide exemplified Tsarist incompetence
• Influence of liberals

  • They had limited political influence before 1905 but were mostly won over by the October Manifesto and the establishment of a Duma
  • They were largely represented by the Kadets (Constitutional democracts)
  • The liberals tried to cooperate with the Tsarist government but were fustrated by the changing views of his advisors
  • A number of Kadet leaders were arrested after the first Duma
  • The Tsar increasingly ignored or overruled the Dumas
• The Socialist Revolutionary Party

  • Established in 1901
  • Combined Marxism with the populist belief of land redistribution
  • Carried out over 2,000 political assasinations from 1901 to 1905