unit 1 - dissent and revolution

• russian society was dominated by the influence of the orthodox church
• there were no political parties before 1906
• most popular political parties:

  • ocotbrists
  • kadets
  • social revolutionaries
  • mensheviks
  • bolsheviks
• tsar nicholas 2nd had been monarch of russia since 1894
• the tsar was an autocratic leader

  autocracy meant that all power was in the hands of the tsar who had no legal restraints on his power
• october manifesto:

  • a duma , parliment , was created
  • freedom of speech
  • right to form political parties
  • fundamental laws accepted the duma but with limited power
• liberals - octobrists and kadets:

  • supporters of moderate reform
  • wanted full equality and civil rights , an end to censorship
  • wanted a constitutional monarchy - monarch has limited power , government make laws , govern country etc
• socialist revolutionaries:

  • anarchist wing
  • wanted to work with other parties to achieve immediate improvement in conditions
• bloody sunday january 1905:

  • thousands of workers and their families organised a peaceful march to the winter palace in st petersburg
  • the intended to demand for better working conditions , fair wages and political reforms as well as giving them a voice in governement
  • however as the marchers approached the police they were met by troops/ police who opened fire on them - hundreds of protesters killed / wounded
• consequences of bloody sunday:

  • breaking of bond between the tsar and his people - loss of popular support for Nicholas 2nd
  • politically - duma established - bringing in a brief era of parlimentary government
  • petrograd soviet established - showed solidarity of workers - however didnt last long
• peasant russia:

  • 80 percent of population = peasants
  • 50 percent of these peasants were surfs
  • agrarian economy had failed to develop
• Problems with ww1 - army:

  • russia had the largest army - 6 million people
  • 1915-munitions crisis-russia under equipped - limited to only 3 shells per day
  • 1915-tsar made himself commander in chief of army - so he was responsible for russias performance- he undermined brusiloves stratedgy
  • battle of tannenburg-300,000 men dead/ wounded
• Economic and social state of russia during ww1:

  • Inflation rised to 200%
  • famine in town and cities
  • factory workers and farm labourers conscripted into army
  • transport interrupted
  • gov spending increased