Opposition

• This video is on Tsarist Russia, looking at opposition ideas and ideology between 1894 and 1914
• This is the precursor to the revolutions of 1917
• The video is mainly aimed at A-level history students, looking at Tsarist and Communist Russia from Alexander II through to 1963
• The video will cover opposition ideas and ideologies: liberalism, socialism, Marxism, individuals, and radical groups
• Liberalism before 1904


  • Wanted a national assembly to influence government decisions
  • Wanted abolition of corporal punishment
  • Wanted end of land captains
  • Wanted extension of primary education
• In 1896, Shipov attempted to set up the All-Zemstvo Organization to represent the views of zemstvos across Russia, but it was immediately banned
• In 1900, the government organised the dismissal of hundreds of liberals from elected boards of the zemstvos
• Union of Liberation


  Formed by liberals in 1904 to work for a peaceful evolution to a constitutional system
• Liberals declared their intentions to work for a constitutional government through the Union of Liberation in 1904
• Liberals organised secret bank society banquets in 1904-1905 to meet and discuss their objectives
• Liberals


  • Wanted a constitutional monarchy, not to overthrow the Tsar
  • Opposed violence or direct action
  • Feared the rule of the people
• The October Manifesto gave concessions that the liberals had been campaigning for, but they felt let down by the Fundamental Laws of 1906
• The Cadets, a key liberal group, issued the Vyborg Appeal in 1906 calling for civil disobedience, but received little support
• Struve


  • Lawyer, economist, philosopher with an interest in Marxism
  • Leader amongst moderate Russian Marxists and liberals after 1900
  • Forced into exile in Germany and then Paris
  • Returned to Russia in 1905 and was elected to the Second Duma
  • Supported the government in 1914 but later opposed the Bolshevik Revolution
• Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs)


  • Focused on the peasantry and wanted to redistribute agricultural land
  • Committed to terrorism and assassination to achieve their aims
  • Responsible for over 2,000 political assassinations, including ministers and Stolypin
  • Declining in popularity after 1905 due to lack of change and repression
• Marxism


  • Based on the writings of Karl Marx
  • Calls for revolution where workers take control of the means of production and redistribute wealth
  • Envisioned this happening in industrialised countries like Britain or Germany, not feudal Russia
• Marxist activity in Russia in the mid-1890s was limited due to repressive policies and the country's feudal state
• Marxist theory of historical development


  1. Means of production

  2. Re-education

  3. Communism (perfect society where people share and take only what they need)
• Russia was not at the point where a Marxist revolution was expected to happen according to Marx's theory
• Marx expected a Marxist revolution to happen in Britain or Germany, not Russia which was still in the feudal period
• In the mid-1890s, Marxist activity in Russia was limited due to repressive policies and the small size of the urban working class
• Formation of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP)

  1. First congress in 1898 with 9 men

  2. Produced a manifesto asserting social democracy in Russia could follow Marx's path

  3. Driving force for change was the industrial proletariat, not the peasantry
• Bolsheviks


  Majority group led by Lenin, wanted a small group of professional revolutionaries to undermine the Tsarist system
• Mensheviks


  Minority group led by Martov, argued the bourgeois stage of Marxist theory had to run its course first
• Bolsheviks and Mensheviks split


  Weakened the social democratic movement
• Mensheviks


  Willing to work within the democratic system
• Bolsheviks


  Wanted to overthrow the liberal democracy and Tsarist system at the same time
• Bolsheviks


  Boycotted the first two Duma elections, then later decided to participate in the third and fourth Dumas
• Both the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks struggled after 1905 due to the split, repression, and the impact of the failed revolution
• Key Bolshevik and Menshevik figures like Lenin, Martov and Trotsky were in exile, making it difficult for the groups to function
• The Bolsheviks had some support from trade unions in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and launched the Pravda newspaper in 1912
• The impact of the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks on politics was very limited prior to 1917
• Georgi Plekhanov


  Considered the "father of Russian Marxism", was a key figure in the populist movement and co-founded the RSDWP
• Vladimir Lenin


  Born to a middle-class family, became a Marxist revolutionary, wrote the pamphlet "What is to be Done?" arguing for a small group of professional revolutionaries
• Julius Martov


  Disagreed with Lenin, argued the social democratic movement should broaden its base through trade unions, cooperatives and soviets, and work with liberals
• Leon Trotsky


  Born Lev Bronstein, tried to find common ground between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks