Russia in Revolution

• Autocracy


  Total power within the Russian Empire, not constrained by constitutional checks
• Russian subjects had no right to free speech or a fair trial under the rule of Nicholas II
• The rule of Nicholas II was a corrupt government
• Nicholas II outlawed trade unions
• Russification (1894-1905)


  1. Aggressive promotion of Russian culture

  2. Suppression of other National cultures
• Russification


  Response to nationalist feeling in parts of the empire (Finland, Ukraine, Georgia, Poland) that the Tsar felt threatened the security of the Empire
• Russification measures


  • Imposed Russian as the official language of the govt and justice system in Baltic states
  • Established Russian language Universities (Tartu University in Estonia)
• Nationalism in Poland became a powerful anti-government force that fed into the 1905 revolution
• Anti-Semitic/Polish/Finnish feeling led to violence against minority communities living in Russia
• Pobodenostev's advice to the Tsar

  1. Promote Orthodoxy as part of the Russian identity

  2. Increase the number of Parish Clergy by 60%

  3. Increase church schools

  4. Send missionaries to establish new churches in Baltic states
• Persecution of other faiths - No other Christian churches, Catholic schools replaced by schools run by the Russian government
• Anti-Semitism under Nicholas II

  1. Enforced limitation of Jewish students in Universities in the Pale Settlement

  2. Dramatic increase in number of Pogroms

  3. Emigration out of Russia
• Okhrana


  Aimed to destroy subversive organisations with extensive powers to arrest and infiltrate opposition groups
• Before 1905, the Okhrana had managed to infiltrate the leadership of the Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries
• The Okhrana also policed universities - banned clubs and societies on campuses, emphasised study of traditional subjects, and banned women from higher education
• The Okhrana carried out widespread surveillance
• Peasants


  80% of Russian population in 1894, owned little to no land
• Introduction of counter-reforms caused resentment amongst peasants - Land Captains replaced by Zemstvos (local committees) and peasants lost right to vote for zemstvos
• Working class


  4% of Russian population, emerged as a result of Witte's attempts to industrialise economy in 1890s
• Working class had high mortality rate, poor living conditions and dangerous factory work, with 12-hour days. Managers could beat up employees and verbally abuse them.
• Strikes and growth of socialist groups in Russia's cities led by the working class
• Russo-Japanese War


  Caused by Tsar's choice to try expand empire through invading China
• Russo-Japanese War resulted in a humiliating defeat of the Russian army and navy, forcing them to surrender
• Russo-Japanese War


  Economic strain, could no longer meet the needs of the people with food prices rising and wages remaining the same
• Russo-Japanese War exposed Nicholas II as incompetent - he refused to listen to bad news, appointed generals with little experience of modern warfare, and trusted religion over tactics
• Bloody Sunday


  1905 protest led by Father Gapon at the Winter Palace to present a petition asking for better pay and work conditions, met with a massacre by local officials
• Bloody Sunday propaganda showed the Tsar cared little for his people and led to waves of protest
• Peasant Revolt involved violence against government officials/landowners/government property and land seizures
• Mutiny of Battleship Potemkin - Sailors rebelled against their officers and took control of the ship, sailing to Odesa and firing on government forces trying to suppress revolution
• Massive scale strikes broke out across Russia's cities
• St Petersburg Soviet


  Initially set up in October 1905 to co-ordinate the September/October General Strike, but took over important aspects of running the whole city. First of many such soviets e.g. Odesa/Moscow. Campaigned for an 8 hour working day and encouraged workers not to pay tax. Trotsky had a leading role.
• The St Petersburg Soviet was forced to close in early December when Tsarist troops stormed their meeting
• August Manifesto


  Promised to establish a Duma and set out a complex electoral system which gave all Russian men the right to vote, but ensured votes of the rich were worth more than the votes of the poor. Failed to win over liberals who thought it was consultative not legislative, and did not include national minorities or guarantee individual rights.
• October Manifesto


  Introduced seemingly radical reforms - freedom of expression, universal suffrage rights for all Russian men with equal weighting for rich and poor, elected Duma, political parties and trade unions legalised.
• Socialists argued that the October Manifesto reforms failed to address peasants' desire for land or workers' need for better conditions, leading to a strike called by the St Petersburg Soviet.
• The Black Hundreds began pogroms against the Jewish and street fights with striking workers, killing thousands of Jews.
• Returning troops from the Russo-Japanese War allowed the government to send the army to crush protests in cities, as the troops were not exposed to radical propaganda. Their loyalty was rewarded through pay increases, better rations, and new clothing.
• The Fundamental Laws were the Tsar's attempt to reassert his authority, giving him sole authority over the army and dealings with foreign nations, and the right to dissolve the Duma.
• First Duma


  Octoberists and Liberal Kadets, demanded land reform and universal suffrage, dissolved after 73 days because they made too many radical demands.
• Vyborg Manifesto


  Issued by radicals from the first Duma who fled to the Finnish town of Vyborg, calling on the Russian people to refuse to pay tax until the Duma was re-established. Failed to have an impact.