Russia: 1905-1914

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GCSE History Flashcards on Russia: 1905-1914, created by harry.vinall on 05/04/2015.
harry.vinall
Flashcards by harry.vinall, updated more than 1 year ago
harry.vinall
Created by harry.vinall over 9 years ago
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Question Answer
Did the Tsar honour his promises of October? To an extent, a state Duma with political parties was created. However the Tsar did backtrack somewhat through his fundamental laws which asserted that : 1) Supreme autocratic power belongs to the tsar 2) No law can come into power without the tsar's permisssion and he could dissolve the Duma at any time 3) Tsar had the right to appoint and dismiss ministers whenever he chooses In addition civil liberties were suppressed
Who was appointed president of the council of ministers and what was his ideology? Peter Stolypin: 'Suppression first and then, and only then, reform
What is the Soviet and western view of Russia's stability in 1914? Revolution inevitable, any attempt at reform doomed to fail. Focus on the suppression of the revolution e.g. 200,000 political prisoners of 1908 and 5,000 death sentences 1907-09 Less ready to accept inevitable revolution, period before WW1 upon to many possibilities. Use of terror sometimes excused by the revolutionary terrorism he was facing.
What did Stolypin do in terms of law and order? What was the impact? Harsh repression: statistics mentioned plus 1906-12 1000 newspapers ceased publication and 600 trade unions forced to close. The justice system was made much harsher under Stolypin This was very effective in 1908 political assassinations by revolutionaries fell to 365; one of his greatest achievements. However in the long term repression caused resentment to build up
What did he do in terms of the peasents? 'Freed' them from the control of the commune; redemption payments (the monies surfs had to pay back after emancipation) abolished; peasants encouraged to move to undeveloped Siberia with the incentive of cheap land financed by government loans. This aimed to create a wealthier class of peasants (the Kulaks). Hoped that worse off peasants, how would inevitably be created by the elevation of other peasants, would move to the cities to aid industrial development
What was the impact of these reforms? Majority didn't withdraw from the mir, but about 20% had done so by 1916, some two million families whilst another 3.5 million moved to Siberia. Number of peasants owning land increased from 20% to 50% between 1905-1914. However the population increased by 21% between 1900 and 1910 adding nearly 30 million to the population. This created a further imbalance between prosperous peasants and their poverty stricken neighbours; dividing the countryside was potentially beneficial. Agricultural production increased by an average of 2% a year between 1881-1914. Countryside relatively stable. But by 1914 90% of peasants still engaged in primitive strip farming; stability could be attributed to good harvests rather than government policies; resistance of peasants to these moderate changes showed an agrarian revolution would be very difficult (peasants saw this change as a threat to their way of life)
What did Stolypin do in terms of industrial workers? Urban areas largely ignored, could be argued Stolypin operated in a post-1905 atmosphere in which Russia had to modernise in a different way to different nations
On a social level what was the aim of his peasant based reform and why did it fail? To create a petty-bourgeoisie who had a steak in the system and so wouldn't overthrow it but because many of his reforms that were meant to accompany his agrarian reform, which aimed to give the Kulaks equal political and legal rights were blocked, this was largely unsuccessful
How stable were urban areas on the brink of WW1? Industrial production grew at a rate of 6% per year between 1907 and 1914. Membership of trade unions and of the most radical political parties dropped considerably (300,000 TU members 1907 40,000 1913). Strike action peaked in 1905-06 and then fell steadily until 1911. In 1912 the Lena goldfields massacre occurred in which government troops shot around 200 striking miner. Nearly a million workers went on strike in the same year, while over a million went on strike during the first half of 1914, with a general strike being called in St. Petersburg
What happened in the first Duma? Largest group Trudoviks (radicals) and the Kadets. Socialist parties largely boycotted the elections.. All groups wanted reform, including the releasee of political prisoners. When requests refused there was a vote of no confidence in the PM. Dissolved after 72 days for being too radical and hostile towards the government.
What was the impact of the early dissolution? What happened? Frustrated people. Group of Duma deputies (mainly kadets) issued the Vyborg manifesto asking the people to resist the tsar through non-payment of tax. This was largely ignored and the 200 deputies were excluded from future elections.
What happened in the second Duma? More successful as passed important land reforms. Socialist parties ran and won a number of seats however the duma was dissolved after 3 months after criticising the army. The police framed radical members of the Duma with various offences
What was the impact of the second Duma? To ensure the government received greater support only the wealthiest 30% of the male population could vote, this technically violated the fundamental laws and thus undermined the one potential base of political support (the liberals)
What happened in the third and forth Dumas? Dubbed the Duma of Lords and Lackeys the third Duma was far more right wing. Stolypin used it to push through further land reforms. The forth Duma was unsuccessful without Stolyplin. Overall these two Dumas were more productive as, being less radical, they had more influence. Successes included a plan for universal primary education within 10 years.
How did Stolypin see the Duma? As a body to endorse government policy
Why was the impact of Stolyplin limited? Operating in a post 1905 atmosphere; didn't have much time (assassinated 1911); many reforms blocked by Tsar. Politically inflexible and alienated both the Duma and the aristocracy. No political party so when he died his reforms died with him
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