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The collapse of autocracy, 1894-1917, Prov gov failed to win the war,…

- - - - Small and naturally reserved boy. He did not posses his fathers strength nor intelligance.
        
        Pobedonostev installed the idea that weakness was a sign of failure.
        
        Declared that he was resolved to Maintain the principle of autocracy.
        
        Committed to orthodoxy, ensuring the church retained its powerful influence.
        
        Continued Russification and support for 'Black Hundreds' (nationalist gangs committed to the Tsar).
    - - Following Great Famine, 1891-92 a great distrust had grown against government who had failed to deal with the issue. Reform groups had consequently grown to a greater support base, by 1900.
        
        Increased unrest in universities, Okhrana were consequently deployed. E.g 1901, squadron of mounted Cossacks charged into a crowd of students in St Petersburg. 13 were killed and 1500 imprisoned.
        
        1902-1907 years of great disturbances in countryside and town. So many instances of arson that they were known as the years of the 'Red cockerel'.
        
        Tsars minister, Stolypin dealt with incidents with ferocity, aggravating the situation further (Stolypin's necktie).
        
        Industrial strikes escalated from 17,000 in 1894 to 90,000 in 1904.
        
        1900 Minister Chief of the Okhrana began organising his own police-sponsored trade-unions to curb proliferation of illegal unions. Aim was to provide official channel for complaints to be heard instead of workers joining radical socialists.
    - - Plehve is accredited with encouraging the Tsar to respond to the Japanese assault on Port Arthur, in January 1904, with an easy victory to distract from the unrest at home.
        
        Lack of information on enemy and inadequacies of equipment, meant running a war 600 miles from capital was never going to be easy. A series of defeats turned patriotism to opposition to the Tsar.
        
        Plehves assassination in July 1904 renewed cries for a representative National assembly. In November 1904, Mirsky (Plehve replacement) reluctantly agreed to invite zemstvo representatives to St Petersburg.
  - - - 20th Dec, after a long siege, Russian foces in Port Arthur surrendered.
        
        Humiliation and growing discontent lead to a strike which began at Putilov Iron Works, 3 Jan 1905, which eventually involved 150,000 workers.
        
        Economic and political grievances alongside Father Gapons influence led to a peaceful march from many strikers to the Tsars Winter Palace on Sunday 9 Jan.
        
        Wished to present a petition showing loyalty but also requesting reform.
        
        12,000 troops were used to break up the demonstration, openly firing on the strikers. It sparked a empire wide rebellion.
    - - October 1905, the Russian empire seemed to be near total collapse. Strikes and demonstrations in all major cities and peasant uprisings throughout the countryside.
        
        17th february 1905 Tsars uncle killed by bomb in Kremilin
      - A St Petersburg Soviet, inspired by the Union of Unions, and dominated by radical revolutionaries, was set up to direct a General Strike, which began October 1905.
        
        Fearing revolution the Tsar finally agreed to signing a decree which promised constitutional reform.
      - Contents
        
        To grant civic freedom (Rights and freedom of speech, union and assembly).
        
        To establish a state Duma, a voice of all classes of the population.
        
        To give the State Duma the power to approve legislation.
        
        Majority were satisfied with the reforms however some radicals urged for the revolution to push on.
      - Counter revolution
        
        Despite promise of full civil rights. The tsars military governor still ordered troops to use weaponry to force strikers back.
        
        Furthermore, Jews who associated with socialists and revolutionaries suffered terrible pogroms.
        
        3rd Dec St Petersburg Soviet headquarters surrounded and leaders arrested.
    - - October
        
        6th - railway strikes begin
        
        10th - Moscow railways are brought to a halt; general strike in city.
        
        12th - General strike in St Petersburg: Kadet party established.
        
        17th - October Manifesto issued, General strike called off.
        
        18th demonstrations for and against October manifesto.
        
        23rd - Soviet (workers council) was set up leading the general strike.
        
        November
        
        4th - Peasants redemption payments are halved admits rural unrest
        
        4th-7th - 2nd general strike in St Petersburg for 8 hour day.
        
        8th - Lenin arrives in St Petersburg.
        
        6th-12th - 2nd congress of Peasants Union demands nationalisation of land.
        
        14th - Peasants union leaders are arrested.
        
        14th - Press censorship ends.
        
        26th - Head of St Petersburg Soviet is arrested and Trotsky takes over
        
        December
        
        3rd - Government arrests 250 members of the St Petersburg Soviet including Trotsky.
        
        7th - General strike in Moscow paralyses the city.
        
        11th - New electoral law grants wide, but indirect male suffrage; ruthless suppression of rural unrest using army.
        
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  - - - Nicholas issued a series of Laws, 23rd April 1906 reasserting his autocratic power, claiming right:
        
        To Veto legislation
        
        To rule by decree in an emergency or when the Duma is not in session
        
        Appoint and dismiss government ministers
        
        To dissolve the duma whenever he wanted
        
        To command Russia's Land and sea forces
        
        To control foreign relations
        
        To control military and household expenditure
        
        To overule verdicts of the court of law
        
        to control the orthodox church
    - - Social Democratic workers party (Bolsheviks + Mensheviks) - Split in 1903. Bolsheviks, Led by Lenin and believed in centralisation and the role of the proletariat. Mensheviks - believed in cooperation with bourgeoisie and peasants for legal opposition.
        
        Social revolutionaries - Favoured populist ideas of redistribution of land and nationalisation. Left of party was Terrorism.
        
        Trudoviks- a non-revolutionary breakaway from SR party of moderate liberal views with no formal programme. Favoured nationalisation of non-peasant land and democratic representation. Supported by peasants and intelligensia.
        
        Kadets - central liberal party which favoured a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary government.
        
        Octoborists - moderate conservative party, accepted the October manifesto and opposed further concessions.
        
        Rightists - conservative views, such as the Union of Russian People: favouring monarchism, chauvinism, orthodoxy and antisemitism. Also included the 'Black hundreds'
    - - Boycotted by the Bolsheviks, SRs and the extreme right Union of Russian People. Overwhelming radically liberal composition with a third of the new deputies coming from peasantry.
        
        Highly critical of the Tsar and his ministers, brought about Wittes resignation
        
        Demands - 'address to the throne'
        
        Abolition of the state council and the transfer of its responsibility to the Duma.
        
        Compulsory seizure of gentry land without compensation.
        
        Abolition of the death penalty and the reform of civil service.
        
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    - - Upper chamber (the state council)
        
        Half elected by the zemstva, half appointed by the Tsar.
        
        Lower chamber (the state duma)
        
        Members elected under a system fo indirect voting - where opposition parties formed.
        
        Deputies were to be elected for a 5 year term.
        
        Al bodies could veto legislation, however all actions required Tsars approval.
      - Government
        
        The government was appointed exclusively by Tsar. The government was responsible to crown not Duma.
  - - - Stolypin had ruthlessly restored order in the countryside.
        
        Reform of agriculture meant that the agrarian situation had improved.
        
        The Dumas influence had become almost non-existent.
        
        Revolutionary parties had been weakened, partly due to police activity and partly due to internal quarrels.
        
        Pan-Slavism and, as war grew closer, patriotism was revived.
    - - labour troubles resurfaced from 1912 onwards.
        
        Rasputins influence on the Tsar and Tsarina damaged Nicholas's reputation amongst traditional supporters.
- - - - The state bought out smaller private railway companies and extended lines. The railway building programme:
        
        helped open up the Russian interior, allowing more extensive exploitation of Russia's raw materials.
        
        Linked grain-growing areas to the Black sea ports, assisting the Export drive.
        
        Stimulated the development of the Iron and coal industries.
        
        Permitted the development of new industries along the length of the new rail network.
        
        Fall in transport costs, which in turn lessened the price of goods.
        
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    - - In the early stages of industrial growth, the lighter industries, particularly textiles had lead the way.
        
        Witte wanted to increase the heavy goods production.
        
        To do so, he concentrated production in key areas and developed large factory units of over 1000 or so workers.
        
        By 1914, Russia was the Fourth largest producer of coal, iron and steel globally.
        
        Russian oil production tripled from 1885 - 1913; Russia became internally self-sufficient and could also compete with USA on an international market.
        
        Russia became the second largest global oil producer.
        
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    - - Railway trackage was almost doubled under his reign.
        
        Coal output of southern Russia was nearly quadrupled.
        
        A new rouble was introduced, to strengthen the economy.
        
        Foreign investment had drastically increased under his reign.
        
        Industrial growth was strongly state-managed; capital, technical advisors, managers and skilled workers were sought from overseas.
        
        Even after Witte, the state remained directly involved in economic growth to 1914.
    - - By the early 20th century the State controlled 70% of Russia's railway and held extensive holdings in heavy industry.
        
        From 1903-13, the government received more than 25% of its income from industrial investments.
        
        From 1894-1913, Russia's annual growth rate was more than 8% per annum. This growth was particularly noticeable in heavy industry and railways.
        
        Capital produced was used for:
        
        Funding Public works.
        
        Developing Russian infrastructure.
        
        Develop mines, oil fields and forests for timber.
        
        Re-equip the army after the Russo-Japanese War.
  - - - Stolypin wanted individual peasants to own their land, holding it in one peace instead of a collection of scattered strips; believed that they should be allowed to develop as they wish.
        
        1903, Mir ceased to be responsible for paying taxes on behalf of peasants.
        
        1906 - Stolypin introduced a series of laws to reform agriculture.
        
        Positive results of Stolypin's agrarian reform
        
        Larger farms were developed as land was transferred and poorer peasants sold out to larger ones.
        
        Hereditary ownership of land increased between peasants.
        
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        Limitation of Stolypin's agrarian reforms
        
        Changes in the land tenure arrangements took a long time.
        
        By 1913, only half the applicants for the consolidation and hereditary tenure of individual farms had been processed.
        
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    - - Stolypin's Land reforms - 1906
        
        More state controlled land was made available for peasants to buy.
        
        Government subsidies to encourage settlement in Siberia were increased.
        
        Peasants were granted equal rights in their local administration.
        
        Collective ownership of land by a family was abolished; the land became the property of an individual.
        
        A peasant could consolidate his strips into compact farming.
        
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      - 1907
        
        Redemption Payments were finally abolished.
      - 1910
        
        Communes which had not redistributed land since 1861 were dissolved.
    - - Before 1906, most farming had remained small-scale, in the hands of former serfs. The earlier problems continued:
        
        The peasants were tied to their local Mirs by redemption payments and heavy taxation.
        
        Estates kept getting subdivided by Mir due to inheritance, meaning there was less land to farm per peasant.
        
        Agricultural practices and tools were still traditional and grain yields were poor compared to USA and Britain.
        
        Some Kulaks had prospered since emancipation by buying up land and farming more efficiently. Stoypin aimed to create more of these Kulaks to strengthen economy but also support for Tsarist regime.
- - - - 1895 - Nicholas rejected a petition from Tver Zemstvo, calling for a national advisory body.
        
        1896 - Shipov tried to set up an 'All-Zemstvo organisation.
        
        1899 - some radical liberals established the Beseda Symposium, which met secretly to discuss reform. This led the Liberal movement.
        
        1900 - Hundreds of liberals were dismissed from the elected boards of the Zemstva.
        
        1903 - Foundation of the 'Union of Liberation'. This pushed for a constitutional system in which workers could campaign legally for improved conditions.
        
        1904 - The union invited representatives of the Zemstvo and other professional societies to a grand meeting.
  - - - Social revolutionary party was founded in 1898, it was a loose organisation comprising of a variety of views:
        
        Combined Marxist teachings with populist ideas in a specifically 'Russian' revolutionary programme.
        
        Tried to combine peasants and workers to fight for land redistribution.
        
        Attempted to stir up discontent in countryside and strikes in towns.
        
        Tried to disrupt the government with assassinations (2000 between 1901 - 1905).
        
        Assassinated Stolypin, the Prime minister, in 1911.
        
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  - - - 1898, new Social Democratic Party was created out of various Marxist groups - believed in some of same principles as SR's but adopted a different approach.
        
        1903 - the party split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
        
        1903 - at Secondary Party congress Lenin carried vote favouring a centralised party structure and claimed his supporters were in the Majority.
        
        Divisions hardened so severely that by 1906 there were effectively two different Social Democratic parties.
    - - The working class had and will be exploited by their masters.
        
        The future of Russia would be the product of class struggle.
        
        Impetus for change had to come from the working men themselves.
        
        Bolsheviks (Majority) - Led by Lenin, Beliefs:
        
        Centralised and disciplined organisation of professional revolutionaries.
        
        Total dedication to revolution not compromised by political alliances.
        
        Mensheviks (Minority) led by Martov, beliefs:
        
        Broad party with a Mass working class membership
        
        Supported idea of cooperation with liberal parties.
  - - - Trade unions were legalised after the 1905 revolution. However they were inefficient in the face of government repression.
        
        Hundreds of trade unions were shut down or denied registration after 1906.
        
        In 1912, the shooting of unarmed demonstrators at the Lena Goldfields Massacre triggered a wave of strikes which were forcefully repressed.
    - - Moderate liberal opposition tried to cooperate with the Duma for further constitutional reform.
        
        After 1905 there was no single, strong opposition.
        
        Between 1905 and 1914 the revolutionary SR and SD parties were weakened:
        
        Rivalry between the Social democrats and Social Revolutionaries.
        
        The split within the Social Democratic workers party.
        
        Ideological differences and disagreements in how to deal with the 1905 revolution.
        
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- - - - Strike activity stopped, as a wave of patriotism flooded the population.
        
        The Duma voted for war credits, then dissolved itself to avoid 'unnecessary Politics'.
        
        'St Petersburg' was renamed 'Petrograd' because the original name sounded too German.
        
        A huge army (the Russian steamroller) was formed.
    - - 1914 July - The government established 'Military Zones' where civilian authority suspended.
        
        August - The Zemstva established a Union of Zemstva to provide medical faciities.
        
        1915 May - Factory owners and businessmen established a congress of representatives to help co-ordinate production.
        
        June - The Zemstvo Union joined with cities to form the All Russian Union of Zemstva and cities (zemgor). To help the war focus, however it became a focus for Liberal discontent.
        
        August - Some deputies from the fourth Duma organised themselves into the 'Progressive Bloc' and demanded the Tsar established a 'government of public confidence'.
    - - In September 1915, Nicholas appointed himself Commander-In-Chief of the Russian army and Navy. He lacked military experience and had already lost the support of the Russian General staff. Made him liable for all military failures.
        
        In Petrograd, Rasputin wielded still more power and Tsarina was accused of sabotaging the war effort. Liberals and socialists began to demand changes in the government. In 1916, Rasputin was murdered, however, the Tsar still avoided opposition demands.
  - - - The government mobilised around 15 million men between 1914 - 1917, but soldiers lacked weapons, warm clothing and suitable footwear.
        
        By mid 1916, the munitions situation had improved, but most experienced officers had been killed.
        
        By the end of 1916, morale in the army had plummeted - 1.5 million deserted in 1916 alone.
    - - Military spending soared as the war progressed.
        
        Production slumped - yet greater production was needed to supply the army.
        
        German and Austro-Hungarian invasions of Poland weakened industrial capacity.
        
        Naval Blockades and loss of overland routes, damaged trade.
        
        Government paid low prices for grain and other goods, so many peasants hoarded.
        
        Railways were requisitioned by troops, thus adequate supplies were unable to reach the cities. Cost of living rose by 300% and thousands starved, strike activity in St Petersburg and Moscow escalated.
  - - - 23 Feb - Striking workers and students joined the International Women's day March.
        
        24-28 Feb - Strikes and demonstrations brought Petrograd to a standstill.
        
        Duma set up a Provisional Committee, supported by Army high command.
        
        Revolutionaries established the Petrograd soviet.
        
        Nicholas left for Petrograd** (diverted en route).
        
        2 March - Nicholas abdicated in favour of brother Grand Duke Mikhail.
        
        Around 40 demonstrators were killed and many soldiers mutinied.
  - - - Grand duke Mikhail rejected Tsardom and passed political authority to a 'Provisional Government'. Its members were the elite and men who favoured the constitutional government.
        
        The Provisional government was meant to be Temporary until elections could be held for a constituent assembly. However, it was accepted by the old Tsarist system.
    - - The mass of workers, soldiers and peasants regarded the Provisional government as a committee of the wealthy and preferred to be led by the Petrograd Soviet.
        
        It was elected by the Capital's soviets. Largely composed of radical socialist intellectuals.
        
        Kerensky (only member of both bodies) negotiated an agreement where both bodies would work together - Dual Power agreement.
      - Petrograd promises
        
        Amnesty for political prisoners
        
        Basic civil liberties
        
        The abolition of legal discrimination based on class, religion and nationality
        
        The right to organise trade unions and strike
        
        Elections to a Constituent assembly.
        
        Allowed freedom of religion and the press
        
        Abolished the death penalty
        
        Replaced the tsarist police force with a peoples militia.
        
        Dismissed provincial, giving their work to the Zemstva.
        
        Did not demand land redistribution or nationalisation of business.
- - - - Although the Kulak class prospered, life became harsher for the poorer peasants.
        
        Many had to leave their farms and look for seasonal farming work or industrial employment. Minority migrated to Siberia.
        
        The Mir remained the centre of the rural life of which a large proportion lived.
        
        Living Standards were generally poor, however there was some variation.
        
        Despite healthcare provided by the Zemstvo, the Mortality rates remained high and there were few doctors.
        
        The literacy rate remained low, around a 60% literacy rate.
  - - - Around a third of nobles land was transferred to the urban middle class or peasants between 1861 and 1905, with varying effects:
        
        Negative change - some nobles struggled to meet debt. Some nobles unable to adapt to modern business.
        
        Little change - Taxes were not redistributed, so their life remained largely unchanged. Nobles retained Political influence.
        
        Positive changes - some did well out of land distribution, consolidating the best for them self. Some prospered by turning to industrial enterprise.
    - - Due to demand for professional workers, an emerging middle layer in society increased in influence.
        
        Members expressed their views through the zemstva and the town and state duma.
        
        Social mobility began to occur as nobles sons chose to join the business, or peasants sons rose to middle class manager of factory positions.
    - - Population growth and economic development most affected the workers and peasantry.
        
        In the countryside; traditional attitudes, pre-1914 had been traditional grievances. But by 1914 political activism was taking effect.
        
        In urban areas, peasants lost their former identity. They instead associated with those whom they lived and worked, sharing grievances and becoming targets for political agitators. This discontented class provided the impetus for the overthrow in 1917
  - - - Improvements in education had reduced illiteracy(secondary and higher education remained elitist).
        
        Books and publications increased; many writers started addressing the issues of Russia.
        
        Censorship was relaxed from 1905, producing the 'silver age' of culture.
        
        However, the orthodox church continued to influence both government and community. There was an outpouring of patriotism and support for the Tsar when war broke out. 1914, all classes rallied to defend the Russian Motherland.
  - - - By 1914, 3/4 of the population of St Petersburg were peasants by birth, half the cities population arrived in the previous 20 years.
        
        Conditions in the towns were grim. Workers often lived in barrack-like buildings supplied by the owners, dangerously overcrowded and unsanitary.
        
        Rent was high and some workers were homeless and wages varied.
        
        Between 1885 and 1912 a series of decrees attempted to improve conditions:
        
        Reducing work hours
        
        Enforcing the use of contracts
        
        Banning the employment of children under 12
        
        Provided sickness and accident insurance
        
        Increasing educational provision
        
        Political discontent spread easily through towns and cities. Strike activity was rare before the events of 1905. It escalated again in 1912 and 1914 where there were 3000 stoppages. Government repression was violent.
- - - - continuation of war and lack of liberal reform brought suspicions that the government was trying to preserve its power - support diminished drastically.
- - - - Passed an illegal law to alter the Franchise, reducing the representation of revolutionaries and increased that of the Gentry.