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RUSSIA – A BACKGROUND

By Mr Crowe www.SchoolHistory.co.uk. RUSSIA – A BACKGROUND. PRE – REVOLUTION. By the 20 th Century. A major crisis was due and had to happen Russia was an unfair society and needed social, economic and political reform. WHY????. Political. Nicholas II – autocratic and ineffective

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RUSSIA – A BACKGROUND

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  1. By Mr Crowewww.SchoolHistory.co.uk RUSSIA – A BACKGROUND PRE – REVOLUTION

  2. By the 20th Century • A major crisis was due and had to happen • Russia was an unfair society and needed social, economic and political reform. • WHY????

  3. Political • Nicholas II – autocratic and ineffective • Ruled a country covering one-sixth of the earth’s total land surface • Massive personal wealth • Backed by an army of 1million and secret police (OKHRANA) • Political parties banned – critics ended up in prison or exile • Press was censored

  4. Yet • Many Russians worshipped the Tsar and peasants • typically had a picture of the Tsar on a wall of their hut.

  5. His rule • His word was law • He appointed his ministers • But did not have to listen to them • AND could ‘hire and fire’ them at will • He was a true autocrat.

  6. SOCIAL

  7. Russia was….. • Only 40% ethnic Russians • 80% were peasants – subsistence farmers • 60%+ = illiterate • Life expectancy = 40 • Low tech and low investment • Land ownership rare • Land owned by OBSCHINA (Commune) • It also organised taxes and allotted strips of land to each household

  8. Peasants cont’d • Peasants could not leave the commune without the consent of the elders • Discipline and punishments harsh – even to exile in Siberia • Drought and crop failure common • 1891 = famine + cholera and typhus = 400,000 dead • 1890 – 64 % of peasants called up for military service were declared unfit.

  9. YET..Yet… • Some did prosper and it was generally the shortage of land rather than shortage of food that was the irritant. • Rural population grew but land owned by peasants and land size failed to keep pace. • Faith in Tsar remained strong • BUT hunger for land would grow.

  10. Industrial and urban • Russia had grown industrially but living and working conditions were horrendous • Average working day was 14 hours • Trade unions banned but some strikes took place • Potential for hotbed of political activism

  11. Unrest prior to 1905 • The passivity of the Russian people had limits • May 1896 – riots in St. Petersburg • 1902 - Street demonstrations in Rostov on Don • 1901-1907 arson of manor houses in rural areas became commonplace • 1904 – Viacheslav Plehve – Minister of the interior assassinated by Social Revolutionary

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