John majors government came into office after the downfall of Margret Thatcher, which ultimately created divisions within the party. Not only did the party suffer from the internal conflict but also faced the problems of the recession after the ‘Lawson boom’. In order to stabilise the economy he joined the ERM getting a good deal but ultimately resulting in ‘black Wednesday’ causing Major to raise interest rates to 15%. This was political suicide and he soon lost the support of the press we had once relied so much on to get re-elected in 1992. The housing market also plummeted leading to negative equity, which the majority of the working class could not afford resulting in the repossession of their houses combined with the drastic increase in unemployment Britain was in a mess.
Divisions of opposing groups of the Tsar were important to the survival of Tsarist rule in 1881-1905 as the political opponents of the Tsar were clearly divided in their aims and methods. However, other factors such as the church and the power the Tsar held over it; the conservative culture of the Russian people; lack of education especially amongst the peasants and workers; the retributions from opposing the Tsar and the Okhrana were also effective in keeping the Tsar in a state of power. The different political parties all had a similar aim for change and most of wanted to remove the Tsar from power. However they all had different approaches and different plans on how to run the Russia after the Tsars removal. Firstly, the opposition groups of the Tsar were known as the Populists, the Liberals and the Marxists.
Although the conditions of the agreement seemed extremely severe, the allied countries had no sympathy for the Germans. They were forced to pay excessive amounts of money as reparation fees to make up for all the damage and destruction that was caused during the war. 13% of German territory was given away and many important industrial areas were controlled by western allies. This caused a major impact on the economy and had many affects to not only the government, but German citizens as well. Many people became unemployed and were no longer able to support their families.
Some peasants left to work in the cities as the Tsar wanted Russia to be an industrial power, however the living conditions there hardly improved, which matched their dreadful working conditions. This poor treatment is what led to the 1917 strikes that helped force the Tsar to abdicate from the throne. This was an important factor in bringing down the Tsar because with so many people opposing him (over the years, because of food shortages and war failures, they were supported by women and army members, and the number of workers on strike rose to 250 000), he had no choice but to give up. However, I believe there is more causes behind this so I wouldn’t label it the most important factor of the Tsar’s abdication. Russia’s poor performance in WW1 played a very significant role in bringing down the Tsar too.
After Alexander III died, he left a number of problems so when Nicholas II came to power; he already had enemies because many people (mainly the peasants) hated the idea of tsardom and were being suppressed, people referred to the peasants as ‘dark masses.’ Aggravating the peasants will surely lead to a rebellion, although this was fairly obvious, Nicholas II didn’t do much to improve the peasants lives, he also introduced anti-Semitism which then turned the Jews against the Tsar so Nicholas was creating more and more enemies. In the 1890s, Russia had an economic boom which was known as the great spurt, and with the help of Witte, the finance minister, they used this to their advantage to try to make Russia more modern. One of the ways in which they attempted this was to make a railway that goes across Russia, they believed that this was the starting point where Russia will become more modernised.
Author Christine Di Pizan, used her book The Book of the City of Ladies to change society forever by standing up for feminism and equality against the male world (Spielvogel, 295). Society was yet again changed as tensions between classes heightened as peasants became fed up with society and their mistreatment. In France, the peasant revolt Jacquerie was caused by the ravages created in the Hundred Years' War, and the contempt by nobles over the postplague era. Finally peasants fought back destroying castles and killing nobles (Spielvogel, 279-80). In England, the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was caused also by aristocratic frustration over the post plague era.
The World War brought up a huge range of different issues, which plummeted an already shaky country, into a desperate country. One such issue was the economic strains that the war put on the country. The urgent need for weapons and specialised equipment drove the Russian economy into overdrive, leaving the poorest Russians without food and with an inflation rate which rose around twice as fast as wages went up. The huge numbers of men armed by Russia also meant that industries all across Russian began to slow their production rapidly, most notably of all being agriculture. This meant trade to other countries went down bringing the economy to yet another low and this lack of agricultural workers meant a lack of food across Russia, especially in towns and cities where there was no easy access to farms; and as is with most things in demand, the prices went through the roof, leaving peasants starving on a mass scale.
Could all these things have come together to cause one of the greatest depression that America had felt? Many citizens revolted against their elected leaders and large discontent rose in America during this time period. New political factions rose in the era. Could this have been the birth of the progressive movement? The depression of the 1890’s ruined banks, farms, and many of the train leaders were declaring bankruptcy during this time period.
“BLOODY SUNDAY WAS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CAUSES OF THE 1905 REVOLUTION” To what extent do you agree? Although Bloody Sunday marked the breakdown of the Tsar and autocratic government, there were many other long and short term causes that provided the build up of tension and ultimately led to the revolution of 1905; Bloody Sunday was the final straw for the peasants and the other groups in Russian life, rather than a key cause. The most significant causes were mostly long term. Firstly, there was the terrible work and living conditions of the peasants, alongside the low wages they received. The lack of usable land in Russia and the subdivison of land between families both resulted in an incredibly low income, especially for larger families.
One factor that added to the Tory party’s trouble was that in 1830 there was more outbreaks of social unrest. This was due to high bread prices following a poor harvest in 1829 and sudden slump in exports leading to unemployment in the Midlands and North of England. This was encouraged by thoughts back to the French revolutions and labourers destroyed machinery that was taking over their jobs. Wellington needed to take immediate and firm action, but the Tory government just was not strong enough to combat this