The reactionary reign of Alexander III led to a tightening of government control and the persecution of minority groups, such as Jews, within the Empire. Another long-term cause of the 1905 Revolution was the worsening conditions of both peasants and urban workers. The famines in 1897, 1898 and 1901 had led to shortage and distress in the countryside. Living and working conditions in Russia’s industrial towns were no better. Workers worked in poorly ventilated factories for long hours and little pay.
This industrialisation was paid for through heavy taxation on the peasants and the workers. Wages were suppressed to allow money to be ploughed back into developing industry and , in particular, railways. Conditions were very poor for urban workers and soon revolutionary parties like the Bolsheviks began to appear. Furthermore, industrialisation required an educated workforce. This was dangerous for the Tsarist system as an educate workforce was more likely to call for reforms.
This led to an increase in strikes. Secondly, the peasants lacking of land; rapidly developing a new a class of hostile landless labourers, also discontent existed in middle classes due to the growth in professional middle class, who wanted a greater role in national government. Therefore looking at these scenarios it seems the depth of frustration of the people about their situation and their disaffection with Russian society and monarchy was another cause of the 1917 revolution. The Tsar’s reaction to social discontent prior to the revolution was indecisive and his relenting attitude towards his autocracy further alienated the growing opposition groups. In 1915 when the moderates in the Duma joined together to form ‘The progressive Bloc’, compromising over two-third of the Duma member.
Trade in iron, cotton and coal was growing, and so the British didn’t have to use slaves to work the sugar plantations anymore. But these are only the reasons on why the people weren’t so keen on the trade, not the reasons for why the trade was abolished. The reasons on why the slave trade was abolished are now going to be explained in more depth, and I will also decide which reason had the most impact and why. One of the reasons was the slaves themselves. Because they were forced to work and always punished badly for the slightest mistake, they were extremely unhappy and most hated they’re owners.
They were not content with the way that the social system was tiered with the rich and the poor when they began to believe that everyone was equal. People wanted to fix this problem and see why indeed society behaved the way it did. This is when you see important sociological figures emerge such as Comte, Spencer, and Marx. Although some of their ideals are not accepted today, these men were critical in the birth of this science known as Sociology. These Sociologists saw the discontent from these people and the despair on their faces.
Chartism is a fairly dispersed movement, its large nature and appeal coupled with many different opposing viewpoints, make it really difficult to categorize, and equally difficult to find a defined origin. Chartism in its rawest definition was the world first working class movement, which by its definition would give it a huge backing politically. But why exactly did it come about in the around 1838? One of the main reasons would have to be the failure of the so-called “Great” reform act for most people. Effectively the act benefited the middle classes, who were now given an electoral voice in parliament, while the working classes were largely ignored, causing widespread anger and resentment for the act, and all those it benefited.
This leads on to another cause that led to the Chartism movement, the disappointment of the 1832 Reform Act. Leading up to the act, working classes had given massive support to the middle class led campaign for the act, with the hope of legislation to help them. Although it was passed by the Whigs, the working class were dissatisfied because it did not enfranchise them and they were still left without the vote. Whigs regarded the act as the final change in the electoral system, but Chartists labelled it just the beginning. Although we’ve only listed two causes in detail there were many more that led to the Chartist
This caused the people to flock to America and seek new job opportunities. Another reason was over-population in the cities. The overcrowding of tens and thousands of people in one town in filthy conditions caused a book of problems. The bubonic plague was one, which brought one example of many economic declines, in the production of food and imports and widespread of malnutrition. Other problems included higher prices, lower purchasing power, and years of poor harvest.
This of course led to many coming to arms in higher populated urban areas seeking the basic rights and equitable treatment they felt were being withheld from them. It had been clear for some time that the King held very little worth in his people and sought only to provide the means for those who did not need it. The people of France would not stand for such atrocities against them and sought to indoctrinate their land with a just and righteous system, which would provide for all its people, not simply those with money, or land. Many wealthy land owners began to experience a violent uprising from the much abused lower class, and fear began to spread throughout these areas, as they did not want the peasants to begin an insurrection into larger areas of the country. Very few options lay before the King as how to best deal with situation at hand.
One of the possible factors was the genuine concern that they felt towards the poor. However, this argument cannot be ignored but it would prove too simplistic and explanation on why the Liberals introduced the social reforms. There are a number of other factors which led too the introduction of the Reforms one being the social reports of Booth and Rowntree that confirmed poverty was a big issue. Also the fact that Britain feared her place being a top industrial power was threatened by a lack of good workers, britains Empire was still extremely important to her and they had discovered when recruiting for the Boer war that many men were unable to fight due to poor health. Some even argue that the Reforms were introduced for politically selfish reasons as they believed that the Liberals felt threatened by the Labour party.