His army also consisted of millions of poor, starving peasants with bad equipment, poor supplies of rifles and ammunition. In 1916, two million soldiers were killed or seriously wounded, and one third of a million taken prisoners. The Russian population was horrified. They considered the Tsar irresponsible for taking over the army and held him responsible for everything; as a result instability was growing at an alarming rate for the Tsar who had once held himself so assuredly in power. Nicholas II took this course of action to assure himself he still had complete control of Russia.
In 1861 Alexander issued his Emancipation Manifesto that proposed 17 legislative acts that would free the serfs in Russia. Alexander announced that personal serfdom would be abolished and all peasants would be able to buy land from their landlords. The State would advance the money to the landlords and would recover it from the peasants in 49 annual sums known as redemption payments. This earned him the title, Tsar Liberator. Serfdom was the system in Russia at the time.
Explain why in the years 1906 to 1911, Stolypin attempted to reform agriculture. (12 marks) Stolypin attempted to reform agriculture for many reasons, one of the most important being to strengthen tsarist autocracy. He strongly believed that the future of Russia depended on building a prosperous peasantry. There was widespread rural poverty but an upper class of peasant that farmed efficiently and were wealthier, they were known as the Kulaks. Stolypin believed that the encouragement of a class such as the Kulaks would make them hostile to further change therefore more conservative and loyal to the Tsar as the Tsar had made them wealthy.
The Social Revolutionaries were responsible for over 2000 assassinations from 1901-1905 including the Tsars uncle, Grand Duke Sergei in February 1905. The most moderate party – the liberals, represented the wealthy and educated members of society. Their aim was to share political power with a parliament. A growth in literacy rates caused an increased interest in politics especially in
65,000 people were killed in Guangzhou and 28,000 in Shanghai. All organisations were closed down, including churches and all religions were attacked. The Danwei (neighbourhood unit) became the chief means of repression and control. People were expected to spy and report on each other. As many as 750,000 were killed and 1.5 million arrested in a wave of persecution.
Once the Bolsheviks had come to power, it had announced two measures for the economic policy. The first measure was known as the ‘Decree on Land’ and the second was the ‘Decree on Workers’ Control’, both of which had been issued in November 1917. The ‘Decree on Land’:- This decree enabled the Bolshevik approval to what had happened in the countryside in the February Revolution. This was when peasants had overthrown their landlords and had taken their property. However, Lenin had accepted that this was due to the slogan which he had adopted which was ‘Land to the Peasants.’ The ‘Decree on Workers’ Control’:- During 1917, there were a large number of factories which had been taken over by the workers.
There were many short and long term effects of the Russian revolution. Firstly the short term effects following the Russian revolution were that Lenin hoped the constituent assembly (parliament) would show the rest of Russia how good the Bolsheviks could be for the Russian nation and how popular their leadership was. However they only gained 161 seats, compared to the social revolutionaries who won 267 seats. Obviously the Bolsheviks had become popular in Petrograd, but beyond the capital the population hadn’t been more in favour of the social revolutionaries and hadn’t been convinced by Lenin’s promise yet. In reaction to this, he shut down the assembly in order to keep power for himself.
Russian Revolution -Terms Czar Nicholas II- last Russian czar; clumsy and ineffective leader; bad at decision making; abdicated the throne; July 1918 executed by the Bolsheviks along with his family; tried to hold back cultural changes; Economic developments Encouraged growth of industries by investing national funds Ordered tariffs to protect Russian products from foreign trade Encouraged foreign investment Bloody Sunday-January 22, 1905 massacre in St. Petersburg, Russia; unarmed demonstrators trying to get better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature; provoked a wave of strikes across the country; Imperial Guard open fired when they went to Nicolas’s palace; By October 1905, Czar promised parliament and more freedom Abdicate- to resign as a ruler VI Lenin- founder of Bolshevik party organizer of October Revolution armed workers, soldiers, and sailors stormed Winter Palace (headquarters of provisional government) bloodless Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary delegates withdrew from Congress Made Russia into a Communist
During this time, Russian cities were dying because all the workers and peasants were focused on rebelling against the government and seizing the land of their landlords, instead of working in the factories and living the life of a peasant or urban worker. The Russian Revolution of 1905 only decreased the strength of the empire further but a positive outcome for the people of Russia was instituted. Sergei Witte suggested an elected legislative assembly and after the Revolution of 1905, The Duma, a parliamentary institution, was established. Although the Revolution was officially over, violence and tension continued,
In the late summer of 1914, the ancient monarchies of Austria, Russia and Germany plunged their countries into a world war which engulfed Europe in one of the bloodiest conflicts in history. The Eastern Front of that great war had a profound impact on the remainder of the 20th century, even though the Western Front with its British, French and American combatants achieved somewhat greater fame. The statistics for the Eastern war are grim. More than three-million men died in the fighting, more than nine-million men were wounded, and every major country which participated lost its form of government. One of them, Russia, collapsed so completely and catastrophically that the ensuing consequences still resonate in today's world.