Russia Controlled AssessmentWhy was Russia so difficult to govern?

L.O. To understand the difficulties of governing Russia and what you are working towards for your controlled assessment

What are you working towards?

• A source based essay• Use 10-12 sources and properly evaluate 4 of them

(provenance, content, context, cross reference with other sources

• 2,000 words• 25% of your GCSE• 8 weeks taught course (up to October half term)• 4 weeks to write up your essay • Resources: Walsh textbook, moodle

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• The size of the country and the diversity of the population. More than 21 different nationalities lived in Russia; the Russians were the largest in number. It was difficult to have consistent policies across such a vast country

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• 80% of the population were illiterate peasants. Although they were freed in 1861, they were unable to afford to buy land and so were still virtually the slaves of landowners

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• The tsar was an absolute, or autocratic, ruler. This meant that no political parties were allowed and there was no parliament, only a few advisory ministers. Censorship and the tsar's secret police, the Okhrana, were ruthless

• There were terrorist groups, such as the Peoples' Will who assassinated Tsar Alexander II in 1881. There was no middle ground for debate so there was often extremist political action

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• Nicholas II was tsar of Russia from 1894 until 1917. He became tsar after his father died. Tsarism as an autocratic system had been established in Russia for centuries, and tsars had total, almost religious power

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• In 1894, Nicholas married German princess Alexandra, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Alexandra was a strong figure who had political influence, including appointing ministers. Nicholas was not interested in politics, and so his ministers competed for power and influence

• At Nicholas’s coronation 1,000 people died when drunk troops opened fire on a celebrating crowd. Nicholas carried on with the banquet, leading many to think he didn’t care about the Russian people

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• Why might having all these different nationalities make Russia a difficult place to rule?

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• Different groups spoke different languages so communication would be difficult

• Different peoples had different beliefs and cultures, and wouldn't necessarily want to do things the way the Russians wanted to do them

• There were different religions and so worship was not the same• Peoples such as the Poles had been conquered by Russia in the 18th

century and wanted a country of their own• People were spread over distances thousands of miles apart, and this

made it difficult to get any orders obeyed over the whole country

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• REFORMIST GROUPS• Kadets – intellectuals who wanted greater democracy• Peasants – made up over 80% of the population but

leaderless and disorganised• Intelligentsia – upper and middle classes who wanted

more democracy

• Which of these groups were the greatest threat to the Tsar and his form of government?

Why was Russia so difficult to govern?

• REVOLUTIONARY GROUPS• Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) – terrorists, popular

with the peasantry• Populists – intellectuals who wanted to use the peasants• Bolsheviks – organised, professional revolutionaries

• Which of these groups were the greatest threat to the Tsar and his form of government?

Russia 1900

• Use p.98-103 of your textbook to complete your table – pick out the most significant information only!

Homework

• Finish your ‘Russia 1900’ table

• Due: 10/09

Source Work

• Look at Source 10 on p.103

• Discuss and write some brief notes

answering the 3 bullet points in the activity

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