Russia under the Tsar

The Russian Empire in 1900◦ The land and climate◦ An empire of many peopl

es The Government of Ru

ssia◦ The autocracy◦ Nicholas II and Alexandri

a Russian Society

◦ The peasants◦ The town workers◦ The rich

Opponents of the Tsar◦ Terrorism◦ The Social Revolutionary Par

ty◦ The Social Democratic Party◦ Liberals

The 1905 Revolution◦ War against Japan◦ Bloody Sunday◦ The 1905 Revolution

The Aftermath of the 1905 Revolution◦ The Dumas◦ The Stolypin Reforms◦ Rasputin

Key Words

•The land and climate•An empire of many peoples

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Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II

About 125million people lived in the Empire

Less than half of them were actually Russians

Most were Poles and Ukrainians Most people had a different

language and their own customs – 6/10 people

The population wasn’t evenly distributed

Most people lived on the 5% of land good for farming

Cities and farmland were often over-crowded because people couldn’t live in the harshness of the Ural Mountains and Siberia

Russians 55,650,000

Ukrainians 22,400,000

Poles 7,900,000

Byelorussians 5,900,000

Jews 5,000,000

Kirghiz 4,000,000

Tartars 3,700,000

Finns 2,500,000

Germans 1,800,000

Lithuanians 1,650,000

Letts 1,400,000

Georgians 1,800,000

Armenians 1,150,000

Romanians 1,110,000

Caucasians 1,000,000

Estonians 1,000,000

Iranians 1,000,000

Other Asiatic peoples 5,750,000

Mongols 500,000

Others 200,000

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•The Autocracy•Nicholas II and Alexandra

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Nicholas II was the Tsar – Emperor of Russia◦ As an autocrat, he could do anything he liked without consulting anyone

However, in practice, the Tsar couldn’t govern all of Russia by himself – he appointed many thousands of civil servants◦ These civil servants were organised like an army◦ There was 14 ranks◦ At the top were ministers in charge of the government departments◦ At the bottom were minor ministers like post office clerks and customs inspectors◦ As they are underpaid, they often accepted bribes

Nobody was allowed to question the Tsar or challenge him◦ To deal with opposition, the Okhrana (‘Protective Section’)

They censored all books and newspapers They spied on political parties They arrested all that criticised the government Helped the Tsar to capture people who would be tried in courts with no juries and be

sentenced to exile – especially to Siberia (like Lenin)◦ The Tsar also had the Cossacks to help the Okhrana

They were fierce mounted soldiers armed with sabres They butchered anyone who didn’t run away fast enough They were often only used as bodyguards to the Tsar and his family and when there was riots

The Russian Orthodox Church also helped the Tsar gain absolute control◦ People were taught to respect the autocracy and to be loyal to the Tsar◦ The Head of the Church was a government minister whom the Bishops listened to – the

priest then listened to the Bishops

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Tsar Nicholas II Tsarina Alexandra

He was a weak and indecisive leader

He was gentle but uneducated He found the work of a leader

boring and employed people who could entertain him

Alexandra controlled him He had 4 girls and one son Alexis, the heir, suffered from

the life-threatening disease Haemophilia which there was no cure for

He was deeply religious as was his wife

He was happily married to Alexandra

He was Russian

She was confident and strong willed

She encouraged Nicholas to be an autocrat and not to share power with the people

Very religious◦ Had her own chapel specially built

in the royal palace Because her son suffered from

haemophilia she made anyone who knew keep it a secret◦ Her daughters weren’t allowed to

talk about it◦ Anyone else that knew had to

swear an oath of secrecy Blamed herself for her son’s

illness and often spent hours praying for his recovery

She was German Later on, she was under the

influence of Rasputin

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•The peasants•The town workers•The rich

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4 out of 5 people were peasants in Russia in 1900 Until 1861 peasants were serfs (slaves to the

landlords) In 1861 Nicholas’ grandfather freed them.

◦ The price was land was given to the mir (community) not the individual

◦ It took 49years to finish paying redemption payments Freedom didn’t improve conditions though The plots of land got smaller as the population grew

like in 1861 – 1900 it halved, making it harder for peasants to support themselves and pay taxes AND redemption payments

Nearly half of children under 5 died and the life expectancy was only 55

They’re only hope in life was based on the harvest

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Peasants went to towns to improve life, working in mines/factories until the harvest

St. Petersburg (capital) had a growing 1million people in 1900 looking for work

Trade unions were illegal as was striking

There was long queues of people outside factories looking for work so troublemakers were easily replaced

Conditions in the towns:◦ Miserable wages◦ Overcrowded

10+ living in one room 4 sleeping in one bed

◦ Working day was 11 and a half hours by law (exclusive of meals)

◦ With overtime this was 14/15hours a day

◦ People were poorly clad and emaciated (very thin)

◦ They worked the long hours because they were paid per piece and the rate was slow

◦ No one made complaints

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Tsar and nobles Capitalists

Nicholas:◦ Owed 8 different palaces◦ Employed 15,000

servants◦ Took up 20 carriages on

train just for luggage 1% of population was

nobles Owned 25% of land Had idle and luxurious

lives

Made money from banking, industry and trade

Minister of finance (Sergei Witte) made it easy for capitalists to make big profits◦ He gave them government

contracts like the railway◦ He gave them loans to

build factories◦ He cut taxes

Capitalists gained money but didn’t help the workers

Capitalists were generally hated

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•Terrorism•The Social Revolutionary Party•The Social Democratic Party•Liberals

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March 1881, a bomb exploded beneath the carriage of Tsar Alexander II (Nicholas’ grandfather and the man to abolish serfdom)

He was unhurt but he was then killed by a bomb in a snowball. This tore off his leg and ripped open his stomach – leaving him to bleed to death in front of his son and grandson

This was done by ‘People’s Will’ who were terrorists against the autocracy

His son and grandson then used the Okhrana to in prison or exile opponents/ critics

Not all opponents were wiped out and in 1900 there was 3 main opposition parties

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They wanted all land to be given to the mirs so that peasants had more land – which means taking it from the Tsar, nobles and church

They had the ‘Fighting Organisation’ which organised terrorist campaigns

They killed 3 government ministers and dozens of officials between 1900 and 1905

The SRs main support was from peasants who had fallen behind with the redemption payments

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Used Karl Marx’s ideas of socialism (sharing wealth) which developed into communism (people paid according to abilities etc.)

They were set up in 1898 but divided into the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks

There remained a split so the three main parties were the SRs, Bolsheviks and Mensheviks from 1903

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They supported the Tsar but wanted to share his power as part of a democratic system like in Britain

Liberals were mainly law abiding people who owned some land

Alexander II (Nicholas’ grandfather) was planning on having a government before he was blown up but his son, Alexander III, tore them up when he got into power

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•War against Japan•Bloody Sunday•The 1905 Revolution

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In 1904, Russia went to war with Japan for control of Korea and Manchuria

The Tsar thought it was good and would make him more popular and less criticised

However, the Russia army was defeated again and again

The Russian navy also suffered a massive defeated in the battle of Tsushima. Only 3 Russian ships remained from a fleet

This weakened the Tsar’s position Working conditions were worse

◦ Food supplies broke down◦ Factories shut as less raw materials◦ Unemployment rose

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Sunday the 22nd of January 1905, 200,000 workers and their family matched towards the Tsar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

They were led by Father Gapon – a priest sympathetic towards the workers

They wanted to give the Tsar a petition asking for better working conditions and to end the war with Japan

Soldiers and police tried to stop them at the centre of St. Petersburg but when scuffles broke out they started to shoot

About 500 people died and thousands injured When the news spread of the massacre, riots broke out in the

countryside and strikes in the towns Hundreds of government ministers were killed including the

Tsar’s uncle who was blown up by a terrorist Bloody Sunday was therefore the trigger to the revolution

against the Tsar

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•The Dumas•The Stolypin Reforms•Rasputin

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Stolypin believed in:◦ A strict government◦ Clamping down on

terrorism In 1906, 1,008

terrorists were executed (Stolypin’s Necktie)

21,00 people were also exiled to Siberia

Thus terrorism seemed not to be a threat anymore

Stolypin knew violence would not solve everything

To stop peasants uprising he helped them by:◦ Peasants owned their own land◦ Redemption payments were abolished◦ Mirs no longer controlled the land

The idea was for peasants to then go and get bigger and more productive farms

The peasants would then grow rich and peace would stop revolution

Conditions all over Russia improved and industries/ farming improved as well because millions of peasants brought their own land.

However, in 1911, one of Stolypin’s terrorist investigating policemen shot him as he was a terrorist himself

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Characteristics Influences

Claimed to be a Starets (holy man of God)

Was a Siberian peasant Claimed to have powers

of prophecy and healing Nickname was Rasputin

as it means disreputable one because:◦ He drank heavily◦ He was a womaniser◦ Had wild orgies◦ Raped a nun

Tsar and Tsarina thought he could save their son, Alexis, when he bled

He had all the Tsar/ Tsarina’s trust in him

After Stolypin’s death his influence increased

He gave political advice to Alexandria who passed it onto the Tsar

Politicians and businessmen would entertain him for higher positions or government contracts

The people hated him and gossiped about his influence on the Tsarina

He was killed in December 1916

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