IGCSE summaries

The Tsar and his government.

v The Tsar believed God had placed him in that position.

v Could make any decisions without consulting anyone else.

v Nicholas II was loyal to his family; he was willing to work hard and paid attention to the details. However, he was not an able, forceful and imaginative monarch like his predecessors.

v He tended to avoid making big decisions did not delegate day-to-day tasks to official. This was a major problem.

v Managed his officials poorly.(Felt threatened by able and talented ministers)

v Appointed family members and friends to important positions, many of them were either incompetent or corrupt.

Control.

v Resistance to the Tsar’s regime was limited.

§  Most peasants had their life controlled by the Mir, which could be overruled by land captains (Landlords appointed by the Tsar)

§  There were local governors appointed by the Tsar.(Aristocrats)

§  Russia was a police state (in some areas)

·        There were emergency rules that allowed local governors (controlled the police) to:

¨     Order the police to arrest suspected opponents of the regime.

¨     Ban individuals from serving in the Zemstva courts or any government organization.

¨     Make suspects pay fines.

¨     Introduce censorship of books or leaflets or newspapers

§  The Zemstva (local assembly)  helped to control Russia.

·        Controlled by Landlords in the countryside and by professional people in towns.

 Opposition to the Tsar.

v Cadets(Liberals)

Ø Middle class reformers in the Duma that wanted a greater democracy in Russia.

v Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs)

Ø Radical movement

Ø Their main aim was to give peasants estates taken from the nobility.

Ø Believed in a violent struggle

Ø Wide support in the countryside.

v The Social Democratic Party.

Ø Smaller but more disciplined party.

Ø Followed the ideas of Karl Marx.

Ø Split in 1903 into the Bolsheviks (led by Lenin believed that their job was to create a revolution) and the Mensheviks (Thought Russia was not ready for a revolution.)

 How secure was the Tsar’s government by 1914?

v Nicholas needed to reform Russia to satisfy at least one discontented group who has joined the 1905 revolution.

Ø The Duma (Parliament) deputies gathered in 1906 for the first time.

§  Hoped that they could help to steer Russia on a new course.

§  Soon disappointedàthe Tsar didn´t take any serious notice of them

§  First and second Duma were critical of the Tsar.(Lasted less than a year).

§  In 1907 Nicholas changed the voting rules in order to avoid his opponents from being elected to the Duma.

§  The third Duma lasted until 1912 àmainly because it was less critical of the Tsar. However in 1912 they were becoming critical of the Tsar’s ministers and policies.

§  It had no power to change the Tsar’s policies, was not a serious threat to the regime.

Stolypin.

 v Appointed Prime Minister by the Tsar in 1906.

v Two ways to approach problems in Russia:

Ø The Stickà He came down hard on strikers, protesters and revolutionaries. This suppression killed of opposition to the regime in the countryside until 1914.

Ø The Carrot:

·        Tried to win over peasants by giving them what they          wanted, land.

·        Allowed wealthier peasants (Kulaks) to buy land.

¨     Kulaks created larger and more efficient farms.

¨     Production increased significantly.

¨     90% of Russia’s production was still run by inefficient communes.

¨     Most peasants still lived in bad conditions.

v Tried to boost Russia’s industries.

Ø Economic growth 1908-1911

Ø Russia was still far behind modern industrial countries.

Ø Workers’ wages were still low.

v Stolypin was assassinated in 1911, but the Tsar was going to sack him anyway.(worried that Stolypin was changing Russia too much)

 Rasputin.

v In charge of curing the Tsar’s son through hypnosis.

v Gave the Tsar and his wife advice about how to run the country.

Ø People in Russia were suspicious about him.

Russia and the USSR, 1914-1941.

 +Russian society in 1914.

+Peasants and the countryside.

+ Around 80% of Russia’s population was peasants who lived in communes.

+ Famine and starvation were common. Low life expectancy.

+ Most land was unsuitable for farming,( land was a very short supply)

+Many peasants were loyal to the Tsar (Nicholas II crowned in 1984)

      Why?     Most of them were religious, the priest would tell them how                       how wonderful the Tsar was and how they should be loyal.

+Not all peasants were religious, many supported the opposition (the Socialist Revolutionaries) Why?                                                                                                                            Resented the amount of land owned by the aristocracy, the church and the Tsar.

 The aristocracy.

+Had vast estates, town and country houses and elegant lifestyles.

+ Key part of tsarists regime, often acted like local officials.

+ In the countryside they dominated the local assemblies (Zemstva)

+ Most were loyal to the Tsar to keep society as it was.

Working Class.

+ Peasants that left the land to work in the new factories (Opened in the later 19th  century when senior minister Witte introduced policies that led to rapid industrial growth)

+ Leaving conditions hardly improved. (Low pay, 12-15 hour days, unguarded machinery and brutal discipline)

+ Trade unions were illegal.

 Middle Classes.(Capitalists)

+ Emerged as a result of industrialization.