Tsarist Russia Revision Guide
Tsarist Russia Revision Guide
Tsarist Russia Revision Guide
Revision Guide
Serfdom
Serfs were a peasant labour force owned and controlled by the landowners. Serfs were
basically agricultural slaves. Serfdom was extremely unpopular in Russia. A prominent
opponent was Catherine the Great who held an essay writing competition about serfdom
around 1767. In 1856, Alexander II said to the Moscow gentry; “It is better to begin to
abolish serfdom from above than to wait for it to abolish itself from below.”
Alexander II was keen to implement various reforms which he predicted would transform
and modernise Russian society (however he became increasingly reactionary after an
assassination attempt in 1866). His reasons for wanting reform were:
Personal Wanted to modernise Russia
Thought that granting limited freedoms would stimulate the economy
Wanted to enhance the power and prestige of Russia
However he was fully committed to maintaining the Tsarist autocracy
Political Autocracy was creating disloyalty
Peasants were beginning to rise up and protest
Military conscription was extremely unpopular
Nobility incomes were failing and they had no talents for business etc.
Economic To catch up with the modernised west
Serfdom was stopping economic progress
Population increased yet productivity stayed the same causing a supply crisis
Serfdom caused lack of income for landowners during supply crisis
Intellectual Nihilists moved for education to stop Russia’s ‘backward’ nature
Owning people was immoral and detrimental to serfs’ moral fibre
Since 1855 the intelligentsia moved for reform
Alexander issued the emancipation ukase on 3rd March 1861 and effectively freed the serfs.
However, the negative aspects of emancipation outweighed the positives for the Tsarist
government, the nobility and even the serfs themselves. Emancipation pleased nobody.
Orlando Figes - “The Emancipation came as a rude shock not only to the economy but also to
the whole of the gentry”
Opposition to Alexander II
The radical intelligentsia:
Alexander Herzen - published ‘The Bell’ in 1857, a journal of literature and social comment
Sergei Nechayev - co-wrote ‘Catechism of a revolutionary’ in 1869 alongside Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin - wrote ‘God and the State’ in 1882 and translated ‘the Communist
Manifesto’ into Russian in 1868
Nikolai Chernyshevksy - wrote ‘What is to be done?’ in 1863, his hero Rachmetev renounces
all pleasures of life in order to focus on the revolution
The Nihilists: Ivan Turgenev - wrote ‘Fathers and Sons’ in 1862
The Populists/Narodnikists:
Pyotr Zaichnevsky - wrote ‘Young Russia’ in 1862 “…who is not with us is against us, and who
is against us is our enemy, and enemies one must destroy by all possible means…”
Pyotr Lavrov - wrote the journal ‘Forward’ in 1873, believed that the creation of a socialist
society needed to involve the Russian masses (by educating the peasants)
Going to the People - Populists who sought to incite revolution amongst the peasants. Most
of them were arrested by the police who were often tipped off by the peasants themselves
Land and Liberty (Zemlya i volya) - A more organised group formed from the ‘Going to the
people’ movement
The People’s Will (Narodnaya Volya) - A left-wing terrorist group formed out of Land and
Liberty. Attempts were made to kill the Tsar in April 1879, November 1879, February 1880
and finally 1st March 1881. Alexander Ulyanov (Lenin’s brother) was executed for his role in
Narodnaya Volya.
The Black Partition (Chernyy peredel)- Formed by Georgi Plekhanov, Pavel Avelrod and Vera
Zasulich in 1880, they rejected the use of terror and argued for a people’s social revolution.
Richard Pipes – “The terrorists could not have been more effective in scuttling political
reform had they been on the police payroll”
Orlando Figes – “[The Opposition] soon degenerated – as all terror does – into violence for
violence’s sake”
Alexander III
Tsar Alexander III was extremely committed to maintaining the Tsarist autocracy using
Slavophil solutions rather than western ideas. He appointed a strong tutor for his children in
Konstantin Pobedonostsev, who also served as Grand-Procurator of the Holy Synod of the
Russian Orthodox Church. Alexander II also strengthened reformed the secret police (which
he renamed from the ‘Third Section’ to the ‘Okhrana’) as well as encouraging anti-Semitic
pogroms.
However, he was reasonably unautocratic when it came to the economy as he set up the
Peasants and Nobles land bank to stimulate the economy and did not reinstate serfdom.
Orlando Figes – “[Alexander III] commanded his ministers like a general at war”
The Economy
Nikolai Bunge was appointed Minister of Finance in 1881 and used tariff protection and
railway building to encourage the economy. Bunge believed in direct taxation yet did not
stop indirect taxation. In 1881 he abolished the salt tax and set up the Nobles and Peasants
Land banks in 1882 and 1885 respectively. In 1886 factory boards were set up to arbitrate
industrial disputes yet strikes were not allowed. Bunge becomes Minister of the Interior in
1867 and is seen as ‘the friend of the peasants’.
In 1887 Ivan Vyshnegradsky was appointed Minister of Finance. He raised tariffs and import
duties and in 1891 achieved a budget surplus. He did this by:
1) Collecting grain tax in the autumn when prices were at their lowest, meaning
peasants had to sell more of their corn to pay taxes (meaning surplus could be sold
abroad)
2) Raised taxes on popular products such as cigarettes and vodka
Vyshnegradsky was very obviously corrupt, yet as Alexander III once said: “Let him make 10
million for himself so long as he makes 100 million for the government.” Vyshnegradsky was
more concerned with exporting goods than the welfare of the peasants and stated that “we
must go hungry, but export”. The 1891-92 famine proved him right as 1.5-2 million Russians
starved to death.
Following Vyshnegradsky’s failures Count Sergei Witte was appointed as Minister of Finance
in 1892. Witte believed in the salvation of Russia, protectionism, state capitalism (via foreign
loans, heavy taxes and high interest rates) and the development of the railway network. His
solution for Russia was the Trans-Siberian railway. His main achievement was to put Russia
on the gold standard in 1896, which he later commented on as “one of the greatest
successes in the peaceful cultural development of mankind”.
Witte Corner:
T.A. Morris - “The ultimate aim of his policies was the salvation of Russia”
G Darby - “He abandoned liberal economics for direct state intervention”
Orlando Figes - “Witte [was] the great reforming finance minister of the 1890s”
Witte’s achievements:
By 1900 Russia led the world in industrial growth
Secured 4% of the world’s production by 1900, 7% by 1914
Exports of Russian grain tripled from 1850-1900
By 1900 Western investment amounted to 900 million roubles
Railways employed 400,000 people by 1900
By 1900 Russia had Gold reserves of over 500 million roubles
Coal production in the Donets basin tripled between 1892-1903
Put Russia on the Gold Standard in 1896(1 Rouble = $0.5)
Marxism
Karl Marx was influenced by G.W.F. Hegel and his dialectic. Marx thought that the working
class (The Proletariat) would eventually free society. Alongside Friedrich Engels, Marx wrote
‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848. In 1867 Marx wrote ‘Das Kapital’. Russian Marxism was
popular amongst the intelligentsia and the Russian Marxist group was founded in 1883 by
Georgi Plekhanov. The All-Russian Social and Democratic Labour Party was formed in 1898
(later the Bolshevik and Menshevik parties).
The Hegelian dialectic
Comprised of three dialectical stages of development:
Thesis (idea)
Antithesis (problem)
Synthesis (solution)
Feudalism
(Via a Bourgeois revolution)
Capitalism
(Via a Proletarian revolution)
Socialism
Communism
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”
The Trans-Siberian railway meant Russia could get troops quickly to the east. Tsar Nicholas II
had spent some time in Japan when he was younger and believed himself an expert in the
region. When he was in Japan he was attacked and from this developed a racist hate of the
Japanese, often referring to them as ‘Makaki’ (monkeys). Kaiser Wilhelm sent a telegram to
Tsar Nicholas stating “The Admiral of the Atlantic greets the Admiral of the Pacific”, this
encouraged Nicholas to live up to his name in the Pacific against the Japanese.
Events of the Russo-Japanese War
The flagship Petropavlovsk sunk by a mine –April 1904
Russian ships begin to be accidentally sunk by Russian mines
The fleet at Port Arthur is destroyed and General Stoessel surrendered in January
1905
The Dogger Bank incident – The Russian ship Aurora mistakes British trawlers for
Japanese torpedo boats and fires on them, killing 3 British sailors.
The Battle of Mukden ends in Russian defeat – Feb 1905
The Naval Battle of Tsushima ends in a humiliating defeat as the Russians loose 8
battle ships, numerous smaller vessels and 5,000 men whilst the Japanese lost only 3
torpedo boats and 113 men – May 1905
27th June 1905 - The Mutiny aboard the Battleship Potemkin is eventually crushed
ruthlessly but serves as a beacon for revolutionaries. (It was also made into a Soviet
propaganda film in 1925 by Sergei Eisenstein)
The Peace of Portsmouth (USA) was signed in 1905, but Nicholas II was faced with
much domestic trouble back in Russia
Orlando Figes – “The humiliation of defeat by the Japanese left the Army and Navy
demoralised”
The 1905 ‘Revolution’
The ‘Revolution’ of 1905 was caused by Russia’s backwardness and recent modernisations,
the incompetence of Tsar Nicholas II, growing political unrest and defeat in the Russo-
Japanese War.
Events of 1905:
The Putilov workers went on strike
Protestors outside of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg (lead by Father Grigory
Gapon) went fired upon by Cossacks on ‘Bloody Sunday’. Estimates suggest that
around 1,000 protestors were killed or wounded.
Grand Duke Sergei (Nicholas’s uncle) is assassinated by an SR terrorist
The Bulygin report was created; promising a consultative assembly, freedom of
speech, religious tolerance and a reduction in redemption payments
Bulygin report does not go far enough and students demonstrate in St Petersburg
More strikes break out across Russia despite copious arrests
The St Petersburg Soviet is formed and it spreads the revolutionary message
Witte (Supported by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich) persuades Nicholas II to issue
the October Manifesto.
Orlando Figes – “1905 had changed society for good”
Pyotr Stolypin
Pyotr Stolypin serves as the Prime Minister of Imperial Russia from 21st July 1906-18th
September 1911. His aims were:
To modernise and industrialise
To make rich the peasantry (creation of ‘Kulaks’)
To end the power of the inefficient Mir and to redistribute land from the Mir to the
nobles
To encourage greater exports (by starving the population)
To create a free market economy and not one closely controlled by the state
To protect noble and state lands
To increase agricultural yields and to modernise farming methods
To increase the amount of land under cultivation
To encourage enterprise and entrepreneurship
To increase migration to less populated areas
However his ultimate was to preserve the government and the power of the ruling class. He
believed that prosperity for peasants equalled contentment which created political
reliability. Stolypin calculated that his reforms needed 20 years and co-operation and
support from all sections of society to be effective.
Stolypin’s results:
Resentment and social tension increased because noble lands remained intact
Richer peasants (Kulaks) were resented by poorer peasants
His reforms did not have time to work
He was assassinated in 1911 and war broke out in 1914, destroying any chance of
success
Stolypin needed support but he was hated across the political spectrum and even
disliked by the Tsar.
On 14th September 1911 whilst attending an Opera performance in the presence of Tsar
Nicholas II, Stolypin was shit twice by Dmitri Bogrov (a Jewish left wing radical and probable
Okhrana agent). Stolypin rose from his chair calmly, removed his gloves and unbuttoned his
jacket to reveal his blood-soaked waistcoat before sinking into his chair and shouting “I am
happy to die for the Tsar”. He then motioned for the Tsar to withdraw to safety before
blessing the Tsar with the sign of the cross. The next morning Tsar Nicholas knelt at
Stolypin’s hospital bed and repeated the words “Forgive me”. Stolypin died four days later
on 18th September and Bogrov was hanged 10 days after this.
Orlando Figes – “There was a Stolypin but no Stolypinites”
Richard Pipes – “The more successful his policies were the less his services were required”
A. Hannah – “Stolypin was undoubtedly the most able statesman of Imperial Russia”
During the initial ‘honeymoon period’ in which the PG and PS worked together after the
revolution of February 1917, many Tsarist ministers were arrested and imprisoned, the
Police were told to ‘disband themselves’ as well as the Okhrana, the PG introduced total
political and religious amnesty as well as abolishing capital punishment and establishing
freedom of speech and the free press. The PG also promised elections for a constituent
assembly as well as much needed land reform and redistribution. Regarding the war, the PG
adopted a policy of Revolutionary Defencism which meant continuing the war on the
defence in order not to loose any more land.
1917
March 2nd - Nicholas abdicates in favour of his brother Michael
2nd - PG formed under Prince L’vov
3rd - Michael steps down when offered the crown
14th - PS issues it’s ‘Address to the people of the whole world’
April 3rd – Lenin returns to Petrograd
4th – Lenin issues his April Theses
April Theses
The April Theses suggested that February had not been a genuine class revolution but a
palace coup, which had given power to the bourgeoisie. The April Theses demanded that:
All power should be transferred to the Soviet (non-compliance with the PG)
The War should be brought to an immediate end
All land should be taken over by the state and given to peasants by local soviets
May 5th – PG coalition of Kadets and Socialists formed
16th – Sailors from the Kronstadt naval base rejected the authority of the PG
24th – Lenin is furious with Bolsheviks in Kronstadt and forces them to accept the
authority of the PG
June 16th – Major Russian offensive launched in the South-Western front
The PG restores the death penalty and court martials
July 2nd – Street demonstrations and an anti-government rally in Petrograd, Trotsky joins
the Bolshevik party
3rd-4th The July Days – Discontent about Russian failures in the war lead to protesting
which turned into violent.The Bolsheviks decided to provide leadership for the
demonstration. In total, 700 people were killed during the violent protests which
called for all power to go to the Soviet.
5th-7th Bolsheviks are arrested (including Trostky), Lenin flees to Finland
16th – General Kornilov made Commander in Chief
18th – Kerensky becomes Prime Minister if the Provisional Government
August 26th/30th- The Kornilov revolt
Kerensky asks Kornilov to bring trustworthy troops to Petrograd as the German
threatens the capital. Kornilov sees this as an opportunity to restore order. Kerensky
asks the Soviet to defend Petrograd from counter-revolution (in the same way the
right wing military figure of Napoleon took control after the French revolution). A
resistance of workers forces Kornilov to abandon his march on Petrograd. As a
precaution, the Soviet had armed the Bolshevik ‘Red Guard’ in order to counter
Kornilov’s troops. This meant that the Red Guard and the Bolsheviks were now
armed and could claim themselves as the ‘Defenders of Petrograd’.
Orlando Figes – “As for the Provisional Government – well, it was looking increasingly
provisional”
September
9th – Bolsheviks gain a majority in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets and Trotsky
becomes Chairman (Petrograd)
12th – Lenin urges action; “History will not forgive us if we do not assume power
now”
15th – Bolshevik central committee rejects Lenin’s call for an armed insurrection
25th – Trotsky is elected President of the Petrograd Soviet
October
7th – Lenin returns to Petrograd
10th – Bolshevik Central Committee commits itself to an armed insurrection
20th – The First Meeting of the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) of the
Petrograd Soviet headed by Trotsky
23rd – Kerensky moves against the Bolsheviks and Lenin orders the Bolsheviks to rise
up against him.
24th – Pravda shut down at 5am, The Bolsheviks begin their coup
25th/26th – Kerensky flees Petrograd dressed as a nurse whilst the Bolsheviks
(alongside the Battleship Aurora) storm the Winter Palace
26th – The Bolsheviks establish Sovnarkom (new government)
27th – The Bolsheviks have taken power ‘in the name of the Soviet’
November
8th – Bolsheviks issue decrees on Land reform, Peace and Workers’ control
11th – Constituent elections held, Bolsheviks win 175 seats out of 717, SRs 370. It will
meet for one day in 1918 before the Bolsheviks overturn it
December
2nd – Armistice signed at Brest-Litovsk
7th – The ‘Cheka’, a new Bolshevik secret police even more ruthless and efficient than
the Okhrana, is formed under the leadership of ‘Iron’ Felix Dzerzhinsky
October 1917
The revolution of October 1917 happened as a result of:
The weak Provisional Government (with its delaying of constituent elections and
land reform)
The continuation of the War, food shortages and general public unrest (as
demonstrated in the July days)
The incompetence of the PG during the Kornilov revolt and the subsequent arming
and morale boosting of the Bolsheviks
The lack of real opposition to the Bolsheviks (SRs, Kadets, Mensheviks all did not
oppose them)
The strength of the Bolshevik party under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky, as
well as using the July days and Kornilov affair to their advantage
The Bolsheviks were supported by many people as a result of their slogan of ‘Peace,
bread and land’ and had many influential supporters such as the Red Guard, the
Peter and Paul Fortress and the Battleship Aurora
The Bolshevik revolution of October 1917 happened as a result of Provisional Government
weaknesses, Bolshevik strengths, the failures of Kerensky and popular dissatisfaction with
the split between the PG and PS.
Adam Ulam – “The Bolsheviks did not seize power, they picked it up”
Robert Service – “Lenin alone was respected by all sections of the Bolshevik party and his
patriarchal style strengthened his dominance”