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Summary Complete AS/Year 12 Russian Revolution History notes
Complete notes for Year 12 / AS level History Russian Revolution AQA Exam board.
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AS Russia Revision Notes:Section 1: Dissent and revolution 1917
Chapter 1: The condition of Russia in 1917
The Russian empire occupied about 1/6th of the world’s land surface and was seen as a
great power. Because of its huge land span, it was known for having large amounts of
diversity. In 1900 its population was already at 126m.
Political Parties:
It wasn’t until 1906 that political parties were made legal and by 1917 there were a
number of different parties: The Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Octoberists and the Social
Revolutionaries.
Work Strikes:
There was an increase in the number of work strikes that took place from 1912 to
1914. In 1912 there were 750,000 whereas in 1914 (Jan-July) there was 1.5 million.
The Tsar and his power:
Tsar Nicholas II had ruled Russia since 1894 and his family, the Romanov’s had ruled
since 1613 in an autocratic fashion. He highly believed in autocracy and was very
resistant to reform.
1905 Revolution:
This revolution didn’t cause any major changes to politics but nonetheless the October
manifesto did create a national parliament called the Duma. However this wasn’t
enough to satisfy Liberals because the Duma didn’t have unlimited law making
power.
Stolypin:
Stolypin acted as the Tsar’s head of government. He attempted to restore order
through reform and repression. However he was so brutal that his name became
associated with violence and the brutal policies.
Political Repression:
At the beginning of 1907, the head of the Russian police decided to implement a
policy of surveillance. By 1913, he had 94 agents in revolutionary groups.
The Bolshevik Party founded the Pravda and the Mensheviks founded the Luch. The
police had eyes on both these papers and often attempted to close them down.
Chapter 2: Russia and the war effort
On the eve of World War One, the Russian army was seen to be very impressive
because:
1. It was the world’s largest standing army with 1.4 active members and 3m
reservists.
2. Military reforms were attempting to bring aircraft into the army.
However the Russian army did have some failures:
1. Incompetent generals, leading to confusing orders for soldiers
2. Soldiers were unintelligent and lacked a general education
3. Russia’s industry was severely underdeveloped, with arms production being
ineffective.
,World War One exposed many of the weaknesses of the Russian army. Russia’s
initial victories were short lived with the 1914 Battle of Tannenburg leading to the
‘Great Retreat’ of 1915.
Economic and social state of Russia:
Growing inflation and this was exacerbated by WW1. By 1917 inflation was
at 200%
By January 1917, Petrograd was only receiving 48% of the grain requirements
There was a munitions crisis in 1915, leading to artillery units only being able
to use 3 shells a day.
Russia’s transport network couldn’t deal with the influx of soldiers and so it
took a toll on the food delivery to cities.
Discontent:
In August 1915, the Tsar went and took personal charge of the army. This led to
rumours circulating that the Tsarina was in charge of the government while the Tsar
was at the front. This led to a large amount of distrust in the government because:
1. Tsarina was born in Germany and there were rumours that she was a German
agent.
2. Some also believed that she was under the influence of Rasputin, a known
drunk and womaniser. This led to huge distrust in the government as many of
the government ministers were appointed and then sacked with increasing
frequency. – This was Rasputin’s impact on the government.
a. In December 1916, Yusupov assassinated Rasputin but this still didn’t
change public opinions.
The Progressive Bloc:
This was an alliance of Duma deputies who wanted to manage the war effort on their
own. They demanded a ‘Government of Confidence’ and the Tsar refused to even
collaborate with the Progressive Bloc because he believed that they didn’t play
enough of a role in the government.
Chapter 3: The February/March revolution of 1917
Urban Unrest:
By the end of 1916, the war had led to extreme economic hardships across Russia. As
the war continued, goods became increasingly scarce and the wages of industrial
workers was cut by ½ in 1916. – This led to a wave of popular unrest, strikes and
protests that began to occur across the country for example in Moscow and Petrograd.
Peasant Unrest:
The war also led to widespread unrest in rural areas in 1916. Young male peasants
were conscripted in large numbers and so were horses to help with the war effort. The
prices for grain were kept low but there was a large drop in living conditions for those
in rural areas.
, The Tsar’s response:
Okhrana (Secret police) knew about the unrest in the urban and rural areas, the Tsar
was complacent. After 1905 he believed that his government would be able to deal
with any threat.
In February the government announced that as of March 1st, bread would be rationed.
This lead to a large frenzy of people buying up bread. On February 23rd, international
women’s day, women from the women’s textile factories took to the streets and
protested against the food shortages and they also urged men to join them. By the end
of February, the Tsar’s power and authority had crumbled, as many as 200,000 people
were protesting on the streets and soon it became clear that the Cossaks who had been
sent to supress the rebellion had refused and now his own troops were handing out
bread and rifles to the people.
Different names for the Capital City of Russia:
St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd in 1914 because the other sounded ‘too German’
and then in 1924 it was changed to Leningrad to honour Lenin, who had recently died.
The Tsar’s Abdication:
On March 2nd 1917, representatives of the Duma met with the Tsar aboard his train to
request his abdication. – He knew that he must abdicate because he had lost the
support of the Russian political elite.
In 1905, the army had been loyal and managed to crush the rebellion. But in
1917, the army had gone and joined the people so the Tsar had no chance of
regaining control.
Chapter 4: The establishment of the Provisional Government
While the Feb/March revolution had ended the reign of the Romanov family, it still
failed to create a legitimate new government. Instead it created a period of ‘Dual
Power’ in which the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government shared power.
The Provisional government recognised that it had a temporary role and its goal was
to create a democratically elected constituent assembly.
Prince Lvov was the new Prime Minister of the Provisional Government and the rest
of the provisional government was made up of Liberals. Alexander Kerensky played a
very important role during the period of Dual Authority because he was a member of
both the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet and so he was therefore
able to be a means of communication between the two and he helped them to
communicate.
The role of the Petrograd Soviet:
The Petrograd Soviet represented the workers and soldiers of Petrograd and its aims
were to defend the rights of the workers under the new ‘bourgeois government’. The
Petrograd soviets were elected by the workers and soldiers of Petrograd and elections
were held regularly, so they really did represent the workers that elected them.
The workings of the dual authority:
In 1917, the Provisional government faced a series of major problems:
1. The government was committed to ‘revolutionary defensism’ – this meant the
continuation of fighting in the First World War in order to defend the
revolution.
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