With reference to the years 1894 – 1914, failures in the Russo-Japanese War caused the most serious political
unrest. Assess the validity.
Nicholas II upheld his pledge to maintain the principles of autocracy in the years 1894 – 1914. Assess the validity.
Between 1892 and 1914, the Russian economy was transformed. Assess the validity.
To what extent did standards of living in towns and the countryside improve for the peasants in the years 1894
and 1917?
The tsarist regime was successful in suppressing opposition between 1894 and 1914. Assess the validity.
With the reference to the period 1894 to 1917, to what extent was the First World War responsible for the
political changes that had taken place in Russia by the beginning of October 1917?
With reference to the years 1894 – 1914, failures in the Russo-Japanese War caused the most serious political
unrest. Assess the validity.
Judged against other demonstrations of the discontent: from the peasants and workers, assassination by SRs,
theoretical discussions by the liberal opposition and SDs, the failures in the Russo-Japanese war indeed produced the
most serious political unrest. They led to the 1905 revolution and the consequent Duma experiment which changed
the political structure of the tsar’s government.
Russo-Japanese War
- a quick change from patriotism and belief in a ‘swift victorious war’ against ‘yellow monkeys’ (Nicholas’ opinion
about the Japanese) to disillusionment about Russia’s backwardness compared to the Japanese
- effect on the soldiers: battleship Potemkin mutiny in 1905 – the sailors were dissatisfied by the raw meat, and
sailor to Odesa, where they laid a body of their dead comrade (killed by tsar’s forces) near the port. People who
came to show respect to the dead, were shot by the police, while the sailors surrendered in the exchange for their
lives. There were other discontents among the soldiers, concerning their equipment, food etc.
- damage to the morale: Russia fleet, which sailed for 6 months across India to Japan, was destroyed. This
undermined Nicholas’ command skills and tactics
- economic effects: the most significant effects on the Russo-Japanese war were on the people – there was a
shortage of bread, workers were pressured to work over-time to produce equipment for the army.
1905 revolution
- discontents over the failures in the Russo-Japanese War evolved into massive demonstrations
However, people went out to the streets with economic demands rather than political, until the Bloody Sunday
when thousands of innocent protestors were shot by the Cossack regiments and the police.
- afterwards, demands became political – zemstva called for the National Assembly and limitation of the powers of
the Tsar.
- ¼ of the industries in Petrograd were protesting
- Nicholas was forced to make concessions in the form of the October manifesto, promising civil rights to people
and a constitutional assembly.
Therefore, the 1905 revolution could be regarded as a continuation of the discontents about the failure in the
Russo-Japanese war. It caused a great political turmoil, forcing the tsar to accept a new structure of the
government.
Duma period
- the first Duma was dominated by Kadets, who were dissatisfied with the extent of liberal reform. They criticised
Nicholas II’s Fundamental Laws and demanded more freedoms to be granted to the Duma. They passed a vote of
no confidence, but Nicholas dissolved the Duma. Kadets fled to Finland, holding political demonstrations and
encouraging the local people to defy the authorities and stop paying taxes. Troops had to be employed to
suppress the discontent.
Therefore, the Duma experiment, particularly the Kadets caused significant political discontent.
However, the composition of the Duma was changed afterwards (with a new electoral system). So, it was
comprised of mainly rightist – supporters of the autocracy. Therefore, Duma stopped being a problem. For
example, the third Duma agreed on 2200 decrees of 2500.
Peasants
, - 1896 – Khlodynka field – during Nicholas II coronation, more than a thousand of people died in the crowds. This
created an omniscient start to Nicholas II’s reign but did not significantly damage peasant’s loyalty to the tsar.
- The years of the red cockerel 1900-02: discontents int the countryside – peasants were seizing land and attacking
landowners. Cossack troops had to be employed to suppress the discontents.
However, unrests did not stem from political reasons – there were on the economical ground. The tsarist regime
was used to such outbursts, so it did not cause significant political unrest.
Workers
- workers were becoming more involved in political issues: they constituted most of the demonstrators during the
1905 revolution
- they became more involved in trade union movement: Zhubatov trade unions and Father Gapon’s National
Assembly of the Workers
- Lena Goldfield Massacre – 1912: workers were demanding wage increases, but when they were going to the
officials, the Cossack troops started shooting at them.
However, these trade union were focused on the cooperation between the workers and the government to
minimise the feelings of hostility or root them down straight away. So, the unions helped to stabilise the political
situation. Furthermore, the regime was successful in restricting the number and influence of the unions. Only 10%
of the applications were granted a permission to organised union associations.
Oppositional groups
Liberals
- liberals remained mainly theoretical and just benefited from the 1905 revolution and Duma experiment
1903 – the Union of liberation was established to hold meetings and discussions about the change that had to be
done. During the Russo-Japanese war, 50 banquets were held with the representatives of the zemstva.
Plus, zemstva continued to petition Nicholas about the Nation Assembly (before 1905), even though he was
dismissing their demands as a ‘senseless dream’
SRs
- caused a lot of work for the secret police and Okhrana, as many spies and double-agents were recruited to
control the doings of the radical socialists
- 200 assassinations of the officials were successful between 1900 and 1905. Among the significant figures were
Stolypin and Plehve.
- during the 1905 revolution, SRs were encouraging the workers to protest and be more violent towards the police
- SRs ignored the first Dumas, as they were dissatisfied with the terms – missed out the opportunity to be heard
and attempt to influence political affairs.
So, SRs contributed to the political unrest with their violent action. However, the regime was successful in
suppressing them, as the police was detecting their secret networks and arresting the members. For example, only
between 1904-05 4000 members of SR were arrested
SDs
- remained largely theoretical, so did not cause much political trouble
- 1903 – split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks: weakened SDs as arguments about ideology and timings of the
revolution prevented their cooperation
- Lenin was absent during the 1905 revolution, and arrived only by the end of it
- SRs and Bolsheviks cooperated to organise St. Petersburg Soviet in 1905 to coordinate workers protests.
However, it was uncovered by the tsarist police and its members arrested.
- after 1912, Bolsheviks were becoming more influential, as their members were dominating local authorities and
zemstva. Their newspaper ‘Pravda’ was increasingly read.
Therefore, SDs did not cause much political trouble, as they remained theoretical and divided.
Nicholas II upheld his pledge to maintain the principles of autocracy in the years 1894 – 1914. Assess the
validity.
Throughout his rule, Nicholas emphasised the dominance of the Russian nationality, and suppressed any nationalistic
expressions from ethnic minorities, which suggests that the principle of nationality was maintained. Also, the loyalty
of the army was preserved, despite some minor discontents. With many threats and challenges to one-person rule,
