OLD REGIME RUSSIA

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Land of contradictions

Huge empire

Situated in both “West” & “East”

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Land of contradictions

Great power

Great poverty & underdevelopment

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Land of contradictions

Primarily agrarian society

Beginning to modernize & industrialize

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Land of contradictions

Elite (@ 1%) controlled everything

Majority of population (over 80%) = peasants

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Land of contradictions

Elite lived in great wealth & opulence

Majority lived in poverty

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Land of contradictions

Great culture & thought

Produced some of world’s greatest artists, writers, thinkers, scientists

LEV TOLSTOY

ANNA PAVLOVA

PETR TCHAIKOVSKY

MARC CHAGALL

IVAN PAVLOV

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Began late, but steady growth

But still lagged behind West

Industrialization & rise of capitalism

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Russia’s divergent path

Pervasive state control of economy

Strict autocratic control of political system

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Role of the Church

Propped up autocracy

Subordinate to government

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

The Multi-National Empire

Hundreds of different ethnic groups

Often chafed under Russian control

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Communal Nature

Focus of life for most:

•Family

•Village

•Commune (OBSHCHINA or MIR)

OLD REGIME RUSSIA

Great population growth

1861 = 73 million

1897 = 125 million

1917 = 170 million

Placed great strain on land/resources