Russian RevolutionPart 1: 1862-1916

From Serfdom to Constitutional Monarchy (sort-of)

J. Marshall, 2011

How might this topic relate to the final exam multiple choice section?

Pravda News Jan, 1918

BOLSHEVIK GOVERNMENTENDS CONSTITUENT

ASSEMBLY

Which of the following was a direct result of the event reported?

A. the Russian Civil WarB. the triumph of Stalin over TrotskyC. Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication from the throneD. Bolshevik victory in the November Revolution

How might this topic relate to the final exam essay section?

• August 2006 essay prompt: To what extent was popular discontent a factor in the rise of totalitarian governments during the period 1917 to 1991?

• August 2004 essay prompt: To what extent were communist governments a destructive force during the twentieth century?

Alexander II 1818-1881

• Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland

• Started reign at loss of Crimean War – ouch!• Generally autocratic, but liberal-leaning• Emancipation of serfs, 1861• 1864, Zemstvos local councils (created) = taxation• Universal conscription 1874 (in light of post-

Crimean military re-org• Suppression of separatists (Poles, Ukrainians,

Finns, Lithuanians, etc• Four attempted assassinations

The 1881 Assassination:Two separate bombers of Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) terrorist organization attack the Tsar’s bulletproof carriage; a third stood by if needed – he wasn’t.

Alexander III 1845-1894

• Repressive and reactionary (he was a big dude)

• Was unrefined: his older sickly bro, Nicholas I, was supposed to be tsar (Nich. went to “king school”)

• Limited the little power of the zemstvos • Lenin’s brother hanged 1887 for

assassination attempt on Tsar• Promoted the Orthodox Church: May Laws

banned Jewish people from rural areas

• Died of nephritis (inflammation of kidneys)

Tsar Nicolas II

Unsuitability to be tsar: a weak leader (strong love for his family).

Autocratic repressive policies (censorship; role of the Okhrana; punishment).

Role of the Orthodox Church in maintaining the authority of the Tsar.

Impact of a German (and English) wife: Alexandra

Choice of ministers and “advisors” (ex. Stolypin and Rasputin).

Reaction to the establishment of the Duma (with severe limitations)

+ later decision to lead the army during First World War

Defeat: Russo-Japanese WAR

• Portsmouth

Treaty of Portsmouth: Russo-Japanese War

St. Petersburg: centre of the Empire

Bloody Sunday: 150,000 people march“Oh Sire, we working men and inhabitants of St. Petersburg, our wives, our children and our parents, helpless and aged women and men, have come to You our ruler, in search of justice and protection. We are beggars, we are oppressed and overburdened with work, we are insulted, we are not looked on as human beings but as slaves. The moment has come for us when death would be better than the prolongation of our intolerable sufferings. We are seeking here our last salvation. Do not refuse to help Your people. Destroy the wall between Yourself and Your people."

The effects:

• 400,000 on strike immediately• Peasants attack their landlords• Tsar’s great uncle assassinated in Feb.• Transport system halts• Sailors on Potemkin mutiny in June• Demand for a Duma and political parties• Finns and Poles demand independence

P O T E M K I N

October Manifesto, 17 Oct, 1905• Civil freedom (conscience, speech, no arbitrary arrest,

assembly and association, unions, )

• Universal franchise• Duma (no law passed w/o Duma, supervision of Gov’t bodies

and check legality of decisions by the Tsar’s administrators)

• Called for an end to the unrest that was cresting 10 months after Bloody Sunday in the form of a general strike – the “victory” of the masses actually prompted more unrest spurred by Trotsky and Petrograd Soviet, but by December, agitators were arrested and quiet resumed, but…

• 1906 Fundamental Laws (constitution) limited Duma’s power even before it met!

Tsar

DumaLower House

(elected by limited franchise)478 members

State Council Upper House

(½ appointed by Tsar)(½ appointed by landowners,

church, etc)

Reaction to the October Manifesto

• Backlash – Pogroms• Arrests of agitators• Octobrists formed• Reforms soon forgotten

Fundamental Laws, 1906:The Tsar’s Constitution

Fundamental Laws

• In spite of the promise of great reform, it reserved extensive POWER for the Tsar:– Bureaucracy– Armed forces– Foreign policy– Succession to throne– Finance and legislation restrictions– Dismiss/appoint officials + dissolve Duma at will(Article 87: Tsar could write laws if Duma dissolved!)

A WEAK CONSTITUTION BUT STILL A BIG STEP

First Duma: 497 members

• Monarchist-Constitutionalists• 184 Constitutional Democrats (Cadets) under

Pavel Milyukov• Octobrists of Union of Oct 17• 124 Social Revolutionaries (peasants and intelligensia)

• Social Democratic (Bloshevik and Menshevik)

• 112 Independent (mostly peasants who oppos’d gov’t and refused party label)

Boyc

otted

ele

ction

FLAW: (1) inadequate representation of urban poor(2) Indirect election by the peasants

State Council

By the people, for the people? Which people?½ picked by Tsar + ½ by landowners and Church

Stolypin Agrarian Reforms

Terrorism

• Stolypin “necktie”

• Rising incidence of terrorism

• Bolshevik “expropriations”

Stolypin’s Assassination

Sarajevo: 28 June, 1914

Slavic Pride: To War!

Schlieffen Plan• Since 1910, Russian generals had decided to attack

immediately in case of war

• Russian Imperial troops actually well trained and equipped: equal to Germans, better than A-Hs.

• Logistics and especially transport Russia’s weak link

• After brief initial victories, the Russians lost big to Hindenburg and Ludendorf at Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes

COUNTER MEASURES

1915: the war grinds on…

• Costly battles: 2 million Russians; 1 million A-H

• Unlike Western Front, sometimes lines moved 200 miles in weeks

• Nicholas II takes over in late fall• In 1916 A-H empire is near collapse –

Germany is still strong.• Gen Brusilov urged on in spite of huge

losses – army now near revolt with mutinies