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Y219: Russia 1894–1941

The rule of Tsar Nicholas II: Witte, the 1905 Revolution, the Dumas and Stolypin

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on Pobedonostsev and Witte, the Russo-Japanese War, Bloody Sunday and 1905, the October Manifesto, the regime’s survival, the Fundamental Laws, the Dumas, Stolypin’s repression and land reform and Russia in 1914.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Evaluation

Why did the regime survive the 1905 Revolution?

Process

How did the character of the Dumas change between 1906 and 1914?

Key term

What was the political, social and economic situation in Russia by 1914?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What influence did Pobedonostsev have on Nicholas II?

    Model answer

    As the tsar's tutor and head of the Church administration he taught that autocracy, Orthodoxy and Russian nationality were the only safeguards against chaos, and he opposed representative government and religious toleration throughout.

  2. 2

    What did Witte do as finance minister, and what was the cost of his policies?

    Model answer

    He put Russia on the gold standard, attracted foreign investment, protected industry with high tariffs and built railways including the Trans-Siberian, producing very rapid industrial growth; but it was paid for by heavy indirect taxes on the peasantry and by an urban working class living in dangerous and overcrowded conditions.

  3. 3

    How did the Russo-Japanese War affect the regime at home?

    Model answer

    The war intended to rally patriotic support instead brought humiliating defeats at Port Arthur, Mukden and Tsushima, exposed official incompetence, disrupted food supply and transport, and helped turn discontent into revolution in 1905.

  4. 4

    What happened on Bloody Sunday and why did it matter so much?

    Model answer

    Troops fired on a peaceful procession of workers led by Father Gapon that was bringing a petition to the Winter Palace, killing and wounding hundreds, and it destroyed the popular image of the tsar as the people's protector.

  5. 5

    Describe the extent and nature of the disturbances of 1905.

    Model answer

    There were mass strikes culminating in a general strike in October, peasant seizures of land, mutinies in the armed forces including on a Black Sea battleship, nationalist risings in the borderlands and the formation of workers' councils in the cities.

  6. 6

    What did the October Manifesto promise, and why did Nicholas issue it?

    Model answer

    On Witte's advice, and with no reliable troops available while the general strike paralysed the country, he promised civil liberties and an elected Duma whose consent would be needed for laws.

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