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Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964

The nature of government: Autocracy, methods of repression and enforcement

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on Autocracy, dictatorship and totalitarianism, developments in central administration, methods of repression and enforcement.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

How far did the Duma limit the tsar's power?

Numbers

Describe central administration under the tsars.

Key term

How was central administration organised after the Bolshevik seizure of power?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define autocracy as the tsars practised it.

    Model answer

    Rule in which the tsar held unlimited sovereign power by divine right, unchecked by constitution, parliament or law and answerable only to God.

  2. 2

    What did the Fundamental Laws of 1906 establish?

    Model answer

    They created an elected Duma but restated that the tsar was autocrat, kept ministers, the armed forces and foreign policy under his sole control, and allowed him to legislate by decree when the Duma was not sitting.

  3. 3

    How far did the Duma limit the tsar's power?

    Model answer

    Very little: the first two Dumas were dissolved within months, the franchise was altered in 1907 to guarantee a conservative majority, and ministers remained answerable to the tsar alone.

  4. 4

    Describe central administration under the tsars.

    Model answer

    Government was carried on by appointed ministers, the Committee of Ministers and the advisory State Council, with no prime minister co-ordinating policy until 1905 and no body the tsar could not bypass.

  5. 5

    Distinguish between dictatorship and totalitarianism.

    Model answer

    A dictatorship concentrates political power in one leader or party, while a totalitarian regime goes further and attempts to control the economy, culture, belief and private life as well.

  6. 6

    How was central administration organised after the Bolshevik seizure of power?

    Model answer

    Sovnarkom, the council of people's commissars, was the formal government, but real authority lay with the Party's Politburo and Secretariat, so state bodies executed decisions already taken inside the Party.

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