The statement ‘Pre-revolutionary Russian society underwent significant change’ is accurate to a medium extent in terms of social, economic and political change in Russia. In social terms, the Russian Tsar did not allow political opinions and therefore did not allow the congregation of political enthusiasts, limiting the opportunity for a revolution. In economic terms, Russian peasants were stuck in a situation where they had to pay large taxes to landowners, leaving little money for themselves and their families. In political terms, the Tsar held a strong kingdom, which condemned the peasants to an inferior lifestyle, as the Tsar government believed the ‘dark masses’ could only be held in check by severe repression’ . However, from 1861 to 1914, the population quadrupled resulting in limited resources and the peasants protesting for a higher quality life. It was through this time that the three aspects encountered change, experienced by the peasants and the Tsar Kingdom.
Russian peasants lived within their families and from the land that they lived on, with no forms of communication available; there was no social aspect outside their immediate household. Without the ability to confide in groups as workers unions and political groups, there was no motivation for revolution in political or working fields. In his account of Russia, The Empire of the Czar: A Journey through Eternal Russia, 1839, Marquis De Custine, a French aristocrat, stated ‘[that] the length and difficulties of communication’ maintained the tranquillity among the peasants, if there were any means of communication, a significant revolution would have occurred before the 1900’s. 1905 was the year peasants experienced freedoms, with restrictions, but the freedoms...
... middle of paper ...
...hp/Manifesto_of_October_17th,_1905. [Accessed 13 March 2014].
Pobedonostev, Konstantin Petrovich, 1827-1907. Reflections of a Russian Statesman 1898. Pg. 32-35. English Translation R. Crozier. Grant Richards Publishing. London. Available at: https://archive.org/details/reflectionsofrus00pobeuoft. [Accessed 24 March 2014]
Lynch, M.L, 2005. Reaction and Revolution Russia 1894-1924. 3rd ed. 338 Euston Road London: Hodder Education. Pg. 7. [Accessed 20 March 2014].
(Astolphe) Marquis de Custine, The Empire of the Czar: A Journey through Eternal Russia, 1839. Vol. 3 pp.283, 353. [Accessed 20 March 2014].
Manifesto of October 17th, 1905 - Documents in Russian History. 2014.Manifesto of October 17th, 1905 - Documents in Russian History. [ONLINE] Available at:http://academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php/Manifesto_of_October_17th,_1905. [Accessed 13 March 2014].
Historically, Russia has always been a country of perplexing dualities. The reality of Dual Russia, the separation of the official culture from that of the common people, persisted after the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. The Czarist Russia was at once modernized and backward: St. Petersburg and Moscow stood as the highly developed industrial centers of the country and two of the capitals of Europe, yet the overwhelming majority of the population were subsistent farms who lived on mir; French was the official language and the elites were highly literate, yet 82% of the populati...
No war is fought without the struggle for resources, and with Russia still rapidly lagging behind in the international industrialisation race by the turn of the 20th century, the stage was set for social unrest and uprising against its already uncoordinated and temporally displaced government. With inconceivable demands for soldiers, cavalry and warfare paraphernalia, Russia stood little chance in the face of the great powers of World War One. Shortages of basic human necessities led to countless subsistence riots and the eventual power struggle between the ruling body and its people. From the beginnings of WWI to 1916, prices of essential goods rose 131 percent in Moscow and more than 150 percent in Petrograd. Additionally, historian Walter G. Moss stated that in September 1915 that “there were 100,000 strikers in Russia; in October 1916, there were 250,000 in Petrograd alone.” Moss continues to exemplify the increasing evidence of social unrest and connects the riots to a lack of resources when he goes on to point out that “subsistence riots protesting high prices and shortages… also increased.” ...
For centuries, autocratic and repressive tsarist regimes ruled the country and population under sever economic and social conditions; consequently, during the late 19th century and early 20th century, various movements were staging demonstrations to overthrow the oppressive government. Poor involvement in WWI also added to the rising discontent against Nicholas as Russian armies suffered terrible casualties and defeats because of a lack of food and equipment; in addition, the country was industrially backward compared to countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the USA. It had failed to modernize, this was to do with the tsars lack of effort for reforms. The country was undergoing tremendous hardships as industrial and agricultural output dropped. Famine and poor morale could be found in all aspects of Russian life. Furthermore, the tsar committed a fatal mistake when he appointed himself supreme commander of the armed forces because he was responsible for the armies constant string of defeats.
New York, Replika Press Pvt. Ltd. Deutscher, Isaac, Ed 1967. The Unfinished Revolution Russia1917-1967. U.S.A. Oxford University Press. Fitzpatrick, Sheila, Ed 1982.The Russian Revolution.
While most of Europe had develop strong central governments and weakened the power of the nobles, Russia had lagged behind the times and still had serfs as late as 1861. The economic development that followed the emancipation of peasants in the rest of Europe created strong industrial and tax bases in those nations. Russian monarchs had attempted some level of reforms to address this inequality for almost a century before, and were indeed on their way to “economic maturity” (32) on par with the rest of Europe. But they overextended themselves and the crushing defeats of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War in 1917 lost them the necessary support from their subjects and created “high prices and scarcity” which were by far “the most obvious factors in the general tension”
The Effect of the Bolshevik Rule on Russian Culture Bolshevik cultural policy was based on spreading their values to the population. They attempted to promote equality to create a classless society. In addition to removing class differences they attempted to give equal status to women and to young people. In order to encourage women to work state funded crèches were established and laws passed to give women parity in terms of pay with men. The state tried to destroy the old concept of families by legalising abortion and enabling people to obtain divorces much more simply.
Mosse, Werner E., “Alexander II and the modernization of Russia”. London, English Universities Press ltd. 1958.
The Russian revolution of February 1917 was a momentous event in the course of Russian history. The causes of the revolution were very critical and even today historians debate on what was the primary cause of the revolution. The revolution began in Petrograd as “a workers’ revolt” in response to bread shortages. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, replacing Russia’s monarchy with the world’s first Communist state. The revolution opened the door for Russia to fully enter the industrial age. Before 1917, Russia was a mostly agrarian nation. The Russian working class had been for many years fed up with the ways they had to live and work and it was only a matter of time before they had to take a stand. Peasants worked many hours for low wages and no land, which caused many families to lose their lives. Some would argue that World War I led to the intense downfall of Russia, while others believe that the main cause was the peasant unrest because of harsh living conditions. Although World War I cost Russia many resources and much land, the primary cause of the Russian Revolution was the peasant unrest due to living conditions because even before the war began in Russia there were outbreaks from peasants due to the lack of food and land that were only going to get worse with time.
Russia entered the 20th century as an oppressed tsarist state and the last of the Medieval European strongholds. The people were poor, starving and hopeless and, unlike the rest of Europe, had not experienced revolution. Eventually, however, a small group of revolutionaries emerged and overthrew the tsarist regime. Russia quickly devolved into anarchy and the resulting turmoil saw the rise of the Bolshevik Party and Vladimir Lenin. This was the beginning of the Russian Revolution, a prolonged event that deeply impacted Russia and the whole of Europe and the effects of which continue to be felt today.
Wood, A. (1986). The Russian Revolution. Seminar Studies in History. (2) Longman, p 1-98. ISBSN 0582355591, 9780582355590
In the years leading up to World War I, social unrest among the Russian people was spreading rapidly. There was a huge social gulf between the peasants who were former serfs and the landowners. The peasants regarded anyone who did not work as a parasite. They had always regarded as all land belonging to them. They regarded any land retained by the landowners at the time serfs were freed as stolen and only force could prevent them from taking it back. By the time Russia entered the war, one peasant rebellion had already been suppressed and several socialist revolutionary movements were developing.
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.
In the years leading up to the revolution, Russia had been involved in a series of wars. The Crimean war, The Russo-Turkish war, The Russo-Japanese war and the First World War. Russia had been defeated in all except the war with Turkey and its government and economy had the scars to prove it. A severe lack of food and poor living conditions amongst the peasant population led firstly to strikes and quickly escalated to violent riots. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia with an iron hand while much of Europe was moving away from the monarchical system of rule. All lands were owned by the Tsar’s family and Nobel land lords while the factories and industrial complexes were owned by the capitalists’. There were no unions or labour laws and the justice system had made almost all other laws in favour of the ruling elite. Rents and taxes were often unaffordable, while the gulf between workers and the ruling elite grew ever wider.
8Sites Richard, ‘The Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, 1900-1945’, in Michael Howard and William Roger Louis, The Oxford history of the twentieth century, New York, 1998, p. 117-27.