GEOGRAPHY, POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

Russia at the start of the twentieth century

Background - geography1894 imperial Russia covered 8 million

square miles (two and a half times the size of the US today)

Covered a large part of two continentsMost of the population was concentrated in

European Russia It was this part that Russia’s major historical

developments had occurred Moscow and St Petersburg (capital) were situated

hereBetween 1815 and 1914 the population

quadrupled from 40 million to 165 millionContained a wide variety of people of

different race, language, religion and culture.

The system of government

The Emperor of all the Russians is an autocratic and unlimited monarch; God himself ordains that all must bow to his supreme power; not only out of fear but also out of conscience.’

Article 1, Fundamental Laws of the Empire, 1832

Russia was an autocracy governed by an absolute ruler called the tsar (emperor)

Since 1613 Russian tsars had been members of the Romanov dynasty

Reform and Reaction

In 1861 Tsar Alexander II emancipated Russia’s 25 million serfs and placed them in Mirs

On 13 March 1881 Alexander II, the ‘Tsar Liberator’ was assassinated by a terrorist group called The People’s Will.

Alexander III became Tsar. He ended any further political reform and introduced repressive policies (Okhrana).

From 1894 Tsar Nicholas II ruled the Russian Empire

“Nicholas had no knowledge of the world or of men, of politics or

government to help him make the difficult and weighty decisions that

the Tsar alone must make. The only guiding stars that he

recognized were the inherited belief in the moral rightness of autocracy, and a religious faith

that he was in God’s hands and his actions were divinely inspired.”

Hans Rogger, Russia in the Age of Modernization and Revolution,

1983

You are being asked to give the message of the source, to read between the lines of what is written. You could begin your answer ‘This source suggests that…’. This should help you to get a message or messages from the sources.

TipsAvoid repeating the content.Look for key words in the source that might lead to

inferences.Avoid using phrases such as ‘This source

shows/tells….’

A) Inference Questions

A cartoon published by Russian socialists in 1900 showing their interpretation of Russian society under the Tsars.

What can we infer from this source about Russia at the start of the twentieth century? (3 marks)

Society

Review

Write down definitions of the following key terms from the lesson today: Autocracy

A government in which one person has unrestricted control over others. Emancipation of the serfs

Issued in 1861 by Alexander II. This abolished serfdom in the Russian empire and gave landless peasants the full rights of free citizens.

Mir A village commune where land was owned collectively. After 1861 serfs

were forced to live in Mirs Russification

The adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes (whether voluntarily or not) by non-Russian communities. This was a policy followed by Alexander III

Okhrana The secret police force used by the Tsars for repression

Censorship To ban or cut parts of a newspaper, book, film etc which the government

does not like