Geography, politics, economy and society

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Russia at the start of the twentieth century

• Geography, politics, economy and society

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• Background - geography
• 1894 imperial Russia covered 8 million square
  miles (two and a half times the size of the US
  today)
• Covered a large part of two continents
• Most of the population was concentrated in
  European Russia
• It was this part that Russias major historical
  developments had occurred
• Moscow and St Petersburg (capital) were situated
  here
• Between 1815 and 1914 the population quadrupled
  from 40 million to 165 million
• Contained a wide variety of people of different
  race, language, religion and culture.

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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

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Reform and Reaction

• In 1861 Tsar Alexander II emancipated Russias 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 Peoples Will.
• Alexander III became Tsar. He ended any further
  political reform and introduced repressive
  policies (Okhrana).

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• 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 Gods hands and his actions were
divinely inspired. Hans Rogger, Russia in the
Age of Modernization and Revolution, 1983
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A) Inference Questions

• 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.
• Tips
• Avoid repeating the content.
• Look for key words in the source that might lead
  to inferences.
• Avoid using phrases such as This source
  shows/tells.

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Society

• 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)

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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