Rising Discontent in Russia
Read the text on the rise of discontent in Russia and why its people rose in revolution.
Introduction
Key Points
- During the 1890s, Russia's industrial development led to a large
increase in the size of the urban middle-class and working class, which
gave rise to a more dynamic political atmosphere and the development of
radical parties.
- During the 1890s and early 1900s, bad living and working conditions,
high taxes, and land hunger gave rise to more frequent strikes and
agrarian disorders.
- Russia's backwards systems for agricultural production, the worst in
Europe at the time, influenced the attitudes of peasants and other
social groups to reform against the government and promote social
changes.
- The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a major factor of the February
Revolutions of 1917, unleashing a steady current of worker unrest and
increased political agitation.
- The onset of World War I exposed the weakness of Nicholas II's government.
- A show of national unity had accompanied Russia's entrance into the war, with defense of the Slavic Serbs the main battle cry, but by 1915, the strain of the war began to cause popular unrest, with high food prices and fuel shortages causing strikes in some cities.
Key Terms
Tsar Nicholas II
-
The last Emperor of Russia, ruling from November 1894 until his forced abdication on March 15, 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Due to the Khodynka Tragedy, anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, the violent suppression of the 1905 Revolution, the execution of political opponents, and his perceived responsibility for the Russo-Japanese War, he was given the nickname Nicholas the Bloody by his political adversaries.
St. Petersburg Soviet
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A workers' council or soviet circa 1905. The idea of a soviet as an organ to coordinate workers' strike activities arose during the January–February 1905 meetings of workers at the apartment of Voline (later a famous anarchist) during the abortive revolution of 1905. However, its activities were quickly repressed by the government. The model would later become central to the communists during the Revolution of 1917.
Bolshevik party
-
Literally meaning "one of the majority," this party was a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. They ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
During the 1890s, Russia's industrial development led to a large
increase in the size of the urban middle-class and orking class, which
gave rise to a more dynamic political atmosphere and the development of
radical parties. Because the state and foreigners owned much of Russia's
industry, the Russian working class was comparatively stronger and the
Russian bourgeoisie comparatively weaker than in the West. The working
class and peasants became the first to establish political parties in
Russia because the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie were politically
timid. During the 1890s and early 1900s, bad living and working
conditions, high taxes, and land hunger gave rise to more frequent
strikes and agrarian disorders. These activities prompted the
bourgeoisie of various nationalities in the Russian Empire to develop a
host of parties, both liberal and conservative.
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a major factor in the February
Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered a line of
protests. A council of workers called the St. Petersburg Soviet was
created in all this chaos, beginning the era of communist political
protest.
Source: Boundless, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/rising-discontent-in-russia/
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