Download Teacher Notes Russia Difficult to govern

Teacher Notes – Russia 1900 – background:
Geographic/ethnic make-up of Russia
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Huge – west to east = 4,000 miles; north to south = 2,000 miles
Communications hard – few paved roads, most roads packed earth – turn to mud in rain (outside cities). Travel
by road v slow –often became impassable.
Longer journeys – used river/rail – many major cities sited on rivers. Winter – rivers iced over & sleds used.
By 1900 Russia has as many miles of railway track as Britain (& Britain could fit into Russia 100 times!) mostly in
European Russia.
1904 – Trans-siberian express opened, which linked east & west Russia – took over a week to travel between
Moscow to Vladivostok.
Variety of landscapes – north – tundra (frozen for most of the year), then south of tundra – taiga – miles of
impenetrable forest, then Russian Steppes – grassland, further south – desert. Little could be used for farming.
Main agricultural areas – European Russia – ‘black earth’ region was the most fertile.
Beyond Ural mountains – Russia wild – frontier settlements (like Wild West)
130 million people – majority live in European Russia (west of Ural mountains)
Less than half the population were ethnic Russians.
Many didn’t speak Russian
Most were illiterate.
Some national groups vey resentful of Russian control – disliked ‘russification’ ie making non-Russians speak
Russian, wear Russian clothes, follow Russian customs.
Russian officials ran non-Russian parts of the Empire (eg Finland, Poland & Latvia) – Russian language had to be
used in schools, law courts & local government (eg Poland – forbidden to teach children in Polish).
Extra:
Only 40% ethnic Russians
80% were peasants – subsistence farmers
60%+ = illiterate
Life expectancy = 40
Low tech and low investment
Land ownership rare
Land owned by OBSCHINA (Commune)
It also organised taxes and allotted strips of land to each household
Social problems
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Peasants – 84%; workers 4%; military 5%; govt officials 4% and nobility 1.5%
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Peasants – hard life, main food was rye bread, porridge or cabbage soup. Fish common, meat rare. Tea, beer
and vodka most popular drinks. When harvests good – enough food; if bad – starvation/disease – 1891 –
400,000 people died re crop failure and cholera. Life expectancy – less than 40. Regular epidemics eg typhus,
diphtheria; syphilis widespread. Poverty, squalor & often drunkenness – life.
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Strip farming – each family had 20-30 strips around the village – used wooden ploughs, few animals & tools –
work backbreaking physical labour. Subsistence farming – most families only produced enough for themselves.
Sometimes earned extra money by making clothes, furniture or articles to sell in towns.
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Problem – land – not enough to go around. Until 1861 – majority of peasants were serfs – owned by masters.
1861 – freedom – allocated a share of the land which they could buy with money loaned by the govt – had to
pay off loans over many years. Often the amount of land they got was barely enough to survive on, let alone to
pay off loans. – so many peasants in extreme debt.
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Landowners/nobles – kept a lot of land after 1861 – many peasants had to go and work on these large estates to
earn extra money.
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Situation worse by 1900 – population increased by 50% between 1860-1897 & still growing fast. So more and
more peasants competing for the available land.
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Nobility – 1% population, owned almost ¼ of the land. Some very rich, large country estates which they
employed people to run. Often have a home in St Petersburg or Moscow (or both) – where they enjoyed
‘society’, theatre etc.
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Middle classes – 1900- development of industry [1890+] – new class of bankers, merchants, rich capitalists – St
Petersburg and Moscow – main centres of commerce/textile industry. Strong link govt & businessmen – govt
gave them big contracts/loans.
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Good standard of life – restaurants, cocktail bars, smart hotels, theatre, concerts etc. Large houses, lavishly
decorated.
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Workers – lived in cheap wooden lodging houses or large tenement buildings, ate cheap black bread, cabbage
soup & buckwheat porridge & drank vodka. In industrial centres away from cities, workers often lived in
barracks next to factory – dormitories of up to 30 workers, or small rooms sleeping several families. Spaces
divisioned off by sheet partitions – almost no privacy. Many factories worked 24 hours a day & same beds
occupied by 2 workers (one during day & one during night). Many workers were male peasants who had been
forced off the land. Large no of women workers in textile factories in Moscow/ St Petersburg.
How the government ran Russia.
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Tsar Nicholas II – 1894 – autocrat – complete/absolute power – believed in divine right to rule. He had a council
of ministers who ran the various govt departments – all reported to the Tsar who made the important decisions.
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Russia huge – 1000s of civil servants (from top officials down to tax collectors/customs officers) – so getting
things done was very slow – wages of people at bottom very low, so a lot of bribery and corruption.
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No parliament to represent the people & no ways to get their views heard.
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Newspapers/books were censored – had to be sent to govt for approval before being printed.
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Opposition not tolerated – okhrana – secret police dealt with anyone who criticised the govt – exiled to Siberia
or sent to jail.
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If there were strikes, protests or riots (often in times of famine) they were dealt with harshly – usually by
soldiers (often Cossacks) to restore order.
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Orthodox church – very influential – most houses had holy pictures/icons on walls. Surrounded in
mysticism/superstition. Holy men (startsy) held in special regard. Great gap between poor parish priests &
bishops/higher clergy.
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Orthodox church was closely linked to Tsar & supported his way of ruling – taught that the Tsar was the head of
the country & head of church – many peasants/workers thought of the tsar as the ‘little father’ or a special
protector.
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Nicholas II – kind & well-meaning, deep affection for his family. He would sooner spend time with family, rather
than deal with govt matters. Deeply religious. Could also be cruel and merciless – would not stand for
opposition – use of violence. Very anti-Jewish, & encouraged pogroms. Believed in autocracy (believed
democracy would lead to the collapse of Russia). He knew little about the people & their lives – protected from
the reality of life for the majority of Russian people.
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Alexandra (wife) – shy, strong willed & obstinate. Very religious. Loved Nicholas. Very great influence on Tsar –
determined that he shouldn’t share power with the people.