Key Issue 1

• Russia in 1894 was 2.5X bigger than the USA today
• 5000 miles East to West
• Varied quality of land and climate
• Due to vast size there was poor communications
• Few paved roads

• 77% population Peasants
• 10.7% population were Urban Workers
• 0.5% population were Middle Class

Peasants were illiterate and poverty- stricke, living off the land

• Serfe (basically slaves) used backwards agricultural methods, owned by the land owner and had to pay them money
• Redemption Payement - payments that serfs had to make to the government for the land after they were emancipated
• Peasants were discontent and angry and became violent wanted more land to solve the problem of famine 

Witter (Minister of Fianance) wanted to modernise Russian Economy He:

• strenthened protective tariffs to guard Russin industry
• Got foreign powers to invest
• felt the indusrty would stop social unrest giving empoyment 
• Gold standard

rapid progress in industry led to urban overcrowding and terrible living conditions as factories grew in size 2.5 million workers in industy. 

Because of the terrible living conditions there was a presisting problem of strikes. (68 in 1895 - 14,000 in 1905)

• Russia was HUGE and hard to goven over it all
• Variations in climate 
• Great diversity of the russian people
• poor road infastructure 
• opposition of ideas
• spread of diease 
• very little industry 

National minorities (Nationalities) - many who lived in russia but were not of russian nationality

• 170 different ethnic groups
• had no part in the ruling elite - discontent
• russification - strongly enforced policy if restricted and influencial russian ideas
• imposing ideas
• stressing superiority
• discrimination
• state interfeared with eduction and religion 
• Open and vindictive
• jews were the greatest victims 
• pogroms (firece persicution of the jews including murder)
• treadted half the population as inferior

• A backward political system
• Tsar - a monarch with unlimited power
• Nicolas the II - last of the Romanov family
• he ruled in partnership with: nobility, hand picked ministers, leading figures, the orthodox church
• No parliment 
• Zemstva - a form of local government had little power
• Nicolas was weak, irresolute and obsesed with family life, Little self confidence

Liberals

• any politicians from the zemstva 
• wanted a represntative assembly
• wanted reform in the exsisting social system
• wanted abolish corpral punishment
• Had a newspaper 'The Liberation' 

Social Revolutionaries

• led by Victor chernov
• emphasised the revolutionary potential of the Peasants (77%)
• assasinated several government ministers
• wanted to remove the tsar
• wanted land to be given back to the peasants

In 1903 there was a split in the democrats between the Bolsheviks and thr Menshevics. In 1912 became two seperate parties 

Bolshevics

• Led by Lenni
• wanted to overthrow the tsar
• revolution led by a small group of profesionals
• used violence as a fource

Mensheviks

• Led by martov
• wanted to overthrow the tsar
• belived the party should be open to any revolutionary 

Causes 

• Russian expansion
• Need for a ice free port
• To distract from home problems

Course

• Lost port arthur jan 1905
• Surrender of mukden feb
• fleet destroyed at tsushima may
• surrenderd 

Reasons for the defete 

• underestimated Japan
• inadequate militury planning
• poor comunication and strategy
• Some troops had to stay west to help domestics

a peaceful protest of urban workers led by father gapon.

had a petition to give to the tsar stating the hardships they were facing

the tsars forces opend fire on the protest killing many

tipping point for many to the revolution