Revolution and Dictatorship: The Condition of Russia before the February Revolution.

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Who were the Liberals?
Constitutional Democrats, the Octobrists and the Progressives.
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What did the Liberal's stand for?
A constitutional monarchy and moderate reform.
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Who were the Socialist Revolutionaries?
Evolved from groups who wishes to improve the position of the peasantry in Russia.
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Outline the problems within the SRs.
Little organisation, lack of discipline, suffered from internal divisions and had little chance of achieving their aims.
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Who were the Social Democrats?
All-Russian Labour Party whose theories were based on those of Karl Marx.
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When did the party split?
1903
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Name the two divisions in the SD's.
Bolshevik's and Menshevik's.
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Who led the Bolshevik's?
Vladimir Lenin
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What did the Bolshevik's believe?
Wanted a strong organisation of professional revolutionaries.
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Who led the Menshevik's?
Julius Martov
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What did the Menshevik's believe?
Wanted a broad party with mass working class membership that worked through trade unions to destroy Tsarism.
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What was the religion upheld in Russia?
Russian Orthodox
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What is a Constitutional Monarchy?
A democratic government whereby the monarch acts as head of state, giving power to the representative assembly.
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Who was the Autocratic Emperor of Russia in 1917?
Tsar Nicholas II- Romanov Dynasty
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What was the State Duma?
The lower house of Parliament in the Russian Empire (1906-1917)
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Give 5 reasons as to why the February Revolution took place.
Tsar Nicholas, Alexandra and Rasputin, WWI, Economic failures and Discontent in Russia.
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1. The Tsar
Personality, Poor decisions
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When did Nicholas inherit the throne?
1894- aged 26
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Give an outline of Nicholas in terms of personality and character.
Never wanted to be Tsar, ill-suited personality for Tsar (shy, easily bored, indecisive, overly-cautious).
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How did the Tsar preserve his authority?
Constantly pitted his ministers against each other to keep them weak, and dismissed ministers who he became suspicious of.
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State an example of the Tsar's poor decision making.
Nicholas made himself Chief Commanding Officer of the Army in 1915.
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Why did he do this?
1915: Russia had just suffered major defeats in Galicia
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Why was this such a bad decision?
This meant that the Tsar was directly responsible for all failures of the war, losing him support.
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Why did Nicholas and Alexandra allow Rasputin to have major influence?
Their son suffered from haemophilia. Rasputin supposedly 'cured' his son of this, due to his magical abilities as a monk (he did nothing of the sort, and only calmed his son down during times of stress).
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What was it about Alexandra's nationality that meant the people did not trust her?
She was of German and English parentage.
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Why did Alexandra (Tsar's wife) become a reason as to why the February Revolution took place?
Tsar left her in charge of country during the war. She was a poor decision maker and had little political knowledge, which led to Alexandra giving power to the monk Rasputin, who she was supposedly having an affair with.
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Why did Rasputin become a reason as to why he February Revolution took place?
He was a ill-mannered, dirty womaniser who tainted the Tsarist regime and government. Damaged Nicholas' reputation
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Why was the Battle of Tannenburg a flashpoint in the war?
300,000 Russian's were dead or wounded, which dampened the spirit of the war effort.
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Why was the Masurian Lakes a flashpoint in the war?
The Russian's had to retreat temporality, which demonstrated Russia's military incompetence and fired discontent in Russia.
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What other major factor lowered morale during the War?
Treatment of Soldiers: Ill-equipped, unsuitable weaponry, lack of proper clothing, lack of waterproof footwear, loss of experienced soldiers.
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What was the result of this?
Major fall in morale and 1.5 million desertions of the army.
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Outline the political reform opportunities Nicholas ignored.
He was given the option of transferring war effort responsibility to a civilian government.
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What did Nicholas do in response?
He refused to transfer control.
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Why did this make the situation worst for Nicholas?
He had lost the support of the Russian General staff and had no military experience to better the situation.
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Summary- why was the war an important factor towards the February Revolution
Humiliating, major military defeats, led to economic problems and increased opposition to Tsarism.
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How did the Government fund the war?
Increased taxes and raised huge loans at home and from abroad.
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What was damaged during the war?
Industrial and Grain Exports
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What 3 things did this cause?
Major inflation + money lost its value + prices rose
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Why did military conscription become a problem?
Left a shortage of men in the countryside.
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What did this lead to?
Shortage of food supplies and a standstill in trade.
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What did shortages lead to?
The peasants began to hoard food instead of selling it.
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What 2 other things were inadequate in Russia?
Transport and distribution systems.
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Why did the railway system collapse due to the war?
Trains were transporting people and supplies rather than food.
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How were the public feeling during 1917?
Hostile towards the Tsar
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Why did the public lose faith in the Tsar?
Life was hard- people were struggling to surviving meet their everyday needs.
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What was the role of Aleksandr Guchkov (Founder of Progressive Bloc) in political discontent?
Engaged in talks with senior army officers to set up a coup to force the Tsar to abdicate.
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What was the role of Pavel Milyukov in political discontent?
Accused the Tsar of engaging in peace talks with Germany without consent of the Duma.
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How did Prince Lvov do that concluded political discontent was a serious issue?
Asked the Tsar's uncle if he would be willing to take the throne.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What did the Liberal's stand for?

Back

A constitutional monarchy and moderate reform.

Card 3

Front

Who were the Socialist Revolutionaries?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Outline the problems within the SRs.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Who were the Social Democrats?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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