Russia resided within two continents, Europe and Asia. Therefore there were cultural differences between the people within Russia. These differences created divisions amongst the citizens of Russia. Furthermore Russification, the idea that everything Russian is superior, consequently made non-Russian nationals feel even more alienated and resentment towards the government, as they would have seen the new policy as trying to strip them of their heritage and identity. Thus adding to the segregation of the people, and weakening the support for the government.
Russia’s lack of economic development was illustrated in the difference in size between the urban professionals and the working classes. The majority of Russia’s population could be seen as peasants. The low numbers of the working class was an indication that Russia had not attained industrial growth on a large scale, which is a vital factor needed to produce an economically stable country. As Russia wasn’t financially secure they couldn’t give support in terms of housing and provisions to the people within their country. The lack of help that was awarded to the Russians, created deep animosity towards the government officials, the working class especially, because they were constantly working and not reaping any benefits.
The growing resentment amongst the working class with the government officials, lead to an increasing interest and desire for a democratic and representative government. Russia at this time was governed autocratically, which meant that the tsar had the ultimate power to rule. The Russian citizen’s demands, opinions and concerns were not acknowledged, and addressed, permitting the formation of secret societies that were dedicated to political revolution. This meant that tsar faced opposition. These secret societies were in favour of liberalism. However the tsarist system was opposed to liberal ideas, and the existence of self created unions, therefore a lot of the army’s efforts were concentrated upon repressing uprisings from these societies.
The conflict that was created between the armed forces and the reformist would have made the people further enraged with the tsar, because the army’s interference came as a result of tsar’s orders.
The Russian army were weak as acquiring places of rank were not awarded on merit but payment; this allowed the highest positions to go to the aristocracy. In turn this destabilized them, because the people in place were not sufficiently trained to carry out their jobs, and would be inadequate when faced with a problem.
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