How stable was Russia in 1914?

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Kimberley Sutton 12jmc

How stable was Russia in 1914?

In 1914 Russia’s stability was questionable; the Tsar’s regime had been under considerable strain due to the unsuccessful uprising in 1905. The Tsar still had the support of the army, which helped to put down many attempts at revolution. However, there was still brewing resentments about the harsh conditions of the Tsar’s government that threatened to explode at any time.  

The peasantry made up a huge proportion of the population and the stability of the Russia depended on their compliance. There had been growing peasant resentments over noble ownership and this resulted in the peasants trying to overthrow the landowners. The commune were poorly organised and while they were ok when not under duress but they were likely to collapse if they were. Although this suggests that the peasants were unstable force in Russia, other sides of peasant life were secure such as agriculture. Good farming harvest meant that people stopped complaining. Also many peasants moved into the urban areas and this relieved the strain on the land.

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As with the peasants, the number of the urban working class strikes gradually increased, this was because Trade Unions had been shut down and the urban working class saw revolution as the only way out. As the became more revolutionary the became more educated and low wages, long hours and the fact they could not voice their opinions about their grievances made them seethe with discontent. The dissatisfaction of the urban working class was definitely an instability however the power of the strikes were weak and the Tsar, who still had military support was able to crush them with little ...

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