History Before WWI

The first 200 words of this essay...

1 WHAT LED TO THE DOWNFALL OF THE TSAR?

[A] Russia under the tsars before 1914

Russification

- Russian dominance

- The size and diversity of the empire made it extremely difficult to govern

- National minorities resented Russian control; saw russification as a fundamental attack on their way of life and a monstrously unfair policy that discriminated against them

- One of the policy of russification involved making non-Russians use the Russian language and adopt Russian customs

- Russian officials were put in to run regional government in non-Russian parts of the empire

- Russian language used in schools, law courts and regional governments

- Russians got important jobs in government and state-sponsored industry

- During the 19th century, protests and uprisings from national groups seeking more autonomy

[B] The social structure of tsarist Russia

Peasants:

- Life was hard and unremitting

- Most were poor, illiterate and uneducated

- Disease

Land and agriculture

- Agricultural methods were inefficient and backward

- Not enough land to go around

- The vast expansion of the peasant population led to overcrowding and