RUSSIAN DICTATORSHIP 1856-1956

RUSSIAN DICTATORSHIP 1856-1956 The story of a century Russia was and is the biggest nation on earth. In the nineteenth century her European neighbours worried about her power and her alien, remote nature. Even Russians themselves disagreed about whether their nation should be European in outlook (Westernisers) or it should look to keep itself distinct and separate (Slavophils). Many of Russia's western neighbours had tried to conquer parts of the Russian Empire in the past and take some of this massive land for themselves. They usually failed. In 1812 Russian armies had driven the great Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armee from their soil. Russia's status as a great power seemed secure. But there were problems Russia had developed an autocratic system of government to rule its massive empire. The autocrat (TSAR) ruled by divine right with the support of the Orthodox Russian Church. He had no parliament or other assembly to speak for the people and so Russia had no experience of democracy or even the idea that individuals had "natural rights." In addition a large number of people in the Empire were neither Russian nor Orthodox Christian. So keeping these minority groups with different languages, cultures and religions peaceful would remain a difficult problem. The majority of the population were peasants who produced wealth from the relatively unproductive way they farmed

  • Word count: 1079
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Russia Revision Guide

Revision Guide A. The Russian Empire in 1900 . Russia is a very big but most of it is too cold to be useful. In the Arctic Circle the land is tundra where little grows. South of this is the taiga, or pine forest. Only in the south is the land warm enough for farming. 2. In 1900 the cold also affected trade because much of the coastline was frozen for half the year and there were a few icebreakers. However, the Trans-Siberian Railway was being built to improve trade between eat and west. 3. The Russian Empire contained many people, the Majority of them non-Russian e.g. 22 million Ukrainians in the south and 8 million Poles in the west. Many of these peoples disliked the Russian rule and wanted independence. B. The government of Russia . The head of the government was Tsar Nicholas II. He ruled as an autocrat, a ruler who does not have to share power. 2. The work of the government as done by a large and corrupt civil slaves. Opponents of the Tsar were dealt with by police force, the Okhrana. Rebellions and riots were put down by the Churches. 3. The church in Russia, the Orthodox Church, supported the government by encouraging Russians to be loyal to the tsar and to respect authority C. Russian Society . Peasants in Russia had been s..s until 1861 when Tsar Alexander freed them. At the same time as being freed, peasants had their farming land put under communes, the

  • Word count: 511
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Stalin and Lenin

Table of Contents Lenin and Stalin's Characters and beliefs They were many similarities and differences between Lenin's and Stalin's characters and beliefs. Stalin grew up in a harsh environment and lived like all the peasants used to live in Russia during that period of time, he was the fourth child that his mother had given birth to in less than four years yet all of the first three died so his mother was understandably overprotective of her child, while in the other hand Lenin lived a much more luxurious life, his father was a local school inspector and his father was very conservative and he was a devoted member of the Russian Orthodox Church, Lenin's older brother Alexander Ulyanov helped him get interested in the political scene where he was introduced to the ideas of Karl Marx. While Lenin was ta university he started studying politics and he was also involved in demonstrating against the tsar after one demonstration Lenin was arrested and the police man asked him :"Why are you rebelling, young man? After all, there is a wall in front of you." Lenin confidently replied: "The wall is tottering; you only have to push it for it to fall over." After his arrest he was expelled from his university, it became apparent that during his time in university he wasn't exactly loved by the staff members, as this quote shows, "The university authorities commented upon his attitude:

  • Word count: 3728
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

How Far Did Russia Change between 1856 and 1894

How Far Did Russia Change between 1856 and 1994? During the years of 1856 and 1894, Russia changed immensely in its policies and general state. It went from being an ageing superpower into a country with internal problems and an ambience of civilian unrest. Alexander II realised the need to modernise Russia in order to prolong their status as a superpower. This stemmed from their defeat in the Crimean war. To modernise and industrialise Russia, a free workforce was needed and this could only be made available if people were freed from the land. This meant that Alexander II would need to somehow release the serfs from their owner's land. Another reason for emancipation was made clear in a quote from Alexander II in March 1856: "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to await the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below". This shows that emancipation was going to be used as a tool to solve two problems facing Alexander II. However, in order for emancipation to succeed another reform had to occur which was land reforms. However, Alexander II did not want the political system of Russia to change whilst the economic transformation was occurring. However, the political system also changed because there was an addition to the local villages. This was the zemstva and to a more national degree, the duma. However, the tsar still had supreme power over these

  • Word count: 759
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Tsar Problems

Becci Pearce 10EMS The difficulties the Tsar faced in Russia from 1900 until 1914 There is no doubt that the tsar faced difficulties in the years leading up to the First World War. These difficulties can be divided into political and social and economic problems. In terms of the political problems the Tsar faced, there was the fact that he was an autocrat not listening to anyone else's views on how the country should be ruled that was his main downfall but he wasn't interested in running the country; he was more of a family man neglecting the needs of the people to spend time with his family. This made Russia feel like as a country they were not being ruled (another downfall of the Tsar's behalf of his autocratic ruling). The civil servants were corrupt and inefficient. There was no parliament to represent the views of the people, this didn't make people happy. The Tsar employed Okhrana to spy on people spreading bad things about him, resulting in the censoring of newspapers and books people who were caught were sent to prison in Siberia where they had to work years of hard labour. The Cossacks were then brought in to restore order in the civilization. They used violence, they were known for their great brutality to stop riots. The Church brainwashed people into believing that the Tsar was chosen by God and he was supposed to be the ruler of Russia and that he should

  • Word count: 682
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Was Nicholas II responsible for his own downfall?

Was Nicholas II responsible for his own downfall? Nicholas II acted as an autocratic monarch rather than a constitutional leader, and this was a factor in his eventual downfall and abdication. Other factors included, him leaving Russia in the incapable hand of his wife, Alexandra, who herself was greatly influenced by Rasputin. The 'Holy Man' Rasputin was becoming more and more popular with Alexandra for helping their only son, Alexis's with his haemophilia, and his strange but powerful brand of spirituality certainly affected both Alexandra and Nicholas. It could be argued that Nicholas was himself responsible for allowing the power of Rasputin to extend so far and to influence his political decisions. Historians are in agreement that Nicholas lacked the necessary skills and qualities to rule a rapidly changing country. There were however factors outside of Nicholas' control, including his son's illness, that he could not be held directly responsible for. Indeed Russia was a huge country which was very hard to govern even for the most competent Tsar. One of the first factors which Nicholas was responsible for was his weak character and the fact that he allowed Alexandra to be so dominant. She encouraged him to hold on to his absolute power when a change in his style of leadership may have been a more politically useful tactic. A very significant contributing

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 1914
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

The impact Stalin had on the Russian People in agriculture and industry.

The impact Stalin had on the Russian People in agriculture and industry. Through the 1920s peasants provided the Soviet government with many problems. The argument about the future of NEP was largely to do with how the government should treat the peasants. It was an argument that had already split the politburo in two. Early in 1928 Stalin announced that the USSR was 2 million tonnes short of the minimum amount of grain needed for feeding the workers in the cities. Stalin, fearing a famine, sent police squads to all country areas to raid farms, but still this did not work. These measures were not enough. So, in 1929 Stalin announced a more radical solution to the problem; farms were to be 'collectivised.' Collectivisation meant the end of small old fashioned farms. Stalin wanted all the peasants to work on a Kolkhoz - a collective farm. The peasants working on these farms would receive low wages and a low fixed price for their grain. The peasants did not like this for it took away their independence. Collective farms consisted of 50 - 100 families , farming an average 450 hectares of land. They were provided with a tractor station in each area and tractors with drivers to help with the ploughing and harvesting. Stalin knew that the richer peasants would oppose his plans, so he began by dealing with the richest peasants first. These were the Kulaks. Stalin announced his

  • Word count: 1074
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

How far do the sources suggest that Kornilov main aim in august 1917 was to crush the Bolsheviks?

Book 8 page 30 A How far do the sources suggest that Kornilov main aim in august 1917 was to crush the Bolsheviks? Source 1 tells us that Kornilov states that he believes that the provisional government, under large pressure from the Bolsheviks is cooperating with the German high command to take Russia out of the war early. He believes that Russia is dying and becoming disheartened at the expected landing of enemy troops on Russian soil. He states that all he wants is for a Constitutional assembly to determine the fate of Russia. However when you compare this to source 3 which was written by a member of the provisional government, he states that Kerensky feared that Kornilov wanted only to become a Russian dictator. Source 3 is more of a report on Kerensky and Kornilov and has little to do with the Bolsheviks and more to do with the Kornilov coup. Source 3 however does show us that many people disapproved of Kerensky's methods of ruling by saying that suppression was more desirable for Kerensky. Source 2 is written by Lenin who goes on to say that Kornilov and his attempted coup was him trying to cover up his treason and blame it on the Bolsheviks, this way he will have being able to get rid of the Bolsheviks and take power at the same time. Source 2 goes on to defend the July days incident in which the Bolsheviks attempted a coup, and simply says it is yet to be proven

  • Word count: 604
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

What Happened To The Romanovs

History coursework Patrick Davis What happened to the Romanovs? A) Just because these accounts are similar does not mean that they are reliable. In fact there is much evidence to say otherwise. Source A is an article from an American newspaper made in December 1918 and, just like source B, contains some guess work. In source A Sergeyev says; "I have examined the lower storey of the building where the royal family lived and where the crime was supposed to have been committed." This shows that he cannot be sure as to whether that is what happened. The caption at the bottom of source A states that Sergeyev's findings were known only from people who spoke to him or read his reports. In other words, Sergeyev's findings were from word of mouth, which is often altered with each new person, this can change truth into lies. Source B, a report from Sir Charles Eliot to the British Government in October 1918, is much the same story. In the first line it states; "where the Tsar is supposed to have been shot." Again this shows that they do not know for sure where the crime was committed. Both sources are not sure on the number of people killed in the Ipatiev house but both sources are from the same side, the Whites (counter-revolutionaries). This is another reason why these sources could be unreliable. There is a possibility that they are

  • Word count: 2228
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Was There A German Revolution?

Was There A German Revolution? The oxford dictionary states that the definition of revolution is: "forcible substitution of new government or ruler for old; fundamental change" It could also be added that it results in fundamental changes not only to the political system but also to the social and economic infrastructure, and is often accelerated by war or military defeat. Indeed Germany did go through a period of much turmoil during the First World War and in the ensuing period after it. At the end of 1918 the nations morale was shattered by their humiliating defeat in war, shortages were severe to say the least and thousands of people were dying of the Spanish Influenza. Added to this demobilisation was slow and disorganised, the country was full of arms and with the Hohenzollerns out of the way it was felt by much of the population that now was the time to make a break from their imperial past and create a more just society. In order to establish whether or not these conditions materialised into a revolution the events of 1918 and the subsequent period after the war must be looked at in more detail. The first of these events is the so-called "revolution from above". This was first established in September 1918 when Ludendorff and the Army High Command advised the Kaiser to give power to Prince Max of Baden, thus making the government more acceptable to the allies and

  • Word count: 1455
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay