Russian Revolution — tsarist policies and 1905
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Flip to reveal answersWhat was an autocracy, as practised by the Russian tsars?
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Question
What was an autocracy, as practised by the Russian tsars?
Answer
A system where the ruler holds total, unchecked power, answerable to no parliament or constitution.
Question
What did the Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) do?
Answer
Freed around 23 million serfs from legal bondage to landowners, but tied many to decades of redemption payments and the village commune.
Question
Why is Alexander II's assassination in 1881 historically significant?
Answer
It happened the day he approved a modest plan for consultative assemblies, and convinced his son Alexander III that reform was dangerous — triggering decades of repression instead.
Question
What were the three principles behind Alexander III's rule?
Answer
Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality — used to justify repression and Russification of non-Russian peoples.
Question
Who was Sergei Witte and what did he do?
Answer
Finance minister who drove Russian industrialization from 1892 (railways, factories, foreign investment) and later negotiated the October Manifesto.
Question
Compare liberal and revolutionary opposition to the tsar before 1905.
Answer
Liberals (educated middle class/nobles) wanted a constitution via legal means; revolutionaries (peasants, workers, radicals) wanted land reform or full social revolution, often through direct action.
Question
What was Bloody Sunday (22 January 1905)?
Answer
Troops fired on a peaceful worker march to the Winter Palace led by Father Gapon, killing over 100 — it destroyed the tsar's image as a protective 'Little Father'.
Question
Why did the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) weaken the tsarist regime?
Answer
Nicholas II wanted a 'short victorious war' to boost patriotism, but humiliating defeats (Port Arthur, Mukden, Tsushima) shattered the myth of tsarist military strength.
Question
What was the October Manifesto (1905)?
Answer
A declaration by Nicholas II promising civil liberties and an elected Duma with legislative power, issued to end the general strike of October 1905.
Question
What did the Fundamental Laws (April 1906) do?
Answer
Reasserted most of the tsar's autocratic power (control of army, foreign policy, decree powers) just before the first Duma met, undercutting the October Manifesto.
Question
Explain the cause-and-consequence chain linking economic modernization to 1905.
Answer
Witte's industrialization created a large, concentrated, poorly-paid urban working class with no legal right to unions or strikes — this group became central to the strikes and Soviets of 1905.
Question
What is the key Paper 3 debate about whether 1905 made revolution inevitable?
Answer
One view: decades of reform-then-repression made major unrest highly probable. Opposing view: 1905's survival (via the October Manifesto) shows collapse was not guaranteed — later contingent events (WWI) were still needed for 1917.
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Topic 13.7 hub
The Russian Revolution (1855–1924)
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