1. ECONOMY
Traditionally:
• Economy = backward, esp. agriculture → famine (eg 1891-2: 400k deaths) & poverty.
Recently:
• Rapid econ. growth (esp. 1908-13), driven by Sergei WITTE’s policies. Gold currency (1897) → foreign investment.
• Rural econ. grew; food prod. > pop. growth → exports & rising living standards. KULAK class developed.
• Growth caused social stress as traditional routines broke down, classes developed ambitions.
2. PEASANTS
Traditionally:
• 75% of pop. = poor peasants w small landholdings; loved the Tsar as ‘FATHER’. Politically inactive → no threat.
Recently:
• Abolition of serfdom (1861) gave peasants legal/civil rights. Redemption payments small; abolished 1907.
• Communities (‘MIR’) = politically aware, often rebellious (eg 1891-2 famine → unrest).
• Peasant unrest = frequent. 1902-5 saw rural terrorism; in 1909 there were 114,108 military call-outs to uprisings.
• Socialist Revolutionary Party (founded 1902) → active in 1905 revolution.
3. WORKERS
Traditionally:
• Harsh conditions: no unions, long hours, overcrowding → socialism, communism, anarchism → 1917 rev.
Recently:
• Workers = 2% of pop. (3m). Mostly believe in ‘LABOURISM’ (workers’ rights), not communism.
• Many joined 1905 rev. but anger ↑ as govt repressed strikes.
• Urbanisation → ‘HOOLIGANISM’ (eg drunkenness, knife crime). Reflects societal breakdown.
4. ARISTOCRACY
Traditionally:
• Nobles = wealthy, owned 25% of land, key Tsar supporters.
Recently:
• Abolition of serfdom (1861) → aristocratic landholding ↓ 41% by 1905; many went bankrupt.
• Reforms limited nobles’ influence (eg in army/civil service) → PESSIMISM among nobles → blamed Tsar.
5. CHURCH
Traditionally:
• Orthodox Church = landowning, supported Tsar, linked to OKHRANA.
Recently:
• 1897 pop. = diverse: 14m Muslims, 11m Catholics, 5m Jews, Buddhists, Protestants.
• Tsar distrusted Church leaders; Tsarina turned to Rasputin’s mysticism.
• 1912 → Church facing "its own kind of revolutionary movement".
6. GOVERNMENT
Traditionally:
• Tsar = autocrat. Opposition illegal, Okhrana suppressed dissent (1906-13: 61k trials, 6k hard labour, 29k exile).
• Huge empire → inefficiency; policy inconsistencies; centralised decision-making = slow & uncoordinated.
• Empire = "a FRAGILE, artificial structure, held together by bureaucracy, police & army."
Recently:
• Reform era (1860s): open courts, ZEMSTVA (elected local councils) → effective local govt.
• Empire functioned like others in 19C: central leadership but local rulers retained autonomy.
• Okhrana = efficient in disrupting revolutionaries but secrecy/arbitrariness alienated EDUCATED classes.
7. TSAR
Traditionally:
• Nicholas II = weak and OBSTINATE, out of touch. His rule → collapse not from below, "but from ABOVE".
Recently:
• Governing Russia = inherently challenging. Tsar still on his throne in 1913, showing resilience.
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