Unit 1: The Last Romanov: Nicholas II and the End of Imperial Russia (1894-1917)

1. Unit 1: The Last Romanov: Nicholas II and the End of Imperial Russia (1894-1917)

2. Nicholas II and George V

3. Post Soviet Russia

8. A. Economic Conditions: Industrial Development • The “Great Reforms (1861) of Alexander II. • Economic policy was led by Minister of Finance Sergei Witte (1892-1903) • Promoted the development of heavy industry with the main focus on railroad construction: Between 1895-1905 the railroad network doubled Between 1891-1903 the Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed.

9. Economic Conditions: Industrial Development • Annual growth rates in national output at 7% during the 1890’s and 6% until 1914 – among the highest in Europe. • To promote industrialization, Witte: • Increased exports / cutback imports • Raised taxes on consumer goods • Made alcohol production a state monopoly (1894) – tax revenues from vodka sale huge • Attracted large amounts of foreign capital

10. Economic Conditions: Industrial Development • Problem of Russia’s Heavy Reliance on Foreign Loans and Foreign Capital: • 1/3 of total industrial investment was foreign • France owned 2/3 of the pig iron industry & ½ of Russia’s coal industry • Germany: chemical and electrical engineering • Britain: oil • Russia was like a colony of the advanced capitalist countries. Small & weak middle class. • Russian industrialization was state led, foreign financed and led to weak native middle class.

11. Economic Conditions: Industrial Development • Eight Basic Regions of Russian Industrial Development (1900) 1. Moscow – textile industries, metal processing, chemical plants 2. St. Petersburg – metal processing, chemical plants 3. Lodz and Warsaw (Poland) – textile, coal, iron, metal processing, machine building, textile industries. 4. Southeast Ukraine – coal, iron ore, basic chemical products 5. Ural region – iron, non-ferrous metals, minerals. 6. Baku (Azerbaijan) - oil

12. Economic Conditions: The Gentry • As a result of the “Great Reforms,” the gentry as a class declined in numbers and economic strength.

13. Economic Conditions: The Workers • The “Great Reforms” and industrialization led to the enlargement of the working class (proletariat). But by 1914: • Only 3 million out of population of 170 million were workers! (major problem for the Communists) • Over half of all the industrial enterprises in Russia employed more than 500 workers each.

14. Economic Conditions: The Workers • The conditions of the proletariat in Russia was worse than in western Europe or the United States: • Deprived of the right to vote until 1905. • Labor unions were banned until 1906 • Labor laws were poorly enforced. • Workers treated like serfs.

15. Economic Conditions: The Peasants • 85-90% of the population by 1914. • “Great Reforms” emancipated the serfs and was suppose to redistribute land to them. • Problems: • Government transferred land to peasant communes (mir), not to individual peasants • Peasants had to pay “redemption payments” as compensation to the gentry for their freedom

16. Economic Conditions: The Peasants • Land prices doubled between 1860-1905 and almost doubled again between 1905 and 1917 • 1900 – 52% of peasant households could not support themselves from the land allotments • After redemption payments were abolished (1906), they were hit with consumer goods tax • Peasant paid annually to the state in taxes and redemption payments 10 times as much per acre as members of the gentry

17. Economic Conditions: The Peasants • Peter Stolypin – Prime Minister 1906-1911) • Land Reform to break up the peasant communes and make peasants into private landowners. • By 1916 – 24% of the total number of peasant families left the communes and received their own land. • Government support for migration to new uncultivated lands grew. • The land under cultivation increased. • Agricultural output grew.

18. Peter Stolypin (1862-1911) • Prime Minister from 1906-1911 • Cracked down harshly on opponents of the monarchy • Land Reform • Assassinated in 1911.

19. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 • The only absolute monarchy in Europe • Revolution of 1905 - Strikes, political disorder - rise of the “soviets” - Bloody Sunday (Jan.22, 1905) - October Manifesto (October, 1905)

20. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 • October Manifesto allowed for nationwide elections for a new parliament – DUMA. • Almost universal male suffrage.

21. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 First DUMA (1906) • 45 – parties of the Right • 32 – various national and religious groups (Poles, Muslims) • 184 – Cadets (liberal) • 124 – Leftists • 112 – No party affiliation • Social Democrats (Marxist) and Social Revolutionaries (Socialist Agrarian) boycotted the elections. • “National groups” like the Poles, people from the Caucasus and Central Asia saw their delegates curtailed or eliminated. • After 73 days, Nicholas II disbanded the Duma.

22. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 – The Jews of the Russian Empire • Increased pogroms - Ukraine, Moldavia (Kishinev, 1903) - ghettos - “The Black Hundred” • Limited access to education / political participation - Konstantin Pobedonostsev – “The Jewish Problem” - “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”- privately printed in 1897, published 1905. Claimed that Jews were trying to take over the world.

23. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 – The Jews of the Russian Empire Jewish Response to Rising Anti-Semitism: • Emigrate to the United States • Zionist Movement • Join the radical revolutionary parties in Russia

24. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 Second DUMA (1907) • Nicholas II wanted a more loyal Duma. Instead he got a Duma who’s members and opposition were more extreme that the moderates of the first Duma: - Leftwing membership rose from 124 – 216 deputies. Social Democrats – 64 Social Revolutionaries – 20 • Cadet delegates fell from 184 – 99. • Only 31 members from the first Duma. • June 16, 1907 – Second Duma dissolved by Prime Minister Peter Stolypin.

25. Political Conditions: 1894-1917 Third and Fourth DUMAS (1907-1917) • Nicholas II changes electoral laws to cut the right to vote for peasants and workers while increasing the rights of the gentry. • 200,000 members of the landed gentry were guaranteed 50% of the seats in the Duma. • A vote of a landlord counted roughly as much as the votes of: • Four members of the upper bourgeoisie • 65 average middle class people • 260 peasants • 540 workers

26. Foreign Policy (1894-1914) • The Balkans • Central Asia and “The Great Game” • Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) • World War I (1914-1918)

27. “The Great Game” (19th Century)

28. “The Great Game” (21st Century)

29. Balkans Map

30. The Far East Prior to the Russo-Japanese War