1905 – 1914: The Troubled Years

1. 1905 – 1914:The Troubled Years

2. The Duma • Tsar Nicholas II needed to reform Russia to prevent another revolution • 1906: First Duma meeting held hope • Duma had no power to override Tsar veto • N2 ignored legislative body • 1907 N2 changed voting rules to remove opponents (only aristocrats and wealthy citizens could vote) from Duma & held elections • 1907-1912 ‘Loyal’ Duma held • By 1912 even ‘Loyal’ Duma critical • Had no power to change Tsar’s policies • Criticism alone was no threat to Tsar

3. Stolypin • In 1906 Tsar N2 fired Witte as Prime Minister and promoted Peter Stolypin • Stolypin used ‘stick & carrot’ approach to the problems of Russia • Stick: • Oppressed strikers, protestors, revolutionaries • 20,000+ exiled, 1,000+ hanged (‘Stolypin’s necktie’) • Successfully reduced opposition through 1914

4. Stolypin • The carrot • Increased production in factories and on farms. All profits from these reforms go to the rich bankers and kulaks(rich peasants) • Planned to offer basic education for peasants & workers • Planned to create work-safety codes for factory workers • Assassinated by revolutionary in 1911 • Tsar, influenced by landlords and his court, planned on firing him anyway, because he was changing Russia too much for the Tsar’s tastes • Tsar ordered investigation into Stolypin’s assassination halted … hmm

5. Agricultural & Industrial Production: 1890-1913 Million tons These figures were compiled by the Tsar’s Ministry of Trade and Industry

6. Year Strikes Strikers 1905 13,995 2,863,173 1906 6,114 1,108,406 1907 3,573 740,074 1908 892 176,101 1909 340 64,166 1910 222 46,623 1911 466 105,110 1912 2,032 725,491 1913 2,404 887,096 1914 3,534 1,337,458 What does the above table suggest about working peoples’ attitudes to the Tsar’s regime?

7. After Stolypin • Gov’t tried to measures to quell unrest • Practiced discrimination against Jews, Muslims, other minorities (popular move) • 1912: Economy turned down • Unemployment & hunger • 1913: Brief pause in unrest due to tri-centennial celebrations • Afterward, unrest increased, especially among workers • Lena gold field strikes saw troops shooting workers • Let those in power make no mistake about the mood of the people .. Never were the Russian people … so profoundly revolutionized by the actions of the government, for day to day, faith in the government is steadily waning …” • Guchkov, conservative Duma member, 1913

8. Rasputin • Worst evidence of Tsar’s incompetence was promotion of dangerous figure to power • Gregory Yefimovich, aka Rasputin • Gained influence by stopping Tsar’s son’s hemophilia through hypnosis • Freely gave advise on running Russia • Drunkard & womanizer • Rasputin means ‘disreputable’ • Tsar’s opponents seized on Rasputin as example of Tsar’s unfitness to rule • Tsar’s ignoring of the growing calls for Rasputin’s removal demonstrates how Tsar either didn’t know or didn’t care about people’s concerns

9. Russian cartoon showing how Rasputin influenced the Tsar’s court. A Russian cartoon. The caption reads: ‘The Russian Tsars at home.’

10. Focus Task: How well was Russia governed in 1914? • Here are five characteristics you might expect of a good government: • Trying to improve the lives of its people • Building up its agriculture and industry • Listening to and responding to its population • Running the country efficiently • Defending the country from enemies • On a scale from 1 to 5, say how well you think the Tsarist government did on each one up to 1914. Explain your reason for that score. • Now make a list of the successes and failures of the Tsarist government up to 1914. • Which of the following assessments do you most agree with? By 1913 the government was: • In crisis • Strong but with some serious weaknesses • Secure with only minor weaknesses A Cossack soldier