Supression of national minorities- Many minorities, particularly Jews, Finns and Poles wanted greater autonomy and an end to the repressive policies of Russification that was ********* them of their culture and language.
Alienated Intelligentsia- The Liberal middle class of Russia wanted some greater form of participatory democracy and an elected national assembly. Furthermore, Russian students protested against the highly censored selection og history and literature that they were allowed to read at University.
Revolutionaries- Social Revolutionaries wanted a peasant's revolution to create a socialist state centered around peasant communes, and Marxists wanted a worker's revoltuion which would lead to socialism and eventually a communist state.
Workers - Workers were tired of long days in terrible working conditions. They were payed incredibly low wages and were forced to live in cramped apartments in the city, often sharing a single room with multiple families.
Peasants- Long standing grievances as a result of high taxes and crippling redemption dues. This was accentuated by the poor harvests of 1900-1902.
1 of 6
What were some of the grievances caused by the gov
Weak and indecisive Tsar
Repressive government
No comprimises made to take steps towards a representative government
Freedom of press and to form political parties was non-existent.
Repression of minorities via Russification and repression of protests.
2 of 6
What were the economic policies of Witte that caus
Witte's industrialisation programme meant that workers were put under pressure by high indirect taxes and low wages.
An economic slump in 1902 meant that unemployment in towns was high, causing further government opposition.
Poor harvests in 1900 & 1902 led to starvation and violence in the countryside.
3 of 6
What is widely regarded as the catalyst for the 19
The outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war in February 1904.
Vyacheslav von Plehve said in 1904 that what was need was "A short, victorious war to stem the tide of revolution" - lol unlucky m8
Plehve was assasinated by the Social Revolutionary combat group in July 1904.
The Russian public were shocked by the defeats on land and at sea.
January 1905- Russia lost Port Arthur
The Russo-Japanese war also resulted in shortages of food and fuel as well as high prices and further unemployment.
Huge upsurges of discontent at the Tsar's government were percieved to be incompetent.
4 of 6
Finally, what was the event that many believed spa
Bloody Sunday 22nd of January 1905.
On this day, an unarmed crowd marched upon the Winter palace, led by father Gregory Gapon, to present a list of grievances to the Tsar. The guards at the palace panicked when they were faced with the large crowd.
The guards opened fire on the crowd and murdered over 200 men, women and children.
The Tsar was not at the palace on bloody sunday, and was in fact at his holiday palace at Tsarskoye Selo.
Many regard this event as the turning point which resulted in the 1905 revolution.
5 of 6
Why was opposition to the Tsarist regime so ineffe
Many opposition marxist groups within Russia at this time such as the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks relied on the Working classes as a revolutionary force. The working class in Russia at this time was relatively small, with roughly 80% of the population being peasants.
It was difficult for the peasants to unite and form an effective revolutionary force as they were scattered very thinly across vast areas of land, living in over 750,000 rural settlements across Russia.
The majority of Marxist leaders were members of the middle or upper class intelligentsia. This meant that it was difficult for them to gather support from the working classes or the peasants as they needed to cross a class divide between two completely different backgrounds.
Furthermore, Russian levels of Literacy in the late 1800s were incredibly low, which made it difficult to spread revoultionary ideas via pamphlets and literature. A census from 1897 suggests that a mere 21% of the Russian population could read.
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