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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Marx |
German philosopher who wanted an equal society led by the masses of people. Heavily influenced Lenin. |
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Lenin |
Head of the Bolshevik party and became the leader of the world's first communist nation in October 1917. Used "peace, bread, and land", as well as heavy propaganda, to win over the Russian people. |
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Czar Nicholas II |
Last of the Romanov dynasty. Was largely interested in preserving his own power, and did little to support his people. |
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Kerensky |
Leader of the provisional government following the first revolution of 1917. He kept Russia in the war, and while he promised to implement democratic reforms, the unrest in the country was too great as he left too many issues (food shortages, lack of industry, etc.) unsolved. |
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Isolation from Europe |
This isolation from the remainder of Europe made Russia fall way behind, particularly in industry. Its efforts to "catch up" proved disastrous. |
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Feudalism |
In the Russian feudal system, serfs were slaves, peasants were free men but were required to share profits with lords in order to farm on their land, and the nobles answered to the czar. This archaic system endured until the liberation of serfs in 1861. |
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Lack of reforms |
Czar Nicholas, in an attempt to hang on to power, did not provide mass education for serfs, did not implement any principles of democracy, and did not allow for freedom of speech. |
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Agriculture problems |
The Russian agricultural system was antiquated; it could not sufficiently supply emerging cities. |
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Autocratic system |
Czar Nicholas II's strict adherence to an autocratic system centered all power on himself, with laws administered by an ineffective bureaucracy. |
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Serfdom - connected social ills |
The serfs had been abused in bondage, but after they were freed they were still poor and uneducated, suffering from famine and disease. |
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Russo-Japanese War, 1905 (Resulting Russian weaknesses) |
Lost terribly, and highlighted Russia's incompetent agricultural and industrial systems, poor military technology, autocratic corruption, and underdeveloped economy. |
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Revolution of 1905 |
As a result of the failures of the Russo-Japanese War, there was an outbreak of mutinies and strikes, including the Bloody Sunday massacre, that eventually caused the tsar to enact the October Manifesto to placate the people. |
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Industrial competition with Europe |
In an attempt to effectively compete with Europe, Sergei Witte implemented a system to have the state stimulate industrialization. Unfortunately, the Witte system's lack of attention to the antiquated agricultural system and high levels of foreign investment only led to famine, disease, and unrest. |
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Internal ethnic strife |
A majority of the population was not Russian, and many "minorities" were heavily persecuted and/or forced through Russification. This led to unrest and discontent with the tsar and his discriminatory policies. |
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Role in WWI |
In WWI, the Russians, yet again, failed miserably. The army didn't have enough supplies, and the peasants eventually turned to subsistence farming, leading to starvation in cities. The tsar seemed unconcerned. |
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Food and fuel shortages |
These resulted from the plethora of mutinies and strikes that occurred during the 1905 revolution. However, these issues still persisted through WWI. |
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Growth of Marxism |
Fueled by social discontent with the tsar's autocratic regime, Marx's equal society philosophy began to seem appealing. |
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Intelligencia |
This emerging class of thinkers, including Lenin, were not slaving away in factories, so they had time to analyze the failings of the czar and produce solutions. |
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Demands for constitutionalism |
The Liberals favored a democratic constitutional government to replace the repressive tsarist regime. When the October Manifesto was drawn, it appeared that Russia was on its way to becoming a constitutional democracy. |
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Unfair tax burdens |
The Witte system's heavy implementation of foreign investment required an upsurge in taxes that made the peasants even poorer than before ridden with famine and disease. |
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Bourgeois |
The class above the workers (proletariat) from which communist philosophies gained precedence in Russia. |
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Proletariat |
The class of workers in Russia that, according to Marxism, should rule the country. In reality, Lenin seized the power for himself, calling it the "dictatorship of the proletariat." |
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Labor strikes |
Increased labor strikes not only hampered Russia's poor production, but also contributed to the general unrest preceding and during the first revolution of 1917. |
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The Duma |
A parliament established by Czar Nicholas II in the October Manifesto. However, he dismissed the first two until he had a third assembly that would essentially do his bidding. |
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Soviets (revolutionary councils) |
These were workers councils organized by angry and dissatisfied workers who were skeptical of the tsar's promises in the October Manifesto. They were promised to have increased power following the revolution. |
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Bloody Sunday |
This firing upon unarmed protesters exposed the true brutality of the czar's regime: could such a man truly be acting for the benefit of his people? |
