The First Duma took place in May-July Even though indirect voting favoured the wealthier and politically conservative classes [10] , the majority of the people elected to sit in the First Duma were anti-government. The First Duma consisted of the members of the following groups: Petersburg and the Moscow Soviets. But a few Social Democrats disobeyed the order of the Party and took part in the elections.
HIST 440 (CSHS 540): Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, 1917-1991
The largest party was the Cadets. These political groups and parties demanded ministerial responsibility and full control of all affairs of the state, including taxation. In other words, they wanted a constitutional monarchy. The Tsar promptly dissolved the Duma. On the whole the First Duma lasted for 73 days. In the election of the Second Duma the Tsar intimidated many anti-government voters to give up their candidature or their right to vote. But intimidation was useless.
Many anti-government candidates were elected to the Second Duma. Most threatening to the Tsar, 65 Social Democrats were elected. The Social Democrats made demands to liberalize the Tsarist government.
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As a result, the Second Duma met the same fate as the First Duma. Within 3 months March-June, , it was again dissolved by the Tsar. The Tsar was firm not to face a rebellious Duma again. He altered the franchise to deprive many of the peasants and non-Russian nationalities of the vote and to give so many votes to the wealthy landowners as to assure that 60 percent of the seats of the Duma were taken up by them [14].
Because of the new franchise system, most of the men elected into the Duma were government supporters.
The Third Duma and the Fourth Duma served their period of office of five years. They were dominated by the Octobrists and the Monarchists. The Cadets and the handful of socialists occupied about one quarter of the seats in the Duma. As the Duma grew conservative in its composition, the frustration among the Russian masses found little chance of expression in the Duma. Many of the Russian people turned against Tsardom again. Despite the promises of the October Manifesto that civil liberties would be granted to the people, a policy of repression was adopted by Stolypin, Prime Minister from to He was infamous for persecuting the Jews and ruthless treatment of rioters in the countryside.
To punish the Finnish nationalists, he deprived Finland of independence. Many Social Democrats, including Lenin, were deported. Discontent of the non-Russian National Minorities. The Russian Empire was a multi-ethnic Empire. If the Russian government had wished it could have done everything to reconcile them to the Russian state and play them off against potential rebellious central Great Russian group.
The publication of newspapers and books in the languages of non-Russian nationalities was completely forbidden. Instructions could not be imparted to students in the schools in their native languages. Russian government intentionally promoted contempt and hatred for the non-Russians. Russian population was made to look upon them as aliens and as inferior races.
Most of the highly placed government officials were Russians and the entire business in the numerous organs of the administration was conducted in the Russian language. Russian officials spared no effort in insulting, humiliating and oppressing the non-Russian nationalities. Freedom from national oppression in the Tsarist Empire coincided with the victory of the socialist revolution. Apart from the disaffection felt by the peoples of the Baltic region, Central Asia, Transcaucasia and other areas as a result of political and cultural bias, the economic backwardness that Tsarist economic policies involved for these regions ensured that they remained primarily agricultural with a strong stake in the land question.
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There surfaced strong movements for national self-determination, demanding rights for their own languages, culture, equal opportunities and even a separate political identity. The Bolsheviks supported land for the peasant as well as the right to secession and a voluntary union. The peasantry in these areas played a vital role in the victory of the socialist alternative to the Tsarist autocracy, completely evading all liberal solutions to nationalist objectives. The economic causes of the Russian Revolution were based mainly on the Tsar's mis-management, compounded by World War I.
More than fifteen million men joined the army, which left an insufficient number of workers in the factories and on the farms. The result was widespread shortages of food and materials. Factory workers had to bear terrible working conditions, including twelve to fourteen hour days and low wages. Many riots and strikes for better conditions and higher wages broke out. Although some factories agreed to the requests for higher wages, wartime inflation quashed the increase. Prices rose high because all kinds of goods and food became scarce during the war. In general, the price rose by - per cent between and The scarcity of food and all kinds of goods were due to the following reasons: Because of the exorbitant prices of bread, many Russian people were hungry.
Hunger led to waves of strikes of workers who cried out not only economic demands but also political demands: There was one protest to which Nicholas II responded with violence in response, industrial workers went on strike and effectively paralyzed the railway and transportation networks. What few supplies were available could not be effectively transported. As goods became more and more scarce, prices skyrocketed. By , famine threatened many of the larger cities. Nicholas's failure to solve his country's economic suffering and communism's promise to do just that comprised the core of the revolution.
The Impact of the First World War. The outbreak of war in August initially served to quiet the prevalent social and political protests, focusing hostilities against a common external enemy, but this patriotic unity did not last for very long. As the war dragged on inconclusively, war-weariness gradually took its toll. More important, though, was this deeper fragility: Hostility toward the Germany and the desire to defend their land and their lives did not necessarily translate into enthusiasm for the Tsar or the government.
Russia 's first major battle of the war was a disaster: In , things took a critical turn for the worse when Germany shifted its focus of attack to the Eastern front. These staggering losses played a definite role in the mutinies which began to occur and, in , reports of fraternizing with the enemy started to circulate. Soldiers went hungry, and they lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons.
Widespread discontent lowered morale, only to be further undermined by a series of military defeats. Casualty rates were the most vivid sign of this disaster. Already, by the end of , only five months into the war, nearly , Russian men had lost their lives and nearly 1,, were injured. Far sooner than expected, scarcely-trained recruits had to be called up for active duty, a process repeated throughout the war as staggering losses continued to mount.
The officer class also saw remarkable turnover, especially within the lower echelons, which were quickly filled with soldiers rising up through the ranks. These men, usually of peasant or worker backgrounds, were to play a large role in the politicization of the troops in The huge losses on the battlefields were not limited to men, however.
The army quickly ran short of rifles and ammunition as well as uniforms and food , and, by mid, men were being sent to the front bearing no arms; it was hoped that they could equip themselves with the arms that they recovered from fallen soldiers, of both sides, on the battlefields. With patently good reason, the soldiers did not feel that they were being treated as human beings, or even as valuable soldiers, but, rather, as raw materials to be squandered for the purposes of the rich and powerful. By the spring of , the army was in steady retreat -- and it was not always orderly: By , however, the situation had improved in many respects.
Russian troops stopped retreating, and there were even some modest successes in the offensives that were staged that year, albeit at great loss of life. Also, the problem of shortages was largely solved by a major effort to increase domestic production. Our classes will include lectures, film showings, and class discussions, especially of some of the document readings. It is very important that students complete reading assignments before class.
Participation accounts for 10 percent of the overall grade. All students are expected to participate actively in all discussions and to attend regularly.
HIST Soviet History
Students will be graded on their level of participation and the content of that participation. Simply attending class is not sufficient to receive a high grade. Readings are to be completed before class on the day on which they are listed below. Students should plan to spend several hours each week outside of class time reading, taking notes, reviewing lecture notes, and posing questions. Peasants and the end of serfdom ppt html. Alexander II and the Great Reforms ppt html. Alexander II and the Intelligentsia ppt html. Nicholas II, ppt html. Riasanovsky, Russian Identities , Chapter 8: Vera Zasulich's letter to Karl Marx , 16 February Karl Marx's letter to Vera Zasulich , 8 March Marx and Engels' Preface to the second edition of the Russian translation of the Communist Manifesto , 21 January For those interested, Nicholas's diary is available online in Russian , indexed by year click here.
The Russo-Japanese War and the revolution ppt html. Manifesto of 17 October The revolution, part II ppt html. Beryl Williams, "Russia ," History Today 55, no.
- Albishadewe, Great White One;
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- George Harris.
- Issues in World History: 20th century.
- Der Waldkönig (German Edition).
The Russian Fundamental Law of 23 April Radio Free Europe provides photos comparing images from and Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkim The Stolypin reaction, ppt html. The Stolypin Agrarian Reform: Ukaz of 9 November World War I and the Russia Empire ppt html. Volume 2, Imperial Russia, , ed. Cambridge University Press, , pp. February "People's revolution" ppt html. Abdication of Nikolai II, 15 March The Many Revolutions of ppt html.
October revolution ppt html. Lenin, " Call to Power ," 24 October Lenin, " A Letter to S. Shahumyan ," 6 December 23 November Civil war, ppt html. Letter from Lenin to M. Gorky , 15 September Trotsky, " On the Events at Kronstadt ," 16 March Dziga Vertov, Man with Movie Camera White Sun of the Desert Beloye solntse pustyni [ Link to film ]. The Great Turn, ppt html.
On the Occasion of the Twelfth Anniversary of the October Revolution," 7 November click here to read ; you may have to register at the site first, but this is free and quick to do. The Great Patriotic War, ppt. Complete reading of at least five articles from "" at Seventeen Moments in Soviet History, write a one-paragraph summary of one, and pose two questions. Be sure to bring to class with name on summary. My career took me from North London to Edinburgh. At once I began to read and to teach Scottish history and I seem to possess many score of books on the subject, quite apart from the hundreds read in libraries.
All history is interesting, once you know about it. But Scotland's history does seem to be particularly rich - and far too little understood, being befogged by myths. When I am writing my Scottish lectures I imagine an audience of interested visitors to the country. When I am writing my British or European lectures, on the other hand, I imagine an audience of ambitious and interested senior pupils.
That is the space I hope to occupy. Are you an author? Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
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