1905 Revolution

1. Why was modernization needed?
Answer: Modernization was necessary in because in order for Russia to become a great power in the twentieth century; the Tsar wanted his country to be an elite on the world stage. In order to have an important military power, ( which would sustain Russia as a great power) you must have means of providing weapons, ships, munitions etc... ( industrialization ). Another reason Russia required such modernization was due to their extreme poverty, the agriculture in Russia was not sufficient as they were still using outdated methods, because of this and lack of using new machinery and methods, as well as russia's ever growing population hundreds of thousands of peasants starved.

2. Why was modernization dangerous to the Tsar?
Answer: The modernization of Russia would be particularly dangerous to the autocratic Tsar because he would be unable to maintain the institutions of a Tsarist Autocracy in a modern russia, most modern industrial countries had democracies or parliaments where the middle class was strongly favored over that of monarchs. Also, people would have to be more educated in order to perform their duties and jobs, therefore with the new education, they might be more apt to challenge their government.  Lastly the growth of the middle classes would create pressure for political change, and for a more accountable and representative government.

3. How did Witte try to build up industry?
Answer: Witte tried to build up industry by ensuring that  a huge investment would be made within the field to cause an industrial upturn. Witte based his plan of increased industrial upturn off the " domino" effect, of one demand leading to another, so on and so forth. Witte soon realized that what he had planned would not be enough to skyrocket Russian into an economical-industrial place of high power, therefore Russia would need to buy heavy machinery from large powers such as Germany, in order to manufacture their own goods for export, the money had to come from two places, A. foreign investment- huge foreign loans ( France ) which, came along with the issues of interest payments, and B. the Peasants- where taxes were upped- at the state level, and on the goods they used everyday.

4. How successful was Witte's policy?
Answer: Essentially this policy was a flop, although Russia's railroads were nearly doubled in length an over all international Eco-Industrial downturn was experienced, leaving nothing coming in; and nothing going out, making Russia even further in debt then they would have accounted for. The "home-market" in Russia was at a downturn, due to the Peasant's lack of money to buy their goods, thousands of people lost their jobs at factories causing strikes to break out.

Russia 1861-1905

1. List the general goals of the: 

a. socialists

 --- classless society, ending exploitation of workers,dismantling the capitalist economic system, taking means of production from owners and giving to state, needed to get peasants and workers on their side.

b. liberal reformers

based on ideals of enlightenment,western constitutional practices,  

2. List three characteristics of serfs' lives.

1. They lived in many small villages, about 750,000 in the countryside.

2.They lived extremely harsh and short lives, 35 years was the life span; they lived in small, dark, and dank cottages. 

3.Most were uneducated because their villages lacked any sort of schools.

3. List four reforms of Tsar Alexander II.

  a.Elimination of Serfdom. 

  b.Expansion of Russian Railroads.

  c.Increase industrial production.

  d.Jury trials and censorship laws.

4. Why did the populists go "to the people" in 1873-1874? 

    They went to the people because they were more for the people, they wanted to be able to keep the communities of peasants together, because they believed that it kept equality. 

5. List two consequences of the famine of 1891.

    A. 36 million peasants were stricken with disease. 

    B. The grain exports were up during the food famine; so all the food that they could have potentially had, was being exported.

6. Why was Karl Marx important to Russian intellectuals?

Karl Marx was so important to the russian intellectuals because it helped them base their ideas of what they thought their government should be, ( communist ) and their plans.

7. What were the Goals and Methods of the following political groups in early twentieth century Russia? (see page 8 of the reading)

a. Liberal Democrats

Favored evolutionary change toward Western-ized ways, two different kinds called Octobrists, and Kadets. 

b. Socialist Revolutionaries

Favored transferring land to the peasant run communes. Radical group that utilized terrorist methods. 

c. Social Democrats

Developed political ideology based on Marxism. 

8. How did Bloody Sunday change people's attitudes toward the Tsar?

Bloody Sunday changed peoples attitudes toward the Tsar because they no longer looked at him as the protector of the people of Russia. They were now fearful and nervous about the Tsar's actions. 

9. List four reforms in Tsar Nicholas's October Manifesto.

a.  freedom of press.

b. freedom of assembly 

c. freedom to form political parties. 

d. the tsar had to share his power with two parties.