A depiction of Bloody Sunday the massacre of
A depiction of ‘Bloody Sunday’, the massacre of protesting civilians in 1905. Russia before World War I
1890’s-1900’s • At the turn of the 20 th century, Russia was a mystery to most Europeans. • They knew of Russia’s existence, marveled at its size and feared its military power – but few ever travelled there, so reliable information about it was scant. • From the outside, Russia looked and behaved like an imperial superpower. • Its territorial holdings were enormous, spanning around one sixth of the Earth’s landmass, from Finland in the west to Siberia’s Pacific coastline in the east.
1890’s-1900’s
1890’s-1900’s • The population of the Russian Empire was enormous, around 128 million people at the turn of the century. • Russian military might was talked of across Europe, primarily because of the millions of men that Saint Petersburg could call into service. • Imperial Russia boasted a peacetime standing army of 1. 5 million men, the largest in Europe – and if could increase fourfold or fivefold if reservists and conscripts were called upon.
1890’s-1900’s • Russia’s external power, however, was more limited. Behind its closed borders, the empire of the tsars lagged well behind the rest of Europe. • A fundamental reason for this was Russia’s under -developed economy, which was mostly agricultural – in fact until the mid-1800 s it was almost entirely agrarian, with only minimal manufacturing or industry.
1890’s-1900’s • Government incentives of the late 1800 s instigated a sharp increase in industrial investment and manufacturing; French investors, attracted by government deals, cheap labor and tax breaks, had eagerly pumped money into Russia to construct factories and new mines.
1890’s-1900’s • But even with this, Russia still tailed its western European neighbors by a long stretch. • And industrialization had also created new problems: urban growth, social disruption, demands for workers’ rights and political agitation. • The peasants who relocated to the cities to work in the new factories found themselves enduring long working days (often up to 15 hours), in appalling and unsafe conditions.
1890’s-1900’s • Politically, the Russian empire was beset with division and dissatisfaction, which made it a fertile ground for revolutionaries and anarchists. • While Russia’s economy had belatedly begun to modernize, Russia’s political system still languished in the late Middle Ages.
1890’s-1900’s • It was ruled by an autocratic tsar, who believed his throne to be ordained and protected by God; he retained and exercised all political decisionmaking and all sovereign power. • There was no constitution to define and limit the tsar’s authority, and no elected parliament capable of exercising any power. • Ministers were appointed and sacked by the tsar, so were accountable only to him.
1890’s-1900’s • Russia’s rigid social structure divided its citizens into 14 ranks: royals, aristocrats, land-owners, bureaucrats, military officers, soldiers and sailors, the industrial and agricultural working classes. • More than four-fifths of Russia’s massive population were peasants: poor farmers working small holdings of land; they were uneducated, illiterate, unworldly, religious, superstitious and suspicious about change.
1900 -1910 • The Russian tsar at the outbreak of World War I was Nicholas II. • An intelligent but shy man, he came to the throne in 1894, pledging to retain autocratic power and resisting calls for political reform. • Like his predecessors Nicholas placed great store on the strength of Russia’s military.
1900 -1910 • He pushed for expansion, both in eastern Europe and in Russia’s Pacific region. • Russian territorial ambitions in modern-day Korea instigated a war with Japan (1904 -5) – a war Nicholas and his advisors thought straightforward and easily winnable.
1900 -1910
1900 -1910 • Instead, the Japanese inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Russians, the first time in centuries a major European power had been conquered by an Asian nation. • Russia’s army and navy were exposed as poorly equipped and commanded; the empire’s shortage of infrastructure, particularly railway, was also apparent. • The defeat of 1905 precipitated unrest which bubbled over into revolution.
1900 -1910 • It was driven by liberal and left-wing groups (think SOCIALIST/COMMUNIST), disgruntled industrial workers and others who sought political modernization. • Strikes crippled the country, while several of the tsar’s relatives and advisors were killed by political assassins. • Nicholas clung to the throne by backing down, issuing a manifesto that promised liberal civil rights and a democratically elected Duma (parliament).
1900 -1910 • But the following year (1906) he reneged on these promises: the Duma became a powerless ‘talking shop’, while radical political agitators were rounded up to be hanged, imprisoned or exiled.
1900 -1910 • This will eventually lead to the Communist Revolution.
Big Ideas • 1. Russia spanned one-sixth of the globe and was by far the largest nation of Europe, both in size and population. 2. Russia’s government and social structure retained medieval elements; absolute power rested with the tsar (monarch). 3. Despite a marked increase in industrial growth in the late 1800 s, Russia’s economy lagged behind western Europe. 4. In 1904 -5 Russia suffered a humiliating military defeat at the hands of Japan, which triggered a domestic revolution. 5. Russia’s relationship with Germany had been comparatively good, in part because the Russian tsar and German Kaiser were cousins – however this changed during the first years of the 1900 s.
Family Tree of WWI
Family Tree of WWI • Yes, cousins.
Family Tree of WWI
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