Historical Context
Identify two geographic or demographic facts about the Russian Empire around 1900 that made governing it difficult.
1. Russia was extremely large in area making administration and transport hard.
2. It contained many nationalities (around 60–70 distinct nationalities) which increased ethnic tensions and demands for autonomy.
What percentage of the population were farmers and why did this contribute to unrest?
Approximately 77% were farmers; this meant land shortages, poverty, and insecure land tenure affected the vast majority, generating widespread agrarian discontent and demands for land reform.
State two immediate material problems on the home front that worsened during WWI
Severe food shortages and inflation (prices rose sharply as exports fell and supply lines were disrupted).
Who mainly composed the Provisional Government (social class/ political background)?
Middle‑class and upper‑class liberals (e.g., leading politicians, professionals and members of the Duma)
- dual power shared with the bolsheviks
What is "Tsarism"? Give a one-sentence definition.
Tsarism is the autocratic system of rule by a tsar (or tsarina) where the monarch holds unlimited power, often justified by divine right
Name the countries in the Triple Entente and explain briefly why Russia joined it.
The Triple Entente was Russia, France, and Great Britain. Russia joined to balance and contain the power of Germany and to secure diplomatic and military support in Europe
Peasants felt a lack of representation - how did it contribute to the unrest before 1905?
any peasants and lower-class Russians had no political voice because power was concentrated in the autocratic Tsar, the bureaucracy, and landowning elites; with no legal channels to effect change.
Peasants resorted to petitions, protests, strikes, and sometimes violent uprisings when their demands (for fair treatment, lower taxes, or local administration reform) were ignored, contributing to widespread rural instability before 1905.
Name two major military defeats or battles that severely damaged Russian military morale in 1914–1915.
he Battle of Tannenberg and the Battles of the Masurian Lakes
List two major civil liberties or reforms the Provisional Government introduced immediately.
It granted freedom of speech and press, and abolished the Okhrana (secret police); it also released political prisoners and abolished the death penalty and exile.
Name two groups that officially supported the Tsar’s rule and one way each supported him.
The nobility supported him by serving as ministers and local landowners upholding social order; the Russian Orthodox Church supported him by teaching loyalty and legitimising his rule.
Describe the social classes of the Russian Empire c.1897 and one consequence for politics.
About 77% were peasants, literacy was low and ethnic Russians made up roughly 40% of the empire’s population. Consequence: a large, poor, largely illiterate peasantry limited political mobilisation but created deep social grievances that revolutionary movements could later exploited
Give two reasons why industrial workers in cities became politically active in the late 19th/early 20th century.
Rapid industrialisation produced poor working and living conditions (long hours, low wages, overcrowded housing) and urban workers formed unions and were exposed to radical political ideas (Marxism), prompting strikes and political organisation
Explain two political consequences of Nicholas II taking personal command of the army in 1915.
irst, Nicholas became personally identified with military failures, harming his legitimacy; second, he left the capital, effectively delegating domestic governance to Tsarina Alexandra (who was unpopular and suspected of German sympathies), increasing political instability.
Give two reasons why the Provisional Government failed to maintain authority by October 1917
It continued Russia’s involvement in WWI, which was deeply unpopular, and it failed to carry out effective land reform or to control the economy (inflation/food shortages), losing peasant and worker support.
Cite one quote from Nicholas (as given in the materials) that illustrates his attitude to constitutional reform and explain its meaning.
"I have a constitution in my head, but as to my heart, I spit on it." Meaning: Nicholas publicly accepted constitutional forms but privately rejected meaningful limits on his power, revealing his unwillingness to accept real constitutional government.
Explain the significance of the Trans‑Siberian Railway and one foreign policy conflict it helped provoke.
The Trans‑Siberian Railway was a major economic and strategic project to integrate and exploit Siberia and the Far East; its expansion brought Russian interests into Manchuria and Korea, contributing to tensions with Japan that led to the Russo‑Japanese War (1904–05).
Describe Stolypin’s land reforms and one way they aimed to reduce revolutionary pressure
Stolypin’s reforms (from 1906) encouraged peasants to leave communes and consolidate land into individually owned farms (kulaks) by allowing private ownership and land purchase, aiming to create a conservative, land-owning peasantry loyal to the regime.
Using statistics from our slides, estimate the scale of Russia’s wartime casualties by 1917 and explain why this mattered politically.
By 1917 Russia had roughly 1.7 million killed and 8 million wounded, with about 2.5 million prisoners. Such enormous losses undermined morale, fueled anti-war sentiment, increased strikes and desertions, and weakened popular support for the regime.
Explain how the Provisional Government’s decision on land reform and on continuing the war each affected peasant and worker support.
Refusing to sanction land seizures angered peasants who wanted immediate redistribution, reducing rural support; continuing the war sustained military casualties and shortages, angering soldiers and workers and boosting support for anti‑war parties like the Bolsheviks.
Explain how Nicholas’s treatment of the Duma (1906–1907) demonstrates the limits of the October Manifesto and the Fundamental Laws.
Nicholas dissolved the first two Dumas when they pushed for reforms and used changed electoral laws and the Fundamental Laws to retain autocratic powers, showing the October Manifesto’s promises were hollow and that real authority remained with the Tsar.
Summarise the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in supporting tsarist authority and one way this affected peasant attitudes.
The Orthodox Church endorsed the Tsar’s divine right to rule and taught loyalty, presenting the Tsar as a “little father.”
This reinforced social stability among many peasants but also made peasants resistant to political change due to religious legitimation of autocracy; when the Church’s support was seen as complicit in injustice, it could deepen peasants’ anger
Explain how the Okhrana, censorship, and the bureaucracy together reinforced autocracy but also fuelled opposition — provide one concrete example for each institution.
The Okhrana (secret police) suppressed dissent through surveillance, arrest, exile or execution (example: arrests and exile of revolutionaries to Siberia); censorship controlled information and stifled open debate (example: banning critical newspapers and books); the bureaucracy concentrated power in officials loyal to the Tsar and often corrupt (example: ministers appointed/dismissed by the Tsar and local officials taking bribes). Together, these measures maintained autocratic control but bred resentment and drove opposition underground
Assess how WWI acted as a catalyst for revolution - short and long term
Short term: war created acute shortages, inflation, and food riots at the home front. Battlefield defeats and mass casualties eroded army morale and increased mutinies and desertions.
Long term: political delegations of power (Tsar at front, Alexandra at home), rising influence of radicals (Bolsheviks), and loss of faith in autocracy culminated in the February 1917 revolution and the Tsar’s abdication.
Evaluate the role of released political prisoners in strengthening the Bolsheviks — include one example of how this changed the political balance.
Releasing political prisoners allowed experienced Bolshevik leaders (including Lenin) and organisers to return to Russia and operate openly; for example, Lenin’s April Theses provided a clear anti‑war and revolutionary program that helped the Bolsheviks grow from a marginal group into a disciplined force capable of seizing power in October 1917.
Assess Nicholas II’s overall effectiveness as an autocratic ruler up to 1917: provide two actions that helped him stay in power and two decisions that accelerated his downfall (short evaluative paragraph, 3–4 sentences).
Nicholas maintained power through reliance on traditional institutions (the nobility, the Orthodox Church) and by using repressive tools (Okhrana and the army) to crush dissent, which preserved the regime after 1905. However, his refusal to embrace meaningful reform (dismissing the Duma), poor political judgment (taking personal command in 1915) and the influence of unpopular figures such as Rasputin undermined legitimacy and provoked mass opposition; these decisions accelerated the dynasty’s collapse in 1917