Welcome to Russia in Revolution (1881–1917)!

Hello future historians! This chapter is incredibly important. You are about to study one of the most dramatic and transformative periods in modern history: the collapse of the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty and the birth of revolutionary Russia.

Why is this important? Understanding the deep-rooted problems of Tsarist Russia—social, economic, and political—is the key to explaining why the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 happened. Think of this period as a giant pressure cooker that eventually exploded!

Don't worry if the names and dates seem overwhelming at first. We will break down every key concept into manageable chunks. Let's get started!

Section 1: The Tsarist Autocracy (The Old System)

The Nature of Tsarist Rule

By 1881, Russia was ruled by a system called Autocracy. This means the Tsar (Emperor) had absolute, unquestioned power, given to him by God (Divine Right). There were no legal checks on his authority.

Key Features of Autocracy
  • No Constitution: No rules limiting the Tsar's power.
  • No Parliament: No elected body to represent the people's views.
  • Reliance on the Bureaucracy: A vast, often corrupt, system of appointed officials who carried out the Tsar's orders across the huge empire.
  • Repression and Control: Maintained by powerful forces.

Analogy: Imagine a modern government run like a medieval kingdom. The Tsar’s word was law, and if you questioned it, you risked severe punishment.

The Tools of Repression

To maintain control over 130 million people, the Tsarist regime relied heavily on fear:

  • The Okhrana: The secret police force, established in 1881. They spied on, arrested, and often exiled critics and opposition figures.
  • The Army: Used to suppress peasant uprisings and industrial strikes.
  • Censorship: Strict control over newspapers, books, and educational materials.

Quick Review: Tsarist Russia was a dictatorship where one man held all the power, backed by spies and soldiers.

Section 2: The Reign of Alexander III (1881–1894)

A Period of Reaction

Alexander III took the throne after his father, Alexander II (the "Tsar Liberator"), was assassinated by revolutionaries. This event convinced Alexander III that liberal reform was dangerous. He reversed many previous reforms.

Key Policies of Reaction
  • Statute of State Security (1881): Gave the government powers to declare martial law, use military courts, and suspend civil rights in any area. This was the foundation of his police state.
  • The Land Captains (1889): These were appointed nobles given extensive power over local peasant communities (Mir). They could overrule Zemstvo (local councils) decisions and impose punishments.
  • Educational Control: University independence was crushed, and education was restricted to the upper classes.
  • Russification: A policy aiming to impose Russian language, culture, and the Orthodox religion across all non-Russian parts of the empire (e.g., Poland, Finland, Ukraine). This created huge resentment among national minorities.

Did you know? Alexander III was heavily influenced by his former tutor, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, who believed that democracy and liberalism were "fatal errors."

Section 3: Tsar Nicholas II (1894–1917) – The Last Tsar

A Tragic Leader

Nicholas II inherited the throne unprepared and unwilling to change the autocracy. He believed deeply in his Divine Right, but lacked the necessary intelligence, ruthlessness, or political skill to manage the enormous problems facing Russia.

  • He was stubborn but weak, often avoiding difficult decisions.
  • He relied heavily on his wife, Empress Alexandra, who was unpopular and distrusted (especially later due to her reliance on Rasputin).
  • He infamously dismissed any hopes of reform as "senseless dreams" in 1895.

Key Takeaway: While the Tsarist system was inherently flawed, Nicholas II's personal inadequacies accelerated its decline.

Section 4: Social and Economic Transformation (1881–1914)

Sergei Witte and Industrialisation

Russia desperately needed to industrialise to compete with Western powers. The most important figure in this push was Sergei Witte, Finance Minister (1892–1903).

Witte's Policies (The "Great Spurt")
  • Foreign Loans: He secured huge loans and investments from countries like France.
  • High Tariffs: Taxes on foreign goods protected Russia's new industries.
  • The Gold Standard (1897): Stabilised the Russian currency, making it attractive for foreign investment.
  • Focus on Infrastructure: Massive state investment in railways, most famously the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Analogy: Witte treated the economy like a marathon runner who hadn't trained—he injected performance-enhancing drugs (foreign money and state control) to achieve speed quickly, but this created stress and instability.

Social Consequences of Industrialisation

The Peasants (80% of the population)
  • Land Hunger: Despite emancipation in 1861, peasants still lacked sufficient land. Population growth made the problem worse.
  • Traditional Life: Most peasants remained poor, illiterate, and tied to the Mir (village commune), which controlled their land distribution and farming methods.
  • Kulaks: A minority of peasants who became wealthy through the production of surplus grain. They were resented by the poorer peasants.
The Urban Workers

Witte's rapid industrialisation created a new, volatile class: the factory workers.

  • Terrible Conditions: Cramped, unsanitary housing (barracks), long hours (12–14 hours a day), and low wages.
  • Concentration: Unlike peasants scattered across the countryside, workers were concentrated in large cities (St Petersburg, Moscow). This made them easy to organise for revolutionary activity.

Key Takeaway: Witte succeeded in modernising the economy, but he created enormous social tension. The peasants were restless due to land shortages, and the workers were radicalised by appalling living conditions.

Section 5: The Rise of Opposition (1890s–1904)

Political parties were technically illegal, but they operated secretly, fueled by social discontent.

1. Revolutionary Groups (Want radical change)

The Social Revolutionaries (SRs)
  • Main Support: The Peasantry.
  • Goal: Overthrow Tsardom and transfer all land to the village communes (socialisation of land).
  • Methods: Agitation and terrorism (they carried out many political assassinations).
The Social Democrats (SDs) – Based on Marxism
  • Main Support: The Urban Workers (Proletariat).
  • Belief: Followed the theories of Karl Marx, believing history moved in stages and that a proletariat revolution must eventually overthrow capitalism.
  • The Split (1903): The SDs split over organisational strategy:
    • Bolsheviks (The Majority): Led by Lenin. Believed in a small, highly disciplined party of professional revolutionaries who would lead the working class.
    • Mensheviks (The Minority): Led by Martov. Believed in a broad, open party that would cooperate with liberal groups and allow capitalism to fully develop before the socialist revolution.

2. Reformist Groups (Want constitutional change)

The Liberals (Kadets and Octobrists)
  • Main Support: Middle class, professionals, and some enlightened landlords.
  • Goal: To establish a constitutional monarchy (like Britain) where the Tsar's power was limited by an elected parliament.
  • Methods: Political meetings, petitions, and legal pressure (often through the Zemstva).

Memory Aid: SRs = Soil (Peasants). SDs = Smoke (Factory Workers). Liberals = Laws (Constitution).

Section 6: Crisis and Catastrophe – The 1905 Revolution

The decade of discontent exploded into open revolution, largely triggered by two major failures:

The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)

Nicholas II hoped a short, successful war would distract the population from internal problems. Russia sought expansion into Manchuria/Korea.

  • Disaster: Russia suffered humiliating defeats on land and sea (e.g., the destruction of the Baltic Fleet at Tsushima).
  • Consequence: The war revealed the incompetence of the Tsarist government and military leadership, leading to economic strain and massive public dissatisfaction.

Bloody Sunday (January 1905)

This event was the spark for the revolution.

A peaceful procession of workers, led by Father Gapon, marched to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to present a petition to the Tsar asking for better working conditions and political reform.

The Event: Imperial troops panicked and fired on the unarmed crowd, killing hundreds.

Impact: It shattered the traditional bond between the Tsar and his people. Nicholas II was no longer seen as the "Little Father" but as "Bloody Nicholas." Strikes, peasant riots, and mutinies erupted across the country.

The Outcome: The October Manifesto (October 1905)

Faced with a general strike and total collapse, Nicholas II reluctantly issued the Manifesto, advised by Sergei Witte.

What it Promised:

  1. Guaranteed basic civil rights (freedom of speech, assembly).
  2. The establishment of a legislative parliament, the Duma (meaning laws could not be made without its consent).

The Manifesto successfully divided the opposition:

  • The Octobrists (Liberals) accepted the promises and supported the Tsar.
  • The Kadets (more radical Liberals) and the Revolutionaries demanded a full Constituent Assembly and continued fighting.

Key Takeaway: 1905 was a dress rehearsal. The Tsar survived because the opposition was divided, and crucial sections of the army remained loyal.

Section 7: The Duma Period and Stolypin’s Reforms (1906–1914)

The Illusion of Democracy

Before the First Duma met, Nicholas II issued the Fundamental Laws (April 1906). These essentially took back most of the power granted in the October Manifesto.

  • The Tsar retained the power to appoint and dismiss ministers.
  • The Tsar retained the power to dissolve the Duma.
  • He controlled foreign policy and the military.
  • Crucially, he could rule by decree when the Duma was not sitting.

The first two Dumas (1906–1907) were too radical (dominated by Kadets and SRs) and were quickly dissolved. After electoral laws were illegally changed (Stolypin's coup), the Third and Fourth Dumas were much more conservative and compliant.

Stolypin's Dual Policy

Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin implemented a "carrot and stick" approach to secure the Tsarist regime.

1. The Stick (Repression): Revolutionaries were dealt with harshly via military courts and executions (nicknamed "Stolypin's necktie").

2. The Carrot (Agrarian Reform): His goal was to create a class of loyal, independent peasant landowners (Kulaks) who would support the regime and act as a stabilizing force.

  • He allowed peasants to leave the Mir (village commune) and consolidate their land into private farms (a process called enclosure).

Stolypin’s reforms were beginning to show economic success, but they were cut short when he was assassinated in 1911. By 1914, millions had taken up private land ownership, but the majority of peasants remained in the Mir.

Section 8: World War I and the Final Collapse (1914–1917)

The Military and Economic Disaster

World War I was the single most important factor leading to the collapse of Tsardom.

Military Failures
  • Initial Patriotism fades: Initial enthusiasm quickly vanished after devastating losses (e.g., Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes, 1914).
  • Poor Leadership: Troops were often sent to the front without rifles, boots, or medical supplies. Generals were incompetent.
  • Nicholas Takes Command (1915): Nicholas II made the fatal mistake of taking personal command of the army. This failed to improve the war effort, but now every military defeat was directly blamed on him.
Economic and Social Hardship
  • Inflation: The cost of the war was paid for by printing money, leading to hyperinflation. Prices soared while wages remained stagnant.
  • Food Shortages: The railway system was monopolised by military transport, meaning food could not reach the cities.
  • Urban Starvation: Petrograd and Moscow faced chronic shortages of food and fuel (coal).

The Rasputin Scandal (The Political Crisis)

When Nicholas was at the front, political power in Petrograd fell to his wife, Empress Alexandra. She was deeply unpopular, being German and totally reliant on the mystic Grigori Rasputin, whom she believed could heal her haemophiliac son, Alexei.

  • Rasputin's influence led to the appointment and dismissal of incompetent ministers (ministerial leapfrog).
  • This created a crisis of confidence in the monarchy. Even loyal nobles, concerned about the regime's honour, assassinated Rasputin in December 1916.

Key Takeaway: WWI didn't just cause hardship; it stripped the Tsarist regime of its military control, economic stability, and political legitimacy.

Section 9: The February Revolution (1917)

The collapse of Tsardom was swift and unexpected, stemming from street protests rather than a planned revolutionary plot.

Causes and Triggers

  • Chronic food and fuel shortages in Petrograd.
  • Mass industrial strikes due to economic hardship.
  • The freezing winter weather exacerbated suffering.

The Events – Step-by-Step

February 23rd (International Women’s Day): Thousands of female textile workers went on strike in Petrograd, protesting bread shortages. They were joined by striking male factory workers.

February 25th: The strike became general. Nicholas ordered the military commander in Petrograd to end the "disorders."

February 26th: Loyal troops fired on protestors, but several regiments began to mutiny, refusing to shoot their own people.

February 27th: The mutiny spread. The Volynsky regiment joined the protestors. Soldiers and workers marched together, seizing arms depots and releasing political prisoners. Tsarist authority in the capital vanished.

February 28th – March 2nd: Two key bodies formed to take power:

  1. The Provisional Committee of the Duma: Formed by leading liberals (like Milyukov), aiming to restore order.
  2. The Petrograd Soviet: Formed by workers and soldiers, representing the radical interests of the masses.

March 2nd: The Abdication: Nicholas II, stuck miles away from the capital, finally bowed to pressure from the military generals, who informed him they could no longer rely on their troops to save the monarchy. He signed the instrument of abdication for himself and his son, Alexei.

Outcome of the February Revolution

The 300-year-old Romanov dynasty was over. A period of Dual Authority (shared power between the liberal Provisional Government and the radical Petrograd Soviet) began, which would prove fatally unstable, paving the way for the October Revolution later that year.

Congratulations! You have now covered the complete journey from the rigid autocracy of Alexander III to the total collapse of Tsardom in 1917. Keep practicing those connections between industrialisation, social distress, and the impact of the First World War!