CLASS IX

CH 3 SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

TOPIC 2 THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Q1. What do you mean by Russian Revolution?

A1. The fall of monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October are
normally called the Russian Revolution.

Q2. Describe the political conditions of Russia before the revolution?

A2. 1. In 1914, Tsar Nicolas II ruled Russia and its empire.

2. Besides the territory around Moscow, the Russian empire included current –
day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and
Belarus.

3. The empire stretched to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central Asian
states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

4. The majority of people in Russia followed Russian Orthodox Christianity-

which had grown out of Greek Orthodox Church.

5. The empire also included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Buddhists.

Q3. How far were the social and economic conditions responsible for the
Russian Revolution?

A3. 1. In the beginning of the 20th century, the vast majority of Russia’s people
were agriculturists. About 85%of the Russian empire‘s population earned their
living from agriculture. This proportion was higher than in most European
countries.

2. Industries were found in pockets. Most industry was the private property of
industrialists. The government supervised large factories to ensure minimum
wages and limited hours but these rules were often broken. In craft units and
small workshops, the working day was sometimes 15 hours, compared with
10or 12 hours in factories. Accommodation varied from rooms to dormitories.
3. Workers were a divided social group. Some had strong links with the village
from where they came. Others had settled in the cities permanently. Workers
were divided by skill. Women formed 31%of the factory labour force but were
paid less than men. Divisions among workers showed themselves in dress and
manners too.

4. In the countryside, peasants cultivated most of the land, but the nobility, the
crown and the Orthodox Church owned large properties. Like workers
peasants too were divided and were deeply religious.

5. Nobles got their power and position through their services to the Tsar, not
through local popularity. In Russia the nobles wanted the land of the nobles to
be given to them .They frequently refused to pay rents and even murdered
landlords.

Q4. Explain the relationship between nobles and peasants in Russia before
the Revolution.
Ans. Nobles got their power and position through their services to the Tsar, not
through local popularity. This was unlike France where during, the French
Revolution in Britany, peasants respected nobles .In Russia the nobles wanted
the land of the nobles to be given to them .They frequently refused to pay
rents and even murdered landlords.

Q5. How were Russian peasants different from peasants in Europe?

A5. Russian peasants pooled their land together periodically and their
commune (mir) divided it according to the needs of the individual families.

[Link] the history of the Socialist Movement in Russia.

A6.1. the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in 1898by
socialists who supported Karl Marx. However because of government
restrictions it operated underground as an illegal organisations.

2. Some socialists supported the peasants and believed that peasants and not
workers would be the force behind the revolution as peasant’s custom of
dividing the land periodically made them natural socialists. They formed the
Socialist Revolutionary Party in [Link] party struggled for peasants rights
and demanded that land belonging to the nobles be transferred to the
peasants.

3. Social Democrats disagreed with Socialist Revolutionaries about peasants.

Lenin felt that peasants were not one united group. Some were poor and
others were rich, some worked as labourers, while others were capitalists who
employed workers. With these differences they could not be a part of the
socialist movement.

Q7. What was the main difference between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?

A7. The Russian Socialist Democratic Workers Party was divided over
organisation. The Bolsheviks led by Lenin thought that in a repressive society
like Tsarist Russia the party should be disciplined and should control the
number and quality of its members. Mensheviks thought that the party should
be open to all.

[Link] was the conditions in Russia before the 1905 revolution?

Ans. 1. Russia was an autocracy, even at the beginning of the 20th century. The
Tsar was not subjected to the parliament.

2. Liberals in Russia wanted to end autocracy in Russia.

3. Liberals along with Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries worked

with peasants and workers during the 1905 revolution to demand a
constitution.

4. They were supported by the nationalists in Poland and in Muslim dominated

areas by the Jaddists who wanted modernised Islam to lead their societies.

Q9. Explain the three events that were responsible for the revolution of
1905?

Ans. 1. The year 1904 was particularly a bad one for Russian workers. Prices of
essential goods rose up so quickly that real wages declined by 20%.

2. Membership of workers’ association rose dramatically. When four members

of the Assembly of Russian Workers were dismissed at Putilov Iron Works,
workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding a reduction in the working
day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvement in the working
conditions.

3. When the procession led by Father Gapon reached the Winter Palace it was
attacked by the police and the Cossacks. Over 100 workers were killed. This
incident was known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that became
known as the 1905 Revolution.

Q10. What is meant by ‘Bloody Sunday’? What series of events took place
after it?

A10. When the procession led by Father Gapon reached the Winter Palace it
was attacked by the police and the Cossacks. Over 100 workers were killed.
This incident was known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that
became known as the 1905 Revolution.

1. Strikes took place all over the country.

2. Universities closed down when students’ bodies staged walkouts
complaining about the lack of civil liberties.
3. Lawyers, doctors, engineers and other middle class workers established
the Union of Unions and demanded a constituent Assembly.

Q11. What changes were brought about by the 1905 Revolution?

Ans. During the 1905Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected
consultative Parliament or Duma.

2. For a short time during the revolution, there existed a large number of trade
unions and factory committees made up of factory workers. After 1905 they
were declared illegal but they worked unofficially.

3. Several restrictions were placed on political parties.

4. The Tsar did not want any questioning to his authority or reduction of his
powers. He changed the first Duma in 75 days and the second Duma within
three months. He changed the voting rights and filled the third Duma with
Conservative politicians. Liberals and revolutionaries were kept out.

[Link] the Central powers and Allied powers during the First World War?

A12. Central powers- Germany, Austria and Turkey

 Allied powers- France, Britain, Russia till 1917. (later Italy and Romania)

Q13. Why did the Tsarist Autocracy collapse in 1917?

A13. 1. Tsar Nicolas II was not an efficient ruler. As the war continued he
refused to consult the main parties in the Duma.

2. Tsarina Alexandria’s German origin and poor advisors, especially a monk

called Rasputin, made the autocracy unpopular.

3. The participation in the First World War was disastrous. In the eastern front,
armies moved good deal and fought battles leaving casualties. Defeat was
shocking and demoralising. Russian armies lost badly in Germany and Austria
between 1914 and 1916.

4. The soldiers while retreating destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the
enemy from being able to live off the land. The destruction led to around 3
million refugees. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar. The
soldiers did not want to fight such a war.

5. Around 7 million died in the war. The soldiers did not want to fight such a
war.

Q14. What was the impact on First World War on Russian Industries?

Ans. 1. The war had a severe impact on industries. Russia’s own industries
were few in number and the country was cut off from the suppliers of
industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea.

2. Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than anywhere

else in Europe.

3. By 1916, the railway lines began to break down.

4. Able-bodied men were called up to the war. . As a result, there were labour
shortages and small workshops producing essentials were shut down.

5. Large supplies of grains were send to feed the army. For the people in the
cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winters of 1916, riots at bread
shops were common.

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