European Civilization
Spring 2005
Heubeck
Russia on the Eve of the Revolution
Nicholas II (1894-1917)
Last Romanov tsar
Married to a German princess, Alexandra
Son, Alexei, suffered from hemophilia
Wanted Russia to become an industrialized nation
Appointed Sergei Witte to lead Russia into the
industrial age
Overall, out of touch with the changing Russia |
Russias Social Structure
Peasants
Largest population of Russians
Divided between free peasants and
obligated peasants
Rich peasant class emerged called kulaks |
Middle Class
A small group of people possessing
education
Business owners, lawyers, writers, etc.
Intelligentsia that desire swift liberal
reforms (constitution, Duma, political
privilege)
Many returned from Siberian exile during
reign of Alexander III
Many are converting to Marxism due to the
pace of reform and the horrible conditions
of the working class |
Working Class
Largest growing class in Russia
Suffering economically due to rapid
industrialization
Vulnerable to the ideas of the Marxists
Responsible for the growing population of
the cities |
Aristocracy
Clinging to power
Resisting the changes occurring to Russia |
|
Political Parties
Cadets (1903)
Middle Class liberals desiring a
political system like Englandsparliament (Duma),
civil liberties
Afraid of working class and revolution |
Social Revolutionaries (1901)
Radical intelligenstia opposed to the
westernization and industrialization of
Russia
Felt the model for Russia was in the
communal life of the peasant commune
Violent and revolutionary
Heavily influenced by the utopian
socialists |
Social Democrats (1898)
Marxists influenced by the German
Social Democrats
Believed in the fundamentals of Marxist
theory
Felt the future of Russia was with the
growing proletariat
Leaders included Lenin, Trotsky, Gregory
Plekhanov
1903 Lenin spit from the mainstream SDs
and formed the Bolsheviks (majority). Those
that remained were called Mensheviks
(minority). |
Bolsheviks
Followed the theory of Lenin that only
a small, educated, non-democratic group
could stimulate the revolution
Dismissed the fundamental Marxist notion
that only the working class could stimulate
the revolution
Belief in violence, terror caused by a
professional revolutionary group
(Bolsheviks) |
Mensheviks
True Marist who believed that the
revolution was only valid if led by the
class conscious proletariat
Opposed the notion that a special educated
group could lead the revolution |
|
Heubeck, Rob. Russia on the Eve of the Revolution, (2003), Russian
Revolution [core] Class Material
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