Preview

How far had Russia made Political, Social and Economic Progress before 1914

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1067 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How far had Russia made Political, Social and Economic Progress before 1914
How far had Russia made Political, Social and Economic Progress before 1914
On the one hand, Russia had made Political, Social and Economic progress before 1914 due to a number of reforms. Beginning with progress, A Duma had been instated which gave the middle class a feeling of a little more authority. There was a right form political parties which resulted in over 20 different political parties which ranged to extreme to democratic and had 524 deputies.
The Tsar had appointed Pyotr Stolypin as one of his ministers whom believed that the best way to strengthen support for the regime was by careful reform and was determined to change political atmosphere of the countryside despite the attacks of terrorism against him. He introduced a lot of reforms which benefited the peasants and he knew the peasants were key in building a coalition of support in the Duma. Stolypin persuaded the Tsar Nicholas II to introduce a number of reforms: All State and Crown lands were made available to the Peasants Land Bank for purchase by peasants which ultimately made the peasants feel as if they had more independence.
Stolypin enabled for peasants to leave their Mir without needing consent first which again gave the peasants a sense of freedom and independence to build up their own consolidated farms. He also declared an end to the redistribution of land as the population was growing rapidly from 133 million to 161 million from 1900-1910; the land was made hereditary property of the head of the family as landholdings had been extended. By these reforms, Stolypin had hoped to create a new class of well-to-do peasants which he called his “Bet on the sober and strong”. The idea of all his reforms was so that the peasants would be and able and try new agricultural techniques and grow what they wished and how they did it which would improve their land. Stolypin believed that these new independent famers would provide stable support for the imperial government. His policies saw

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The peasants were essentially bound to their land as they had no access to funds or passports to travel. The two types of farms faced disadvantages, for example the Kolkhozy farms (collective state farms) had to meet state obligations which were 60-70% of their output and only received trivial rewards in return (such as sacks of potatoes). Even though the war had caused so many deaths, the Politburo remained to see the peasants as disposable after the war. Also Stalin did not trust the peasants as he said they were “too individualistic to make good socialists” and therefore increased the taxes on them. So this is not recovery as the lifestyle, especially for peasants, got worse.…

    • 1813 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tsarism thrived for hundreds of years but as Russians became more educated they decided that communism and a dictatorship was too harsh and after a few revolutions Tsarism was a thing from the past. In the years 1881 to 1905 many things changed in Russia for the better and for the worse.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many of the opposition fled to other European countries where they continued to plot against the Tsar. This shows how Alexander lll had caused Russia to go back in progress politically by exiling all of their possible contenders. This allowed the Tsar to have much more control over Russia much like before Alexander ll reign. The persecution of Jews caused many to join radical parties and organisations. This shows us how there was not even the slightest bit of democracy within Russia, and how Alexander lll had caused Russia to go back in progress. Another major problem in Russia was the growing population of peasants. This caused famines within Russia in 1892 and 1893. This famine was a cause of many peasants death which shows how Russia did not have the money or resources to keep up with their growing population. This showed a lack in progress as they could not even support their country’s people with…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Throughout this time period the ruling elite, who made up 1.1% of the population despite owning 25% of the land, maintained constant support of the Tsar. This support was based on reliance in the Tsars rule in order to ensure their own aristocracy. The nobles controlled the land Therefore through the nobility’s control of land and as a result the means of production, the Tsar had autocratic power over the majority who worked this land; the peasants, both of state (32.7%) and through the nobility 50.7% as despite the emancipation of serfs in 1861 the lives of these peasants were heavily restricted and reliant on the land owners through the Mir, censorship, tax and redemption payments, of which many could not pay for and so were forced into debt. the peasants themselves, being both restricted in the Mir and due to their traditional attitudes and acceptance of social situation, what Marx would call a lack of revolutionary consciousness, can be attributed to the Tsarist survival.…

    • 2563 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between 1750 and 1914, England, Germany, and Western Europe were all expanding. England was gaining land and trust in the Middle East, Germany was becoming an established nation, and Western Europe was thriving due to the Industrial Revolution. After recognizing all of this, Russia decided it was time for reform or be left in the dust. This caused major changes in Russia’s labor system such as emancipation of the serfs and industrialization to keep up with the changing world. Although they were going through these changes, there were continuities such as the treatment of the serfs and the type of reform they were doing.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the 1905 revolution Russia was in need of reforms both economically and politically, to allow it maintain its role of a great power and to prevent another revolution occurring the answer to this was the October Manifesto. However, due to the stubbornness of the Tsar who was determined not to relinquish his autocratic powers, what may have appeared as reforms were largely superficial making little change in particular to the Russian political system.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    By 1881, Russia had greatly changed. Reforms had been carried out, creating less of a gap between the social classes, and making society a fairer place. There were also developments in industry, helping Russia catch up with the western world. However, the country was still ruled in a way that out pleasing the autocracy over helping the peasants, and there was still not total freedom for everyone.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This period of time ensured many changes, positive and negative regarding the labor system. It is evident that serfdom congealed from about 1750 onwards, meaning that the peasants were required to provide free labor for a particular number of days a year or a specific amount of money to their lords. The time of labor depended on when it was needed. For example, during harvesting or sowing. The job had to be done, regardless, the peasants own farming responsibilities. Subsequent to the emancipation of serfs in 19th century, they had to buy their own freedom, as they were granted land they also had to pay for working on it. Eventually, such strict limitations caused farmers and peasants to leave their farming business and seek more opportunities in large urban areas. That lead to Russia’s rapid industrialization during the 18th. However, prior to Russia's industrialization workers set up guilds to protect their interests. Such guilds were often set up in areas where workers migrated to work - such as logging camps, and were often communal. Although, as the industrialization finally occurred in 19th century, people traveled to cities seeking more opportunities, causing the population to extremely swell. Such overpopulation ensued in dangerous working conditions, very poor sanitation and exploitation of the workers. Such circumstances were very hard to fight off as Russia didn’t have a very strong reformist movement to address such problematic aspects of the society. Unsuccessful attempts to reform the working class troubles, resulted in growing unrest and discontent among all. Eventually, public announcement of opinions was strictly forbidden and punished by a trip to Siberia, which was later widely expanded by the…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The social structure of 1800’s Russia was a rigid hierarchy. According to the 1879 census 82% of the population were peasants, 4% was the working class, 1.5% were the middle classes, and 12.5% were the upper classes. The peasants were small farmers that used outdated methods. They were mostly former serfs that were freed in the 1861 serf emancipation under Alexander II.…

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In 1964 Russia was seen as a leading superpower which dominated Eastern Europe. However this is a vastly different image than the inherently backward country that Russia was deemed to be one hundred years earlier. The most crucial turning point in the modernisation of Russia was the abdication of the Tsar in 1917 and the rise of the Bolshevik party which followed. Political modernisation, and more importantly a strong central government, was pivotal in allowing other Russian sectors, such as industry and agriculture to modernise. The First World War itself was not the key turning point as individually it did not greatly modernise Russia, however it can be seen as the catalyst for the political modernisation which was vital for the modernisation of Russia.…

    • 1981 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between 1800 and 1939 Russia underwent through a severe regime change. The people of Russia were in a state of great economic disparity, and the lower class faced hunger, poverty, etc. The lower class had very little of the grain, land, and fiscal control that was available in Russia, such pretext of large income disparity gaps and unbalanced control of GDP were the pre-requisites se in place for the takeover of socialism. And such is what happened. Within this time period Russia went through a proletariat revolution of communism aiming have the workers of the world unite and free themselves from capitalist oppression to create a world run by and for the working class. However even though they underwent this major social-economic change, conditions in Russia stayed around the same. We still saw that Russia was under leadership of a Totalitarian authority. And maintained the same economic conditions where the consumer-based market never developed and the population was largely rural and the economy was agricultural based.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ss notes

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages

    o Trans-Siberian Railroad o Foreign investment o “exhaustion at the base” 1894-1917 nicholas ii 1898 founding of Marxist Russian social democratic labor party marxists who favored proletariat, working class 1900 international financial crisis 1902 founding of socialist revolutionary party anti marxist, and anti capitalist favored peasants and violence 1903 mensheviks and bolsheviks arose bolsheviks wanted revolution ASAP mensheviks were pro waiting 1903 massive wave of strikes 1904 russia goes to war with japan Russia failed and this caused privitization and additional hardship 1905 bloody Sunday: led to mass distress in country father gapon October manifesto: granted civil liberties to Russian people and the establishment of parliament 1906 first duma: lower chamber of Russian parliament 1906-1911 stolypin assassinated A. Stolypin believed that by abolishing the peasant commune, they would be more productive B. Kulaks: new peasant class, upper class peasants, had more money and were more intelligent C. Stop division of land; title of land goes to families o Redistribute land so peasants get plot…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    With many social and political changes occurring during the 1800's, the Russian Intelligentsia's view on the peasantry also saw a shift. Recent emancipations in the country saw millions of former serfs and farmers with newfound rights and statuses but also saw exposed many faults in current labor practices and corruption within the bureaucratic levels of the Russian state. The current nobility took it upon themselves to decide how they handle the new working class problems and restructuring of the social hierarchy among themselves and the peasants without putting too much harm on their own social standings. While many of the nobility held the staunch belief that peasantry was incapable of life beyond simple farming, some believed to be rational…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    While in theory , the manner in which Russia was ruled undertook a considerable overhaul following the 1917 revolution . In reality the Country was governed with the Tsar and general security remaining as the ultimate authority with no real development occurring. Methods of oppression , propaganda and abusing civil rights were paramount in the rulings of all of the leaders be it Tsar or Communist. The largest change in the way in which Russia was ruled can be seen in the changing economy moving from open trade in the 1800's to the strict state capitalism of the 1900's. However few reforms had a direct impact in the way Russia was ruled thus meaning there was more continuity than change in the period 1855 to 1964.…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Revolution of 1905, Russians gained new political freedom. However, Russia was still plagued with problems. The famine from previous years still raged on. In 1914, Russia joined World War I. To pay for the war, Russia raised taxes, secured foreign loans, and printed more money. This combined with many other factors, left the people of Russia wanting change. They needed the government to change, the famine to end, and economic stability.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays