Who made up the opposition
What were the aims of the opposition
Populist-
Some turned to terrorism – peoples will
Ides that peasants based revolution was unrealistic – peasants weren’t interested in politics
Middle and upper class people- believed it was their duty to educate the uninformed peasants into revolution.
Policy on ‘going to the people’ educated populist went to the peasants in country side in attempt to turn them into revolutionaries.
Future of Russia handed over to peasant that made up mass population
Over throw the tsar system
Widen the concept of the ‘people’ so it included not just peasants but all those in society that had reason to end Tsardom
Social revolutionaries (SR)
-Leader- Chenov
-SR were weakened by the disagreement among each other so it lead to 2 different competing groups. right SR and left SR
- SR were responsible for 2000 assassination
RSR- moderate members – believed in revolution. prepared to work with other parties to improve conditions of workers and peasants
LSR-
1906 SR experienced support from the professional classes, trade unions and all Russian union of peasants
RSR- believed in revolution
LSR- continue policy of terrorism gained from ‘people’s will’
SR- committed to ‘revolutionary socialism’ (change could only be achieved through violence and overthrow of government) and it would end the policy of private ownership by returning the land to those who worked it. land policy made them popular – peasants
LSR- argues policy ignored industrial workers
RSR- argued policy was unworkable in current conditions.
Social democrats
The Social Democratic party was a Marxist party
The SD split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
Industrial Workers
Plekhanov – promoted the idea of proletarian revolution- leader of SD. Members soon became impatient with Plekhanov because they wanted active revolutionary programme. The spokesman for this viewpoint was Lenin.
Lenin criticised Plekhanov to be interested in reforms rather than revolution. Lenin stated that Plekhanov was focusing on policy of ‘economism’ (putting improvements of workers condition before need for revolution)
Achieve revolution by following ideas of Marx – behaviour of human was determined by social law.
Marx claimed that critical human behaviour was because of class struggle (conflict between people with economic/political power and those without). Marx believed that human history was about to reach the its revolutionary victory of the proletariat (exploited working class) over bourgeoisie (owner of capital)
Transform workers into a revolutionary force for the overthrow of capitalism.
Lenin wanted working/ living conditions to get worse= bittiness of workers would increase and so drive the Russian proletariat to revolution.
Bolshevik (Russian for majority)
Small, tightly knit exclusive party
Professional revolutionaries
No co-operation with other parties
Trotsky joined Lenin
‘economism’ dismissed
Turn workers into revolutionaries
Involved terrorism and violence to raise money for their party
The Bolsheviks were a party of professional revolutionaries led by Lenin. They believed the government could not be reformed but must be completely overthrown with power being given to the working classes instead.
Menshevik (Russian for minority )
Mass organisation with membership open to all revolutionaries
Support of trade unions in pursuing better wages and conditions for workers – ‘economism’
The Mensheviks were the moderate wing of the party that believed the government could be reformed by working with it rather than against it. Their main aim was to improve living and working conditions for urban workers and peasants.
Octobrists
Moderates- loyal to the tsar and his government
Commercial, industrial landowners
a group of middle class intelligentsia formed mainly of lawyers, financiers and industrialists and led by Guchkev and Rodzianko thought that the October Manifesto was as far as reform in Russia needed to go
Believed in the maintenance of e Russian empire and regarded the October menifesto1905 and establishment of duma as a major legal progress.
They wanted Russia to remain an authoritarian state and eventually became the largest single party in the Duma after the Tsar had managed to get rid of more extreme members
Kadets - Constitutional Democrats
Also known as party of peoples freedom
Largest liberal party progressive landlords members of professions small industrial entrepreneurs and academics such as their leader Paul Milyukov Wanted Russia to develop as a constitutional monarchy(legal empire) in which the power of the tsar would be restricted by a democratically elected constituent (national) assembly.- believed that such representation of Russian state would be able to settle the political/economic/social problems
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The peasant movement in Hunan province reinforced Mao’s convictions about the peasantry as a revolutionary force. In china, man and woman are usually subjected to the domination of the three systems of authority: the state systems, the clan system, the supernatural system, and women are dominated by man. Hundreds of millions peasants have been oppressed for thousands years. Because of the china is semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, with this very special situation the peasants overthrow the local tyrants and evil gentry with strongly anger and violence. However, the political authority of the landlord is the backbone of all the other systems of authority. Therefore, others systems would be tottering if the states system was overthrow. Mao’s thought that the millions of peasant wanted to break the trammel, and they could be a mainly revolutionary force in china.…
- 981 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
SIG: Peasants would revolt and cause movements that go against the economic reasoning. The movements were usually to gain recognition for their work and other reasons.…
- 3956 Words
- 16 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Another factor that was responsible for the survival of the Tsarist rule was the reluctance of the Peasantry to support opposition. The Peasants were extremely uneducated and they didn’t understand how these policies could change their lives. The Tsar had been the political power since the 13th century so it was all that they knew. They believed that the Tsar was appointed by god so whatever he did, they believed it was for the best. They were fearful that if they joined an opposition group the Tsar would be able to ‘see’ them and…
- 824 Words
- 4 Pages
Good 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 -
Taxed heavily and unhappy. Peasants needed to pay half of their income and the rich people needed to pay almost none.…
- 993 Words
- 4 Pages
Powerful Essays -
workers militia and remnants of the old Tsarist army after the revolution of 1917 to…
- 877 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Some peasants were more radical than the methods that Lotzer suggests. He highlights the idea that the peasants matter as individuals and should be respected. This is echoed in Document 3. The peasant speaker asserts that they are as hold as the Emperor and demand to be freed. This shows it inspired them to rebel. This also shows that they were the first willing to consult the government for help before the violence. In Document 8, the peasant’s perspective is relayed. Lorenz Fries writes to an archbishop who may be a victim of the revolts and may be skewing the truth. However, he does suggest that the peasants’ ideas of brotherhood are becoming radical as they discuss the redistribution of wealth. The responses to the peasant’s rebellions and concerns by the government were made to seem reasonable but were made to seem reasonable but in actuality were not. In documents 4, 10, and 12, you can see this. In Document 4, the government responds to a request by saying that for the peasants to be free they must buy themselves out of serfdom. Very few peasants would have the means to accomplish this. This may have inspired more revolts through its ineffectiveness. Another comical governmental reason falls by the…
- 629 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Agriculture was a crucial area which needed to be reformed if Russia was to ever be modernised. At the root of the inherently backward Russia was the peasant workforce, who mainly worked in the agricultural sector, which left Russia a world away from other European Countries in terms of industry. ‘Out of the 60 million people in European Russia in 1855, 50 million were peasant serfs’1; this was a huge obstacle to modernisation as it limited. The goal of Emancipation was to release the peasants from the land that they were bound to in order to create an industrial workforce that would drive modernisation. The predominantly agricultural workforce would now work in factories thus changing Russia into an industrial juggernaut, which would be key in modernising Russia. The reform was also crucial as it was the first step in the deconstruction of the Ancien Regime within Russia. Emancipation was key in establishing support for the monarchy, ‘in other countries Serf emancipation took place as a consequence of social and organic change’2, this meant that in Russia the monarchy had…
- 1981 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Also, poor farmers could not bring themselves to believe that they were a part of “the People.” From our readings, the farmers felt that the state government had turned against the majority, against the people, and by extension,…
- 995 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
“A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism.”1, the opening sentence to The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels. Karl Marx was a German philosopher, journalist and revolutionary socialist whose famous works include The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital. Historians have largely credited Marx’s works for influencing the key figures that went on to lead the Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution took place in 1917 and disassembled the Tsarist monarchy, preparing for the creation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, commonly referred to as the Soviet Union or USSR. Although there were many factors that contributed to the Russian Revolution of 1917, Karl Marx and his developed theory of Marxism played a vital role in influencing Lenin’s efforts to overthrow the Provisional Government eventually leading to the Russian Revolution of 1917.…
- 2030 Words
- 9 Pages
Best Essays -
Political revolution made people citizens, rather than subjects – they had political rights and duties for their nation…
- 1638 Words
- 7 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
A revolution was the only way for the government to change. That revolution should have been lead, by peasants and worker, to ensure all the needs of the people…
- 715 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
the peasantry. Yet, with Lenin’s death and Stalin’s rise to power, there seemed to be…
- 2374 Words
- 10 Pages
Good Essays -
The disaster and revolution killed most peasants, which is what forced the remaining ones to…
- 1245 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The abolition of serfdom in 1861, under Alexander II, and the reforms which followed were a ‘watershed’, ‘a turning point’ in the history of Russia. After being soundly defeated in the Crimean War (1853-56), Russia was fully exposed to her backwardness in all fields- military, economic, social and administrative. The reforms under Alexander II, an aftermath of the war were undertaken to air the grievances of different sections of society. During the late 1860s and 70s, a more assertive public opinion was emerging with recurrent outbreaks of student protest and formation of a small but dynamic underground revolutionary movement, which pressurized the government for more changes.…
- 3563 Words
- 15 Pages
Powerful Essays