Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Russia Notes FULL

1.      Why did the Russian monarchy fall(Aft Feb Revo)? Pg 4-11

·         Government

-Everyone had to obey the Tsar.

-Had a little interaction with the people.

-Had no intention to govern  Russia.

à His credibility affected his relations with his fellow Russians

·         Opposition

-Used military power to ensure obedience (Okhrana)

-Newspaper and books were censored

-Anyone who went against him were sent to exile

-There was still grps that oppose him

à A huge number wanted to get rid of him. This led to no support for him n the system

·         1905 Revolution

-People wanted a change for their country

-They were unarmed.

-Soldiers panicked so they opened fire.

- The Duma was set up to pacify the people.

-Tsar introduced new laws to ensure that he does not lose his powers.

 

2.      The greatest impact of WW1? Pg 10-12

·         Russian Army suffered

-Lost many battles = Thousands of soldiers died

-Were not properly trained and no proper weapons

-Bad strategy from the commanders

àThey do not have enough men to protect the country and low morale as they have been losing the war all along.

·         Inflation

Prices of necessities increased drastically

·         Food shortages

-Became rampant among the Russian ppl

-Food were channelled to the soldiers and the ppl were struggling to produce food for themselves

-Food were poorly distributed and not to the right places where ppl needed it most

àThis led to the ppl in Russia suffering. Their efforts of producing food goes to waste as the soldiers did not do well in the war. Therefore. they have low morale.

·         Changes in the govt

-Tsar went to the battlefield

 *shows how incompetent the Tsar was as he did not know how to inspire his soldiers and made bad decisions.

*he could no longer hide behind his generals as himself is in the battlefield

-Tsarina took charge

*she was a German = Ppl did not like it (Germans tht cause the to fight the war and suffer)

*She relied on Rasputin who had little education

*She trusted him to give advise about ruling the country and in courts.

*Tsar absence gave the Duma the power to declare themselves as Provisional Govt.

àThis might create distrust among the ppl as they might question if their leader is loyal to the country. They will also not look up upon the Tsar as a good leader and this might create an uprising in the country.

 

Why did the February revolution occur? Pg 14 

·  The food shortages and rising prices set off by the war

  -Most of the men were sent to war. Therefore there were no men to work in the factories

  àThis led to the public demand better standard of living and change for a better future.

·  The rising numbers of dead and wounded in the war

-Many lost their loved ones and most of them were not trained properly to fight the war. They also had a shortage of machines to fight the war.

àThis led to the public not trusting the government as the government could not provide them with security and peace in their own land and wanted a change in the ruling system.

·  The failure of the government to deal with the problems the war caused

-They faced hardships that decreased the standard of living in Russia.          

-The Tsarina who was in charge did not improve the lifestyle and this made the people much angrier {she was a German. Public did not trust her.}

 àBy not solving the crisis faced, the weakness of the government was shown and the public wanted a change in the system. Therefore, there was a revolution.

 

4.      Why the Provisional Government did not have the support of its people? Pg 18

·  The war was still taking place.

-There were still no differences, redundant as they were still facing a lot of losses and they were losing the war. They did not take Russia out of the war but made Russia suffer in the war. When they were in the war, they did not organize it properly.

 àThis led to the people hating the Govt. more as they did not solve their problems and they were suffering a lot!

·  They were slow in arranging elections.

-They were like the old government and seen as a weak organization after the Tsar. The Govt. was temporary and did not introduce any changes to the public.

àThis led to the people desperately many changes to improve the living as they could not depend on the Provisional Govt. to introduce changes. Therefore, they wanted the elections badly.

·  The Petrograd Soviet was more powerful in the Soviet.

-Consists of Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. They wanted more radical changes to the system. It encourage them to set up their organizations.

à This led to the public demand change.

 

5.      Why were the Bolsheviks were able to obtain success in the October revolution?  

·         Weakness of the Provisional Govt.

-Did not provide the ppl with what they wanted

+did not provide land reforms

+no increase in food supply

 

-Unable to take Russia out of the war

-New changes(Democracy) that was introduced made Russia harder to govern

-No support from the masses, which was the peasants.

-Depended on enemies to take charge of the situation.(Shows their weakness)

-Lenin introduced ‘Peace(out of the war) ,Land(wanted land), Bread(food shortages to end)’

-This was easily understood by everyone and a huge amount of ppl supported it.

àThis led to a huge amount of support from the majority and they are able to win over the hearts of the people. Moreover, the people were facing hardships which made them even more desperate for changes to their life.

·         Bolsheviks were too powerful

-The Provisional Govt gave guns to them to protect Russia .This made them powerful with machines after the Kornilov Affair.

-The govt. had little power to demand back the guns.

-The peasants supported Bolsheviks as they liked the slogans introduced.

 

 

 

Russia Part Two

 

Why were the Reds able to win the Russian Civil War in 1920?

 

·         Trotsky leadership

He was the key person who unite the whole of Russia

He boost the morale and discipline to ensure that they won the war.

He conscripted the troops and made then go through proper to ensure that they were ready for the war.

He concentrated on the troops that was in central Russia and used the railways to send supplies.  

·         Unity

The Reds had a common goal which was the survival of communism as they had gone through the hardships of being poor.

The whites had no unity as they did not know wht they were fighting for and they had no leader to guide properly.

The whites were made of mixed group who were against the Reds.

They fought in separate armies and they did not knw what each other was doing.

·         People support

The reds manage to convince the ppl that they were the defenders of the country,

There would be peace and reforms if they won the civil war.

Many Russians did not want to lose their lands

 àThis led them to supporting the Reds as they wanted change in the system .

The people did not trust the foreign powers to the Whites as the foreign powers were not forever loyal in providing help and assistance

·         Control

The railways were controlled by the Reds. Therefore they had the advantage of sending supplies to the troops in the outlying areas.

The factories were also controlled by the Reds and the could send machines to the other troops.

War communism: The army was well fed and well armed.

àThis led to the army being very sufficient and they had they advantage as they had the food to keep them well.

The  Whites were not consistent as they had an ulterior motive. They wanted and  money from Russia.

They had no trains or radio to send messages to each other and they were normally at the outlying areas.

 

 

 

 

 

How successful was the Five Year Plan. Explain your answer.

 

Positive

+The plans led Russia towards modernisation and industrialization.

+Made Russia a key player in industrialization

+industrialization towns sprang up.

àThis made farming easier and more efficient

State provided health care, education and the basic necessities for the ppl(collective workers).

àHigher standard of living for them

Hard work was rewarded with better pay, housing and medals.

Negative

·         Impact on the people

 - Peasants produced minimum stock so that they dont have to surrender it to the state.(Slaughtered their stock and burnt their buildings)

-The rich were afraid that their lands are taken away and given to the poor..

-The efficient did not want to share their successes and it would unfair to them as they have worked hard for it.

-The ppl had less freedom of action as they were working for the state

àThis led to the growing opposition towards Stalin as he was very strict.

·         The purges

Many opponents were sent to labour camps as the hardships that the ppl faced made some ppl to stand up and voice out.

Stalin sent his secret police to purge them.

àthis led him to being the strongest  power in Russia as his opponents were killed.

 

 

 

 

 

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