Introduction to Russia in the Early 1900s

What was Russia like in the early 1900s?

In the early 1900s, Russia was an enormous empire which was economically and agriculturally backwards. It was ruled by an autocratic tsar, who had absolute power, and suppressed all opposition.

How many ethnic groups lived in Russia in the early 1900s?

Russia had approximately 130 ethnic groups, who spoke over 100 different languages.

How big was Russia in the early 1900s?

In the early 1900s, Russia was an empire that stretched 6,000 miles, from the Baltic to the Pacific and from the Arctic down to central Asia.

Which countries did Russia border in the early 1900s?

Russia shared a border with the German Empire in Europe and China in the Far East, as well as Finland in the north and Afghanistan in the south.

What geographical problems did Russia have in the early 1900s?

The geographical size of Russia causes 6 main problems:

• ❖ Due to the size of the country, certain areas were difficult to control as they were far away from the tsarist capital, St Petersburg.
• ❖ Communication across the country was poor, leading some areas to be divided and detached.
• ❖ There were a lack of railways and useable roads.
• ❖ A large amount of land was unsuitable for farming.
• ❖ The peasants used backward and inefficient agricultural methods.
• ❖ With an increasing population, land was in short supply.

What type of government did Russia have in the early 1900s?

There were 6 key features of tsarist government:

• ❖ The tsars were emperors who ruled with absolute power. Their power was justified by the belief that they possessed the divine right to rule.
• ❖ There was an Imperial Council who advised the tsar, whose members came from the nobility. The tsar appointed or dismissed its members, therefore the nobles were often corrupt and more interested in securing their position in the Imperial Council than providing balanced advice.
• ❖ There was a Committee of Ministers who ran 13 different departments (increased to 14 in 1900). The ministers were appointed by the tsar and their decisions needed his approval.
• ❖ There was a massive bureaucracy to run such a huge country. It was slow and often corrupt.
• ❖ Russia was divided into 117 different provinces which were run by the nobles. The governors of the provinces were responsible for enforcing the tsar's laws, which they could do with some degree of independence.
• ❖ It relied on the Imperial Army, the Russian Orthodox Church and the police to keep control.

How developed was industry in Russia in the early 1900s?

There were 6 main issues with Russia's level of industrialisation:

• ❖ It had a low-level of industry but it was growing quickly. By 1914, Russia was the world's 4th largest producer of coal, pig iron and steel.
• ❖ Its banking system was backwards and could not support the investment needed to modernise the country.
• ❖ It lacked workers for new industries as many peasants were tied to their villages because of the debts they owed to their landlords.
• ❖ There was extreme poverty in Russia, therefore there was little demand for manufactured goods making investment for modernisation very difficult.
• ❖ The level of industrialisation was uneven across the empire. The industrial cities tended to be in the western parts of Russia.
• ❖ It lacked a developed transport network. There were few paved roads and although railways were developing, they were inadequate for helping Russia modernise.

What was farming like in Russia in the early 1900s?

There were 6 main issues with Russian agriculture:

• ❖ Agriculture was backward with little use of modern technology. Most peasants were subsistence farmers who mainly used traditional methods of farming because they had little to no education or opportunity to modernise.
• ❖ The peasants were emancipated in 1861, which meant they were free from serfdom. In practice, serfdom was replaced with debt slavery, forcing the peasants to take on loans in order to buy back their land.
• ❖ The Russian countryside experienced frequent famines and crop failures, leading to food shortages and starvation.
• ❖ The government failed to successfully deal with famines through a combination of the tsar's indifference to suffering, poor infrastructure, local corruption and the nobles' mismanagement of the land.
• ❖ Most peasants were illiterate, poorly informed and resistant to change.
• ❖ The village commune, or mir, controlled how the peasants farmed and on which land they farmed. The mir allocated small strips of land to village peasants which was very often an ineffective and unproductive way to farm.

What were conditions like in Russia in the early 1900s?

By the 1900s, the living and working conditions in Russian town were terrible for 3 main reasons:

• ❖ Workers usually shared filthy rooms in block-style buildings.
• ❖ There could be up to 10 people sharing a room in these buildings, including men, women and children.
• ❖ Although working days were officially limited to 11 hours per day, the average working day was 15-16 hours.

What were the main religions of Russia in the early 1900s?

In the early 1900s, the 3 main religions were:

• ❖ Russian Orthodox, a form of Christianity, and the official state religion of Russia.
• ❖ Judaism. There were about 5 million Jews.
• ❖ Islam. There were about 23 million Muslims.

What role did the Church play in Russia in the early 1900s?

The Russian Orthodox Church played a very important role in Russia in 4 main ways:

• ❖ It taught the Russian people to love and obey the tsar as the 'Little Father'.
• ❖ It underpinned the tsarist government as many Church leaders were from the aristocratic class of Russia's rulers who owned vast country estates.
• ❖ It was very conservative in nature and used its influence to block any change in Russia that might upset its position in society.
• ❖ It played a large role in education by teaching children to show loyalty to the tsar, his officials, and the Church.

What different social classes existed in Russia in the early 1900s?

There were 7 different groups that made up Russian society by the late 1800s:

• ❖ The aristocrats made up about 1% of the population but owned 25% of the land.
• ❖ The clergy made up 0.5% of the population.
• ❖ The middle class of small bankers, merchants and professionals made up about 0.5% of the population.
• ❖ There was a class called 'urbanities' which consisted of small tradesmen, shopkeepers, white collar workers and artisans that made up 11% of the population.
• ❖ Cossacks made up about 2.3% of the population.
• ❖ The peasants made up about 80% of the population, an overwhelming majority, and were exceptionally poor and illiterate.
• ❖ About 8% was made up of other groups.

What different nationalities made up Russia in the early 1900s?

In the early 1900s, Russia was made up of several different nationalities. The 5 main ones were:

• ❖ Slavs (including Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians).
• ❖ Poles.
• ❖ Asians.
• ❖ Germans.
• ❖ Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians.