Russia 1855 to 1964 flashcards

This topic traces Russia's transformation from a backward autocratic empire under Tsar Alexander II through revolution, civil war, and the establishment of Soviet rule, ending with Khrushchev's fall in 1964. Students must understand the pressures that made tsarism increasingly unstable, including military failure, industrialisation, and growing opposition movements. The 1905 and 1917 revolutions are central, as are Lenin's consolidation of Bolshevik power and the brutal realities of Stalin's rule, including collectivisation, the Five-Year Plans, and the Terror. The post-Stalin period under Khrushchev introduces de-Stalinisation and the limits of reform. Throughout, students should assess continuity and change in the nature of Russian government, the relationship between the state and its people, and the role of key individuals in shaping outcomes.

1. Card 1

   What was the significance of the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861?

   Alexander II freed roughly 23 million serfs, but redemption payments and land shortages meant peasants remained poor, limiting the reform's impact on social stability.

2. Card 2

   What were the Populists and why did they fail?

   The Populists (Narodniks) tried to rouse the peasantry to revolution in the 1870s, but peasants were largely indifferent or hostile, and the movement was crushed by the Okhrana.

3. Card 3

   What was the Witte System and what were its consequences?

   Finance Minister Sergei Witte drove rapid industrialisation in the 1890s through foreign loans and high taxation, creating industrial growth but also an exploited urban working class.

4. Card 4

   What caused the 1905 Revolution?

   Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, economic hardship, and the Bloody Sunday massacre combined to produce widespread strikes, mutinies, and peasant unrest across the empire.

5. Card 5

   What did the October Manifesto of 1905 promise?

   Nicholas II promised civil liberties and a legislative Duma, splitting the opposition and allowing the regime to survive, though many promises were later undermined by the Fundamental Laws.

6. Card 6

   Why did the Provisional Government fail in 1917?

   The Provisional Government continued the unpopular war, delayed land reform, and lacked a popular mandate, leaving it vulnerable to Bolshevik criticism and the October seizure of power.

7. Card 7

   How did the Bolsheviks win the Civil War (1918-1921)?

   Trotsky's disciplined Red Army, control of central Russia and key railways, and the disunity of the Whites outweighed the Bolsheviks' own weaknesses and foreign intervention against them.

8. Card 8

   What was the New Economic Policy (NEP) and why was it controversial?

   Lenin's NEP (1921) restored limited private trade to revive the economy after War Communism, but many Bolsheviks saw it as a betrayal of socialist principles.

9. Card 9

   How did Stalin defeat his rivals to gain power after Lenin's death?

   Stalin used his position as General Secretary to control party appointments, outmanoeuvred Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Bukharin through shifting alliances, and expelled opponents by 1929.

10. Card 10

    What were the human costs of Stalin's collectivisation?

    Collectivisation caused a famine in 1932-33, killing millions, particularly in Ukraine. Kulaks were deported or killed, and agricultural output initially collapsed despite long-term state control of farming.

11. Card 11

    What was the Great Terror and who were its main victims?

    The Great Terror (1936-38) saw mass arrests, show trials, and executions. Senior party members, Red Army officers, and ordinary citizens were targeted, with around 750,000 shot.

12. Card 12

    What is meant by de-Stalinisation under Khrushchev?

    De-Stalinisation refers to Khrushchev's 1956 Secret Speech condemning Stalin's cult of personality and purges, followed by releasing Gulag prisoners and allowing slightly greater cultural freedom.

• Many students assume the February 1917 Revolution was planned by the Bolsheviks, when in fact it was a spontaneous popular uprising that caught all revolutionary parties by surprise.
• Students often confuse the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks as simply moderate and extreme socialists, overlooking that the key dispute was over party organisation and the role of the working class in revolution.
• A common error is to treat Stalin's rise to power as inevitable, ignoring the genuine political struggles of the 1920s and the ways in which Lenin's colleagues underestimated Stalin's organisational power.

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