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Russian Revolution 1910

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Submitted By harry212
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Paper 2: The Russian Revolution c. 1910-24

Checklist: Key Topics to Revise

A. Russia before the First World War:
i. The Nature of Russia as a State ii. Government and Politics under the Tsar iii. Economy and Society iv. Failures before WWI
v. Opposition to the Tsar

B. The First World War
i. Russia’s involvement in WWI ii. Rasputin iii. Effects of WWI on Russia

C. The Revolutions of 1917 and the Provisional Government
i. The Fall of the Tsar (February / March Revolution – 1917) ii. Reasons for the fall of the Tsar iii. The Provisional Government iv. Bolshevik Revolution (October 1917)
v. Reasons for Bolshevik Success

D. After the Revolution: Bolshevik Government, Civil War, New Economic Policy
i. A Marxist Dictatorship? ii. Making Peace with Germany iii. The Civil War iv. War Communism
v. The New Economic Policy vi. The death of Lenin (1924).

SECTION A) Russia before the First World War:

i. The Nature of Russia as a State

• Huge country, poor transport and communications (took a week to cross).
• Russian land was hard to farm – much was infertile Tundra, Desert or Taiga (forest).
• 44% of people were Russian – the rest were different nationalities, many of whom wanted to be free of Russian rule.
• Over 80% of population = peasants.

ii. Government and Politics under the Tsar

• Tsar was an autocrat (absolute ruler). He relied on the army and Okhrana (secret police) to maintain control.
• Tsar viewed by many as God’s representative on earth – he claimed he had ‘Divine Right’ to rule; this was backed up by the Russian Orthodox Church, the nobility (landowners) and Civil Service, which suffered from serious corruption.
• Tsar Nicholas II was not a dominating character. His son and heir, Alexei, suffered from haemophilia.
• Nevertheless, he was popular with many Russians – who turned out in thousands to

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