Opposition to Tsarism

The Social Revolutionaries
1. Intention: to widen the concept of 'The People'
2. Victor Chernov was leader
3. wanted revolution and to get rid of autocracy
4. Anarchists
  1. wanted to continue to use terrorism to enforce change
  2. they were responsible for over 2000 political assassinations
    1. they even assassinated Tsar Nicholas' Uncle - the Grand Duke of Sergei
    2. Thee assassinations were spectacular successes
    3. they did not bring out the desired link with the urban workers
  3. between 1901-05 they dominated the party
5. Revolutionaries
  1. willing to cooperate with Tsar and other parties
  2. they specifically wanted to improve conditions for workers and peasants
The Social Democrats
1. The All-Russian Democrats were formed in 1898
2. It was a marxist party accepting the theories of Karl Marx
  1. Karl Marx was a German philosopher
3. George Plekhanov was the leader
  1. he promoted the idea of proletarian revolution
  2. he earned the title of "The Father of Russian Marxism"
4. In 1903 the party split up into two groups
  1. Bolsheviks
    1. Vladmir Lenin
      1. Lenin believed that the way forward could be effectively organised only by a dedicated group of professional revolutionaries
      2. he believed revolution had to be led by the revolutionary intelligentsia
    2. The bourgeouis and proletarian stages could be telescoped into one
      1. This way the route to communism could take place faster
    3. The party was tight-knit and membership was limited
    4. Authority was exercised through the Central Committee of the party
    5. Refused to cooperate with any other parties
    6. wanted to make working conditions and conditions of the peasants worse
      1. this way the peasants could be radicalized easily
    7. educated the peasants to radicalize them
    8. turned the workers into revolutionaries
  2. Mensheviks
    1. Juli Martov
    2. Russia was not ready for a proletarian revoluion
      1. the bourgeois stage had to occur first
        capitalism had to come first before communism
    3. membership was open to all revoluionaries
    4. open democratic discussion
    5. decisions were made through voting
    6. welcomed cooperation and alliance with all revoltionar and bourgeois liberal parties
    7. promoted support for trade unions and better wages for workers
The Liberals
1. wanted political/social change
2. preferred reform over revolution
3. liberals emerged due to the small middle-class in the countryside
4. It was a liberal group founded in St Petersburg in 1904
5. originally it wanted the replacement of absolute monarchy for a constitutional monarchy
6. the liberals were soon joined by radical students and they began to meet in secret in Russia
  1. The Kadets
    1. The League of Liberation merged with the Union of Zemstvo-Constitutionalists
    2. consisted of: academics, landlords and small entrepreneurs
    3. they wanted Russia to develop a constitutional monarchy
      1. with this the powers of the monarchy would be restricted by a democratically elected assembly - just like Britain's political system
        the assembly would settle Russia's outstanding problems
    4. In 1905 they demanded:
      1. full equality
      2. civil rights
      3. ending of censorship
      4. recognition of trade unions
      5. the right to strike
      6. free universal education
7. Viktor Chernov

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Opposition to Tsarism

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	Created by Amy Platt about 9 years ago