Russian Revolution

Overview

In 1891, Russia was suffering a great famine. By 1892, half a million people had died of cholera and typhus as a result of the famine. Russia had a Tsar, which was like a King. He had absolute power (no Government). He wasn't very good at dealing with the famine. There was little amount of authoritarian presence outside of the capital; Russia had a rural population of 100 million, but only 1852 police sergeants and 6874 police constables.

People began moving from the country to the cities. Urban population rose from 7 million to 28 million. City conditions were awful. Factories were unsafe. Worker strikes were illegal, as well as trade unions (until 1905). However, workers went on strike a lot as they had no other means of getting their point across.

Due to the Tsar's lack of help, citizens formed committees to help famine victims. Local political organisations called zemstvos started campaigning for more control over Russia.