The XXth Century Political History of Russia: lecture materials. Gennady Bordyugov
Russia was divided into 78 guberniyas, 18 oblasts and the Island of Sakhalin. There were administrative units that consisted of several guberniyas. They were called general guberniyas and were established mainly on the outer periphery of the empire. The Tsar usually authorized the Minister of the Interior to appoint the governor (Head of the guberniya). Guberniyas consisted of counties, oblasts, and districts. Further division was specialized. There were volosts (districts) for autonomous peasants, lots for land captains, lots for judicial investigators and so on. By the 20th century local government (zemstvo) had already been introduced in 34 guberniyas in the European part of Russia, in all other parts everything was under control of the state. The zemstvos mainly dealt with economic issues. They consisted of guberniya and district representative councils and an executive board. Elections to zemstvos were held every three years.
Bureaucracy was one of the most important elements in a monarchical authoritarian system. Often, due to his power, an official had extensive opportunities for personal enrichment. In spite of popular conceptions about Russian bureaucracy, the number of officials was not that great. If we compare the number of inhabitants in 1897 (129 million people) to the number of the officials (146,000), we see that for every 800 citizens there was only one official. (To compare, in the 1980s there was one governmental official for every fifteen people).
The political construction of the country outlined above had a corresponding specific ideological doctrine. As far back as in the 1830s, Count Sergei Uvarov (Minister of Education) called this doctrine «official nationality theory.» It was based on a three principles: Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality. The patriarchal basis of Russian conservatism and monarchism reflected Uvarov’s metaphor, and such views faced increasing difficulties fighting against rational liberal and social concepts.
More than 150 political (all-Russian, regional and national) parties supported different ideologies. They fell roughly into three groups: Rightists, Liberals and Socialists. The bitter dispute among them sharpened the key contradictions in Russia; resolving these contradictions was important for the further development of all the events in the country.
The disjuncture between the modern and archaic sectors of the economy (industry versus agriculture) was obvious. Capitalism in rural areas developed much more slowly than in cities and towns. Agriculture was inefficient, and although its productivity was increasing, Russia produced half as much bread per head as the USA and three times less than Argentina. The underdevelopment of agriculture slowed down capital formation, while the artificial attachment of peasants to land prevented the formation of a large and qualified working class.
Changes in the economy and the increasing complexity of the social structure conflicted with the class system, exacerbating national and social conflicts. State control over and interference with industrial production affected the Russian middle class, making it passive and restricting its political freedom and maturity.
Energetic economic growth was accompanied by rapid population growth. British historians A. Milword and S. Soul wrote: «Russia was a country of extremes in climate, luxury, needs, in primitive agriculture and modern steel-casting industry in Europe. Its population was growing so fast that all the efforts that could have been a success in other circumstances did not take proper effect.» Production per capita in Russia was less (2.5–3 times) than in the leading industrial countries, and Russia also lagged behind in labor productivity.
All this affected the level of civilization. It was defined not only by the culture of labor and life, but also by the educational level of the population. Only one fifth of the population at the beginning of the 20th century was literate. Medical care was also poor, and the mortality rate was almost twice as high as in Europe.
The political and religious elite not only tried to draw the attention of the supreme governing power and society at large to these mounting contradictions, but also called on people to take dynamic actions and steps toward reform that could head off social tension and avoid the dangerous consequences of potentially serious clashes.
Theme 3
FESTIVAL OF THE OPPRESSED OR SOCIAL DISEASE? THE NATURE OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONS
The only way to decode a thousand years of Russian history is to first unlock its root «code» of Revolution.
The First Revolution of 1905–1907 was spawned by the social and political crisis which had arose as a consequence of the disastrous Russian war with Japan. After the massacre in Saint Petersburg on the 9th of January, 1905 («Bloody Sunday»), peasant unrest grew; workers striked; the army and navy rebelled. Soon liberal and conservative parties appeared on the national stage. While the bourgeoisie insisted on liberal political reforms, trade unions and the Soviet of People’s Deputies demanded more radical action. Revolutionary parties (Social Democrats and Social Revolutionaries) sought the destruction of the entire regime. The «All-Russian» (that is national) October political strike and liberal’s slashing attack on absolutism forced Nicholas II to publish the October 17 Manifest which promised to guarantee certain political liberties and to create a «representative» State Duma. These promises gave the government enough legitimacy to marginalize radical political groups and quell the armed rebellions of December 1905 as well as the worker rebellions, taking place in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Novorossiysk, and Ekaterinoslav. But the government was not destined to enjoy peace for long. In 1906, along with renewed labor strikes, the peasants, the armed forces, and several ethnic minorities began to rebel. The so-called «Putsch of June 3» caused the dissolution of the Second State Duma; the first Russian Revolution had ended. Absolutism created new institutions which would be more loyal to the monarchy such as the Parliamentary Representative Office. It also began massive agricultural reform – introduced by Prime Minister Arkady Stolypin – by permitting the peasants to leave the commune (obshchina) for private farmsteads, thereby; it was hoped, creating a middle class citadel against the revolution. Furthermore, Stolypin encouraged mass migration to Siberia as a means of discouraging revolutionary activity. These reforms encouraged the development of Russian capitalism.
The February Revolution of 1917 was concerned with overthrowing absolutism and establishing a democratic republic in Russia. The Revolution was sparked by a grave economic and political crisis. The crisis was exacerbated by the military disasters of the First World War, economic dislocation, and food shortages. On the 23 of February, lack of food in St-Petersburg (renamed Petrograd) provoked anti-war rallies, protests and massive strikes. The General Strike started on the 24–25 of February; on the 26 of February the strikes developed into an open struggle with the army in Petrograd. On the 27 of February, the General Strike grew into an armed rebellion. The troops took the side of the rebellions. The Union of Labor and Soldier Deputies was created along with the Interim Committee of the State Duma. This formed the basis for the new «Provisional» government. On the 2 (15) of March, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate.
The October Revolution of 1917 was the result of slow and inconsistent actions of the Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky. Of course, he also faced a complicated context of agricultural labor crises and national conflicts. The fact that Russia continued to participate in the World War exacerbated the nationwide crisis. As a consequence, the influence of the radical Left increased in the centre of the country and the influence of the Nationalists in the periphery. The most active party was the Bolshevist Social Democratic Party. The members of the party espoused the ideals of a Socialist Revolution in Russia which they thought would give an impetus for the Worldwide Revolution. The Bolsheviks proclaimed popular slogans: «Peace, to the people», «Land, to the peasants», «Factories, to the labor class». At the end of August – beginning of September, the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Soviets of Petrograd and Moscow and proceeded to prepare for an armed rebellion, towards the opening of Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. On the night of 24–25 of October (November, 6–7), armed workers, soldiers of the Petrograd garrison and sailors of the Baltic Fleet stormed the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government. The Congress (the majority of which was built up by the Bolsheviks and left-side socialists-revolutionary) approved the overthrow of the government, passed Decrees on Peace and Land and organized the government, the Council of People’s Commissars headed by Vladimir Lenin.
The oppositional forces loyal to the Provisional Government were soon crushed. Soon the Bolsheviks established predominance in most industrial cities. The main adversary