Impact of war and revolution on the development of Russian government

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Impact of war and revolution on the development
of Russian government
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The Crimean War 1853-6

• Causes
• Eastern Question
• Desire to preserve status as a great power
• Stand up to the French and British
• Between 650,000 and 750,000 dead (Britain 22,000)
• One in five died in battle

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• Aftermath Treaty of Paris 1856
• Lost land
• Remove naval forts along Black sea
• Catalyst for change
• Emancipation of serfs
• Local government Zemstva

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Russo-Turkish War 1877-8

• Causes
• Pan Slavism
• Poor relations with Austria

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• 15,000 dead
• Aftermath
• Turkey to pay a war indemnity
• Territory

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Russo-Japanese War 1904-5

• Causes
• Fear of Japan
• Interest in Korea
• What this country needs is a short victorious
  war to stem the tide of revolution

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• 43,000 dead
• Aftermath
• Treaty of Portsmouth 1905
• Russia had to leave Manchuria
• War increased prices and disrupted trade
• Reforms Duma
• Investment in transport
• Promise to improve living standards
• Press coverage humiliating
• Cant blame the defeat on Serfdom

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Why was war with Japan so significant?

• High expectations fielded largest forces
• Shattered image of Russia
• War increased prices and disrupted trade
• Cant blame the defeat on Serfdom, defeat had
  come through poor decision making and leadership
  Nicholas
• Had been opposition to the Tsars from Serfs,
  terrorists. But opposition was isolated. The war
  united a number of separate strands of
  discontent.
• The concessions that the Tsar made very
  significant The emergence of a national
  parliament (the Duma).
• Link with Crimean War?

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Wars under the Tsars

• Similarities
• Lost to weaker enemies
• All wars led to reform?
• Autocracy remains
• Didnt cause the economy to crash

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• Differences
• Allied involvement in Crimean
• Social unrest 1905 higher led to revolution
• War with Turkey had the least significant impact

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World War I

• Causes
• Alliance system
• Balkan crisis
• Assassination of Franz Ferdinand-Russia protects
  Serbia

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• Duration
• 1.7 million dead
• Tsar military leader
• Cost 3 million roubles (foreign loans, war bonds,
  taxation, printing money)
• The aftermath
• Inflation, prices rise 400
• Lack of food, in particular Petrograd
• Protest
• Tsar forced to abdicate
• Revolution

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Russian civil war 1917-21

• Causes WWI, Revolution
• Duration Whites v Green v Red. Allied
  intervention
• Militaristic approach to rule war communism but
  NEP
• Aftermath
• Power more organised politburo

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World War Two 1939-45

• Causes
• Anschluss of Austria
• Nazism
• Failure of appeasement
• Failure of Nazi soviet pact
• Operation Barbarossa 1941

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• Duration10 million dead
• Labour shortage
• Traitors 50,000 at Stalingrad!
• 13,000 deserters
• Sexual assault
• Aftermath
• Affects international relations post war

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• Physical damage to Russia
• Change factories back to munitions
• Five year plan 1946 targets achieved in 3 years
• Agriculture suffering, private land heavily
  taxed, neglect of farms. Khrushchev minister for
  agriculture

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• Little impact on structure of government
• Stalin Supreme Commander
• Number in the CP increased during the war
• Russia able to influence nature of governments in
  Eastern Europe Iron Curtain

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Cold War 1947-64

• Causes
• Ideology
• USA mistrust of USSR
• Truman Doctrine
• Marshall Plan

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• Duration
• Space race
• Effects
• Very little effect on the structure of government
• But destalinisation
• Arms race expensive, living standards lower than
  the west

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• 1. Which war is the most significant?

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• Trotsky described war as the locomotive of
  history. Can it be argued that change in Russia
  in the period 1855 to 1964 was caused only by
  involvement in wars?