SOCIAL SCIENCE (087) CLASS :- IXth

DAILY PRACTICE PAPER

SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN
REVOLUTION
Topic :- THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1. What do you mean by Russian Revolution?
2. What religions were followed in Russian empire?
3. What is the main occupation of the people in Russia?
4. Name the prominent industrial areas in the Russian Empire.
5. Who led the procession of workers to the event 'Bloody Sunday' in Russia?
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
6. What type of an economy existed in Russia before the Revolution?
7. Describe the incident known as 'Bloody Sunday.
8. What effect did the First World War have on the industry of Russia?
9. Highlight the Socialist Movement in Russia.
10. Describe the three changes that took place in the year 1904 in Russia.
11. Mention the three major demands raised by Russian workers who went
on strike at St. Petersburg in 1904.
12. What is Duma? How did the Duma work under Tsar?
13. What was the role of the Tsar in the peasant revolt of 1905? Discuss
briefly.
14. Comment on the global influence of the Russian Revolution.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1. What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia
before 1905?
2. In what ways was the working population in Russia different from
other countries in Europe before 1917?
3. What was the immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution.
4. How did Russia's participation in the World War cause the fall of the
T'sar?
SOLUTIONS
1. The fall of monarch in Feb. 1917 and the events of October are known
as the Russian Revolution.
2. Russian Orthodox Christianity was the main religion. Other religions
included Muslims, Buddhists, Catholics and Protestants.
 3. About 85 per cent of the Russian population earned their livelihood
from agriculture.
4. St. Petersburg and Moscow.
5. Father Gapon
6. Before the Russian Revolution
(i) Vast population was agriculturist.
(ii) Cultivators produced for the market as well as their own needs.
(iii) Industry as private properties was found in pockets. Factories
were set up in 1890 s and1900s.[CBSE 2016]
7. Bloody Sunday: Prices of essential goods rose so quickly by 1904 that the
real wages declined by 20%. During this time, four members of the Putilov
Iron Works were dismissed. Action was called for. In Jan. 1905, on one
Sunday, over 110,000 workers inSt. Petersburg went on strike demanding a
reduction in working hours and increase in wages. This procession was
attacked by the police and Cossacks. Over 100 workers were killed and
about 300 were injured. This incident is known as the Bloody Sunday. As a
result of this incident, strikes took place all over the country. The incident of
the Bloody Sunday brought severe consequences. People demanded a
constituent assembly. The Tsar allowed the creation of an elected
consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within
75 days and announced the election of a second Duma.
8. Russian industries were very few in number and the country was cut off
from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea.
Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in
Europe. By 1916, railway lines began to break down. Able
bodied men were called up to the war. As a result, there were labour
shortages and small workshops producing essential commodities were shut
down.
9. The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was established in 1898 on
the guidelines of Karl Marx. Some socialists established the Socialist
Revolutionary Party in 1900, to struggle for peasants rights. They demanded
that land belonging to nobles should be returned to peasants.
Lenin realised that these were peasants who were poor as well as rich, so
they could not all be a part of the socialist movement. He thought that ina
society like Tsarist Russia, party should be disciplined and should control its
members number and quality. Mensheviks thought that the party should be
open to all.
The party was divided on the basis of organisation as Bolsheviks and
Mensheviks. Bolsheviks were led by Lenin and Mensheviks by Kerensky.
10. Three changes that took place in Russia in 1904 were:
(i) Prices of essential goods raised so quickly that real wages declined by
20%.
(ii) The membership of workers' association rose dramatically.
(iii) Four members of the Assembly of Russian workers were dismissed at
the Putilov Iron works.
(iv) Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding a
reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and
improvement in working conditions.
11. The demands raised by Russian workers:
[CBSE 2016)
(1) Reduction in the working day to eight hours.
(ii) Increase in wages.
(iv) Improvement in working conditions.
12. An elective legislative assembly established in 1905 by Nicholas II in
Russia is known as the Duma.
(i) The Duma is a Parliament for the people of Russia.
(ii) The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and he re-elected
second Duma within three months.
(i) He did not want any questioning of his authority or any reduction in his
power.
(iv) He changed the voting law and packed the third Duma with conservative
politicians, Liberals and revolutionaries were kept out.
[CBSE Marking Scheme 2016]
13. During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected
consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed it within 75 days and
re-elected Second Duma within three months. He did not want any
questioning of his authority or any reduction in his power. He changed the
voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians.
14. (i) Existing socialist parties in Europe did not wholly approve of the way
the Bolsheviks took power and kept it.
(ii) Still the possibility of a workers' state fired their imagination across the
world. In many countries communist parties were formed.
(ii) Bolsheviks encouraged colonial people to follow their example. Many
non-Russians received education in the USSR's University of the Peoples of
the East. By the time the Second World War broke out, the USSR had given
socialism a global face and world stature.
15. (i) At the beginning of the 20th century, the vast majority of Russia's
people were agriculturists. About 85 per cent of the Russian empire's
population earned their living from agriculture.
(ii) Cultivators produced for the market as well as for their own needs and
Russia was a major exporter of grain.
(iii) Industry was found in pockets. Prominent industrial areas were St
Petersburg and Moscow.
(iv) Large factories existed alongside craft workshops.
(v) Many factories were set up in the 1890 s when Russia's railway network
was extended and foreign investment in industry increased.
(vi) Most industries were the private property of industrialists. The
govermment supervises large factories to ensure minimum wages and
limited hours of work.
(vii) Workers were divided into social groups on the basis of skill. Division
was also visible in dress and manners also.
(viii) Some workers formed associations to help members in times of
unemployment or financial hardship.
(ix) Despite divisions, workers united themselves to strike work when they
disagreed with employers about dismissals or work conditions. Like
workers, peasants too were divided. They also had no respect for the
nobility. Russian peasants wanted the land of the nobles to be given to them.
(x) They pooled their land together periodically and their commune divided
it according to the needs of individual families.
16. Industrial Workers: The working population in Russia was different from
other countries in Europe before 1917 in the following ways:
i) Many workers had settled in cities permanently but many had strong links
with the villages from which they came and continued to live in villages.
They went to the towns to work daily and then returned to their villages in
the evenings.
(ii) Workers were a divided social group. Workers were divided by skill.
Divisions among workers was visible in their dress and manners also.
(iii) Metal workers considered themselves aristocrats among workers as
their occupations demanded more training and skill.
(iv) Women made up 31 per cent of the labour force by 1914, but they were
paid less than men. Some workers formed associations of help in times of
unemployment or financial hardship.
(v) The workers did unite to strike work when they disagreed with the
employers about dismissals or about work conditions.
(vi) Workers got low wages and they had long working hours. They had very
few political rights; in short, their life was miserable. About 85 per cent of
Russia's population earned their living from agriculture but most of them
were landless farmers. Most of the land was owned by the
nobility, the crown and the orthodox church.
(vii) In France, during the French Revolution in Britain, peasants respected
and fought for the landowners, but in Russia peasants wanted the land of the
nobles to be given to them.
(viii) They refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords. Russian
peasants were different from European peasants in another way. They
pooled their land together periodically and their commune divided it
according to the needs of individual families.
(ix) Like industrial workers, the condition of the agricultural workers or
farmers was also very miserable because of low wages, doing free labour
and paying high rent and revenue.
17.(i) Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917.
(ii) This mcant the government took over the ownership and management.
Land was declared social property.
(ii) Peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.
(iv) In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to
family requirements.
(v) They banned the use of old title of aristocracy.
18. (i) The war was initially popular and people rallied around Tsar Nicholas
II.
(i) The war continued, support became thin and Tsar's popularity declined.
Anti-German sentiments became high.
(ii) The Tsarina Alexandra's German origins and poor advisers, especially a
monk called Rasputin, made the autocracy unpopular.
(iv) Defeats were shocking and demoralising. Russia's armies lost badly in
Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916. There were over 7 million
casualties by 1917.
(v) The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million refugees in
Russia. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar.

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