‘Peasant discontent posed a
major threat to the tsarist regime
between 1894 and 1917.’ Assess
the validity of this view.
What is the
analytical focus of
the question
Threat to the tsarist regime.
Threat (of the peasant's
discontent) can be evaluated
by:
• Scale
• Location
• Organization
• Impact on regime
instability
What would be the two main arguments
for the question?
Peasant discontent was a significant
but limited threat to the tsarist regime.
Peasant discontent failed to became a
decisive threat.
What kind of evidence would you need to
identify, about the 1905 Revolution, to help
you answer the questions?
Jan – Bloody Sunday and 400,000 strikes: mass unrest, but
urban/worker-led, not peasant led, so peasants aren’t the main threat.
June-July – All-Russion Union of Peasants set up: Limited membership,
weak leadership, quickly suppressed.
Oct-Nov – October Manifesto: redemption payments are halved, and
Peasant Union leaders are arrested.
Analysis: Why does this evidence from the
1905 revolution relate to the question?
Despite widespread rural violence, peasant action
remained local, uncoordinated and politically
unfocused.
Evaluation: How important
is this evidence, on the
1905 revolution, to the
debate in the exam
question?
Important in demonstrating
widespread instability but
limited in significance as
peasants only exerted indirect
pressure.