OCR Specification focus:
‘Opposition evolved before and after 1917 in goals, methods and reach.’
Opposition to Russian rule transformed significantly from 1855 to 1964, evolving in ideology, strategy, and influence, shaped by autocracy, revolution, repression, and totalitarian control.
Opposition Before 1917: Tsarist Russia
Nature and Aims of Opposition
Opposition under the Tsars reflected frustration with autocratic governance, social inequality, and lack of political representation. The aims varied widely:
Liberal constitutionalists sought reform and constitutional monarchy.
Revolutionaries aimed to overthrow the regime and restructure society.
National minorities pushed for autonomy or independence from Russian dominance.
Autocracy: A system of government where one ruler holds absolute power, unchecked by constitutional limits or representative institutions.
Early Opposition: 1855–1881
Under Alexander II, moderate reforms such as the Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) encouraged debate on further change. However:
Liberal opposition grew among the intelligentsia, advocating legal reform and representative assemblies.
Radical groups like Narodniks (Populists) emerged in the 1860s–70s, aiming to mobilise peasants for revolution. Their “going to the people” campaign largely failed due to peasant conservatism.
The shift to terrorism saw groups like Land and Liberty and People’s Will, who assassinated Alexander II in 1881.
Illustrated London News diagram showing how People’s Will attacked Alexander II on 1 March 1881. The graphic clarifies the sequence and location of the explosions used to kill the Tsar. This slightly exceeds the syllabus by detailing the exact attack layout, but it reinforces how revolutionary terrorist tactics evolved before 1917. Source
Reaction and Repression: 1881–1905
The assassination intensified state repression under Alexander III:
The Okhrana (secret police) expanded surveillance and censorship.
Revolutionary movements went underground but survived.
Marxism gained traction in the 1890s, inspired by industrialisation and the emergence of the proletariat.
Key opposition groups:
Social Democrats (RSDLP) formed in 1898, later splitting into Bolsheviks (Lenin’s centralised revolutionaries) and Mensheviks (gradualists).
Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) combined populist and socialist ideas, targeting autocracy through terrorism.
Liberals, including the Kadets and Octobrists, sought constitutional reform and a representative assembly.
Revolution and Reform: 1905–1917
The 1905 Revolution marked a turning point:
Sparked by the Bloody Sunday massacre, strikes, and peasant uprisings, it forced Nicholas II to issue the October Manifesto, promising a Duma (parliament).
Interior of the First State Duma at the Tauride Palace, St Petersburg (1906). The chamber visualises the move from underground revolutionary circles to parliamentary opposition after 1905. Extra architectural detail beyond the syllabus is visible, but it clarifies the scale and setting of constitutional politics. Source
Opposition split over participation in the new system. Liberals entered the Duma; revolutionary groups remained hostile to autocracy.
Despite the Duma’s creation, autocracy persisted. Repression, censorship, and exile continued to limit opposition effectiveness. However, growing worker militancy, military discontent, and wartime pressures destabilised the regime.
By 1917:
Revolutionary parties had developed significant urban support.
The February Revolution saw the collapse of the monarchy, driven by strikes, mutinies, and protests.
Opposition transitioned from anti-autocratic movements to contenders for power.
Opposition After 1917: Soviet Rule
Early Bolshevik Rule and Civil War
The October Revolution (1917) brought the Bolsheviks to power, but opposition remained intense:
Political rivals such as the SRs and Mensheviks opposed Bolshevik authoritarianism and withdrawal from World War I (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk).
The Constituent Assembly was dissolved after one session in 1918, consolidating Bolshevik control.
The Russian Civil War (1918–1921) saw diverse opposition: the Whites (monarchists, liberals), nationalists, and foreign interventionists, all crushed by the Red Army.
Methods of Control and Suppression
The new regime developed systematic mechanisms to neutralise opposition:
The Cheka (secret police) carried out the Red Terror, executing and imprisoning thousands.
War Communism repressed peasant resistance to grain requisitioning.
The Kronstadt Rebellion (1921) by sailors demanding “Soviets without Bolsheviks” was brutally suppressed.
Photograph of the bombardment of the Kronstadt forts during the 1921 uprising. It captures Red forces firing on the fortress, exemplifying the regime’s reliance on armed repression to neutralise dissent. Technical weapon details visible in the shot go beyond the syllabus, but the image directly supports the theme of post-1917 suppression. Source
Totalitarianism: A political system in which the state seeks to control all aspects of public and private life, often through propaganda, censorship, and terror.
The New Economic Policy (NEP), introduced in 1921, aimed to reduce unrest by allowing limited private trade, but political pluralism remained banned.
Stalinist Opposition and Terror
Under Joseph Stalin (1928–1953), opposition was virtually annihilated:
Collectivisation provoked peasant resistance, met with mass deportations and executions.
The Great Purges (1936–1938) targeted party members, military leaders, and ordinary citizens accused of disloyalty.
Show trials and forced confessions served as propaganda tools against alleged “enemies of the people.”
Opposition abroad was also pursued: Trotsky, Stalin’s rival, was assassinated in 1940. Within the USSR, surveillance by the NKVD ensured near-total suppression of dissent.
Opposition under Khrushchev: 1953–1964
After Stalin’s death, Nikita Khrushchev initiated de-Stalinisation, denouncing Stalin’s crimes in his Secret Speech (1956). This thaw encouraged some limited criticism:
Intellectuals and writers pushed for greater cultural freedom, though dissidence was still curtailed.
Workers’ uprisings (e.g., Novocherkassk 1962) were suppressed with force.
National minorities, particularly in the Baltic states and Ukraine, expressed opposition to Russification, met with surveillance and arrests.
Outside the USSR, opposition movements in satellite states challenged Soviet control:
The Hungarian Uprising (1956) and Prague Spring (1968) (post-Khrushchev) highlighted limits of reform and the regime’s reliance on force.
Evolution of Opposition: Continuity and Change
The nature of opposition evolved markedly before and after 1917:
Aims shifted from overthrowing autocracy to resisting one-party rule or seeking internal reform.
Methods evolved from assassinations, uprisings, and propaganda to samizdat (clandestine literature) and intellectual dissent.
Reach expanded from elite and revolutionary circles to include workers, peasants, national groups, and later, intellectuals.
Yet continuity remained:
State repression persisted, whether through the Okhrana, Cheka, NKVD, or KGB.
Opposition success was limited; significant regime change occurred only during major crises (1905, 1917).
Opposition, therefore, remained a defining feature of Russian governance from 1855 to 1964, its transformation reflecting broader shifts in ideology, state power, and social dynamics.
FAQ
The Okhrana, founded in 1881, was the Tsarist secret police tasked with suppressing revolutionary activity. It infiltrated opposition groups, monitored publications, censored radical literature, and used spies and provocateurs to disrupt revolutionary cells.
Its extensive surveillance network weakened many organisations by arresting leaders and sowing mistrust. However, the Okhrana’s harsh methods often backfired by radicalising moderates and convincing many that peaceful reform was impossible, fuelling support for violent revolution.
The 1905 Revolution failed due to several key factors:
Lack of unity: Opposition groups had divergent goals, from liberal constitutionalism to socialist revolution.
Military loyalty: Most of the army remained loyal to Nicholas II, allowing the regime to suppress uprisings.
October Manifesto: Concessions such as the creation of the Duma split opposition forces, as liberals accepted reforms while radicals continued to fight.
Repression: Brutal crackdowns and executions crushed revolutionary activity by 1907.
Although it did not overthrow the regime, the revolution exposed deep weaknesses and set the stage for 1917.
Before 1917, peasants were often conservative and resistant to revolutionary ideas, limiting the effectiveness of populist movements like the Narodniks. However, they did riot and protest over land hunger, especially during periods of famine or economic crisis.
After 1917, peasants became more politically active. Many resisted collectivisation under Stalin through sabotage, slaughtering livestock, or uprisings. The regime labelled them kulaks and used mass deportations and executions to break resistance, showing how peasant opposition evolved from passive discontent to active defiance.
Under the Tsars, national minorities such as Poles, Finns, and Ukrainians opposed Russification policies through uprisings, cultural resistance, and demands for autonomy. Movements like the Polish Revolt of 1863 were brutally suppressed.
After 1917, the Bolsheviks initially promised self-determination, winning minority support. However, by the 1920s and 1930s, the regime imposed central control and reintroduced Russification. Minority resistance re-emerged in the form of underground movements, cultural revival efforts, and demands for independence, particularly in the Baltic states and Ukraine.
Intellectual dissent developed particularly after Stalin’s death. Writers, artists, and scientists criticised censorship and repression through:
Samizdat – clandestine circulation of banned literature and political texts.
Tamizdat – smuggling works abroad for publication.
Public petitions and open letters challenging state policies.
Figures like Andrei Sakharov and Alexander Solzhenitsyn became prominent voices of dissent. Although heavily policed, intellectual opposition highlighted the limits of Soviet control and laid the groundwork for later reformist movements.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks):
Give two ways in which revolutionary opposition to Tsarist rule changed between 1855 and 1917.
Mark Scheme:
1 mark for each valid way identified (maximum 2 marks).
Answers must show a clear change between the early and later periods.
Possible points include:
Shift from populist movements like the Narodniks in the 1860s–70s to Marxist parties (e.g. Bolsheviks, Mensheviks) by the early 20th century.
Move from isolated acts of terrorism (e.g. People’s Will) to mass strikes and revolutionary movements (e.g. 1905 Revolution, February 1917 Revolution).
Increased organisation and ideological clarity among opposition groups by 1917.
Question 2 (6 marks):
Explain how opposition methods after 1917 differed from those used before 1917.
Mark Scheme:
Level 1 (1–2 marks): Basic description of opposition methods before and/or after 1917 with little explanation or comparison.
Level 2 (3–4 marks): Some explanation of key differences with examples from both periods, though limited detail or imbalance between the two sides.
Level 3 (5–6 marks): Clear and well-supported explanation of how methods changed, with accurate examples before and after 1917 and explicit comparison.
Indicative content:
Before 1917, opposition often involved terrorism, assassinations, propaganda, and attempts to mobilise the peasantry (e.g. People’s Will, Narodniks).
Some groups used parliamentary means (e.g. liberals in the Duma after 1905) while others pursued mass uprisings (e.g. 1905 Revolution).
After 1917, opposition shifted as the Bolsheviks established a one-party state; methods included armed uprisings (e.g. Kronstadt Rebellion), underground dissident networks, and later samizdat literature.
Increased state surveillance and repression meant open opposition became rare, forcing dissent to adapt and often operate covertly.
