In
1900 the Russia Empire covered nearly 23 million square kilometres.
Only a quarter of it was in Europe and the rest in Asia. The majority
of the 128 million population were Slavs, but there were over 200
different nationalities. Several of these groups wanted regional autonomy
and this was the cause of a constant source of political conflict.
There were also 5 million Jews and around 23 million Muslims living
in the Russian Empire. The government's policy of russification (forbidding
the use of local languages and the suppression of religious customs)
created a great deal of resentment.
St.
Petersburg was the largest city in the Russian Empire with a population
of 1,260,000. Other large cities included Moscow (1,040,000), Warsaw
(680,000), Odessa (400,000), Lodz (310,000), Riga (280,000) and Kiev
(250,000).
Most
of the people living in the Russian Empire were members of the Russian
Orthodox Church. In 1721 the Orthodox Church became a government department
called the Holy Synod. It was run by the
Chief Procurator, an official appointed by the Tsar. Completely under
the control of the government, the Orthodox Church played an important
role in the various russification campaigns.
The Tsar
also had the power to grant hereditary titles. These usually went
to men who had achieved high rank in the armed forces and the civil
service. It 1900 it was estimated that there were about 1.8 million
members of the nobility in Russia.
Around
85 per cent of the Russian people lived in the countryside and earned
their living from agriculture. Russian peasants
had been serfs until the passing of the Emancipation Act in 1861.
The nobility owned the best land and the vast majority of peasants
lived in extreme poverty.
In
1893 Nicholas II appointed Sergi
Witte,
a successful railway executive, as his Minister of Finance.
He encouraged the expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway and organized
the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Witte played an important
role in helping to increase the speed of Russia's industrial development
and by 1900 there were around 2.3 million industrial workers in Russia.
Conditions
in Russian factories were well below those enjoyed by industrial workers
in Europe. They worked on average an 11 hour day (10 hours on Saturday).
Conditions in the factories were extremely harsh and little concern
was shown for the workers' health and safety. Trade Unions were illegal
in Russia and industrial workers found it difficult to improve their
standard of living. Strikes were also prohibited and when they took
place the Russian Army was likely to
be called in to deal with the workers.
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