Chapter 22: Russia, 1894–1914
Further reading
There are several clear and concise studies of the last years of tsarism. Alan Wood, The
Origins of the Russian Revolution 1861–1917 (London, Routledge, 2003) is helpful partly
because it begins the story earlier than many works. M. Lynch, Reaction and Revolutions:
Russia 1894–1924 (London, Hodder Education, 2008) chooses a helpful period and covers it
systematically, with documentary excerpts. J.F. Hutchinson, Late Imperial Russia, 1890–
1917 (London, Routledge, 1999) retains the focus on the Tsarist period, while S. Philips,
Lenin and the Russian Revolution (London, Heinemann, 2000) follows the biographical
theme through the revolutions. There are many more detailed academic texts. H. Rogger,
Russia in the Age of Modernisation and Revolution (London, Longman, 1990) is thoroughly
detailed, W.E. Mosse, An Economic History of Russia 1856–1914 (London, I.B. Tauris,
1996) is helpful on the reforms of Witte and Stolypin, and R.B. McKean, The Russian
Constitutional Monarchy (London, Historical Association, 1977) is a pamphlet focusing on
the importance of the Dumas. H. Seton- Watson, The Russian Empire 1801–1917 (Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 1988) is a detailed and immense text, while J.N. Westwood,
Endurance and Endeavour: Russian History 1812–2001 (Oxford, Oxford University Press,
2002) provides a more manageable study. Important recent works include O. Figes, A
People’s Tragedy: the Russian Revolution 1891–1924 (London, Vintage, The Bodley Head,
2014) , R. Pipes, The Russian Revolution 1899–1919 (London, Fontana, 1992) which has
been superseded by the same author’s A Concise History of the Russian Revolution (Knopf
Doubleday, Vintage, electronic book), and R. Service, J. Breuilly and R. Porter, The Russian
Revolution, 1900–27 (London, Macmillan, 1999). Peter Waldron addresses the reasons for
the failure of Stolypin’s reforms in ‘Why did the Imperial Russian Government Fail to Learn
the Lessons of the 1905 Revolution?’, New Perspective, vol. 6, no. 3, March 2001) and the
same author’s The End of Imperial Russia (London, Macmillan, 1997) provides an accessible
study of the political, economic and social themes in the decline of autocracy. Briefer and
very readable is M. Ferro’s biography, Nicholas II: Last of the Tsars (Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 1995). F.W. Weislo, Tales of Imperial Russia: The Life and Times of Sergei
Witte, 1849–1915 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011) draws on Witte’s memoirs for an
engaging narrative. Documentary collections include M. McCauley, Octobrists to
Bolsheviks: Imperial Russia 1905–1917 (London, Arnold, 1984), but finding reasonably
extensive translated collections on the period before the First World War is problematic; the
best is G. Vernadsky (ed.), A Sourcebook for Russian History from Early Times to 1917, vol.
3 (New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1972). M. Lynch’s book (listed above) contains
some source material. M. Gilbert, The Routledge Atlas of Russian History (London,
Routledge, 2002) is an excellent point of reference.
Websites
There are few websites that have primary sources translated into English, and those available
are mainly based in the United States
There is a European guide to websites at http://intute.ac.uk and a British site based at Durham
University which can be accessed via the following links: Internet Modern History
Sourcebook-Russian Revolution-History of Russia and the Russia and the former USSR=Top
five links-Index of World History-Russia-Sources, Historical Documents, Historical Text
Archive-Chronology.
Domestic policy and events
Historical Documents
Russian History 1801–1991
Sergei Witte and Russian Economic Policy, 1900
The Manifesto of 17 October, 1905 (Bloody Sunday)
The Fundamental Law, 1 April 1906
Stolypin’s Agrarian Reforms, 1906
Excerpts from the programmes of the main political parties in 1905
All these can be found via the Internet Modern History Sourcebook, under Russian
Revolution, www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook39.html
See also an article by Michael Melancon, The Lena goldfields and the Massacre of 4 April
1912 via Internet Modern History Sourcebook-Russian Revolution-History of Russia and the
former USSR-Top five links-Index of World History-Russia-Chronology-the Imperial Period
Foreign policy
Prince Ukthomskii, Russia’s Imperial Destiny, 1891
Commander Vladimir Semonoff, Coaling at Sea
Internet Modern History Sourcebook, www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook39.html see
The Tsarist State
See the WWI Archive in Eudocs for details of Russia’s foreign policy during this period,
www.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page