Russia Under the Last Tsar: Opposition and Subversion, 1894–1917

This collection provides scholars and students with a wide–ranging overview of the issues, events and personalities of the two turbulent decades before the 1917 revolution in Russia. In particular, it analyzes the motivations and activities of the various political parties operating during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, nicknamed by his opponents "Nicholas the Last."

The factions examined range from the most radical foes of the tsarist regime, including the anarchists, the Socialists Revolutionaries, and the Social Democrats, such as the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, to conservative and monarchist groups loyal to the imperial system.

The book also considers the response to intense political activity and the revolutionary upheaval from state institutions such as the police and the church. The volume brings together the most recent scholarship and a variety of perspectives, including those based on new discoveries in the Russian archives after the fall of Communism.

List of Contributors.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction.

Part I: Radical Socialists.

1. The Mensheviks (Andre Liebich).

2. The Bolsheviks (Robert C. Williams).

3. The Bund in the Russian–Jewish Historical Landscape (Alexander Lokshin).

4. Neo–Populism in Early Twentieth–Century Russia: The Socialist–Revolutionary Party from 1900 to 1917 (Michael Melancon).

Part II: The Other Adversaries.

5. The Anarchists and the "Obscure Extremist" (Anna Geifman).

6. National Minorities in the Russian Empire, 1897–1917 (Theodore Weeks).

Part III: "The Loyal Opposition" and the Russian Right.

7.The State Duma: A Political Experiment (John Morison).

8. Liberalism and Democracy: The Constitutional Democratic Party (Melissa Stockdale).

9. The Union of 17 October (Dmitrii Pavlov).

10. Hopeless Symbiosis: Power and Right–Wing Radicalism at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century (Aleksandr Bokhanov).

Part IV: The Establishment.

11. The Security Police and Politics in the Late Imperial Russia (Jonathan Daly).

12 Legislative Chamber History Overlooked: The State Council of the Russian Empire, 1906–1917 (Alexandra Koros).

13 Church and Politics in Late Imperial Russia: Crisis and Radicalization of the Clergy (Gregory Freeze).

Index.

Anna Geifman was born in 1962 in Leningrad, USSR. In 1976 she emigrated with her family to the United States and settled in Boston. She received her BA and MA in History from Boston University and her PhD in History from Harvard. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the John M. Olin Faculty Fellowship and the IREX Faculty Research Grants. She is currently Associate Professor of History at Boston University and her publications include Thou Shalt Kill: Revolutionary Terrorism in Russia, 1894–1917 (1993) and the forthcoming Feigning Terror: Evno Azef, Russian Master Spy (1999).

"Indisputably strong on authoritative summary and historiographical orientation ... Anna Geifman comes up with thought–provoking fresh insights." ( The Russian Review)