Russian Revolution - Social Classes Flashcards

Ruling Class

• Comprised of the Tsar, his family, and high-ranking government officials.
• Represented 0.5% of the Russian population.
• Held disproportionate wealth and privileges, making them the elite class in imperial Russia.

Upper Class

• Included nobility, gentry, hereditary landowners, wealthy merchants, church leaders, and bureaucratic figures.
• Accounted for 12% of the Russian population.
• Enjoyed high incomes and fewer burdens, often exempt from oppressive regulations.
• Engaged in competitive monitoring of their peers to maintain resource and power balances.

Commercial and Professional Middle Class

• Consisted of small-scale manufacturers, factory managers, technical specialists, and white-collar workers, collectively known as the 'Intelligentsia.'
• Emerged in the late 1800s alongside the growth of heavy and light industries.
• Made up 1.5% of the Russian population.
• Characterized by professional fragmentation and an underlying fear of uprisings from lower classes; tradespeople, particularly Jewish merchants, faced governmental suspicion.

Industrial Working Class

• Known as the Proletariat, this class emerged due to industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Had a concentrated population in major city centers, working primarily in factories.
• Composed 4% of the Russian population.
• Faced severe working conditions, often laboring 14-15 hours a day for low and unstable wages.

Peasants

• Represented the agricultural workforce, making up 82% of the Russian population.
• Lived in medieval conditions with extreme poverty, overcrowding, and high illiteracy rates.
• Generally resistant to change, they frequently experienced starvation and disease.
• Dependent on landowners, many engaged in subsistence farming, with their survival hinging on crop success.

Explore the social classes of the Russian Revolution through flashcards. This quiz covers the ruling class and upper-class distinctions that shaped imperial Russia's society. Test your knowledge and learn about the privileged classes in this pivotal historical period.