How effectively did Nicholas II deal with the problems facing Russia in the period 1894-1905?
Nicholas did not deal at all effectively with Russia’s problems during this period, he was an inept ruler who believed in his divine right to rule without a parliament. He needed to address the following problems: The country was still very backwards, and he was trying to modernise, mostly for military purposes, like iron and steel works for guns, textile mills for uniforms and the coal mines to power it all. But, the workers were poorly paid for very long hours, worked in harsh conditions and had very poor living conditions; this made them ripe for radical politics. The military was absorbing vast sums of money, but it was still poorly led and nowhere nearly as well equipped as the other major powers, this would have serious consequences in the 1904 Russo-Japanese war. The peasants were dissatisfied with the Emancipation of some 50 years earlier, which saw them take on 50 year redemption mortgages in order to buy their freedom – millions were indebted. Another peasant based problem th
