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Was the size of Russia the main reason for making it difficult to rule?
would only make the people dislike him more.
Stolypin became Prime Minister in 1906. He was afraid that there could be another Russian revolution, and this could threaten the survival of the Tsar and the landowners. Stolypin realised that 85% of the population were peasants, so he tried to win their loyalty by a series of land reforms.
Stolypin set up land reforms such as allowing the peasants to buy strips of land from their less enterprising neighbours to make one single land holding, which they owned individually. Stolypin set up a peasants’ bank to provide loans for them to buy land. 15% of peasants took up the offer and there were improvements, production of grain increased and there was a record harvest in 1913. The richer peasants were known as Kulaks. Stolypin tried to make agriculture more efficient and he also tried to move peasants to different land, but this plan failed. Redemption penalties were cancelled.
However, if there was trouble, Stolypin was prepared to be ruthless. He was prepared to use force against their own people. The Okhrama were always active and were brutal. There was still no freedom of speech as there was no elected Government. All resistance was crushed and this was known as repression. Those who opposed the Tsar were executed, and people who went on strike were shot. In a period of two years 2000 people had been executed. This links to the coursework question as Stolypin might have hindered the Tsar, so therefore he is part of the reason for Russia being difficult to rule. However, the Tsar should have had more control of Stolypin, as he put him in that position.
In reference to the question, the size of Russia is not the main reason why the country was so difficult to rule. It was mainly to how the Tsar ruled, but not all can be blamed onto him. He was never educated to be the Tsar, so no one could really expect great things from him. Their were problems with natural hazards therefore causing failed crops which was also not his fault, but the Tsar did show that he just did not care about ruling the country and the people who lived in the country, especially the lower classes. On the other hand, the size did not help him because it caused such communication problems with the many different national groups, and the lack of radios, and the lack of transport. He did not help the situation by building his Government in one city and only knowing one language. Many of the difficulties of ruling Russia were linked to the development of the economy, the growth of towns, the nature and style of the Tsars government, Stolypin, the 1905 Revolution, the rise of the opposition and the social problems.