1 E X P L O R E Investigate Analyse the documents. Note the characteristics of each social group. Make a presentation comparing the social groups. DEBATE. Does the invisible barrier between the classes that Golitsyn mentions still exist? A world of contrasts: peasants and nobility In tsarist Russia , the peasantr y and the proletariat lived in poverty, while the aristocracy lived a life of luxur y. You entered this room of the hut through a small door. Inside, it was very dark and there was a terrible smell. Lying on the straw was a young peasant girl, dirty and surrounded by f lies. She told us her story. She was dying of starvation, tuberculosis and scurvy. Nearby was a baby and a small boy of three or four years old, wrapped in rags. There were also chickens and a calf lying on a pile of filthy straw. Howard P. Kennard, The Russian Peasant (Adapted) The peasant's meal consists of cabbage soup, oat or potato porridge and bread . After eating, the peasants rest and then return to the fields. They take some bread with them to eat in the afternoon . They go home when the sun goes down . When there is famine, they eat stale bread soaked in water, and sometimes the whole family goes out to beg. When the snow melts, hungr y children gather roots and herbs to eat. Olga Semyonova Tian-Shanskaia , Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia (Adapted) We belonged to the nobility and that seemed natural . There could be sincere affection between the masters and their people. But at the same time there was a high and invisible barrier between them. A peasant girl and her son came to see my mother once. I led the boy to my sandbox to play with him, but at that moment my aunt grabbed my arm and pulled me away grumbling. Sergei Golitsyn, Memoirs of a Sur vivor : The Golitsyn Family in Stalin's Russia (Adapted) The inaugural ball of the St. Petersburg season was held at the Winter Palace in January. It was attended by more than 5,000 aristocrats. The dining rooms were beautifully laid out like gardens. For dinner, 350 plates of chicken, 350 large lobsters, and 300 plates of cold meats were served. There were also ice creams, cakes and biscuits. Margaret Eager , Si x Years at the Russian Court (Adapted) 23. Grandmother and Grandchild, by Vladimir Fiala 24. On the Terrace, by Boris Kustodiev Describe the clandestine political forces in tsarist Russia. Explain why they were clandestine. Compare. Who were the opposing groups in the tsarist regime? What did they have in common? How were they different? Define: Duma, soviets, Bolshevik. Analyse the events of Bloody Sunday. What caused the events? Did the protesters want to end the tsarist regime? Explain your answer. K E Y Q U E S T I O N S 39
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