1 - State of Russia Flashcards
Autocracy
> Tsar, unlimited powers over 21mil sq km
Tsar’s imperial edicts were law
Advisors & ministers chosen by Tsar
Russian Orthodox Church
> Tsar = God on Earth
Russian land was his property and the people his children
Russians taught to show devotion to Tsar & accept their lot as God’s will
Bureaucracy
> Civil servants = paid noble officials holding a “rank”
Orders were passed from central gov - to provinces - districts - towns. Was full of corruption/incompetence
Army
> Included 1.5 million serfs that had to serve 25 years
45% of gov annual expenditure
Elite regiments of mounted Cossacks, had privileges; were police reinforcements & Tsar’s security
Police State
> No freedom of speech, press & travel abroad
Political meetings, strikes forbidden, censorship enforced
Third Section = agents had unlimited powers
Serfdom
> Over 50% of the population was peasant - serfs, classified as owned by masters
Over half were privately owned, the rest were state serfs, who paid taxes and rent
Most were illiterate but religious & hostile to change
Liberal Intellectuals
> Liberal ideas were spreading from the West
Argued for a civil society based on the rule of law
Economy
> Predominately rural, due to inhospitable territory, climate & backwardness of serf-based economy
Serf families worked on scattered strips & followed communal farming patterns
Goods were mainly exchanged & no internal market demand
Society
Essentially “feudal”
(based on birth, land & service)
> Non-productive classes =Royal Court, clergy, nobility, officials, officers. Around 10% of population, owned 75% of the land. Exempt from direct taxation.
No coherent middle class
Small number of professionals
Productive classes =urban artisans, manufacturers, merchants & serfs (majority). Provided about 90% of imperial finance. Liable for direct and indirect taxation. Private serfs paid feudal dues to masters too
Impact of Crimean War 1853-6
> Catalyst for change
Had revealed military & administrative inadequacies = outdated tech, poor transport, inadequate leadership, problems of a conscript army
Trade had been disrupted, peasant uprising has escalated & some intelligentsia wanted action
