1. The autocracy in 1855

Question 1

What was the Over-Procurator of the Holy Synod?

Answer 1

Govt minister appointed by Tsar to run Church affairs.

Question 2

What were the 3 pillars holding up Tsardom?

Answer 2

• The church
• The military (use of force + military successes)
• The nobility

Question 3

How many serfs were conscripted into the army in 1855?

Answer 3

1.5 million

Question 4

How long did conscripted serfs have to serve (1855)?

Answer 4

25 years

Question 5

How much of the population was in the NON-productive classes?

Answer 5

10%. They owned 75% of land and were exempt from direct taxation.

Question 6

What proportion of imperial finance was provided by the productive classes?

Answer 6

90%

Question 7

How many ranks of civil servants were there in 1855?

Answer 7

14

Question 8

What was the military colony?

Answer 8

Where serfs were conscripted. Terrible conditions and strict discipline.

Question 9

What was the secret police called in 1855?

Answer 9

The Third Section

Question 10

What was the ratio of village- to town-dwellers in 1855 Russia?

Answer 10

11:1, compared to 2:1 in Britain

Question 11

Who were the intelligentsia?

Answer 11

Educated nobles including writers and philosophers. Many opposed the tsarist state.

Question 12

How did serfdom inhibit economic modernisation?

Answer 12

Serfs were poor and the property of their owners. Money was useless to them so they mostly had a barter economy.

Nobles lived off the produce of their serfs. This meant there was little incentive for entreprenuerialism and very little internal market demand.

Therefore -> no capital accumulation -> no economic growth.

Question 13

What were the biggest ethnic groups in the empire, according to the 1897 census?

Answer 13

• 56m Russians
• 22m Ukrainians
• 8m Poles
• 6m Belorussians
• 5m Jews

Question 14

Describe the events of the Crimean War?

Answer 14

• Russia succeeded early on, sinking an Ottoman squadron.
• Britain and France support Ottomans to protect their trading interests, sending a force of 60,000 men.
• 1856: Treaty of Paris signed. Russian warships banned from using Black Sea in peacetime.

Question 15

Why did Russia lose the Crimean War?

Answer 15

• Inefficient and outdated military. Nobles held all the high-up positions.
• Russians still had muskets (range 200m), Allies had rifles (550m).
• Incompetent leadership
• Poor transport links

Question 16

What % of govt. spending was taken up by defence (in 1800s)?

Answer 16

45%

Question 17

Who were the Cossacks?

Answer 17

• Elite fighters from Ukraine (but not ethnically Ukrainian)
• Known for skilled horsemanship
• Served as personal bodyguard to Tsar (not to the empire)