1800s Russia

Question 1

how big was russia in the 1800s?

Answer 1

spanned 6000 miles (1/6 of the world’s land)

Question 2

which tsar came to power in 1825?

Answer 2

nicholas I

Question 3

what were problems faced by russia before alexander II?

Answer 3

large military needs, transportation/communication issues, governing difficulties due to huge area and diverse population

Question 4

how big was russia’s urban population in the 1850s?

Answer 4

in 1855, only 1.6% of the population (100,000) lived in cities

Question 5

how did russia’s population change over the course of the 19th century?

Answer 5

increased from 56 million in 1831 to 126 million in 1897

Question 6

describe the diversity of the russian population

Answer 6

consisted of finnish, polish, ukranians, armenians, turkish, mongolians, russians; over 100 languages/dialects

Question 7

what was the dominant ethnicity in russia?

Answer 7

russian, with 55.6 million speakers; non-russians were discriminated against by nicholas I, especially jewish

Question 8

what was serfdom?

Answer 8

enslavement of lower class into agricultural labour; prevented modernization due to lack of industry workers and educated population

Question 9

how many serfs were there in russia?

Answer 9

50 out of 60 million people were serfs, with half state-owned and half privately owned

Question 10

why was nicholas I against travel?

Answer 10

to prevent citizens from seeing how behind russia was; very little progress in 19th century

Question 11

into what two groups was russia’s middle class split in the 1800s?

Answer 11

westernizers and slavophiles

Question 12

how was russia’s economy doing in comparison to western countries before alexander II?

Answer 12

poorly; 1800: biggest producer pig-iron, but 1850: britain producing 10x as much; underdevloped banking systems; 1860: 1600 km rail, but britain had 15,000 km

Question 13

what was nicholas I’s motto?

Answer 13

“Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Nationality”

Question 14

how was the tsar seen by the subjects?

Answer 14

as a “father”; ignorant, scared serfs believed tsar appointed by god, compassionate towards them, and could solve any dispute

Question 15

who comprised the russian military before alexander II?

Answer 15

serfs, who were conscripted with 25-year terms; controlled by secret police

Question 16

who comprised the russian government before alexander II?

Answer 16

13 government positions, all nobility appointed by tsar, who could fire anyone whenever; corrupt government that participated in bribery and exploitation

Question 17

with what religion was russia affiliated in the 1800s?

Answer 17

eastern orthodox christianity, supported and controlled by tsar, who was the Holy Synod