4. Ethnic minorities and Russification

Question 1

What was the Muslim population of the empire in 1900?

Answer 1

10 million.

Question 2

Give two examples of increased nationalist sentiment among the peoples of the empire in the 1800s.

Answer 2

• Polish rebellions in 1830 and 1863
• 1840s: A Finnish language pressure group was formed.
• Local language newspapers set up in the Baltics

Question 3

How did Alexander II deal with the 1863 Polish uprising?

Answer 3

Sent his brother, Duke Konstantin. 200,000 Poles used guerilla warfare but had been brutally crushed by 1864.

Question 4

In what ways was Alexander II tolerant of ethnic minorities?

Answer 4

Gave concessions:
- Latvians and Estonians allowed to revert to Lutheranism.
- Finns given their own diet (parliament)

Question 5

In what ways was Alexander II NOT tolerant of ethnic minorities?

Answer 5

• Sent his brother to brutally crush the 1863 Polish rebellion.
• 1876: Banned use of Ukrainian language in publications and performances.

Question 6

What was the three-word motto used by Alexander III (relating to Russification)?

Answer 6

“Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Nationality”

Question 7

What did Russification involve in Finland?

Answer 7

• 1892: Finnish diet (parliament) restructured and weakened.
• Independent postal service abolished
• Russian coins replaced local currency

Question 8

What did Russification involve in Poland?

Answer 8

• 1885: National bank closed down
• All teaching (except Polish lang and RE) to be done in Russian

Question 9

What did Russification involve for Baltic Germans?

Answer 9

• Use of Russian required in schools, police, judicial system.

Despite the fact that they had always been quite loyal to the Tsar.

Question 10

Which three (modern-day) countries had ethnic uprisings crushed by Alexander III?

Answer 10

• Georgia (1892)
• Uzbekistan (1884, 1892)
• Armenia (1886)

Question 11

How was Ukraine Russified?

Answer 11

Increasing pressure to use Russian language. All theatres in Ukraine closed in 1884.

Question 12

What did Russification involve for religious minorities?

Answer 12

• Those who converted to Russian Orthodoxy were rewarded
• No other religious groups (even other Christians) could build new places of worship, wear religious clothing outside their meeting place, or spread religious ‘propaganda’.

Question 13

How was Russification unsuccessful?

Answer 13

• Peter Waldron: it “intensified national feeling among the non-Russians of the Empire.”
• Some ethnic schools in Poland survived, fanning the flames of anti-tsarist resentment.
• Jun 1888: 332 cases of mass disturbance in 61/92 provinces and regions. Including 9/12 central provinces.

Question 14

What antisemitic slogan did Pobedonostsev use?

Answer 14

“Beat the Y*ds - Save Russia”

Question 15

What was the ‘Pale of Settlement’?

Answer 15

An area (20% of European Russia) in which Jews had to live.

Question 16

How did the regime encourage antisemitism?

(Alex III)

Answer 16

• von Plehve as head of Okhrana directly encouraged pogroms (which broke out in Ukraine, Apr 1881). Forced many Jews to flee to Europe.
• May Laws 1882: basically forced Jews to live in ghettos + couldn’t do business on Sundays.

Question 17

How did antisemitism backfire?

Answer 17

Drove many Jews to join radical groups, such as Trotsky and Julius Martov.