A2 reforms in-depth study Flashcards
3 factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- crimean war
- liberal beliefs
- preserve/stregthen tsarist regime
strengths of crimean war
factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- defeat in crim war interrupted victorious advance since defeat of napolean in 1812
- showed weakness - the surrender od Sebastopol, the conditions of the peace of paris 1856
- economic factors of serfdom stopped industrialisation
* serfs serve for 25yrs then free – costly as had to maintain a costly peace-time army + had no reserved to draw on - could only be removed by emancipation
* N1 - ‘serfdom is an evil, but to touch it now would be disastrous’
weaknesses of crimean war
factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- little evidence of A2 desire to industralise; wanted to increase rail network+military provisions
- these problems already existed - over-emphasis on short term
terms of peace of paris 1856
deprived russia of its fleet and naval bases on the black sea
strengths of liberal beliefs
factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- in 1837, went to 29 provinces and saw life of avg. serf
- liberal views held by tsars since catherine the great
- critics of serfdom; Turgenev’s sportsman sketches
weakness of liberal beliefs
factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- influence from inner circle instaed of A2’s beliefs
* A2’s brother
* the Milyutin brothers; one of whom who was responsible for terms of emancipation - didnt really liberalise — e.g redemption payments
strengths of preserve/stregthen tsarist regime
factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- serfdom - should come from ‘above’ not ‘below’ to avoid revolution to overthroe tsarism
- fear of peasnat revolution; since 1800 there’d been 1467 serf revolts
- relaince on serfs
weaknesses od preserve/stregthen tsarist regime
factors in ‘what motivated A2 great reforms’
- revolts not organised enough to have actual effect on society
modernisation: emanicpation
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- legal right to own property, marry who they wanted, could set up their own businesses
- peasants guaranteed the right to farm a specific amount of land
- serfdom hadnt existed in western europe for 200yrs -so catching up with the west
limits to modernisation: emanicpation
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- redemption payments - controlled by the mir so restricted peasant movement
- nobles still owned most land – land given was poor quality - struggled to earn enough— financial probs meant other freedoms were meaningless
- didnt legally own land until redemption payments paid
modernisation: Zemstva
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- ‘third element’ of russia society- as added a more liberal minded middle class
- first elected reprensentatives
- responsible for local issues
* building hospitals/schools etc
* depsite lack of budget, effectively did 1891 famine relief
limits to modernisation: Zemstva
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- only reform local gov
- ensured local affairs were under control of nobility
- slow – only 37/90 by 1917 had zemstva’s
modernisation: legal reforms
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- changes to organisation of courts - standardise legal progress
- changes to equality – ‘equality before law’
- jury trials were introduced, kept secret
- judges appointed for life – gave them security that they wouldn’t be removed if they made a just by politically unpopular ruling
modernisation: military
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- the shrinking of the army – from 25yrs to 6-9yrs
- universal conscription- all classes likely to do service
- improvement of training, provision, equipment
modernisation: education
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- more school opened – 1856= 8000 primary schools, to 23,000 in 1880
- women allowed to go to secondary school
- highly controlled by gov [Zemstva]
- uni statute in 1863 gave more control to uni’s
limits to modernisation: education
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- the university discipline taken away
modernisation: censorship
did A2’s reforms modernise russia
- relaxed publication of books
- foreign publications allowed