alexander II (1855-1881)

Question 1

How many conscripted Serfs in 1855.

Answer 1

1.5 million.

Question 2

Name of the Tsar’s personal regiment.

Answer 2

The Cossacks.

Question 3

When was the Crimean War.

Answer 3

1853-1856.

Question 4

Why did Tsar Nicholas I send troops into Ottoman Moldavia.

Answer 4

As protector of Christians and Slavs, as Ottomans stretched into the Balkans.

Question 5

Who else helped the Russians in the Crimean War.

Answer 5

French and British.

Question 6

When did Nicholas I die and Alexander II take over.

Answer 6

1855.

Question 7

The Treaty of Paris (1856)

Answer 7

Prevented Russian warships using the Black sea.

Question 8

Why did the Crimean War end.

Answer 8

Sebastopol fell.

Question 9

Results of the Crimean War.

Answer 9

• Exposed outdated transport, weaponry and technology.
• The poor leadership and administration.
• The Intelligensia looked towards the West for inspiration for improvement.

Question 10

When was the Emancipation Edict.

Answer 10

1861.

Question 11

Alexander II’s liberal influences.

Answer 11

Duke Konstantin, Elane Pavlovna and the Milyutn Brothers.

Question 12

Why did Alexander II advocate for emancipation.

Answer 12

• Travelled the Russian countryside.
• Had multiple liberal influences.
• The Milyutin Brothers argued for reform after the Crimean War.
• Peasant riots started to spark in the 40s.

Question 13

Alexander II’s early liberating acts.

Answer 13

• Releasing political prisoners and Decembrists.
• Relaxed censorship controls and travel.
• Cancelled tax debts.

Question 14

A central argument for the emancipation.

Answer 14

For change to come about “from above, rather than from below.”

Question 15

Issue in application of the emancipation edict.

Answer 15

Applied only to privately owned serfs in 1861, then to state owned serfs in 1866.

Question 16

Conditions of the emancipation edict.

Answer 16

• Freedom and an allotment of land.
• Had redemption payments for 49 years.
• Mirs had control.
• Volosts formed to oversee mirs.

Question 17

Positives of the emancipation.

Answer 17

• Kulaks grew.
• Some could leave to cities for work.
• Landowners payed of debts or invested with compensation.
• More individuals gained personal land.

Question 18

Negatives of the emancipation.

Answer 18

• Technological and method backwardness persisted.
• Redemption payments made travel near-impossible.
• Resentment of kulaks caused violent outbreaks.
• Landowners resented the Tsar.

Question 19

When was the military reform introduced.

Answer 19

1874.

Question 20

Military reforms.

Answer 20

• Conscription made compulsory for all classes.
• Compulsory service length reduced from 25 years to 15 years and 10 in reserves.
• Military colonies abolished,
• New command structure.
• Mass army education introduced.
• Medical care improved.

Question 21

When were local government reforms introduced.

Answer 21

1864-1870.

Question 22

Local government reforms.

Answer 22

Zemstva formed, then the duma in 1870.

Question 23

Powers of the Zemstva.

Answer 23

Improve roads, schools, public health, prisons, and develop industrial projects or administer relief.

Question 24

Judiciary Reforms (1864).

Answer 24

• System of local provincial and nation courts established.
• Accused could employ a lawyer.
• Judges were appointed by the Tsar.
• Courts were open to public and could be freely reported.

Question 25

Negatives of the judiciary reforms.

Answer 25

- Ecclesiatical and military courts exempt. - Peasants in volost courts treated poorly.

Question 26

Education Reforms (1863).

Answer 26

- Universities could govern themselves. - Responsibility of education transferred from Church to zemstva. - Modern secondary schools established. - School open to all classes and sex.

Question 27

Censorship Reforms (1858).

Answer 27

- Censorship over press, books and newspapers relaxed. - Publishers restrictions reduced. - Foregin publications permitted. - Commentery on government policy permitted.

Question 28

How many books published by 1894.

Answer 28

1836.

Question 29

What happened in 1866 to cause Alexander II's reactionary reforms.

Answer 29

Attempted assassination, plus the death of his son and wife causing more closeness with his mistress so a distance from leftist leaning associates.

Question 30

Reactionary reforms.

Answer 30

- Liberal ministers replaced with conservative ones, for example Dimtry Tolstoy replaced Golovin. - Church regained authority over education. - University courses made more traditional. - Persecution of minorities encouraged. - Political offenders could be exiled. - Show trials introduced. - Police rights strengthened.

Question 31

When was the Russo-Turkish War.

Answer 31

1877-1878.

Question 32

When did major famine and industrial recession begin.

Answer 32

1879-1880.

Question 33

Loris-Melikov report (1880).

Answer 33

Reccomended election of nobles, zemstva members and duma members to be included in the drafting of state decrees.

Question 34

When Alexander II assassinated.

Answer 34

1881, the morning he would sign Loris-Melikov's liberalising constitution.

Question 35

When did Alexander II send military to Poland and why.

Answer 35

In 1863, to crush the rebellion of the 200,000 fighting for independence.

Question 36

When was Ukranian language in performances and publications prohibited.

Answer 36

1876.

Question 37

What were Alexanders concession policies to the Latvians and Estonians.

Answer 37

In 1864 and 1975 allowing them to be Lutheran instead of Orthodox.

Question 38

Westernizers.

Answer 38

Wanted to mimic more Western forms of government and political approaches.

Question 39

Slavophiles.

Answer 39

Wanted to take a more traditionally Russian path toward reformation.

Question 40

When was 'The Communist Manifesto' published in Russia.

Answer 40

1872.

Question 41

The Tchasikovksy Circle.

Answer 41

Intellectuals led by Nikolai Tchaikovsky, congregating from 1868, to distribute revolutionary literature. Membership was under 100 people, concentrated in major cities.

Question 42

Narodnysim.

Answer 42

Idea of going out to the people, in this context meaning to go to the countryside to spread Westernizer ideas.

Question 43

The Narodniks.

Answer 43

A group of 2000 people sent out by Pyotr Lavrov in 1874 to encourage resentment towards the Tsar, but were met with a lot of hostility from peasants and arrests of the narodniks.

Question 44

'Land and Liberty'.

Answer 44

Founded in 1877, carrying out political assassination and spreading anti-Tsarist sentiment

Question 45

The two divisions of the 'Land and Liberty'.

Answer 45

The Black Repartition, dissolved in 1881, and The Peoples Will.

Question 46

Succeses of the Peoples Will.

Answer 46

- A spy in the Third Section. - Assassination of Alexander II.

Question 47

Who was Alexander II's Minister of Finance.

Answer 47

Mikhail von Reutern.

Question 48

Mikhail von Reutern's economy reforms.

Answer 48

- State, municipal and savings banks. - Trade promoted with import duties reduced. - Tax farming abolished.

Question 49

When did oil extraction begin.

Answer 49

1871.

Question 50

When was an ironworks factory opened.

Answer 50

1872.

Question 51

When did naptha extraction begin.

Answer 51

1879.

Question 52

Weaknesses in the economy under Alexander II.

Answer 52

- 1/3 of all government expenditure spent on debts. - Rouble experienced random variations in value. - 66% of government revenue came from indirect tax. - Domestic market was small.