Alexander II + III - Opposition

Question 1

Liberal opposition

Answer 1

-educated and wealthy
-able to travel abroad and understand foreign politics
-most fell into slavophiles or westernisers
-some followed ideas like anarchism and nihilism

Question 2

Slavophiles

Answer 2

-Favoured a russian path to the future
-tolstoy famous slavophile
-russians unique culture should be preserved
-use principles of orthodox church
-attractions diminished by 1890s

Question 3

Westernisers

Answer 3

-should abandon slavic traditions and use western ideas
-turgenev famous westerniser
-reduce churches authority
-representative assemblies

Question 4

Radical writers

Answer 4

-Chernyshevsky wrote ‘the contemporary’ and ‘what is to be done?’ saying peasants should lead revolution
-herzen wrote ‘the bell’ encouraged going to the people
-bakunin translated the communist manifesto into russian and introduced marxism to russia

Question 5

Tchaikovsky circle

Answer 5

-set up 1868-69 by nikolai tchaikovsky
-organised the production of revolutionary literature
-no more than 100 members
-sought social revolution

Question 6

Narodniks

Answer 6

-narodnyism - ‘going to the people’
-pyotr lavrov encouraged 2000 people to persuade peasantry into revolution, 1874
-peasants loyalty to tsar led to 1600 being arrested
-second attempt 1876 also led to arrests

Question 7

Land and Liberty

Answer 7

-set up 1877 continued populism
-its members sought work in peasant communes
-some political assasinations, mezemtsev head of third section
-talks with zemstva about constitutional reform

Question 8

Black repartition

Answer 8

-formed by land and libertys split in 1879
-black repartition led by plekhanov
-wanted to share black soil provinces amongst peasantry
-worked peacefully but weakened by arrests 1880

Question 9

Peoples will

Answer 9

-formed by land and libertys split in 1879
-led by alexsandr mikhailov
-planted a spy in the third section
-said the tsar must be removed in 1879, succeeded 1881

Question 10

Reaction to A2s assassination

Answer 10

-security stepped up and tsar retired to fortified castle
-ended populist movement, some met in secret still
-self education circles continued underground
-contact with radicals in exile and the west maintained

Question 11

Plekhanov and marxism

Answer 11

-sw’land 1883 established ‘emancipation of labour group’
-translated and smuggled marxist tracts into russia
-russian revolutionaries must accept marx’s stages of development, focus on workers in cities