Alexander II + III - Society

Question 1

Education Reforms

Answer 1

-under zemstvas control rather than church
-unis could govern themselves and appoint staff
-primary + secondary education extended, modern schools created aswell as gimnazii
-schools open to all, women at uni from 1870

Question 2

Education reform stats

Answer 2

-primary schools 8000 in 1856 to 23000 in 1880
-primary school children 400,000 to 1 million+
-uni students grew from 3600 to 10,000 by 1870s

Question 3

Censorship reform

Answer 3

-relaxation of press censorship, foreign publications allowed, press allowed to comment on gov policy
-books published grew 1020 to 1836 from 1855-64
-re-tightening in 1870s due to growth in critical writing

Question 4

Military reforms

Answer 4

-conscription compulsory for all classes from age 21
-service reduced from 25 to 15 years active (10 reserve)
-punishments less severe, better care and provisions
-military colleges improved army literacy

Question 5

The landed gentry

Answer 5

-landholdings declined since emancipation
-1/5 of professors from hereditary nobility
-by 1882, 700+ nobles owned moscow businesses
-2500 employed in commerce, transport or industry
-some were in zemstva or provincial governships

Question 6

The middle class

Answer 6

-began to grow, bankers doctors teachers in demand
-no more than 1/2 million by 1897
-government contracts to build railway and loans for factories gave opportunities to those enterprising

Question 7

Who made up the urban working class

Answer 7

-numbers grew but remained only 2% of population
-some peasants left countryside for good to work in cities but some returned for harvest
-by 1864 1/3 of st petersburg were peasants by birth

Question 8

Conditions for the urban working class

Answer 8

-conditions grim in cities, factories didnt care for welfare
-1882-90 series of reforms for workers but did little
-wages were regular but very poor
-33 strikes per year from 1886-1894

Question 9

Kulaks

Answer 9

-top band of peasants, bought up land with loans
-employed labour and were pawn brokers for poor buying grain in winter and selling back at inflated prices

Question 10

Peasant living standards

Answer 10

-life got worse for poorest peasants
-2/3 in tambov regions couldnt feed house without debt
-healthcare poor, mortality rates higher than europe
-life expectancy 27 males and 29 females

Question 11

The churches link with the tsar

Answer 11

-70% of population involved, close bond with tsarism
-by late 19th century tsars position became more secular

Question 12

Churches position in society

Answer 12

-every peasant hut held the churches icon
-priests had close ties with villages, kept an eye on activity and were told to report confessions to the authorities

Question 13

Reforms to the church

Answer 13

-valuev set up ecclesiastical commission to look into the church organisation in 1862
-reforms introduced to improve priests education, 1868
-Given control over primary education under A3
-possessed strict censorship controls, could award punishments

Question 14

The church under russification

Answer 14

-offence to convert from orthodox to another faith
-radical sects who had broken away were persecuted, ukrainian uniate + armenian church
-8500 muslims, 50,000 pagans, 40,000 catholics and lutherans all converted to orthodoxy