ALEXANDER II POLITCAL AUTHORITY

Question 1

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

1885
Russia was a vast empire of around 21 million square kilometres ruled by an

Answer 1

autocratic empire (no limits to the ruler’s power) and at its head was an autocratic and unlimited tsar

Question 2

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

CHURCH
The tsar was the head of the Russian orthodox church regarded as the embodiment of God on earth  l

Answer 2

ands of the Russian empire was his property, and the Russian people were his children.
The people were taught to show devotion to their tsar and accept their conditions on earth as the will of God.

Question 3

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

CHURCH
State and church closely entwined 

Answer 3

Over-procurator of the holy synod employed by the tsar to run church affairs and archbishops were subject to tsarist control over churches finances and administration.

Question 4

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

GOVERNMENT
The tsar’s imperial edicts were the law of the land. He had advisers and ministers, but they were chosen by himself, and no one could do anything without his approval.
Main advisory body =

Answer 4

imperial council (hand-picked by himself to provide expert opinion).
He also relied on provincial nobility for support, who acted as governors of one of the empires 50 provinces or kept law and order on their estates.

Question 5

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

GOVERNMENT
The civil servants who made up the bureaucracy were paid noble officials selected from a table of ranks which went from level 1 (council of ministers) to level 14 (tax collector). Each had its own uniform, form of address and status, but this bureaucracy was riddled with

Answer 5

corruption and incompetence, orders were passed through in one way, from the central government to town commandants – no way for suggestions to travel upwards.

Question 6

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

ARMY
The tsar had the world’s largest army of 1.5 million conscripted serfs at his disposal  each forced into service for

spending

Answer 6

25 years and forced to live in a military colony.
It absorbed 45% of the governments annual spending.
Higher ranks = nobility.

Army called to fight foreign wars or to put down internal disturbances.

Cossacks – had special social privileges and acted as personal bodyguards to the tsar as well as police reinforcements.

Question 7

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

POLICE STATE
To maintain the autocracy, Russia had developed into a police state – the third section prevented the freedom of speech, press and travel abroad.

Answer 7

Political meetings and strikes were banned, censorship was strictly enforced by the state.

It had unlimited powers to carry out raids and to arrest and imprison or exile anyone suspected of anti-tsarist behaviour.

Question 8

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

IMPACT OF CRIMEAN WAR 1853-6
Turks declare war following Nicholas I sent an army into Moldova.
Britain & France join the war as Russia sinks a Turkish sink in the black sea.
PROBLEMS

Answer 8

• Russians took longer to get equipment to the front line than it took French and British to send soldiers from the channel ports.
• Muskets were inferior and there was only 1 between 2 soldiers.
• The navy still used wooden ships while western ships had steam power and were made of metal.

Led to Russian defeats at Balaclava 1854 and Inkermen 1854.

Question 9

1. Political authority and the state of Russia

IMPACT OF CRIMEAN WAR 1853-6

The fighting revealed Russia’s military and administrative inadequacies. AND LED TO

Answer 9

• Trade disrupted.
• Peasant uprisings escalated.
• Renewed cries from the intelligentsia to close the gap between Russia and the west.
• Treaty of Paris added the final humiliation by preventing Russian warships from using the black sea in times of peace (could not be used as trade ships).
  Failure provided the wakeup call Russia needed and alexander II and liberal minded nobles came to power.

Question 10

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

THE EMANCIPATION EDICT, 1861
1858-9 alexander II set off on a tour of the countryside, making pro-emancipation speeches to try win noble support.

Initially applied to

Answer 10

private serfs – state serfs freed in 1866.
Serfs received freedom and an allotment of land while landlords received government compensation.

Question 11

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

Free serfs required to pay redemption payments to the government over 49 years and to remain in a peasant commune (mir) until they have been paid.

what were mirs and volots

Answer 11

Mir  responsible for distributing allotments, controlling farming, and paying the peasants taxes.
Volosts  established to supervise the mirs and ran their own courts from 1863, replacing the landlord’s jurisdiction over the serfs.

Question 12

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

2-year period of temporary obligation before freedom granted during which allocations were worked out: landlords kept woodlands, meadows, and personal holdings whereas open fields were given to serfs.
Took long to carry out

Answer 12

– 15% remained temporarily obliged until 1881 where abolition was made compulsory.

Question 13

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION
Some peasants (kulaks)  did well: bought extra land to produce surplus grain for exports / sold their lands and obtained a passport to leave the mir and raised their living standards by finding work in cities.
Some landowners used the

Answer 13

compensation to get out of debt and made profits through investment in industry.

Question 14

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

problems of emancipation

Answer 14

Land allotments were not fair - increasingly divided as several sons inherited the land and it was shared between them,
mir system traditional - subsistence farming and technical backwardness persisted: only 50% produced surplus in 1878.

The loss of former benefits, restrictions on travel and the burden of the redemption payments made life difficult.
Resentment of kulaks - further violent outbreaks in the countryside.
There were 647 incidents of riot in the 4 months that followed the decree. Noble bankruptcies continued – landowners had to sell or mortgage their land.
Landowners resented their loss of influence - wave of student riots occurred in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Question 15

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

MILITARY REFORMS 1874-5

9

Answer 15

• Conscription compulsory for all classes from the age of 21.
• Length of service reduced from 25 to 15 years of active service and 10 years in the reserves.
• Punishments made less severe.
• Military colonies abandoned.
• Better medical care established.
• Modern weaponry introduced.
• New command structure established.
• Military colleges set up  provided better training for non-noble officers.
• Literacy improved by mass army education campaigns.

Question 16

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

military reform problems

Answer 16

However:
Problems of supply and leadership continued.
The army struggled to win against turkey (1877-8) and defeated by the Japanese (1905) and Germans (1917).

Question 17

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS 1864-70

3

Answer 17

• Zemtsva (system of elected local council) established at district and provincial level  chosen by a system of electoral colleges (individuals vote for others to cast their vote on their behalf) with separate colleges for peasants, church, and nobles – voting arranged in a way that nobles would dominate.
• Given power to improve public services, develop industrial projects and administer poor relief.
• 1870  reform extended into towns – dumas set up.

Question 18

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

local government reform limitations

Answer 18

Powers strictly limited  no control over taxes, could be overturned by provincial governors.
Weren’t truly people’s assemblies  attracted doctors, lawyers etc who used the meetings as opportunity to debate political issues and criticise the government.

Question 19

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

JUDICIARY REFORMS 1864

6

Answer 19

• There had been no jury system, no lawyers, and no examination of witnesses  accused considered guilty until proven innocent and judge’s decision was final.
• Equality before law established  single system of provincial, national courts where accused were presumed innocent until proven guilty and could employ a lawyer.
• Criminal cases heard before barristers and jury selected from a list of property owners.
• Judges appointed by the tsar and given improved training and pay.
• Local JPs elected every year by zemtsva  independent of political control.
• Courts opened to the public and proceedings could be freely reported  national trials recorded in a government newspaper.

New system  fairer and less corrupt.

Question 20

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

judiciary reforms problems

Answer 20

• Juries sometimes acquitted the guilty because they sympathised with their plight.
• Trial by jury never established in Poland or the Caucasus.
• Ecclesial and military courts excluded from reforms.

Question 21

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

EDUCATION REFORMS 1863-64
Emancipation increased the need for basic literacy.
Under Alexander Golovnin:

4

Answer 21

• Universities govern themselves and appoint their own staff.
• Responsibility for schooling transferred from the church to the zemtsva.
• Primary and secondary education extended  modern schools established for those who didn’t want traditional gymnasia education. Both could progress to university.
• Schools declared open to all regardless of class and sex.

Question 22

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

education reform results

Answer 22

Educational provision grew remarkably:
Number of primary schools rose from 8000 (1856) to 23000 (1880)
Number of university students grew from 3600 to 10,000.
New independence given to universities increased the number of radical and militant thinkers  deemed necessary to reassert government control after 1866.

Question 23

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

CENSORSHIP REFORM 1858-70

5 (inc 1 counter)

Answer 23

• Initial relaxation of press censorship:
• Restrictions on publishers lifted.
• Foreign publications permitted with government approval.
• Numbers of books published increased from 1020 to 10691 by 1894

However
A growth in critical writing brough a re-tightening of government control in the 1870s.

Question 24

2 . Political authority and attempts at reform:

OTHER REFORMS

3

Answer 24

• Attempt to eliminate corruption in the church  period of reaction in the 70s ended all hopes of this.
• Reform of the condition of Jews and ethnic minorities  reversed by the 1863 Polish rebellion.
• Economic liberalisation by Von Retuern  survived, but at the peasant’s expense.

Question 25

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

ALEXANDER II AND REACTION
1866  attempted assassination of alexander II led to a more repressive policy being adopted.

all 5 attempts

Answer 25

• 1866 – former student of noble status shoots at alexander, but misses.
• 1867 – a polish immigrant fired a carriage carrying alexander II but hit a horse instead.
• 1879 – another former student fired at alexander 5 times without success.
• 1879 – the bomb intended to blow up alexander planted under the wrong train.
• 1880 – mine positioned below the dining room in the winter palace killed 12 people but alexander was late in getting to the dinner and survived.

Question 26

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

ALEXANDER II’S LATER YEARS
1865  his eldest son and heir died, and he sought consolidation at the hands of his mistress, Yekaterina Dolgorukova – this distanced him from the reforming elements within his own family.

assasinaiton attempts

Answer 26

The assassination attempts made him more aloof  became less inclined to resist the reactionary conservatives.

Question 27

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

The reactionaries feared the spread of western ideas through liberal universities and free press and argued ethnic minorities were diluting Russian strength.
Alexander II was persuaded to replace liberal ministers with conservatives:

3

Answer 27

• Tolstoy replaced Golovnin as minister for education.
• Shuvalov  head of Third Section.
• Pahlen  minister of justice

Question 28

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

EDUCATION
* Tolstoy was an orthodox believer  believed tight control was essential to eradicate western ideas.

6

Answer 28

• Zemstvos’ powers over education reduced  church regained rural authority.
• Gimnazii schools were ordered abandon teaching national sciences.
• 1871  only students from a gimaziya could progress into university.
• Subjects encouraging critical thought – history, science, literature – were forced out and maths, Latin and Greek were encouraged.
• Censorship tightened  strict control over student activities / organisations.
  *State teacher-training colleges set up  increased tsarist control.

Question 29

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

Shuvalov strengthened the police  encouraged the Third Section.
Stepped up the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities.

led to..

Answer 29

Searches and arrest increased.
1879 – governor generals established  had emergency powers to prosecute in military courts and exile political offenders.

Question 30

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

LAW
Pahlen held open ‘show trials’ (trial that takes place in public for propaganda purposes) with the intention of deterring others from revolutionary activity  backfired – 1978 political crimes transferred to secret courts.

trial of 193 and VZ

Answer 30

Trial of 193 – a sympathetic jury acquitted 153 of the 193 defendants and gave light sentences to the rest  lawyers passionate speeches gave publicity to revolutionary ideas.

Vera Zasulich – sympathised with the accused and shot and wounded the governor of St Petersburg  found not guilty in 1978.

Question 31

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

THE LORIS-MELIKOV CONSTITUTION
1870s  time of political crisis in Russia.
Russo Turkish war 1877-8, famine swept the countryside 1879-80 and industrial recession began.
The further attempts on Alexander II’s life led him toooo

Answer 31

accept that the violence and unrest can be curbed by widening democratic consultation.
Loris-Melikov appointed minister for internal affairs  released political prisoners, abolished salt tax, and lifted zemtsva restrictions.
The third section was abolished powers transferred to the regular police.
Special section (Okhrana) created which soon became just as oppressive.

Question 32

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

1880  Loris-Melikov produced a report in response to zemtsva demands.
Recommended the inclusion of

Answer 32

elected representatives of the nobility, zemtsva and town governments in debating the drafts of state decrees.

Question 33

3 . Government and Tsars: Alexander II as ruler imposition of autocracy

Alexander II accepted and signed the document on the morning of 13th March 1881, calling for a meeting to discuss the document.
He was

Answer 33

killed by a bomb on the same day by the members of the revolutionary group, the people’s will.

Question 34

CONTINUITY

Agriculture retained its dominant place in the economy and geographical and technological problems remained.

CHANGE

Answer 34

Emancipation marked a turning point in the government’s willingness to take a direct interest in economic matters.

Question 35

CONTINUITY

Nobles retained much of their former dominance.

CHANGE

Answer 35

Changed patterns of land ownership produced a mor mobile labour force and permitted a substantial increase in grain exports  helped finance industrial development.

Question 36

CONTINUITY

Peasant society changed little as illiteracy, religious teachings and superstition combined with heavy taxation and the control of the mirs worked against change.

CHANGE

Answer 36

Social change was perpetuated by the military, educational and local government reforms which empowered a group of professionals.