Alexander II, the 'Tsar Reformer' Flashcards
1
Q
When was Alexander II appointed as Tsar?
A
1855
2
Q
When was the Emancipation of the Serfs?
A
1861
3
Q
When was the state bank created?
A
1860
4
Q
When was the reform of tax collection under Alexander II?
A
1860
5
Q
When were the military reforms implemented?
A
1862-74
6
Q
When was the Polish Revolt?
A
1863
7
Q
When was the university statute?
A
1863
8
Q
When were the zemstva created?
A
1864
9
Q
When was the judiciary reform?
A
1864
10
Q
When was the elementary school reform?
A
1864
11
Q
When was the censorship reform?
A
1865
12
Q
When was the first assassination attempt on Alexander II?
A
1866
13
Q
When were the church reforms implemented?
Over two years
A
1867-69
14
Q
When was the city/town reform?
A
1870
15
Q
When were dumas introduced?
A
1870
16
Q
When were the military service reforms?
A
1874
17
Q
When did the Populists begin ‘Go to the People’?
A
1874
18
Q
When was Chernyshevsky’s **What is to be done? **published?
A
1864
19
Q
When was the Russian publication of Karl Marx’s **Das Kapital?
A
1872
20
Q
When did the group Land and Liberty form and split?
A
1876-79
21
Q
When was the Russo-Turkish War?
Over one year.
A
1877-78
22
Q
When was the People’s Will established?
A
1879
23
Q
When was the Assassination of Alexander II?
A
1881
24
Q
When were the Loris-Melikov proposals?
A
1880
25
When was the Loris-Melikov constitution signed but **not confirmed**?
1881
26
When was **Count Tolstoy** chosen as **Minister of Education**?
| Left post in 1880.
1866
27
When was the famine and industrial recession?
| Over two years.
1879-80
28
When was the **Russo-Turkish War**?
| Over two years.
1877-78
29
When was Alexander's **educational reaction**?
1871
30
When was the **Trial of the 50**?
1877
31
When was the **case** of **Vera Zasulich**?
| She shot and wounded governor of St Petersburg, Dmitri Trepov.
1878
32
What is **enlightened despotism**?
Where an all-powerful ruler grants domestic reforms in order to benefit his people
33
What is a **slavophile**?
One who believes in the superiority of the Russian Empire, and its traditional values and beliefs
34
What is a **westerniser**?
One who conforms with Western ideals and values; democratic government for example
35
What was the **Party of St Petersburg Progress**?
| A loose title.
The more liberal nobles and officals who gathered around more liberal positions of authority
36
What was the **Abolition of Serfdom**?
| Applied to private serfs in 1961, and state serfs in 1866.
1. Granted serfs freedom and an allotment of land, while landowners recieved compensation
2. Freed serfs were required to pay redemption payments over 49 years
3. Mirs were made responsible for allocation of land, while volosts ruled over them
37
What were **redemption payments**?
Serfs were required to pay money for their freedom
38
What were **volosts**?
A peasant community consisting of several villages or hamlets, which eventually ran their own courts
39
What were **zemstva**?
Locally elected government officials
40
What was a **kulak**?
A prosperous landed peasant
41
# Ordered by Dmitry Milyutin
What was included in the **military reforms** of 1874 - 1875?
| Give two points.
* Conscription was made compulsory for all classes from the age of 21
* Length of service was reduced from 25 to 15 years of active service, and 10 years in the reserves
* Punishments were made less severe
* System of military colonies was removed
* Modern weaponry was introduced and a new command structure was established
* Military colleges were set up to provide better training for the non-noble officers
* Literacy in the army was improved, with mass army-education campaigns in the 1870s
42
What was included in the **local government reforms** of 1864 - 1870?
| Give two points.
* System of elected local coucils was established, known as zemstva (singular *zemstvo*)
* Electoral colleges created for peasants, Church, townspeople and nobles
* Zemstva given power to improve public services, develop industrial projects and administer poor relief in times of hardship
43
What was included in the **judiciary reforms** of 1864?
| Give two points
* Equality before the law was established with a single system of local, provincial and national courts
* Criminal cases were heard before barristers and a jury, selected from lists of property owners
* Local Justices of the Peace were elected every 3 years by the zemstva
* Courts were opened to the public
44
# Ordered by Alexander Golovnin.
What was included in the **educational reforms**of 1863 - 1864?
| Give two points.
* Universities were given the opportunity to govern themselves and appoint their own staff
* responsibility for school was transferred from the Russian-Orthodox Church to the zemstva
* primary and secondary education was extended; those who wanted a classical education could go to a gimnaziya, while 'modern' schools offered an alternative
* schools were declared open to all regardless of class and sex
45
What was included in the **censorship reform** from 1858 - 1870?
* relaxation of press censorship
* foreign publications were permitted with government approval
* press could comment on government policies
| However there was a re-tightening of government control in the 1870s.
46
When was the death of Alexander II's **son and heir?**
1865
47
Who was the '**Black Tsar**'?
Konstantin Pobedonotztev
48
In 1866, Alexander **replaced** many ministerial positions with more** Conservative ministers**. Give two examples.
* Dmitry Tolstoy replacing Golovnin as Minister for Education
* Aleksandr Timashev replacing Pyotr Valuev as Minister of Internal Affairs
* Pyotr Shuvalov as head of the Third Section
* Konstantin Pahlen as Minister of Justice
49
Give some ***education* counter-reforms** of Alexander II.
| Give two.
* Church regained authority over rural schools
* From 1871, only students from gimnazyas could progress to university
* Liberal courses at universities were replaced by a traditional curriculum
* Censorship was tightened
50
Give some **police, law and control counter-reforms** of Alexander II.
| Give two.
* searches and arrests saw an increase
* governor-general established in 1879 with emergency powers
* Pahlen held 'show trials' to deter future wrongdoers
* political crimes move to secret courts in 1878
51
What were the People's Will's core beliefs?
Radical change to the system, carried out through terrorist attacks
52
What were Great Repartition's core ideas?
Liberal change through moderate actions e.g. news publishing, protests
53
What percentage of state income did **poll tax** make up?
25%
54
What was the **foreign investment of roubles** in 1880?
98 million
55
How many serfs were emancipated in 1861?
51 million
56
Over how many years were **redemption payments**?
49 years
57
When was Karl Marx's **'Das Kapital'** released in Russia?
1872
58
What was a Narodnik?
A populist, typically part of the educated class.
59
