Alexander III

Question 1

John Etty Historiography

Answer 1

AIII “alienated almost every social, ethic and economic group in the Empire”
An “unintentional destroyer of tsarism”

Question 2

Westwood historiography

Answer 2

It was in fact the “intensification of repression” which led to “further dissent in the empire”

Question 3

Orlando Figes historiography

Answer 3

“the counter reforms of his reign were a vital turning point in the pre-history of the revolution”

Question 4

When was the Manifesto on Unshakable Autocracy published?

Answer 4

29 April 1881, following AII assassination.

Question 5

Ethnic minorities made up what percent of the population in Russia?

Answer 5

55% according to an 1897 (or 1879) census

Question 6

When did AIII pass a law requiring all primary schools in Poland to teach in Russian?

Answer 6

1885

Question 7

What did Lenin call ethnic minorities in Russia?

Answer 7

‘prison of peoples’

Question 8

Communist leaders who were ethnic minorities

Answer 8

Trotsky, Stalin and Khrushchev

Question 9

When did Poland and Finland declare independence?

Answer 9

1917

Question 10

Hen were Jews scapegoated by the Russian minister of the interior?

Answer 10

After the assassination of AII, he referred to the culprits as “a diabolical combination of Poles and Jews”

Question 11

How many Jewish people were hurt and injured in the worst pogrom?

Answer 11

47 dead and 400 wounded

Question 12

How many restrictive decrees were passed against Jews during AIII’s reign?

Answer 12

Over 600

Question 13

When were Land Captains introduced? What did they do?

Answer 13

1889. Rash solely from the nobility, could override the authority of the zemstvo. Increased levels of bureaucracy, stifled social mobility, led to some class antagonism.

Question 14

When did AIII pass a law banning peasants from leaving the Mir? What was the consequence?

Answer 14

1893. Restricted the economic freedom of the Mir to seek supplemental work in towns over the winter (many did so anyway), restricting physical and social mobility simultaneously. Resented by peasants as it made it even harder to make redemption payments.

Question 15

How did AIII extend the influence of the Church?

Answer 15

Made Pobodonostev Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod from 1880. Under his command 250 new churches and ten monasteries were built (each year?). It’s effectiveness is illustrated by Repin’s painting Religious Procession in Kursk Province - depicts a blind boy leading fervent masses with officer on horseback corralling the crowd.

Question 16

Who were the finance ministers under AIII?

Answer 16

Bunge 1881-‘87, Ivan Vyshnegradsky 1887-‘92, Sergei Witte 1892-1903.

Question 17

Between which years did coal production double in Russia?

Answer 17

1881 and 1894

Question 18

When did the Russian state have a budget surplus for the first time?

Answer 18

1892

Question 19

When did Bunge pass legislation to reduce threat of proletariat revolution and what was it?

Answer 19

1882 Labour legislation to improve working conditions by factory inspection.
1886 Stricter legislation for employment and wages.

Question 20

When did Bunge retire and why?

Answer 20

1887, because when he called for greater labour reforms he was branded a socialist by conservative ministers. His departure prevented AIII from ameliorating his relationship with the proletariat, who would form the bulwark of the revolutions of 1917.

Question 21

When was the Statute of State Security passed and what did it do?

Answer 21

1881. Gave the government the right to:
      prohibit all gatherings of more than 12 people,
      close schools and universities,
      and prosecute any individual for political crimes.

Question 22

What was the Statue of State Security according to Lenin?

Answer 22

“the real Russian constitution”

Question 23

By 1917 how many revolutionaries had been killed by the state?

Answer 23

14,000

Question 24

How was AIII successful in preventing greater education of peasants?

Answer 24

Schools were also forced to raise their fees to prevent the poorer classes gaining an education. Universities lost most of the freedoms gained under Alexander II and censorship was tightened considerably.
Proof of success: in 1897 the illiteracy rate was 79%.

Question 25

When was the Okhrana founded?

Answer 25

1881