alexander iii and his reactionary rule: Flashcards
how was alexander iii different to alexander ii?
he had a strong sense of commitment to autocracy and believed that his subjects should love and obey, not question. his reign began with the public execution of those involved in his fathers assassination. the loris-melikov proposals were abandoned and relied heavily on conservatives.
what were the changes in local government under alexander iii?
Land captains were create to override the decisions of the zemstva and were responsible for law enforcement and government in the countryside and could ignore the normal judicial process. a further act in 1890 reduced the peasants vote, channel efforts away from political discussion.
what were the changes in policing?
the department of police was led by Plehve, the number of police was increased and there was a drive to recruit spies and counter spies, ‘agent provocateurs’ to incriminate others. any area of the empire could be deemed an ‘area of subversion’, police agents could search, detain, arrest, question, exile people who they thought were likely to commit crimes and people who were related to them. this gave them lots of power over peoples lives.
what were the changes in the judiciary system?
it was partially reversed, in 1885 a decree provided for the minister of justice to excercise greater control i.e. the dismissal of judges. in 1887, they were granted powers to hold closed court sessions and it became responsible for the appointment of town judges. qualifications needed were raised.
what were the changes in education
Delyanov was appointed, based on ‘religious, moral and patriotic orientation rather than academic grounds. university was closed for women and groups more than 5 forbidden, lowest classes restricted to primary education. primary given to orthodox church. only 21% literate by 1897.
what were the changes in censorship?
tolstoy established temporary obligations, allowed newspapers to be closed down and a life ban placed on editors and publishers. censors became more active and russification was enforced.
what positive reforms stuck under alexander iii?
a law reduced redemption fees payable, poll tax was abolished. and the Peasants Land Bank in 1883 - forestall rebellion
what was the problem posed by ethnic minorities?
russia was a multi-national empire consisting of over 100 different ethnic groups, this posed a continual challenge, as the development of national ideology which provoked ethnic groups to assert their dominance. it also meant that ethnic minorities lacked national consciouseness when fighting for their country
what policy did alexander iii introduce to prohibit ethnic minorities?
russification
what was russification
this sought to merge all of the tsars subjects into a single nation with a feeling of shared identity,non russian cultures were destroyed, Ukrainian language in Ukraine. finland, parliament converted to weaken political influence, russian coinage replaced currency. adherence to the orthodox church was also encouraged with 37,000 lutherans converting
what was the result of russification?
the process was not accepted without resistance, in June 1888, 332 estimated cases were found in 61/92 provinces. in 51 cases, the military was employed. it caused popular resentment among the more educated and wealthy finns, poles etc. secret publication of local language books continued. had the opposite of the intended policy, some wealthier citizens emigrate and would have proved loyal.
who was affected most by russification?
jews who were confined to the pale of settlement, the growth of anti-semitism was encouraged by the polish revolt, Alexander III was anti-semitic on religious grounds but also had political concerns over the belief that jews were entering opposition groups like the peoples will, this led to the jewish pogroms
what were the jewish pogroms?
the jewish concentration made them an easy target for anti-jewish pogroms which broke out in april, they may have started because of business competition or the okhrana and his assassination. spread from yelizavetgrad to ukranian towns such as kiev, laws were introduced to prohibit jews further.
may laws - shut down businesses
jews admitted to schools limited
non christians are forbidden from buying property in several provinces
what was the impact of anti semitism?
many jews left the country, some were forcibly expelled. from 1890, foreign jews were deported from russia. around 10,000 jews were expelled from moscow, this meant jews joined revolutionary groups with the 1917 revolution including lots i.e. trotsky, zinoviev
give examples of moderate liberal opposition under alexander ii and iii?
the intelligentia could reflect could on political matters with education and wealth, it was divided into the westernisers and slavophiles, the zemstva provided a natural home for liberal opposition.
who were radical thinkers under alexander ii’s reign?
- Nikolai Chernyshevsky - book - what is to be done? - peasants would be made leaders of revolutionary change
- alexsandr herzen - the bell - new peasant based social structure
- mikhail bakunin - helped introduce marxism into russia by translating marxs communist manifesto and Das Kapital in 1872
what was the tchaikovsky circle?
primarily a literary society that organised the printing, publishing etc of radical revolutionary literature, including Marxs das capital, began organising workers with the intention of sending them to work amongst the peasants
what did it mean to go to the people?
the idea of ‘going to the people’ was created and known as narodnyism and in 1874 Lavrov encouraged 2000 people to travel to the countryside and persuade peasants that the future of russia depended on peasantry, some even dressed up as peasants but the peasants ignorance and deep rooted loyalty to the tsar meant they were reported to the authorities and arrested. despite its immediate failure, narodnyism helped to take radical opposition away from underground meetings and into the countryside and helped the government to become more aware of the depth of the opponents.
what was land and liberty?
land and liberty continued the populist tradition, its members sought to work within the peasant commune but in a less obstructive manner, some carried out political assassinations i.e. Mezemstev, head of the third section. in 1879, land and liberty split into two groups:
black repartition
the peoples will
what did the black repartition do?
continued to work peacefully amongst the peasantry, developing ties with students and workers and publishing radical material to stimulate social change without resorting to violence. however it was weakened by arrests.
what did the peoples will do?
led by alexsandr mikhailov who successfully planted a spy into the third section, advocated violent methods undermining government by assassinating officials. they successfully assassinated the tsar in 1881
what was the tsarist reaction to radical opposition after 1881? how do the movement continue?
alexander iis death marked a turning point, security was stepped up and the tsar retired to the fortified castle of Gatchina in fear of assassination. This effectively ended the populist movement although some continued. Self education circles such as the muscovite society of translators and publishers reproduced the writings of foreign socialists. plehanov established the emancipation of labour group in 1883 which arranged marxist tracts to be smuggled into russia. - vital in advancing marxism
who was vyshnegradky and what did he do to the economy?
vyshnegradsky became head of the ministry of finance in 1887 -92, a prohibitive import tariff of 30 per cent of the value of raw materials was introduced. this was designed to boost home production and considerably helped the iron industry as well as the development of industrial machinery. he also increased indirect taxes and mounted a drive to well grain exports. on the surface it appeared successful increasing by 18% and russian budget in surplus. however it was at the expense of peasants, ‘we ourselves shall not eat, but we shall export’, led to widespread great famine of 1891, which led to his dismissal
who was sergei witte and what did he do for the economy?
he was vyshnegradskys successor and was totally committed to economic modernisation as a means to curbing revolutionary activity. witte believed that the only way forward was to continue with protective tariffs, heavy taxation and forced exports to generate capital. witte also sought additonal loans to increase foreign exports, much of the investment went into mining, metal, oil and banking. witte also encouraged managers, workers etc from france, sweden, britian etc to oversee industrial developments.
- became the fourth largest industrial economy by 1897
- helped increase exports and foreign trade
- huge expansion of the railway network
