Alexander III - Politics Flashcards
A3s first decisions as tsar
-issued the manifesto of unshakeable autocracy 1881
-hung conspirators involved with a2s assassination
-loris-melikov proposals abandoned
Changes in ministers
-Dmitry Milyutin resigned
-Ignatiev first internal minister replaced by tolstoy 1882
-Delyanov minister for education
Land captains introduction
-land captain created july 1889, state appointed
-could override zemstvo decisions
-responsible for law enforcement and government in countryside
-could ignore normal judicial process
Reduction of zemstva power
-act in 1890 reduced the peasants vote
-placed them under central government control
-channelled efforts from politics to social services
Reduction of town council power
-act in june 1892
-electorate reduced to property owners above certain value
-mayor and council members became state employees
Changes in policing
-led by von plehve 81-84, from 84 onwards by durnovo
-number of police increased, more spies recruited
-1882 statute on police surveillance
-police agents could search, arrest, detain, question, imprison anyone who had committed a crime, was thought to have or knew someone who had
Changes in judicial system
-1885 minister for justice gained more control
-1887 ministry could hold closed court sessions
-1887 qualifications for jurors increased
-1889 ministry responsible for town judges appointment
-1889 volost courts under jurisdiction of land captains in countryside and judges in towns
Censorship reforms
-tolstoy established government committee 1882
-newspapers to be closed down, ban on editors/publishers
-literary publications had to be approved
-censorship extended to theatre, art and culture
Issues posed by ethnic minorities
-development of national identity in 19th century
-polish nationalism surfaced, brought rebellion in 1830
-1840s finnish language pressure group set up
-‘brotherhood of saints cyril and methodius’ sought ukrainian independence
Russification in Poland
-polish national bank closed 1885
-schools and unis to teach all subjects in russian
-polish literature studied in russian translation
Russification in Finland
-diet reorganised in 1892 to weaken political influence
-use of russian increasingly demanded
-independent postal service abolished
-russian currency replaced local coinage
Russification of Baltic Germans
-subject of particularly agressive russification
-between 1885 and 1889 measures ensured use of russian in state offices, schools, police and judicial system
-german university of dorpar became iurev university
Russification in ukraine
-use of ukranian language limited in 1883
-threatres closed 1884
-military service arrangements extended, conscripts from regions dispersed and all business done in russian
Suppression of uprisings
-Bashkira in 1884
-Uzbek district of Fergana and Armenia 1886
-Tashkent 1892
-Guriya in Georgia 1892
Forced adherence to the orthodox church
-37,000 lutherans in baltic region converted to orthodoxy
-catholic monasteries closed down in poland
-influence of catholic priests curbed in poland
-forced mass baptisms of muslims and heathens in asia
Non orthodox church laws of 1883
-not allowed to build new places of worship (pow)
-not allowed to wear religious dress apart from in pow
-any attempt to convert a member of orthodox faith was punishable by exile to siberia
Mass disturbances in protest to russification
-june 1888, 332 cases of mass disturbance
-happened in 61/92 provinces, 9/12 central provinces
-all swiftly stopped, military sent 51 times
A3s anti semitism
-appointment of pobedonostsev who was anti semitic
-‘1/3 should die, 1/3 emigrate and 1/3 assimilate’
-a3 was anti semitic himself, largely on religious grounds
-right wing press had convinced people that the jews were involved in a2s assassination
Jewish pogroms 1881-84
-broke out in april 1881 in yelizavetgrad, ukraine
-governing authorities did little to stop the violence
-‘holy league’ supported by pob coordinated early attacks
-riots spread across 16 major cities causing jews to flee
-outbreaks sometimes happened after 1884, odessa 1886
May Laws
-condemned the jews to living in ghettos in towns/cities
-decreased number of jewish doctors in russian army
-jewish businesses banned from operating on sundays
-mortgage contracts of jews outside towns/cities cancelled
Impact of anti semitism
-many jews left freely while some were forced out
-from 1890 foreign jews were deported
-winter of 1891/92 10,000 jews expelled from moscow
-Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, a3s brother forced 20,000 from moscow in 1892 as governor general
