Booklet 1 - Introduction Flashcards
What are the key events that happened before 1894?
- 1861: Emancipation reform, Alexander III issued a manifesto emancipating the serfs.
- 1861: Student protests against the Tsar
- 1894: Alexander III dies, Nicholas II succeeds him
Where did the Tsar get his power from?
Article 1 of the Fundamental Laws states that the emperor of Russia is an autocratic monarch (has all power as an individual) and that God has chosen him, therefore people must obey (divine right of kings).
Who supported the Tsar at this time?
- The nobility
- Officials
- The Army
- The Russian Orthodox Church
What was Russia like at this time?
- Russia was politically less advanced than any other European nation
- Criminal offence to oppose the Tsar
- No parliament or political parties
- Censorship of the press
What were the 3 bodies which the Tsar exercised his authority?
- The Imperial Council: Group of honourary advisers, not very powerful
- The Cabinet of Ministers: This oversaw the running of government departments
- The Senate: This supervised the operation of the law
Why were the 3 bodies effectively powerless?
- They were appointed and not elected
- Their roles were only advisory
- They didn’t restrict the power of the Tsar
- The Tsar had the final say and decision always
They supported the Tsar.
What was the army like at this time?
- It had 1.5 million men
- The army was used for defence but to also control the number of people in Russia through conscription
- Conscription was used as a form of punishment: army life was brutal
- The army had bad living conditions and during the reign of Nicholas II, over 1 million soldiers died in peace time
- The army reflected the social imbalance: the higher ranks were filled with the aristocracy which they used for corruption
- 45% of Russian money was spent on the army, 4% on education
- Army mainly used to put down internal uprisings - it was an important tool for the Tsar
They supported the Tsar.
What did the Bureaucracy do during this time?
- Controlled the lives of Russian people
- Responsible for law, civil administrations, the police and military
- It was filled with corruption and nepotism
- Ordinary citizens had no rights and critics of the Bureaucracy blamed them for Russia’s backwardness
- The people within were too self centred to worry about the modernisation of Russia
It supported the Tsar.
What was the Russian Orthodox Church like?
- Fully supported the Tsar
- An independent institution
- Opposed to political change, became a conservative body
- Reinforced the divine right of kings - if people went against the Tsar, they went against God
What did the Russian population/hierarchy look like at this time?
- The Tsar
- Ruling class - 0.5%
- The Church
- The army
- Upper class - 12%
- Working class - 4%
- Peasants - 80%
What was the economy like?
- Massively based on agriculture
- Industrial development was modest and only happened in towns such as St Petersburg and Moscow - textile factories, iron production
- Bad infrastructure
- Bad agriculture - poor soil and climate
