Chapter 1 (1) Flashcards
Russian society in 1855
Lacked national consciousness
Empire was held together by the ‘reverence for the Tsar’
Orthodoxy was very prevalent
Was an autocratic empire
Religion in Russia 1855
The tsar was the head of the Orthodox Church
‘Embodiment of God on Earth’
Over-Procurator of the Holy Synod was a government minister appointed by the Tsar to run church affairs
Church and state were heavily intertwined
Tsars advisory system in 1855
Tsar had ministers and advisors but they had to run everything by the Tsar
Imperial Council were the main advisory body (35-60 nobles)
Council of Ministers (8-14) for government departments
Senate was largely redundant by 1855
Nobles were no obligated to serve the State but many still remained to
Civil servants who made up the bureaucracy were paid noble officials
Bureaucracy was riddled with internal corruption and incompetence
It worked in a top down system
Army in 1855
World’s largest army of 1.5million
Currently losing the Crimean War 1853-1856
Serfs were conscripted for 25 years and made to live in a military colony
The army and navy took up 45% of the governments spending
The top ranks were reserved for nobles who paid their way in
Cossacks- Personal bodyguards to the Tsar and police reinforcements. Came from Ukraine and Southern Russia
Policing in 1855
Russia had developed into a police state
Prevented freedom of speech, freedom of press and the ability to travel abroad
Strikes and political meetings were forbidden
Censorship was harsh and existed at every level
Secret state security of the ‘Third Section’ which had unlimited powers to carry out raids, arrest or exile anyone who produced ‘anti tsarist’ behaviour
Economy in 1855
Russia was very behind the leading European powers like Britain, Belgium and France
Had a village to town ratio of 11:1 whereas Britain was 2:1
Most of the land was inhospitable making it hard to make surplus
Mid Nineteenth century it was Europes main exporter of agricultural production
Lacked lots of progress due to serfdom therefore there was a lack of wage-earners, markets, and entrepreneurs
Most of the economy was cottage industries so didn’t produce a surplus
Bad harvests were common and caused starvation
Markets were growing but it was still small scale
Self sufficiency meant that comparatively few goods were actually bought
No internal market demand
Most of the landowning elite got their produce from payment from the serfs
Money was of very little use in Russias underdeveloped economy
However crop rotation, fertilisers and new developments were becoming more common
Society in 1855
Russian society was mainly made up of a peasantry and severely lacked a middle class
Small number of ‘intellegentsia’ however these were usually the sons of nobles
Serfs were liable for dues to their masters and had to pay direct and indirect taxes to the government
These taxes made up 90% of Imperial Finance however this was already changing to a more commercial style of taxation through vodka
Nobility and clergy were exempt from taxes
Crimean War
1853-1856
Russia won the first battle against Turkey however the English and French allied with Turkey and sent 60,000 troops
Russia suffered due to inadequate leadership, outdated technology, and poor transport
Russia was defeated at Balaclava in October 1854 and Inkerman in November 1854
September 1855, Russia lost their fortress at Sebastopol which humiliated the government
War revealed Russias administrative and military inadequacies
Caused an increase in peasant uprisings, decrease in trade, and the intelligentsia fighting for change
Treaty of Paris 1856 was humiliating as Russia had to remove their ships from the Black Sea
