Chapter 1 Flashcards
between 1862 and 1870 the army reserve increased from what to what?
210,000 to 550,000
how many peasant disturbances were there in 1861 in reaction to the emancipation edict
1000
who tried to assassinate the Tsar in 1866 and failed
Karakazov
who did Alexander II appoint as head of the Third Section after the attempted assassination in 1866?
Count Peter Shuvalov
when did the Narodnik’s “go to the people”
1874
what were the 2 trials in 1877 of the Narodniks
“trial of the 50” and “trial of the 193”
which 2 groups did Land and Liberty split into
The Black Repartition and The People’s Will
what was the population of Russia in 1859?
70 million
how many different nationalities were there in the Russian empire in 1855
100
what % of the population did the nobility make up
less than 1%
what % of the peasantry were serfs
50% of the peasantry were serfs
what % of the peasantry were state owned?
40% of the peasantry were state owned
when was the Crimean war?
1853-56
what did the Crimean war highlight?
Russia’s lack of industrialisation left them behind Britain and France militarily- they were outdated and needed to modernise to keep up
what were the two schools of thought that appeared in the 1850s regarding the need for reform
westernisers and slavophiles
what did slavophiles believe
that Russia’s culture was innately superior to the West and therefore had to find a different way to change bespoke to Russia’s different culture of togetherness (the peasant commune)
what did westernisers believe?
westernisers wanted industrialisation and urbanisation as well as parliamentary democracy
what were the similarities between westernisers and slavophiles
both were patriotic, wanted change, greater communication between the Tsar and his people and a form of national representation- westernisers wanted a constitution and parliamentary democracy, whereas Slavophiles wanted a consultative assembly
when was the emancipation of the serfs
1861
what did Alexander II say to the Marshalls of the nobility in 1856?
“it is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for a time when it starts to abolish itself from below”
when did Alexander II make his speech to the Marshalls of the Nobility?
1856
what are the 4 different reasons for the emancipation edict?
moral case, risk of revolt, Crimean war and economic reasons
what was the moral case for the emancipation edict?
members of the royal family such as the Tsar’s brother Grand Duke Konstantin or liberal advisors such as Nicholas Milyutin may have convinced Alexander that it was wrong to own humans
what was the argument that the emancipation was necessary to avoid revolution?
in 1848 there had been revolt across Europe and France had overthrown its monarch establishing the second republic, this would have worried Alexander who may have wanted to make concessions before demands were made for national representation
what was the argument that reform (emancipation) was needed because of the Crimean war
the Crimean war (1853-56) indicated that military reform was needed to restore the Russian military to its former glory, reformers suggested a smaller, better trained army, however this would mean shortening the length of conscription from 25 years, worried that the serfs returning from shorter periods of conscription would start revolutionary movements, emancipation was necessary to move forward with military reforms
what were the economic reasons for the emancipation edict (1861)
many officials were convinced by economist Adam Smith that free labour was more productive and would provide the key to Russia’s industrialisation, as well as creating domestic demand and markets to boost growth, furthermore Russia’s entire economic position was based on grain exports, if the harvest failed they would go into recession
were the peasants happy about the emancipation edict?
no, in general they worked less land which was lower quality and still couldn’t move freely- tied to the mir rather than the nobility and had to pay redemption payments over the course of 49 years to the government.
what did the local government reform of 1864 accomplish
it set up zemstvo- which were local councils elected by peasants and nobles, in charge of health, education and infrastructure, they hired teachers, doctors and agricultural experts known as the “third element”
what was the “third element”
the emerging middle class of teachers, doctors and lawyers that grew out of the reforms in the 1860s
