Chapter 2- Alexander II Flashcards
How many serfs did he emancipate in 1861
51 million
What was his nickname
‘The tsar liberator’
What fuelled Alexander’s desire to emancipate the Serfs
His tutor Vasily Zhukovsky
Travels around the empire under Nicholas I
Spending time with ‘enlightened beurocrats’ such as the Milyutin brothers
His brother (Grand Duke Konstantin)
His aunt (Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna)
How did Alexander start his reign
Releasing political prisoners and pardoning the Decembrists
Relaxed censorship
Lessened university and travel restrictions
Cancelled tax debts
Have old liberties back to Poland and the Catholic Church
How did Alexander try to gain nobles support for emancipation
Traveled round the countryside preaching pro-emancipation speeches (1958-1959)
Who did the original emancipation edict free
Privately owned serfs
When did state Serge get their freedom
1966
How long did serfs have to pay redemption payments for
49 years
What was the name of peasant communes who were responsible for distributing land and collecting taxes
Mir
What were introduced to oversee the Mir
Volosts
What did the volosts do
Oversaw the Mir
Had their own courts to replace landlords jurisdiction over Serfs
How many peasants remained ‘temporarily obligated’ to their lord until 1881
15%
What percentage of the peasantry were production surplus by 1878
50%
How many riots were there in the first four months following the emancipation
647
What is an example of a riot following the emancipation
Bezdna riot where 70 peasants were killed
What was the effect of emancipation on many nobles
Bankruptcy
What military reforms did Alexander make
Conscription was made compulsory for all classes
Minimum service reduced from 25 to 15 years
Punishments made less harsh and military colonies abolished
Modern weaponry used
Military colleges set up to provide better training to those of lower classes
Army literacy improved as a result of army literacy campaigns
What war did Russia partake in following Crimea
Turkey 1877-1878
What local government reforms did Alexander make
Introduced zemstva
How were the Zemstva elected and what was the problem with this
Through electoral colleges
This favoured the higher classes
What did the zenstva get given power to do
Improve public services
Develop industrial projects
Provide poor relief
When were the zemstva introduced to towns
1870
What percentage of nobles and peasants made up district zemstvas
42% nobles
38% peasants
What percentage of nobles and peasants made up provincial zemstvas
74% nobles
10.5% peasants
What judiciary reforms were made in 1864
Innocent until proven guilty
Everyone had the right to be placed in front of a randomly selected jury
Judges were better payed and trained
Judges selected by the tsar
Courts were open to the public and the press
What was the problem with the new judicial laws
Some judges and jury’s used it as a platform to criticise the tsar by acquitting people they felt pity for
What were the new judicial reforms based off
The west
What was a limitation of the judicial reforms
Trial by jury never established in Poland the Caucuses and the western provinces
What education reforms were made in 1864
Universities could govern themselves ans appoint their own staff
Zemstva got control of education over the Orthodox Church
Woman allowed at primary ans vocational schools after 1870
How did the numbers of children in primary schools change between 1856-1880
8000 to 23000 schools
400000 to a million students
What censorship reforms were made in 1858-1870
Restrictions on publications reduced
Foreign publications allowed with government approval
Pires could print editorials that commented on government policy
How did the number of books published per year change from 1855 to 1894
1020 in 1855
1836 in 1864
10,691 in 1894
How did the population of Russia change from 1950-97
grew from 80-122m
what was the Russian population in 1958
74 million
how much of the Russian population were serfs in 1958
24 million serfs
19 million state owned peasants
population was 70 million
what percentage of the population worked the land in 1958
85%
when was the first assassination attempt on Alexander II
1966
what made Alexander II more reactionary
first assassination attempt
when was the Circassian genocide
1863
how many were killed in the Circassian genocide
800,000
what percentage of the caucasus region was deported or killed
97%
how many books were published in 1955 compared to 1964
1955- 1,020
1964- 1,894
what percentage of soldiers had a gun in the crimean war
50%
when was Alaska sold to the USA
1867
what was the league of the three emperors
alliance between Russia, Germany and Austro-hungary
when was the Turkish war
1877
what was the Paris treaty
brought an end to the crimean war
what did the Black Sea clauses in the Paris treaty force Russia to do
decrease the size of the navy
