Chapter 4

Question 1

Which ethnic groups made up 2/3 of the population during Alexander II’s reign?

Answer 1

Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians

Question 2

Why did the ethnic minorities prove a challegnge for Alexander II’s reign?

Answer 2

National minorities were provoked to assert their distinctive identities in order to maintain their culture

Question 3

What form of resistance did the Finns show in the 1840s?

Answer 3

A Finnish language pressure group was set up with a national Finnish newspaper

Question 4

What Ukranian group sought to separate Ukranians from their Russian counterparts?

Answer 4

Brotherhood of Saint Cyrus and Methodius

Question 5

How did the Polish resist against Alexander II’s reign in 1863?

Answer 5

200,000 Poles had created an underground National Government for Poland, and waged a form of guerilla warfare

Question 6

What kind of concessions did Alexander II use to appease the national minorities?

Answer 6

In 1864 and 1875, Latvians and Estonians were allowed to revert to Lutheranism and the Finns were granted their own diet (parliament)

Question 7

Why was there growing intolerance to national minorities at the end of Alexander II’s reign?

Answer 7

A result of Alexander’s assassination attempts and the influence of more conservative ministers

Question 8

How were Ukrainians repressed further in 1876?

Answer 8

A prohibition on the use of the Ukrainian language in publications and performances

Question 9

What was ‘Russification’?

Answer 9

The belief and program that sought to merge all of the Tsar’s subjects into a single nation with a feeling of shared identity

Question 10

How did Alexander III’s reign impact the rights of the Finns?

Answer 10

The diet was reorganised to weaken its political influence, the Russian language was increasingly demanded, the independent postal service was abolished and Russian coinage replaced local currency

Question 11

How did Alexander III’s reign impact the rights of the Poles?

Answer 11

The Polish National Bank was closed in 1885 and in schools and universities Russian was enforced in all subjects except Polish and religion

Question 12

How were Baltic Germans impacted by Russification?

Answer 12

The use of Russian was enforced in all state offices, schools, the police force and the judiciary. The German University of Dorpar was ‘Russified’ and became Iurev University

Question 13

How was the Ukraine impacted by Russification?

Answer 13

In 1884, all the theatres in Ukrainian provinces were closed and conscripts from national areas were dispersed to prevent national groupings

Question 14

What were some examples of uprisings that were crushed by Alexander III’s regime?

Answer 14

Georgia in 1892, Bashkira in 1884, Fergana and Armenia in 1886 and at Tashkent in 1892

Question 15

How many Lutherans converted to Orthodoxy to take advantage of special measures?

Answer 15

37,000

Question 16

How was Catholicism treated in Poland under Russification?

Answer 16

Catholic monasteries were closed down, the influence of Catholic priests was curbed and incentives were provided for the settling of non-Catholics

Question 17

How were Muslims treated during Russification?

Answer 17

The All-Russian Orthodox Missionary society worked to convert ‘heathens and Muslims’ by forced mass baptisms

Question 18

How were non-Orthodox faiths treated from 1883?

Answer 18

They were not allowed to build new places of worship, wear religious dress or spread religious propaganda

Question 19

How many cases of mass disturbance was reported in June 1888 as a result of Russification?

Answer 19

332 cases of mass disturbance in 61 of Russia’s 92 provinces and districts

Question 20

Which groups were particularly affected by Russification?

Answer 20

Finns, Poles and Baltic Germans

Question 21

What forms of non-violent resistance were there as a response to Russification?

Answer 21

National groups petitioned the Tsars, secret publication of books in local languages and some ethnic schools survived

Question 22

Why was there some support for Russification?

Answer 22

Some believed Russification was necessary to unite the country to improve its administration, to allow for modernisation and reassert Russian strength

Question 23

How many Jewish people approximately lived in the Russian Empire?

Answer 23

Five million

Question 24

What was the Pale of Settlement?

Answer 24

A region in the southern and western parts of European Russia (around 20%) in which most Jewish people were confined

Question 25

Why was there resentment to Jewish people in Alexander II’s reign?

Answer 25

They did not follow the Orthodox church, and were also resented for their money lending and personal riches

Question 26

What phrase did Pobedonostev use to encourage anti-Semitism?

Answer 26

One third should emigrate, one third die, and one third assimilate

Question 27

Why was Alexander III himself anti-Semitic?

Answer 27

He held strong religious beliefs due to Jesus’ crucifixion but also there were political concerns that Jewish people were responsible for Alexander II’s assassinations

Question 28

When and where did Pogroms begin in the Russian Empire?

Answer 28

In April 1881, in Yelizavetgrad in the Ukraine

Question 29

What could be some reasons for Pogroms?

Answer 29

Some business competition involving Jewish people or possibly encouraged by the Okhrana to stir up trouble

Question 30

How many cities were affected by Jewish pogroms and how were they affected?

Answer 30

16 major cities, with Jewish property burnt shops and businesses destroyed and many incidences of rape and murder

Question 31

What anti-Semitic legislation was issued in 1887?

Answer 31

The quota of Jewish people admitted to schools and universities is introduced: 10% within the Pale, 5% outside, and 3% in the capital

Question 32

What anti-Semitic legislation was issued in 1892?

Answer 32

Jewish people are prohibited from participating in local elections and town Dumas

Question 33

What anti-Semitic legislation was issued in 1893?

Answer 33

It is now illegal for Jewish people to adopt a ‘Christian’ name

Question 34

How many Jewish artisans were deported in the winter of 1891-92?

Answer 34

10,000

Question 35

How did Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich encourage expulsions of Jewish people?

Answer 35

He forced the expulsion of 20,000 Jewish people during Passover

Question 36

What were some notable Jewish revolutionaries?

Answer 36

Trotsky, Martov, Zinoviev and Litvinov