chapter five Flashcards
proletariat
urban working class
polarised
opposite ‘extremes’
socialist
a person who believes that society should be egalitarian; in the nineteenth century this meant taking from the rich to give to the poor to decrease inequality
how alexander ii’s reforms led to threats against the tsarist autocracy
the initial relaxation of censorship encouraged spread of radicalisation
the creation of zemstva and dumas provided platform to challenge tsarist policies
judicial system allowed jury to let rebels leave as not guilty and let lawyers criticise the autocracy
how alexander ii’s reactionary government led to threats against the tsarist autocracy
people still wanted more changes and had gotten used to the reforming legislation
people were discontent and therefore more easily radicalised
nihilism
the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated
anarchism
the belief in self governed institutions, the state is considered unnecessary or even harmful
moderate liberal opposition
very small group due to small amount of literate and educated russians; typically made up of middle/upper class educated and well-travelled men
two main factions of moderate liberals
westernisers versus slavophiles
westernisers
who wanted to catch up with the west and copy western ways
slavophiles
favoured a superior ‘russian’ path to a better future
which faction was majority of zemstva in
westernisers
goals of the westernisers
to reform autocracy so he would have to listen to and rule in conjunction with his subjects
alexander ii’s opinion on giving zemstva national influence
when originally created, alexander ii was very against it
however by the 1870s he had changed his mind; proven by the loris-melikov proposals almost having taken effect
when did alexander iii restrict power of the zemstva
1889-90
when did slavophiles diminsh as an ideology
1890s
when was the famine under alexander iii
1891-92
how did the famine weaken tsarist autocracy
because autocracy was unable to fix the famine; leaving the role of fixing the famine to the zemstva showing the autocracy as unreliable or ill-equipped
when were the st petersburg fires and how many shops did they destroy
june 1862; 2000 shops
example of radical writings
the contemporary; 1862
the bell; 1869
the communist manifesto translated into russian; 1869
the tchaikovsky circle
set up in 1868-9 in st petersburg; primarily a literature society that prioritised the distribution of scientific and revolutionary literature
never more than 100 people but sought social revolution
by 1872 started organising radicalised workers to work with the peasants and radicalise them/distribute the books from the society
action of the populists
2000 young men and women from the noble intelligensia to go to the countryside and attempt to radicalise peasants
the attempt was shattered by peasant hostility of the attempt of radicalisation so the populists were quickly reported to authorities
how many populists were arrested
1600
second attempt of the populists
occurred in 1876
led to more arrests and show trials; 1887-8
land and liberty
set up in 1877
members sought work within peasant communes (as doctors, teachers, etc.)
some carried out political assainations
assassinations done by land and liberty
general mezemtsev; head of third section was assassinated by 1878
two factions of land and libertys split
black repartition
the peoples will
the peoples will
able to plant a spy in the third section; so had information of secret polices activity to evade arrest
bigger group than black repartition
advocated violent methods; including assassination of officials
succesfully assassinated alexander ii in march 1881
when was alexander ii’s assassination
march 1881
impact of alexander ii’s assassination
seen as a turning point with the distrust and distance between the people and the tsar; no longer one with the people
many royalists grew distrust of opposition and radicals
