Chapter one: S5

Question 1

outline the emergence of new ideas and opposition from Alex II’s reforms

Answer 1

• relaxation on censorship - brought spread of radical literature
• relaxation of controls in higher education increased no. of independently minded students

Question 2

outline moderate liberal opposition under Alex III

Answer 2

• size/influence of liberal intelligentsia grew with reforms from late 19th century
• had the benefit of education and wealth, time and interest to reflect on political matters
• many had travelled abroad

Question 3

what two broad categories did the moderate liberal opposition fall into

Answer 3

• westernisers - who wanted to ‘catch up with the west’
• slavophiles - favoured a superior ‘Russian’ path to a better future

Question 4

how was the zemstva involved in liberal oposition

Answer 4

• members of the zemstva hoped to reform the autocracy so the tsar would listen to his subjects
• the restriction of zemstva powers by Alex III bitterly disappointed zemstva liberals

Question 5

what conditions did industrialisation create in russia During the 1880’s

Answer 5

• conditions where western style socialism begun to take root, leading to split in the intelligentsia

Question 6

how did the russian intelligentsia respond to emerging socialism

Answer 6

• some supported Marxist theory, while others preferred a more moderate liberal stance

Question 7

Outline radical opposition

Answer 7

• children of the liberals wanted to go further and so a more radical strand of opposition developed among the youth
• June 1862 - series’s of fires in st Petersburg destroyed overs 2000 shops - ‘young Russia’ help responsible
• 1863 - ‘the organisation’ was set up by students as Moscow uni + more calls for reform Were made

Question 8

Outline the influence of radical thinkers

Answer 8

• herzen - editor of the radical journal ‘the bell’ produced abroad and smuggled into Russia illegally.
• the bell advocated for a new peasant based social structure
• in 1869 - herzen called on his followers to ‘go to the people’
• Bakunin - was an anarchist and socialist - he put forward the idea that private ownership of land should be replaced by collective ownership
• he helped introduce Marxism to Russia

Question 9

Who was nechaev and what did he do in 1871

Answer 9

• used underground contacts to return to Russia + was determined to ‘go to the people’ and carry out revolution

Question 10

What was the Tchaikovsky circle

Answer 10

• set up in 1868-9 in st Petersburg
• primarily a literary society that organised the printing, publishing and distribution of scientific and revolutionary literature
• it was not a large group, no more than 100, but it sought social revolution
• from 1872 - the Tchaikovsky circle began organising workers workers to send them to the peasants in the countryside

Question 11

Who were the narodiks (Populists)

Answer 11

• the idea of ‘going to the people’ became known as populism
• 1874 - lavrov encouraged a group of 2000 young men/women from nobility and intelligentsia to travel to the countryside in order to persuade peasantry that the future of Russia depended on the development of the peasant commune
• peasants were ignorant/religious and superstitious so the incomes were reported to authorities
• around 1600 were arrested

Question 12

What was land and liberty

Answer 12

• set up in 1877
• continued the populist tradition
• members sought to work within the peasant commune, but I no less obstructive manner
• some carried out assassinations including the head of the third section
• they elicited considerable public sympathy but the tsarist gov failed to respond

Question 13

What did land and liberty split into in 1879

Answer 13

• black repartition - continued to work peacefully among the peasants but was severely weakened by arrests in 1880-81
• peoples will - bigger group than the black repartition + advocated violent methods - (assassinated officials, including Alex II in march 1881)

Question 14

Outline the ‘Tsarist reaction’ to opposition and the radical opposition than continued after 1881

Answer 14

• after Alex’s assassination , security stepped up and the new tsar retired to the fortified castle of Gatchina
• from Switzerland, plekhanov established the ‘emancipation of labour’ group in 1883 which translated and arranged for Marxist tracts to be smuggled into Russia
• the group had a limited impact at the time but plekhanov’s development of the ‘two stage revolutionary strategy’ was vital in advancing Marxism in Russia