Dealing with Radical Opposition/ Radical Reforms Flashcards
What was the Third section?
- secret police
- responsible for rooting out subversion and opposition
- tracked down radicals and recalled them to face justice
How effective was the third section?
- abolished by Melikov so indicated that it wasn’t a success
- replaced by Okhrana
How did he reform the Judicial system?
- 1878 announced political crimes would be transferred from civil to military courts
- Pahlen ensured that the judicial system made an example of those accused of political agitation
How effective was the reform to the judicial system?
Success
This meant that cases were heard and sentences passed privately / in secret = less incompetent
And reduced revolutionists platform
What were show trails?
Where members of the public weee invited to witness trials with intention of deferring others from similar activity
What were two examples of show trials?
Trial of 50 and trial of 193
How effective were show trials?
Not effective
- backfired
- gave revolutionists a platform to express their beliefs
- 153/193 defendants were acquitted and the others only received a short sentence due to sympathetic jury.
What was the reactionary turn that Alex made?
New governor generals created in 1879 with powers to exile political offenders
How effective was the reform to reactionary turn?
Effective
- deterrence by exiling radicals to the harsh living conditions meant they no longer pose a threat of starting a revolution
Not effective
- led to further assassination attempts against the Tsar
What reforms did Loris Melikov make?
- made changes to ministry and introduced concessions eg. Release political prisoners and remove salt tax
- produced report 1880 which discussed including elected representatives to government discussions “Loris Melikovs constitution”
How effective were Loris Melikovs reforms?
Uneffective
- Alex II was assassinated the day it was signed by people’s will 13th March 1881
- secrecy led to public resentment, if public knew they might not have killed him
Overall how successful was he?
Not successful
- didn’t consider the ramifications of his actions
- at the end of the day he was still assassinated
- his policies were replaced or later undone by his son Alex III
What case do we look at?
Vera Zasulich
Who was Vera Zasulich?
Daughter of a noble who killed General Trepov
When did Vera Zasulich kill General Trepov?
July 77
When was Vera Zasulich’s trial?
1878
What happened to Vera Zasulich?
She was acquitted from her charges due to a sympathetic jury
She fled and became a populist
