Growth of opposition to Tsarist rule Flashcards
How did Alexander 2nd’s reforms bring opposition?
The hope that they would be fully reformative combined with the disappointment of them not being effective brought opposition.
What did relaxation of censorship and university control allow for?
Allowed the spread of radical literature and the relaxation of university controls increased the number of independently minded students who went on to become radical.
How did the role of the zemstva and duma change politically?
They became forums once again for the intelligentsia to voice moderate liberal opposition.
What served to grow the influence of the liberal intelligentsia?
Economic reforms - the liberal intelligentsia had the wealth, time and interest to spend time on this issue. Many also travelled abroad.
Which 4 mentalities did most intelligentsia develop?
Anarchist, nihilist, Westerniser or Slavophile.
What did Alexander 2nd not want the zemstva to have?
National influence - the zemstva often worked with westerniser intelligentsia to try reform the autocracy. When the Petersburg zemstva asked for a central assembly to organise regional councils the Tsar refused.
What caused the decline of slavophilic ideals in the 1890s?
The socio-economic conditions allowed Western-style socialism to take hold as the main mentality, using Das Kapital as the rubric.
What left the intelligentsia largely powerless in the early 1890s?
Splits over following a marxist route or immediate constitutional tsarist reform.
What was the role of the zemstva in the 1891-92 Great Famine?
They undertook the responsibility of most of the relief work, which grew resentment towards the Tsar as he was not caring adequately for his people.
Where did radical opposition mostly come from?
The children of moderate liberal opposition who saw that their fathers didn’t achieve anything so wanted to go further. These children often came from educated families and so attended university.
What happened in June 1862 that sparked an investigation into and suspicion of the Russian youth?
Fires in St Petersburg destroyed over 2000 shops.
What was set up by students in 1863?
Moscow University students set up ‘The Organisation’ which called for reform.
What did Chernyshevsky write whilst in prison?
The Contemporary in 1862 - advocating for the peasants to lead revolutionary change.
Who was Mateo Herzen?
Editor of the publication ‘The Bell’ which was produced abroad and smuggled into Russia. He urged his followers to ‘go to the people’ - credited with sparking Narodnyism.
Who was Bakunin and what were his significant contributions?
An anarchist and socialist - he argued private ownership of land should be replaced by collective ownership. He lived in exile in Switzerland but translated Marx’s Communist Manifesto into Russia ‘Das Kapital’ in 1869. He also wrote A Catechism of a Revolutionary with Sergei Nachaev - a radical student activist.
What was A Catechism of a Revolutionary?
It called for its followers to have absolute nihilism - nothing should matter aside from revolution. ‘The Revolution is a doomed man’.
What was the Tchaikovsky Circle?
Led by Nikolai Tchaikovsky and set up in St Petersburg in 1868. They were a literary society of less than 100 people who all sought social revolution and published and distributed revolutionary literature. From 1872 they began sending radicalised workers into the countryside.
Who were the Narodniks?
1874 - Lavrov encouraged 2000 young people to travel into the countryside, pose as peasants and persuade them that the future of Russia would come from the peasant communes. They aimed to exploit the resentment felt since the emancipation, but the peasants remained loyal and 1600 were arrested. They tried again in 1877 but had even more arrests.
What was the impact of the Narodniks?
They helped bring radical opposition into a practical space, out of backrooms and helped the government understand the level of opposition they posed.
What was Land and Liberty?
A populist group founded in 1877, whose members sought unobtrusive work in communes to spread socialist ideals and carried out assassinations, namely General Mezenstev (head of 3rd Section) in 1878.
What did Land and Liberty garner?
Public sympathy - talks between the zemstva and L&L to pressure the Tsar for constitutional reform commenced. The government failed to respond.
What did Land and Liberty split into in 1879?
Black Repartition and the People’s Will
What was the Black Repartition?
Led by Plekhanov, they wanted to share the black soil provinces among the peasants. They worked peacefully with peasants, students and workers to try stimulate social change without violence. They were weakened by arrests in 1880-81 and their leaders moved to Marxism.
What was the People’s Will?
Led by Aleksandr Mikhailov who planted a spy in the 3rd section so they could avoid arrest. They were bigger than BR and advocated violence - assassinated over 208 officials. In 1879 they declared the Tsar had to be removed, but would rescind this if he implemented a constitutional monarchy. They succeeded in their assassination in March 1881, as Alexander was on his way to sign the Loris-Melikov Treaty.
