History Tsarist Russia - Russification Flashcards
What is Russification
The policy of forcing everyone within the Russian empire to think themselves as ‘Russian’ by enforcing the Russian language and culture - spiritual, moral, social, political control.
How did Alex II deal with ethnic minorities (overview)
He was concerned with control as opposed to racial superiority - he did not engage in systematic persecution of racial minorities
How many different groups of minorities made up the Russian Empire
It encompassed as may as 170 different ethnic groups
History of Poland
By 1795 the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918.
What was the Janurary uprising
In 1863 the polish nobility and urban bourgeois circles longed for semi-autonomous status they had enjoyed in congress Poland a generation earlier. Russia had been weakened by its crimean experience and ha introduced a more liberal attitude into internal politics which encouraged Poland’s underground national government to plan an organised strike against their Russian occupier.
Evidence of Alex II taking a reactionary approach to poland
In 1855 strict and repressive regime that had been imposed on Poland after the November insurrection was substantially relaxed.
This meant it was easier for the januray uprising to take place in 1863.
Consequences of the January uprising
Polish identity completely dismantled
The Russian language was imposed in 1864
Alexander III overall Russification policy
Alexander III engaged in a policy of cultural Russification as he sought to merge all the Tsar’s subjects into a single nation with a feeling of shared identity
Treatment of polish population under Alex II
In 1857 he granted the establishment of the ‘Agricultural society’ which became the debating chamber for political ideas
Treatment of polish people under Alex III
In 1883 only the polish language lessons and lessons on Catholicism could be taught in polish
In1885 polish national banks were closed
Treatment of Finnish people under Alex II
Clergy and increasingly professional people as well spoke Finnish and a Finnish culture was developed
Russians had no vote in Finish elections
Treatment of Finnish people under Alex III
The usage of the Russian language was increasingly demanded and became the official language in 1891
In 1892 the Diet (parliament) was reorganised to limit Finnish influence
Independent postal service was abolished
Treatment of Russian Jews under Alex II
Some Jews allowed to settle outside the ‘Pale of Settlement’
Treatment of Russian Jews under Alex III
Iva Aksakov elaborated conspiracy theories about ‘Jewish world domination’ - antisemitism had never been actively promoted by a major political figure before
Jews were forbidden to acquire property in rural areas
Between October 1905 and January 1906 more than 3,000 Jews were killed
Role of Mikhail Katkov
Called for the abandonment of a civic strategy and the adoption of an ethnic one to better integrate the Empire
