National Minorities Under The Tsars.

Question 1

What is Russification

Answer 1

-Process whereby non Russian regions drawn more securely into the Russian Empire
-Involved administrative integration characterised by transmission of the Russian language, religion and culture
-Went hand in hand with improvement to communications and transport

Question 2

What was the Polish Question.

Answer 2

Whether the Poles would be allowed to self rule.

Question 3

Who was Wielopolski

Answer 3

-Appointed Prime Minister 1862 of Poland
-Campainged for partial independence from Russia
-Viewed as a Russian lapdog by nationalists
-Forced conscription of young poles causing Polish revolt of 1863

Question 4

Who took control of poland after Wielopolski

Answer 4

Milyutin

Question 5

What were the consequences of the Polish revolt

Answer 5

-Russian nobility exiled to siberia
-Polish peasants emancipated more favourably
-Rural district councils set up (zemstvos)
-Russian taught in schools
-Catholic church restricted
-Nationalism and autonomy diminished: Poland referred to as the Vistula region

Question 6

Why was Poland important to Russia

Answer 6

-Fuelled Russian industrialisation through its proletariat
-Acted as a buffer state to invasion

Question 7

What happened to Poland in WW1

Answer 7

By 1915 Russia forced to abandon Poland to advancing German and Austrian forces

Question 8

How was Finland treated by the Tsars before Nicholas II

Answer 8

-1863 Finnish parliament
-1865 Finnish constitution
-Separate army

Question 9

What changes did Nicholas II make to Finland

Answer 9

-Finland integrated and Russified into Russia appointing Bobrikov to oversee Finland
-Finnish separate army disbanded
-Russian became main language
-Finnish State Secretariat abolished

Question 10

When was Bobrikov assasinated

Answer 10

1904

Question 11

How were the Baltic states Russified

Answer 11

-Russian language adopted and more widespread with renaming of various economic institutions

Question 12

How were the Ukrainians Russified under the Tsars

Answer 12

-Alexander II issued decrees forbade publication and import of books written in Ukrainian
-Alexander II reinforced this policy

Question 13

Why were the Caucasians easy to Russify

Answer 13

-Caucasus region divided along religious lines
-High levels of illiteracy of the region

Question 14

What movements in the Caucasus region openly opposed Nicholas II

Answer 14

-Dashnaks: self defence militias against intrusion of Russian officials
-Georgian Mensheviks

Question 15

What is the Pale of Settlement

Answer 15

-The region within which Jews were allowed to settle
-From 1835 it included Lithuania, Poland and South Western Provinces

Question 16

What change did Alexander II make to treatment of the Jewish population

Answer 16

Allowed members of the Pale to migrate to other regions

Question 17

How did Alexander III treat the Jews

Answer 17

-Helped organise a mini Pogrom by an anti-Semitic group known as the Holy League
-Confinement of Jews to the Pale of Settlement
-Banning of Jews from purchasing land in prosperous rural areas
-Restrictions on access to senior positions in the military or medicine
-Removal from electoral register in the Zemstva

Question 18

How did Nicholas II treat the Jews

Answer 18

-Continued anti Jewish position of his Father
-Accused of being revolutionaries as some were affiliated with the SDs
-Did allow Jews to sit on the Duma

Question 19

Who oversaw expansion into Central Asia

Answer 19

Alexander II

Question 20

What was the Steppe Statue of 1891

Answer 20

Granted 40 acres of land to peasant settlers which was enough to establish a successful farm unit

Question 21

How did Central Asia avoid Russification

Answer 21

-Difficulties with communication and transport
-Harsh environment
-Nomadic lifestyle

Question 22

How were Muslims in Central Asia treated under the Tsars

Answer 22

-Muslims gained brief representation in the Duma
-Attempted to draw on them for conscription in non combat duties however this started in the Ramadan period causing the “Conscription revolt”