Nature Of Government Under The Tsars Flashcards
What is Autocracy?
- A system of government in which one person has total power.
What were the three strands of Tsarist autocracy?
- Subjects were loyal to the Tsar.
- Tsar obliged as a moral judge on behalf of God.
- Ability to control a vast and diverse population of people.
When did Alexander II become Tsar?
1855
When was the emancipation edict announced?
1861
When was Alexander II assassinated?
1881
When did Alexander III die?
1894
When did Nicholas II become Tsar?
1894
When was the first Duma established?
1906
When did Nicholas II abdicate?
1917.
Why did Alexander II want to abolish serfdom?
- Failures of the Crimean War.
- Better to abolish serfdom from above then to wait for it to begin to abolish itself from below.
What was the secret committee of peasant affairs?
- Formed in 1857 to plan for the emancipation of the serfs.
When did Alexander II reform the education system and what did he implement?
- 1863 Created primary schools.
- Made alterations to the curriculum.
- Introduced inspectorate.
What did Alexander II form in 1864?
- Zemstvas to improve local government.
When and why did Alexander II end his reform program?
- 1866 after an attempt on his life.
What was the trial of the 50?
- Trial of 50 key political opponents in 1877.
Who was Alexander II assassinated by?
- Peoples will.
What was the peasant land bank?
- Established in 1883 to provide cheap loans for the purchase of land.
Who did Alexander III execute in 1887?
- Lenins brother and four other associates who had planned to assassinate AIII.
When were land captains introduced and what was there role?
- 1889 to monitor behaviour of the peasants.
What did Nicholas II introduce after the 1905 revolution?
- October manifesto and a new constitution.
What did Nicholas II sign in 1914?
- Signed general mobilisation order.
- Brought Russia into the First World War.
What did Nicholas II order in 1915?
- Ordered Russian armed forces to be placed under his control.
Who was Pobedonostev?
- Legal advisor.
- Tutor to Alexander II.
How did Alexander IIIs upbringing influence the way he ruled?
- Pobedonostev did not believe in liberal democracy or parliamentarianism.
- Witnessed how liberal reforms led to the death of his father Alexander II.
Why did Nicholas II introduce the reforms in 1905?
- Economic crisis.
- Failures of the Russo-Japanese war.
- Social unrest: Bloody Sunday, Potemkin mutany and strikes.
Was Nicholas II reactionary or revolutionary?
- Believed in the same ideas as his father Alexander III.
- Forced to make changes as a result of economic crisis and Russo-Japanese war.
- Fundamental Laws of 1906.
How was the central government structure made up from 1861 to 1905?
- The Tsar.
- The Committee of Ministers.
- The Imperial Council of State.
- The Personal Chancellery of his Imperial Majesty.
- Council of Ministers.
- The Senate.
What reform did Alexander II make to the Structure of Government in 1861?
- Introduced The Committee of Ministers.
- 13 ministers who had responsibility for particular aspect of Russian affairs.
- Examples: Minister of War, Minister of Finance.
How was Government structured after 1905?
- The Tsar.
- The Council of Ministers.
- The State Council.
- The Duma.
- The Senate.
What was the secret police before the Okhrana
Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery
What was glasnot?
Period of relaxation under Alexander II and Nicholas II.
What is an example of relaxation of censorship under Alexander II and Alexander III?
Books published increased from over 1000 in 1855 to over 10000 in 1894.
What was the Okhrana
-Established 1880 as a softer version of the Third Secio
-A3 used the okhrana for spying, imprisoning, and exiling
-Took a lower profile in the 1890s
-Activity increased in 1905 utilised as agent provocateurs and executioners
-Lasted until 1917
What was the secret police under the Provisional Government
Counter Espionage Bureau
What is meant by Alexander IIIs period of reaction?
Harsher censorship rules that came about after the assassination of Alexander II.
What was the Counter Espionage Bureau used for
-Weeding out those undermining the war effort including the Bolsheviks
What was the size of the army at the start of the period
1,400,000
How did Alexander III use the army
-Enforcing Russification serving as a peace keeping force and regulator of regional frontiers
Why was Nicholas’s use of the army problematic
Excessive force on Bloody Sunday resulted in the 1905 revolution
Who were the populists
-(Narodniks) were Russian intellectuals given greater freedom to criticise tsarist rule following reforms of Alexander II
-Led by Chernyshevsky and Lavrov
-1873-4 organised 4000 university students dispersing into countrywide to educate the peasants
-Became more organised when land and liberty formed 1876
-Seperaree on whether to employ violence or peace
What is People’s Will
-Terrorist group emerging from the Land and Liberty movement formed 1879
-Primary objective to assassinate the Tsar conducting four attempts before succeeding in 1881
-Assasinatio failed to result in the overthrow of Tsarism
Who were the SRs
-Social Revolutionaries
-Emerged from populist movement formed 1901 by Chernov
-By 1905 had split between left wing SRs and moderate right wing
-Responsiblr for 2000 political killings
-Left wing appealed to workers
-Right wing appealed to the peasants
-Was the biggest threat to Tsarist rule until october 1917
What were the SDs
-Social Democrats
-1898 Founded in Minsk
-Encouraged working class consciousness however few workers had time to engage with marxist theory
-SD supporters focused on improving pay and working hours
-1905 there were divisions between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
What are the Liberals
-“Westernisers” opposed to Slavophiles
-Wanted Russia to be governed as a liberal democracy like Britain and France
-Supported the emergence of the Zemstva
-Struve founded the Union of Liberation demanding greater freedoms and justice for all russians particularly in land redistribution
Who were the Kadets and Octobrists
-Kadets wanted a constitutional monarchy led by Milyukov
-acted as the opposition within the first duma
-Octoberists displayed loyalty to the Tsar but wanted changes to the system of government
-Support it the October manifesto alienated them from other revolutionaries
What was the impact of the Emancipation Edict on peasant attitudes
-Emancipation edict unleashes a number of disturbances involving thousands of peasants
-Unrest quietened until the 1890s
-Peasant rebellions increased 1900s prompted by redemption payments
-Peasants began to become more politically intelligent with peasants not paying taxes, robbery, and incendiary
What were the Black Earth Region revolts
-Revolts on 1906-7 resulted in reforms by Stolypin to pacify peasant leaders
-From 1916 peasants began increasingly protesting forming an integral part of the revolution of 1917
-Peasantry acted more organised than before forming peasant soviets
