Opposition to the Tsar Flashcards
What was the ethnic situation of Russia like under Alexander II?
70 million out of 120 million people in the Russian Empire were ethically non-Russian
How did Alexander react to growing national identity in the Empire?
UKRAINE: allowed ‘Osnova’, the first non-Russian journal to be published in Ukrainian. However, in 1863 and 1876 he banned the imports of Ukrainian literature
FINLAND: allowed the Diet and the introduction of their own currency
BALTICS: the wealth of this area due to industrialisation and transport routes led to mass migration
CAUCASIANS: 1864, Circassians of the black sea were split up and 400,000 chose to resettle internally in the Empire. However, there was ethnic cleansing of this group following and during the Russo-Circassian War, which led to genocide and relocation of 80-97% of Caucasians.
JEWISH POPULATION: Allowed limited freedom outside of the Pale of Settlement, and allowed some to have higher education
What was the situation in Poland before Alexander?
After gaining sovereignty from Vienna in 1815, Poland had been split between Prussia, Russia and Austria, and in 1830 there was a coup against the constitutional monarchy. Poland had recently been reabsorbed into Russia against it’s wishes and was being repressed
What successes did the revolts in Poland have following the reforms?
Despite having little success, the revolts did manage to get the University of Warsaw reopened, which was a big statement for the cultural identity of Poland
What were the two main groups in Poland?
First group, desired an independent Poland completely separate from the Russian Empire.
Second group, under Alexander Wielposki, wants to have their own autonomy within the Empire. Wielpolski worked with the Tsar and in 1862 was made prime minister of Poland.
What happened in the revolts of 1862?
In 1862 there are the first mentions of a revolt and some demonstrations, and the nationalists attempt to assassinate Wielpolski. They also try to assassinate the Grand Duke Constantine, the Viceroy of Poland. In response, Wielpolski conscripts young male poles into the Russian-Polish army to reduce the power of his opponents. At the first available chance, conscripts run into the woods and form rebel pockets.
What happened from January 1863 to spring 1864?
There was guerrilla warfare on a broad scale, supported by a Russian movement called ‘land and liberty’, which sought to ameliorate the conditions of the peasantry. They also received some support from Polish officers who were in the Russian army for a long time, such as Jaroslaw Dabrowski.
The rebellion doesn’t succeed in part because they do not receive the full support of the Polish peasantry. Tradition of upper and middleclass nobles making the life better for the peasants, however they [peasants] do not trust the ‘enlightened nobility’ of the revolution. There is a class distrust. The rebel leaders are eventually captured and executed e.g., Dabrowski was exiled to Siberia.
What was the Russian response to the Polish Revolution?
D.A. Miliutin, Minister of War, argued for Russification (To make a region/area/ethnic group more Russian) and this was put in place following the fleeing of Wielpolski. They:
Absorb Poland into Russia properly, without any autonomy. They become known as the ‘Vistula Region’ after a river in previous Polish land.
He purges the gentry of Poland, as the part of the revolt, and they have lost control of the countryside. He exiles hundreds of Polish gentries to Siberia.
Polish-catholic bishop are banned from communicating with the Pope in Rome.
DA Miliutin plants Russian officials in the Vistula Region, and Russian becomes the official language of the Vistula Region (courts, government, education, schools etc.)
Also introduces a number of liberal reforms, the emancipation of the serfs, and Rural District Councils (like the zemstvo) local government organisations.
Who was Mikhail Bakunin and Herzen?
Bakunin: an anarchist, Founder of collectivist anarchism. (Collectivist anarchist; decentralised, personal autonomy, mutual aid)
Herzen: ‘The Bell’, a liberalist writer who publishes a journal in London going against the state, supporting, and explaining anarchy.
Karakozov, 1866
Student at Moscow University and joins a student group called Hell. (Real opposition to the Tsar comes from young nobles in Russia)
He gave away all his possessions and land to the peasants in the emancipation – really believes in this.
Tsar goes to the Summer Gardens to walk. Karakozov follows him and shoots the Tsar, however he misses.
As a result, Prince Kropopkin records “After Karakozov missed the shot, the state police became omnipotent”. As a result of the assassination, the Tsar withdrew out of fear. “Every unsuspecting radicalistic had to live in fear of being arrested overnight.”
Berezowski, 1867
Polish student who attempts to kill the Tsar at the Paris Fair. As a result, Alexander appoints a new head of police, Shuvalov, who was made head of the Third Section.
Alexander spends a lot of time with his mistress Catherine Dolgoruky, which is frowned upon by the Russian Elite.
who were the Narodniks?
enlightened noblemen who are being encouraged to ‘go to the people’.
Herzen tells the Russian population that the nobility should go to the Russian peasantry (‘go to the people’) and educate them in politics.
What happened to the Tchaikovsky Circle?
Only a handful of gentry and noble, with the support of a few thousand students attempt to follow Herzen, versus the Tsarist State power. Peasants also denounce this faction, and sometimes even hint to the police.
This results in 800 Narodnik arrests. The remaining Narodnik’s go and set up a faction called ‘land and Liberty’, and in 1876 they manage to free Kropotkin from prison and carry out demonstrations in public areas.
However, most of them are arrested and sent to Siberia, (Prisoners at Sakhalin Island). This places all the revolutionaries altogether, whereas they were split up over Russia
