POLICIES AND REFORMS OF ALEXANDER II/III

Question 1

why was Alex II called Tsar Liberator?

Answer 1

his decision to emancipate Russia’s 51 million serfs in 1861.

Question 2

what can be argued that his main aim was for granting emancipation?

Answer 2

to strengthen the tsarist autocracy.

Question 3

give 2 influences for the emancipation?

Answer 3

1. his earlier travels around the empire.
2. his tutor, Zhukovsky.

Question 4

how did his tutor influence him to emancipate the serfs?

Answer 4

romantic poet - installed a believe that Alex had a duty towards his ppl and that he should alleviate suffering.

Question 5

how did his earlier travels around the empire influence him to emancipate the serfs?

Answer 5

he saw social unrest and serf-based agriculture - convinced him that serfdom was holding Russia back economically and militarily.

Question 6

supporters of the emancipation argued that serfdom was …?

Answer 6

morally wrong.

Question 7

what were the strong economic motives to abolish serfdom?

Answer 7

if peasants were free, they were more likely to go to work and create a surplus of grain - greater prosperity.

Question 8

what social reasons were there for the emancipation?

Answer 8

peasant uprisings had increased since the 1840’s.

Question 9

however, what was the main trigger for the emancipation of the serfs?

Answer 9

Russias defeat in the crimean war.

Question 10

who was the biggest believer that the defeat was the main reason and what did he say?

Answer 10

Milyutin argued that only a “free” population would provide the labour needed to improve the army.

Question 11

what was Alexander determined to maintain?

Answer 11

autocracy.

Question 12

when did Alexander begin looking into emancipation?

Answer 12

1856.

Question 13

when was it actually implemented?

Answer 13

1861.

Question 14

did it apply to all serfs immediately?

Answer 14

no just privately owned serfs - state serfs from 1866.

Question 15

serfs were granted a land …?

Answer 15

allotment.

Question 16

landlords were compensated by the ….?

Answer 16

government.

Question 17

open fields were given to the….?

Answer 17

peasant commune.

Question 18

what was the peasant commune called?

Answer 18

the mir.

Question 19

freed serfs had to pay …?

Answer 19

redemption payments for 49 years.

Question 20

who were the redemption payments paid to?

Answer 20

the government for their land.

Question 21

the peasants had to remain within the mir until …?

Answer 21

the payments had been paid.

Question 22

who supervised the mirs?

Answer 22

volosts.

Question 23

there was a 2 year period of …….. - until freedom was granted?

Answer 23

temporary obligation.

Question 24

around …..% of peasants remained temporarily obligated to their landlord until 1881?

Answer 24

15%

Question 25

what happened to stop this in 1881?

Answer 25

redemption was made compulsory.

Question 26

peasants now had .... status?

Answer 26

free.

Question 27

kulaks did well out of the land allocations, buying up .... and exporting ....?

Answer 27

extra land and surplus grain.

Question 28

what happened if peasants sold their land?

Answer 28

they would receive a passport to leave the mir and found work in cities.

Question 29

what did some landowners use the compensation for?

Answer 29

to get out of debt.

Question 30

land allocation were ..... fair?

Answer 30

rarely.

Question 31

why did most peasant landholdings grow increasingly smaller?

Answer 31

had to be divided up between all male peasants - population grew and land size decreased.

Question 32

the mir system was .....?

Answer 32

highly traditional.

Question 33

traditional farming method that was backwards?

Answer 33

subsistence farming

Question 34

why did in some ways the emancipation lead to further violence?

Answer 34

resentment of kulaks and disputes over land.

Question 35

what were elected local councils called?

Answer 35

zemstva.

Question 36

how were the zemstva chosen?

Answer 36

through electoral colleges.

Question 37

who were the zemstva usually composed of?

Answer 37

men who understood the locality and its needs.

Question 38

3 things the zemstva were given power of?

Answer 38

1. improve public services. 2. develop industrial projects. 3. administer poor relief.

Question 39

what was set up in 1870 in the towns to replace?

Answer 39

the Dumas.

Question 40

however, the power of the zemstva was ..... ....?

Answer 40

strictly limited.

Question 41

did the zemstva have any control over taxes?

Answer 41

no.

Question 42

the voting procedure favoured the ......?

Answer 42

nobility.

Question 43

who could also overturn zemstva decisions?

Answer 43

the provincial governors.

Question 44

what had changed in terms of who was in the court room?

Answer 44

before there had been no one but now there was barristers and a jury.

Question 45

the accused was now presumed ..... until proven ...?

Answer 45

innocent until proven guilty.

Question 46

who were the judges appointed by?

Answer 46

the tsar.

Question 47

courts were opened to the .....?

Answer 47

public.

Question 48

however, who in the court room could now criticise the regime?

Answer 48

articulate lawyers.

Question 49

what was a negative thing about the new juries?

Answer 49

they sometimes acquitted the guilty out of sympathy.

Question 50

what law was put in place hone people were being let off out of sympathy?

Answer 50

permitting political crimes to be tried by special procedures.

Question 51

what did emancipation increase the need for in terms of eduction?

Answer 51

basic literacy and numeracy.

Question 52

who was the education minister from 1862-67?

Answer 52

Golovnin.

Question 53

universities could now ....?

Answer 53

govern themselves.

Question 54

could universities now appoint their own staff?

Answer 54

yes.

Question 55

who was responsibility for the schools originally under before reform?

Answer 55

the church.

Question 56

who controlled the schools after reform?

Answer 56

the zemstva.

Question 57

primary and secondary school was ...?

Answer 57

extended.

Question 58

who were schools now open to?

Answer 58

girls as well as boys.

Question 59

what was one limitation of the education reforms?

Answer 59

the university numbers were growing - meaning space for more radical thinkers.

Question 60

what did these radical thinkers from university do?

Answer 60

increased opposition towards Tsar.

Question 61

who was the main man in the military reforms?

Answer 61

Milyutin.

Question 62

what became compulsory in terms of military?

Answer 62

conscription.

Question 63

from what age was conscription compulsory?

Answer 63

21.

Question 64

punishments in military were made ...?

Answer 64

less severe.

Question 65

what was set up to provide better training for the non-noble officer corps?

Answer 65

military colleges.

Question 66

what was one flaw of the military reforms in terms of rich people?

Answer 66

rich people often found substitutes to serve for them.

Question 67

the officer class remained largely ...?

Answer 67

aristocratic.

Question 68

what was relaxed between 1858 and 1870?

Answer 68

press censorship.

Question 69

however, what happened after critical writing increased in the 1870's?

Answer 69

govt control was tightened again.