political authority under Alexander 3rd

Question 1

examples of tsarist authority being weakened

Answer 1

-1891 famine increased revolutionary activity
-land captains deeply resented by peasants
-his reign was an illusion of calm and stability

Question 2

examples of tsarist authority being strengthened

Answer 2

-all police centralised under the ministry of the interior, conditions in prisons made more severe to deter attacks on the regime
-Ohkrana had agents in virtually every building
-lack of any major revolutionary disturbances during A3’s reign show success of reactionary policies
-orthodoxy pushed within education, showing the russian people the divine right of tsars

Question 3

peasants

Answer 3

-1893, peasants banned from leaving their commune
-land captains targeted peasants
-famine 1891-92 saw 3million dead
-such repression, almost looked like a return to serfdom
-land captains allocated land instead of the mir

Question 4

church

Answer 4

-clergy increased in number as did church schools
-church festivals and spiritual literature publications increased
-250 churches (traditional onion dome) and 10 monasteries built annually under Pobedonostev

Question 5

local government

Answer 5

-zemstvo officials had to be confirmed by provincial governors
-Minister of the Interior could remove zemstvo officials and reviewed all decisions
-electorate significantly reduced
-0.7% of Moscow and St. Petersburg population could vote
-1890, peasants vote reduced

Question 6

nobility

Answer 6

-all those in a position of power headed by Pobedonostev
-gentry land bank set up 1882 to give favourable loans to nobles buying land

Question 7

education

Answer 7

-church dominate system to re-educate russia
-Statute of State Security could close schools and universities
-number of church schools increased sevenfold, number of students attending increased ninefold
-1884 University Statute, ministry appointed teachers
-university closed off from women
-no student groups larger than five

Question 8

censorship

Answer 8

-only newspapers and journals meeting the tsars regime could be published
-printing and publishing companies could be shut down
-Pobedonstev had the power to suspend publication of liberal works
-liscence required to own a printing press

Question 9

justice

Answer 9

-land captains could overturn decisions made in peasant courts, remove peasant officials, and use corporal punishment
-judges sympathetic to revolution sacked
-abolition of local and magistrates courts
-1882, Statute of Police Surveillance: use power on those thought likely to commit crimes or relatives
-closed courts 1887

Question 10

secret police/opposition

Answer 10

-execution of five People’s Will assassins
-Ohkrana virtually in every building
-Land Captains could fine/arrest peasants
-November 1890 four terrorists with links to Zurich bomb making hanged

Question 11

Alexander’s background

Answer 11

-traditional and conservative, but knew Russia needed to modernise and industrialise to compete internationally
-education dominated by deeply conservative Pobedonostev, which coupled with his fathers assassination deepened his conservative attitude
-favoured strong russification, and harsh measures against political extremism
-reactionary, counter-reforms