Russia Flashcards
Original state of Russia
Multiethnic + multilingual + multicultural - much more successful than Ottomans; Dictatorship of tsars - supported by RCC + nobles (owned serfs)
Crimean War
Russia vs Coalition - War that revealed Russia’s weakness against Europeans (unable to fight against industrial powers)
Cause of the Crimean War
Russian expansion - tried to take control over Ottoman Empire
Why did the Europeans help Ottoman Empire?
Russian control over Ottomans threatened to upset balance in Europe
Crimean War
Military conflict between coalition and Russia; Revealed Russian weakness; Coalition won
Coalition
Alliance of the Ottoman + Britain + France + Sardinia
Russia weakness against Europeans
Military weakness + Weakness of agricultural economy based on unfree labor (couldn’t make enough money)
Cause of Social Reform
Crimean War
Most significant social reform
Emancipation of serfs
Groups of people that opposed serfdom
Radicals + High officials
Causes of abolishment of serfdom
People believed it was an obstacle to economic development; Source of rural instability + peasant revolts
Tsar Alexander II
Believed it was better to abolish serfdom than for the serfs to liberate themselves; Issued the Emancipation Manifesto
Emancipation Manifesto
Abolished serfdom + granted liberty to 23 million serfs (full citizenship, marriage rights, property ownership)
Which group of people did the Emancipation Manifesto help most?
Nobles (landowners) - compensated by gov. for land loss; Serfs - won freedom + opportunities to become landowners (social mobility)
How did peasants feel about the Emancipation Manifesto?
Didn’t like it - Received few political rights + had to payed tax on lands they received
Mir (Society)
Land distributed among communal ownership -> Peasants unable to sell their land; Can gave serfs land
Stolypin reforms
Agricultural reforms where peasants wanted to break up communes + create individual peasant landowner class
Effects that the Emancipation Manifesto had on the peasant class
Few prospered; Most in debt for the rest of their lives; Didn’t increase agricultural production
Cause of Other Reforms
Emancipation Manifesto
Zemstvos
Elected (by all classes) district assemblies - address local issues (health, education, welfare); Subordinate to the tsar + landowning nobility
Legal Reforms
Revision of judiciary system - Created European-style law courts (independent judges, courts, trial by jury, elected justices for minor offenses)
Result of legal reforms
Less judicial corruption
Why did Alexander II issued the Emancipation Manifesto?
To create a mobile labor force for industrialization
Russian Industrialization
Came along with social + political reforms; Political + military motivations; Driving force = government policy; *Much of the growth came from private investors who wanted to make money
Russian Industrialization vs European Industrialization
Political + military motivations rather than economic; Started by government policy rather than entrepreneurial goals
Count Sergei Witte
One behind Russian industrialization; Made policies to increase economic development (railway; banks; foreign trade)
What was Witte’s most important industrial policy?
Railway construction - linked all regions of Russian empire + increasing development of other industries
Trans-Siberian railway
Most important railway line; Led to settlement + exploitation + industrialization of Siberia
Who supported Russian industrialization with their money?
Witte got large foreign loans from French + Belgium = Steel + coal industries while Britain = Petroleum industry
How did serfs + peasants felt about Industrialization?
Peasant rebellions; Industrial worker strikes; Freed serfs didn’t like factory work (robot)
Effect of Industrialization on Social Classes
Created an urban working class
Working environment of Industrialization
Horrible like Europe (low standard of living; gov. prohibited formation of trade unions + strikes); Economic exploitations; No political freedom
Who benefited from Russian industrialization?
Foreign investors + growing Russian business class - Benefited from gov policy (protection of domestic industry + profits)
Russian capitalists vs European capitalists
So rich that they didn’t complain about the government - didn’t challenge tsarist rule unlike Europeans with material + ideological reasons
What inspired industrialization reform movements?
Government reforms
Who were the main group that opposed Russian Industrialization?
Intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
University students + intellectuals; Methods: Gradual reform + revolutionary activities
Goal of protest groups
Political reform + social change towards a socialist system based on Russian cultural traditions - Inspired by European socialism but hated individualism + materialism
Anarchists
Revolutionaries who believe individual freedom can’t be realized until all gov abolished; Method: terrorism + assassination
Goal of anarchists
Authority should come from local governing councils elected based on universal suffrage
Repressions of Russian Government
Censored publications; Secret police infiltrated + broke up radicals -> Enraged the radicals even more
Baltic provinces
Against tsar on ethnic + political + social grounds - Used schools + political groups to build separatist movements → Tried to achieve independence from Russian Empire
Government response to Baltic provinces
Russification - Repress non-Russian languages; Only loyalists can have education
Pogroms
Anti-Jew riots - Russian authorities suspicious of Jews
Land and Freedom Party
Tried to force government into reform by promoting assassinations
The People’s Will
Faction of LFP; Assassinated Alexander II → Ended reform era → Started repression
Nicholas II
Weak ruler; Supported oppression + police control; Tried to expand into East Asia → Clashed with Japanese and lost
What caused Bloody Sunday?
Russian defeat in Russo-Japanese War
Bloody Sunday
Workers marched on Winter Palace, St. Petersburg - Asking for popularly elected assembly + concessions -> Shot by gov troops, 130 killed; Caused labor unrest, peasant insurrections, student demonstrations, mutiny (army and navy)
Soviets
Councils created by urban workers to organize strikes + negotiate with gov. authorities
Why was the Duma created?
Government forced to make concessions due to Russian military defeat which caused social discontent + protests (Bloody Sunday)
Duma
Russia’s first parliamentary institution; Major concession but doesn’t have enough power to create or destroy governments
Who made Nicholas II create the Duma?
Sergei Witte - Peace negotiator with Japan
