Russian Flashcards
How was Russia Socially a backwards country in 1850?
82% of the people were peasants -> were in Serfdome; held back economic progress
Only 51% of people are Russian
Military was powerful but not very efficient as serf conscripts had to serve 25 years
No intelligentsia -> low literacy rate
Education was limited -> only one university
How was Russia Geographically a backwards country in 1850?
Densely populated in the West of the Empire; sparsely populated in the East (cold climate and harsh landscape)
No natural boarders -> no defence
Underdeveloped in regards to transport -> no train lines and one metal road
The ports were situated in the North and could not be used in Winter
How was Russia Politically a backwards country in 1850?
Autocratic government
Absolute monarchy
Church is orthodox -> believed in the divine right of Kings
Bureaucracy -> over half a million officials but was inefficient, slow and corrupt
Police were not separate from judiciary system
Strict censorship
Who was the Tsar of Russia during the period of 1855-1881?
Alexander II
What was the overall aim of Alexander II?
Deigned to streamline the autocracy - to make it more efficient in order to ensure its survival
What were the aims of the Liberals?
Deigned to break down the autocracy and introduce a more relaxed constitutional system
What was the situation in Russia at the beginning of Alexander II’s reign?
Emerging from defeat in Crimean War
Humiliated
No access to the Straits (lost ports in South)
National debt was high and rising
The army was shown to be inefficient
The central administrative was shown to be inept
Rise in peasant revolts
What were the serfs and what were their rights?
Slaves of the landowners
Given some land yet landowners land took priority and so their land was neglected often
Landowners could administer justice to the serfs
They could send serfs to the army
What did the people think about Alexander II accession to the throne?
Provided a new era of hope as when he succeeded the throne he freed political prisoners (Decembrists), granted liberties to Poland and Catholics and relaxed censorship
What year did Alexander II emancipate the serfs?
1861
Why did Alexander II choose to emancipate the serfs?
Serfdom is feudal -> holds back economic development
Tax system and reform of conscription necessitated a change in serfdom
Wasteful and inefficient use of agriculture (strip farming)
Strain on Russia’s international reputation
What was the practical impact on the Russian peasant of becoming a free citizen?
They had the freedom to: Marry Own property Take legal action Engage in trade or business Not be sold/bought Choose a husband (women)
What type of land were the peasants entitled to?
To smaller plots than during serfdom; also got their own plot surrounding their house
How did the peasants pay for their land?
Government pay for 80% in the form of treasury bonds; peasants pay 20%
Peasants repay government advance in annual instalments over 49 years
How was the distribution of land to peasants unfair?
Got less land than before.
Land was still strip farmed
They only got one type of soil quality
What was the Mir?
The Mir was the group who controlled the peasants after their emancipation
They were in charge of land distribution and allocation
Could issue or withhold passports for peasants wishing to travel over 20miles
Decided on crop rotation
Held titles of land until redemption payments were finished
Was the emancipation of the serfs a success?
No. Although the serfs now had their freedom from the landowners and access to their human rights
Their right to travel was restricted by the Mir who held the titles to their land and therefore were now in control of the Serfs
How was the emancipation received by the Landowners?
They were annoyed by loss of serf labour and land
Didn’t receive compensation payments
Treasury bonds which they received for their land could loose value as the economy changed
What was Alexander II’s motives in his legal reforms?
Avoid uprisings from below
Streamline the autocracy
What legal reforms did Alexander II make?
1864
Borrowed heavily from Western Countries
Introduced independent judiciary system; equality before the law for all; trial by jury introduced; judges required to have a professional qualification - led to creation of intelligentsia
Led to potential critics of the regime
What reforms did Alexander II make within the army?
Dmitri Milyutin - War Minister
Education programme introduced; all classes now subject to conscription; length of service reduced to 15years; conscripts chosen by ballot; most barbaric punishments abolished
Led to democratisation of the army
What local reforms did Alexander II make?
1864
Zemstva was created (local council)
Members were elected and all classes COULD be represented
Multi-functional dealt with military conscription, public health, agriculture, education, supervising prison and hospitals
Duma was also created
Up to 1866, how did Alexander II reform Russia?
Serf emancipation rights
Army reform - democratised, rise In literacy
Legal reform - impartial judiciary, salaried, professionals, censorship is relaxed
Education increased
Up to 1866, how did Alexander II not reform Russia?
Agriculture - strip farming, redemption payments, Mir
What happened after 1866 in Russia?
The Period of Reaction - backward thinking
Alexander II stopped reforming perhaps due to his new mistress or a failed assassination attempt
What were the implications of the Alexander II’s period of reaction?
Tsar dismissed officials closely associated with the emancipation edict
Prominent radicals arrested for sedition, 1862
Revival of Imprisonment and exile to Siberia
Leading radical journals closed down
Zemstvas forbidden from communicating with each other
Police supervision of university intensified
Courts urged to interpret the law in favour of the government
What did the emancipation edict lead to?
Further Social and Political Consequences
Reform of the Legal System - landowner could no longer dispense local justice
Reform of the Army- the peasantry was no longer required to conscript
Reform of the Local Government - landowners could no longer claim a dominant position in local administration
Why was there a rise in revolutionary opposition in 1866?
The result of reforms
New openness in society as result of reforms
Period of Reaction
Who was revolting against the regime?
Students
Nihlism
Narodniks (Populists)
Land and Liberty
Why were the students revolting?
New censorships meant favourite authors are banned. Students studied abroad and got ideas from Mikhail Bakunin - overthrow regime, belief in self governing communities breaking state institutions.
On return set up new secret organisations and distributed pamphlets spreading new ideas.
Who were the Nihlists?
Someone who does not bow down before any authorities, who does not accept any principle on trust.
Wanted to challenge authority and the existing status quo
Who were the Narodniks?
Idealist young gentry. Populists.
Believed the future lay with the peasants and dressed as peasants and ‘went to the people’
Some were arrested for going to the Tsar and the movement ended.
Remaining populists created the new movement: Land and Liberty
What was Land and Liberty?
Set up in 1878. Terrorist Organisation
Primary Aim was to have a social revolution, get rid of monarchy and have a communist society
What happened to the Land and Liberty movement?
Split into two. The People’s Will was part of the land and Liberty
What was the aim of The People’s Will?
Wanted to win over the workers and thought terror was the answer.
Wanted popular representation through a National Assembly; Mir to administrate local and economic affairs; people should own the land; freedom of conscience, speech and association and universal franchise (everyone can vote)
How was the emancipation received by the peasants?
Took a long time for peasants to get information about emancipation yet heard rumours and were disappointed with eventual emancipation
Led to 400 outbreaks or peasant uprising in 1861
Discontent with the peasants
How much was Russia industrialised during Alexander II’s reign?
Limited - modest expansion Supported by foreign investment Started building railway - led to urban expansion 1861- 1404km of track 1881 - 19957km of track
Who was Loris Melikov?
In 1880, he was made Law Minister
Job was to look at constitutional reform
Started to set up a popular assembly (parliament)
When was Alexander II assassinated?
1st March 1881
The day he was supposed to sign the ‘Coris-Melikovs’ documents for constitutional reform
Who was Alexander II succeeded by?
Alexander III
What was Alexander III’s personality?
Not internationally minded Strict and foul-tempered Strong Educated by anti semiotic and reactionary professor Never expected to be Tsar
What did Alexander III publish after his coronation?
Manifesto on Unshakeable Autocracy
Did not sure his fathers liberal ideas
How did Alexander III deal with his fathers assassination?
Executed 5 members of The People’s Will assassins and arrested 10000 dissidents
Abandoned his father’s plans for a new constitution
What did Alexander III’s advisors say he should do about his fathers assassination?
Tolstoy - called for reform (executing them would breed more hatred)
Pobdenostev - reaction (should be punished and executed)
How did Alexander III display his highly nationalist ideals?
Russification
Poles - must adopt a Russian name and learn Russian; 100000 soldiers in Russia to keep order
Jews - encouraged attacks on Jewish communities, passed ‘May Laws’ which restrict their rights. One third will die; one third will flee and one third will convert
What did Alexander III do about the economy?
Vsyshnegradsky - ‘we must go hungry but export’
Increased government income by 50% in ten years through tariffs on imports/increased exports of grain; massive famine killed 2,000,000
Witte - ‘We must save Russia by rapid and forceful industrialisation’
Arranged a large loan from France at a favourable rate of interest
What was done about Agriculture and Peasantry?
Ignatiev - lower redemption payments, proposed a ‘New Assembly of the Land’ elected by all classes; was dismissed for being too radical.
Tolstoy - extended powers of the Mir; appointed ‘Land Captains’ who could overrule the Zemstva and imprison peasants; established a ‘Nobles Land Bank’ to help he nobles re-purchase the land they had lost during the emancipation.
What was done about Industry and the Proletariat?
Bunge - Introduced factory inspectors regulating the treatment of female and child workers. Only 300 for the whole of Russia.
Wanted to introduce trade unions - dismissed
What was done about education and censorship?
Delyanov:
Schools were ordered not to let poor children in as they should ‘not be bought out of the social environment to which they belong’
New professors were appointed
‘Un-Russian’ books were banned and burnt
History teaching was banned
Who was the Minister of Finance from 1893-1903?
Sergei Witte
What did Sergei Witte need to do to retain Russia’s ‘Great Power Status’?
Needed money and knowledge
How did Witte get the knowledge?
Invited experts from abroad - Belgium, France, Britain, Sweden and Germany
How did Witte get the money to increase the economy?
Imposed heavy taxes and high interest rates Limited imports High protective tariffs (import tax) Extensive loans from France Rouble put on the gold standard
What did Witte do with the money?
Created Trans-Siberian railway (went from Mongolia to Vladivostok)
Encouraged internal migration, opening up Russia and uniting it as one country
Was NOT complete in 1914
What was the period of industrialisation known as?
‘The Great Spurt’
By 1914, was Russia industrialised according to historians?
Some would say no - ‘The Great Spurt’ was exaggerated to make achievements look better
Others would say yes - by 1914 was way on its way to becoming a modern industrial state
What was the downside of industrialisation in Russia?
Led to urbanisation
Meant people were living in squalor as no health and safety
Increase in disease
Who succeeded Alexander III and when?
Nicholas II - ‘The Last Tsar’
1894
What happened at Nicholas II’s coronation?
‘a doomed beginning’
Crowd agitated by Tsar coming to visit; approx 1400 were crushed to death. Tsar continued to celebrate his coronation.
Newspapers were banned from writing about it; people described it as an omen
What was the personality of Nicholas II?
Young and inexperienced
Reactionary
Believed in absolute autocracy
Advisor encouraged this view but acknowledged public’s discontent
What opposition rose during his regime?
Populists Social Revolutionaries Social Democrats (Bolsheviks, Mensheviks) Kadets Octobrists
Why did Nicholas II face so much opposition in 1904?
Defeat in Russo-Japanese War (humiliation) - due to poor leadership and lack of supplies
What was the situation in Russia at the end of 1904?
Close to turmoil, lack of food, strikes etc, Social Revolutionaries are assassinating people close to the Tsar
What was the event that catalysed the 1905 Revolutions?
Bloody Sunday
What was Bloody Sunday?
St Petersburg - winter (jan), discontent, winter, no electricity etc.
20,000 people marched a petition to the Winter Palace - were patriotic and peaceful
Tsars soldiers opened fire and 100 were left dead.
People felt betrayed by the Tsar and it sparked revolution
What was the impact of Bloody Sunday?
Followed a rave of strikes and repulsions
St. Petersburg was paralysed
Tsars uncle was killers by SRs
How did the Tsar originally attempt to resolve the unrest?
3rd March - Tsar promises a consultative assembly (people can voice their opinions and are allowed more rights to religion and cancellation of so,e redemption payments)
What was the people’s reaction to the consultative assembly?
This created more opposition and the intelligentsia created the Union of Unions. led by Paul Milykov. Theses are the future Octobrists
How did the Tsar then try to resolve the unrest?
19th August 1905 - Tsar promised an Imperial Duma
What was the Duma?
Duma was elected by an electoral college. (You vote for the voters but people can only vote if they have Property Qualification)
