Russification Flashcards
Define russification
form of cultural assimilation process during which non-Russian communities give up their culture and language in favor of Russian culture
How did Alexander II engage with minorities at the start of his reign
- Set up bromady to celebrate Ukranian culture
- Finns had their own diet (government) and have their own currency
- Let jews to leave Pale, enter gov. and uni
How did Alexander II engage with minorities in the latter part of his reign
period of reactionary toward end of his reign
e.g. prohibition on use of Ukranian language in publications in 1876
What was Russification under Alex III like
intent on enforcing Orthodoxy and relied on nationalism and destruction of non-Russian culture
How was Poland and Finnish impacted by Russification under Alex III
- Diet severely weakened 1892
- Removed Polish National Bank 1885
- Teaching of all subjects in Russian ‘’
How was the Russian language utilised for Russification
1885-9 enforced use of Russian in all state offices, schools, police force and judicial system
What happened to Uprisings against Russification
Mercilessly crushed
e.g. Guriya in Georgia 1884
Tashkent 1892 Armenia 1886
How was Orthodoxy part of Russsification
Beneficial laws; Baltic Region 37,000 Lutherans converted
In Poland all Catholic Churches shutdown
In Asia there were forced baptists
Who supported Russification
- Bureaucrats from noble families
- soldiers concerned with border issues
- Othrodox priests; religious intolerance
How many cases were there of ‘mass disturbance’ in 1881
332 cases in 61 of 92 provinces
51 of these; military employed
What were the main consequences of Russification
- resentment among educated wealth minorities; emigration
- catalysed opposition groups; Latvians 7.54x more active
How does Peter Waldron describe Russification
‘failed to acheive its ends’ and ‘intensified national feeling among the non-Russians of the Empire’
What were factors promoting Russification
- Polish Revolt 1863/30
- Emergence of national liberation movements
What was ‘Polish Syndrome’
a fear that liberal policies would lead to revolt
How did Alexander III view the Jews
Highly antisemitic along with Pobby - ‘beat the yids save Russia’
Alex III wrote on the margins on a document for equality for jews ‘ but we must never forget that the jews crucified our master’
Real fear for jewish movements - perptuated by belief Alex II was murdered by jews
Where were most of the Jews in Russia
5 million in the Pale of Settlement
What caused the Jewish Pogroms of 1881-4
widely believed spurred by Okhrana with link to Alex II assassination
‘Holy League’ supported by Pobby helped coordinate early attacks
How many cities did the Jewish pogroms affect and what happened
- 16 cities
- Jews raped, murdered and property burnt
What judicial measures were taken against the Jews
- May Laws of 1882 effectively condemnded Jews to living in the ghetto areas of cities and pale
- 1887 restriction on uni; 10% in pale, 3% in capitals
- 1892 jews banned from local elections
What were the impacts of the Jewish pogroms
- many jews left; in worst pogrom year 1905-6 200,000 emigrated
- Drove dispropotioante amounts of jews to revoloutionary groups
How did Alexander II treat the finns
- own parliament, laws and currency
- Were very loyal and many educated finns were very interested in russian culture
What were the Russification measures enacted on the Finnish
- Orthodoxy prioritised
- Press subjected to Russian censorship
- Russia became main language
- Finnish army dissolved into Russian
What was the impact of Russification in Finland
Supporters of Tsar → revoloutionaries
assassination of Russian Governer General of Finland in 1904
What was the impact of Russification in Finland
Supporters of Tsar → revoloutionaries
assassination of Russian Governer General of Finland in 1904
