State of Russia + Reform + Gov/Tsars Flashcards
What % of Russia were nobles and which were serfs (in 1858)
88% were serfs
10% were nobles
What was the inheritance law presesnt within the Russian nobilities and what were the effects of this
Property is divided among all the sons, leading to:
-nobles seeking out beauraucratic posts and military jobs
What were Grand Seignures
The top 1% of serf owners with >1000 serfs
often dominated army and had top positions in bureaucracy
What was the village to townspeople ratio in Britian and Russia in 1840
Britain 2:1
Russia 11:1
What was the growth in urbanisation from 1861-96
6% - 15% in towns
Who were the Intelligenstia
educated professionals ( teachers,doctors ) who became critical of the Tsar; some joined revoloutionary groups
What was the Obrok
a fixed cash sum all state serfs paid
Who were privately-owned serfs
Privately-Owned serfs who paid fedual dues in labour,cash or goods and typically in fertile land. They were worse off as they had less control
What rights did Landlords hold over their serfs
- Marriage/Sale of serfs
- controlled distrubution of land
- demand any money as taxation or feudal dues in labour, money or goods
How much of feudal dues was a serf’s income
2/3
what rights were serfs given over their land
free to farm land for their own use and controlled village life
What was a Mir
Village community with 50-300 people
What were the advantage and disadvantage of Mirs according to ‘A Source Book for Russian History from Early Times to 1917‘
gave them ‘organic coherence’ but the equal division of land was ‘not favourable…to agriculture’
What was the economy like in Villages
It was mainly based on agriculture with some small handmade goods to sell
Villagers were self-sufficient and made their own clothes,tools and houses. Often bartered for
How did the Russian seasonality effect village life
the short 5-6 months Russian growing season made all harvesting and sowing occur within a small 6 weeks
thus men and women worked together in a tialgo
Why were Children viewed as economic assets in villages
- Bigger families were allocated more land
- took care of elderly
- could work in factories
How many peasants revolts were there over every 5 year period after 1826 and what did this cause
At least 400 due to the ups and downs in harvests, resulting in large flights of peasants to the frontier or passive resistance due to discontent
What were the functions of the elected village officials
- administer common land
- supervised tax collections
- organise provisions for vulnerable and education
- But responsible to landlord
What were the defects of the Russian industrilisation growth
- lack of technical skills
- lack of capital
By the 19th Century Russia was no.1 in the world in _____
IRON
How were industrial workers treated and what did that lead to
- Industrial workers had low, irreegular wage
- Reforms and complaints were rarely successful
Thus many escaped to the frontier or partook in active resistance
How much of Russia was infertile
At least 50%
How did Russia’s freezing over of rivers affect it
Irrigation, trade and transport were stopped.
What % os Russia was Russian (in 1897) and how did this affect it
44% were Russians :
- hard to translate orders into so many languages
- tensions between different people
Define Autocracy
The undiluted exercise of the power of the sovereign
Who was Konsantin Petrovich Pobedonostev (Pobby)
- Strong influence over Alexander III and Nicholas II
- considered one of the falsest of political principles was that all power issues from the people and is based upon national will
What political changes did Alexander I incur (1801-25)
- Following the French revolution he pondered setting up an advisory representative assembly and giving it law making powers
- He never set it up; increasing want for representatives
What political changes did Nicholas I (1825-55) incur
- rejected democratic representation
- Decembrists revolt encouraged repression path
- chose censorship, the secret police and the Third Section.
What political changes did Alexander II (1855-81)
- least autocratic and sought reform but wanted it to be ‘handed down from abover not seized from below’
- Regressed into reactionary elements after assassination attempt
- His assassination made Alexander III receptive to Pobby
What political changes did Alexander III (1881-94) incur
end of concessions and reforms
significant increase in the use of police powers
What political changes did Nicholas II (1894-1917) incur
- continually resisted constitutional reform up until at least 1905
- constitution in 1905 allowed for political parties and a legislature in the form of Duma
- Alexandra and Rasputin failed traditional supporters lost faith
- Autocracy died with the Revolution of March 1917
- The Tsar was forced to abdicate
What were the 3 pillars of Tsardom
Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationalism
Define Autocracy
for the system of governance to be held by one power
Define orthodoxy
Faith in God and the Tsar as the ebodiment of the God on earth
Define Nationalism
Russian identity made it resist outside Western ideas and perform ‘russification’
Who were the slavophiles
Slavophiles were devout orthodox christians who wanted change within the 3 pillars of Tsardom
Who were the Westernisers
Anti-religion who wanted a democratic system of government, similar to Western governments
How was the Tsar funded
it came from feudal dues and taxation with nobility exempt
What was the strategic motives for the Crimean War
strengthen borders and stop it falling to rival powers
What were the economic motives for the Crimean War
the need for a warm water port
What were the main causes of the Crimean War
Power + Fear + Control
Power: Russia wanted to carve up ‘the sick man of europe’
Fear : Britain was scared of Russia’s huge army and advance through Central Asia and growth in Europe
Control : Turkey controlled warm water ports
What did Russia suffer from in the Crimean War
- outdated technology
- poor transport
- inadequate leadership
- conscripts lacked flexibility and determination of British and French
What were the main 3 impacts of the Crimean War
Exposed Russia’s military and adminstrative inadequacies
More peasant uprisings and renewed critisicm from intellegenstia
Treaty of Paris (1856) prevented Russian warships from using the Black Sea in peacetime
What were the liberal influences to Alexander II
His brother: Grand Duke Constantine and his aunt: Grand Duchess Elena
Along with the Milyutin Brothers and the progressive circle ‘Party of St Petersbureg Progress’
What were the main 4 motives for Emancipation
- Moral Issues
- Preventing rebellion
- Economic
- Crimean War
What did Alexander II famously say to the nobility in a speech in 1856 about serdom and what did this imply
’ it is better to abolish serfdom from aboce than to wait for it to abolsh itself from below’
implying to continue the autocractic hold on power; emancipation was a neccesity
What did Nicholas I say in 1842 to the Council of the State concerning the morality of serfdom
‘sefdom in its present situation in our country is evil’
What demonstrated the economic advantage of emancipation
Serbia’s growing prosperity
What did Beckendorf, Head of Secret Police, state in 1840 about serf rebellion
‘serfdom is a power keg under the state’
How was serfdom contributing to debt
Nobles had mortgaged 66% of serfs as securities by 1859 for loans
What did the 3rd section say about serf want for emancipation
’ they expect a liberator… who will sweep nobles away’
How did serfdom effect the military according to General Dmitri Milyutin
Warned reform was impossible while serfdom existed
What was the impact of the Crimean War on serfs
They formed a critical attitude
Many expected to be freed after, thus cuasing considerable disappointment
How did the nobility set back emancipation
- Any real change lead to loss of land so there was fear and inaction
- Wanted to avoid problems with freedom in Western Nations
How did Peasants set back emancipation
fatalistic and thus had an abstract idea of ‘rights’
Blamed corrupt officials rather than Tsar and more concerned with starvation
What were the main 4 features of the Emancipation Edict (1861)
- freedom w allocation of land ( rarely fair )
- freed serfs paid redemption payments >49 yrs
- afterwards 2 years of ‘temporary obligation’ to sort out land
- must remain in the mir
What was the mir made responsible for after the Emancipation Edict of 1861
- Land allocation
- Collecting taxes
- Collect produce
What was the volost
collection of several villages run by an assembly of represenatives from the mir
(ran own courts from 1863)
Who were the kulaks
serfs who benefitted from emancaption:
- often bought more land
- or got passport to leave mir and work in industry
What was the disadvantage of the mir
it was highly traditional leading to subsitence farming and backwardness persisiting
What did the backwardness of the mir lead to in 1878
By 1878 only 50% of the peasants could produce a surplus
In what 3 ways did the emancipation worsen serf life
- loss of benefits
- travel restrictions ( required passport from mir)
- Redemption payments
How many peasant riots were there there the 4 months after the emancipation
647 incidents of riot in the 4 months that followed
What were the 3 main characterisitcs of the military reforms under Alexander II (1874-5)
- active years in conscription 25⇒6 (+9 in reserves), made universal
- Military colleges set up, mass army education 1870-90
- New arms and command structure
What caused the failure of the military reforms of 1874-75 in the loss to Japan in 1904-5
- Peristent problems with supply and leadership as nobility still dominated
What were the zemstva
elected local and provinical councils
How were the zemstva elected
through the electoral colleges system
The electoral college was fashioned in a way to give the weight of the votes to ___ ________
the nobility
What were the powers given to the Zemstva
- improve public services
- develop industry
- administer relief
How was the zemstva limited in power
Provinicial governers :
- took responsibility for order
- continued to appoint officials
- veto decisions
Were the zemstva a true ‘people’s assembly’
No, as they attracted intellegenstia and nobles to air critique of the Tsardom
What were the 4 main features of the Judiciary system prior to the 1864 reforms under Alexander II
- no jury system
- no examination of witnesses
- assumed guilty until proven innocent
- judge’s decision was final
What were the 3 main features of the 1864 reform of the judiciary system
( western model )
- Equality before the law with a single system of law
- Innocent until proven guilty and could hire a lawyer
- Courts were publicised
What did the publicisation of courts lead to and how was this stopped
Articulate lawyers would criticise the regime and become famous
thus the gov. issued a decree permitting political crimes to be tried by a special court
What were the failures of the Judiciary reforms of 1864
- polish never got trial by jury
- ecclesiastical and military courtsd excluded from reforms
- peasants still treated differently in volost courts
What were the education reforms by Alexander Golovin under Alexander II (1863-4)
- self governed uni’s
- schools were declared ‘open to all’
- responsibility of schooling passed from Church to Zemstva
How many primamry school students were the in 1856 compared to 1880
1856 ⇒1880
400,000⇒1,000,000
2.5x increase
What were the failues of the education reforms of 1863-4
- self governed uni ⇒radical thinkers ⇒in 1866 gov. control reasserted
- secondary schools were still the preserves of the elite ( only 10k by 1870’s)
What were the censorship reforms of 1858-70
⇣ restrictions on publishers + foreign prints (w. gov approval) ⇢
⇑ critical writing ⇢ retightening of Gov. control in 1870s
Who tutored Alexander II and what did he make him do
Poet Zhukovsky; believed a sovreign must be raised as a ‘human being’ and win the love of his subjects
Thus in 1837 he took Alexander II on a tour of 29 Russian provinces, inc siberia
How does David Saunders describe Alexander II
Say Alexander was not very bright or a strong character
What did Alexander II confide in one of his tutors in 1829
‘I wish i hadn’t been born a grand Duke’.
It is apparent he often felt inadequate compared to his father
How does Count Paul Vasili in ‘ Behind the Veil at the Russian court 1913’ describe Alexander II’s nature
‘ Alexander II at heart was really more autocratic than his father, but having been brought up with immense care and by people imbued with liberalism, as it was understood in Russia at the time, he exhibted a curious mixture of despotic and revoloutionary ideas’
What were 3 key aspects of the Emancipatiom Edict
- Most peasants recieved less land than they had worked on before. Nobles kept the good land and gave out the worsers ones so peasants often had to work as hired labour to make ends meet
- Landowners recieved above market value, so preasants paid more of it. Estimated landlords retained ⅔ of land
- Mir was responsible for payments if peasant left as they couldn’t sell it. Thus Mir didnt let them go and tied them to the village
How many distrubances were there in 1861 as a result of disappointment from the emancipation
1,000 disturbances. One involving 10,000 peasants
The army had to be brought to over 300 estates
How did emancipation effect the gentry
- felt they had lost power and some wanted elected represntatives to be assembled ( democracy ) to stop bureaucrats attacking their interests
How did the intellgenstia react to emanciaption
badly; felt that emancipation protected nobels and betrayed peasants
Why was Nicholas MIlyutin ( desinger of the emancipation) fired
to appease the conservative nobility who didnt want serfdom abolished
What does Christopher Reid argue about the emancipation
Nobody was satisfied:
- Nobles saw power reduced
- Peasants resented redemption payments
- Peasants remained a segregated class; tied to own commune
What were the main causes of Alexander II’s reactionary period in the second half of his reign
- Death of eldest son
- Sought mistress Dolgoroukoua (Katya)
- surviving 4 assassination attempts
Who were Alexander II’s appointments in his reactionary period
- Dmitri Tolstoy; Minister for Education
- Pytor Shuvalov: head of 3rd Section
- Konstantin Pahlen: Minister of Justice
- Alexander Timoshev: Minister of Internal Affairs
What reforms did Dmitri Tolstoy intoduce under Alex. II in education
- removed liberal,critical thought type courses
- Right to veto appointments
- State teacher training college
What counter reforms did Pahlen (judicial) and Shuvalov (3rd Section) introduce under Alex. II
- 1879: creation of new gov. generals with emergency powers
- Track down radicals in Switzerland and Germany
- Held ‘open show’ trials, until it backfired
What was the ‘Trial of 193’ (1877-78)
A sympathetic jury acquitted 153 of 193 defendants with the lawyers speeches printed in the press
Why was the 1880’s a time of political crisis in Russia
- Russo-Turkish War (1887-8)
- famine in countryside
- industrial recession
Why did Alexander II think to widen democratic consultation
to curb violence and unrest
Who did Alex. II appoint as Minister of Internal Affairs very near to the end of his reign
Count Mikhail Loris-Melikov
What reforms did Loris-Melikhov introduce as Minister of Internal Affairs
- Released political prisons
- Removed salt tax
-
more power to zemstva
- 3rd section abolished
What was the Loris-Melikov’s Constitution
The reccomendation of the inclusion of elected representatives of zemstva, nobility and town governments in debating drafts of state decree ( widening democratic power )
What was the nickname given to Alexander III by his family
‘The Little Bulldog’ as he wasnt very smart and only interested in the military
Who took over Alexander III education at the age of 20
Konstantin Pobedonostev (pobby)
What of Alexander II’s reforms did Pobby oppose
- consessions to minorities; religous freedom
- freeing political prisoners
- Military reforms
- Judicial reforms
What were Alexander III main beliefs
- Beliefe had a mystical bond with peasants
- Stamp out political extermists
- Russification
- rejected any western style rule`
