the growth of opposition to tsarist rule Flashcards
1
Q
proletariat
A
urban working class
2
Q
what stimulated opposition to tsardom?
A
- the disappointment and hope brought by alexander ii reforms
- the liberal reforming ideas that were then met with repressive and reactionary reforms only reinforced the demands for change
3
Q
who were the main dominant opposition groups?
A
- liberal minded intelligentsia
- socialist student radicals
4
Q
what was liberal opposition composed of?
A
- nihilism and anarchism
- westernised outlook
- constitution
5
Q
nihilism
A
belief all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated
6
Q
anarchism
A
the belief in self-governed institutions, the state is considered unnecessary or even harmful
7
Q
georgi plekhanov ideas
A
- leader of land and liberty black partition
- exiled 1880, studied marxism
- 1903 became menshevik
8
Q
socialist
A
people who believe that society should be egalitarian, redistribution of wealth
9
Q
plekhanov: liberal or populist?
A
populist
10
Q
alexander mikhailov ideas
A
- led people’s will
- put a spy in third section
- violence
- undermined by gov for assassinating individuals
11
Q
mikhailov: populist or liberal?
A
populist
12
Q
two broad categories of liberalism
A
- westernisers (wanted to ‘catch up with the west’)
- slavophiles (favoured a superior ‘russian’ path for a better future)
13
Q
individual example of a liberal slavophile
A
- ivan turgenev
14
Q
individual example of a westerniser liberal
A
- leo tolstoy
15
Q
what did slavophiles believe?
A
- russia had a unique culture and heritage based on the orthodox church
- thought orthodox church should be preserved while the country should be modernised
16
Q
what did westerners believe?
A
- russia should abandon slavic traditions
- adopt modern western values
- included economic and military reform, as well as reforms to ‘civilise’ by providing representative assemblies, reducing authority of orthodox church and establishment of civil liberties.
17
Q
who was ivan turgenev?
A
- westerniser
- sportsman’s sketches 1852 - helped the educated to favour abolition of serfdom
- fathers and sons 1862 addressed the problems of contemporary russian society
18
Q
details of ‘the organisation’
A
- 1863
- set up by students in moscow uni
- called for reform
19
Q
examples of relationship between Alexander II and the zemstvas
A
- was not prepared to give them national influence
- St petersburg zemstvo demanded central body to coordinate regional councils, tsar refused
- mind partly changed by end of 1870s
- if loris-melikov proposals would have taken place, there would have been further representation
20
Q
what happened to slavophiles after 1881?
A
- peaked 1881
- as country moved towards industrialisation, western-style socialism began to take root
- therefore split the intelligentsia
- some attracted to marxist theory and some attracted to socialism
- others maintained a more liberal stance and continued hope on reformation of tsardom
21
Q
what influence did the 1891-92 famine have?
A
- relief work heavily on zemstvas
- led to a minor turning point in increasing the levels of opposition
22
Q
who was karl marx and what did he believe?
A
- german jew
- wrote about social and economic conditions of paris
- wrote ‘communist manifesto’
- revolutionary socialist
23
Q
nikolai chernyshevsky
A
- radical journal author ‘the contemporary’ and ‘what is to be done?’
- suggested peasants should be the leaders of revolutionary change
24
Q
aleksandr herzen
A
- editor of radical journal ‘the bell’
- produced abroad and smuggled into russia illegally
- advocated a new peasant based structure of society
- 1860, called on followers to ‘go to the people’
25
mikhail bakunin
- anarchist and socialist
- collective ownership over private ownership
- income based on number of hours worked
- translated ‘communist manifesto’ to bring marxist ideas to russia
26
marxist theory
- based on history of constant class struggles
- thought the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie would produce the perfect communist society (after a short dictatorship of the proletariat)
- attractive in 1870s, but became less relevant rurally
27
the tchaikovsky circle
- 1868-1869 in st petersburg
- revolutionary literary society
- no more than 100 people
- sought social not political revolution
- 1872 onwards began organising workers with intention of sending them to work among peasants in countryside
28
narodniks
- populism
- lavrov gathered 2000 to persuade revolution from below
- wanted to exploit and exaggerate the debt and aftermath of emancipation
- despite failures due to arrests and peasant superstition, helped to take radical opposition away from underground meeting rooms and therefore made the government more able to see opposition
29
what did some narodniks do to persuade the peasantry to revolt?
- dressed up and talked like peasants
30
how successful were the narodniks?
- peasant ignorance, superstition, prejudice and deep-rooted loyalty to the tsar meant incomers were reported to authorities
- around 1600 arrested
- second round of ‘going to the people’ was more successful but resulted in more arrests and show trials in 1877 to 1878
31
when was land and liberty set up
1877
32
example of land and liberty political assassination
- general mezemstev
- head of the third section
- 1878
33
black repartition
- wanted to share or partition the black soil provinces of russia among the peasants
- worked peacefully among peasantry, developing ties with students and workers and publishing radical materials in the hope of social change rather than violence
- weakened by arrests in 1880-1881
- plekhanov and some earlier leaders turned to marxism
34
peoples will
- led by mikhailov (planted a spy in third section)
- advocated fr violent methods
- 1879 declared the tsar had to be removed
- offered to withdraw threat if tsar agreed to a constitution
35
plekhanov
- leader of land and liberty (black partition and peoples will)
- exiled in 1880 and studied marxism in geneva
- 1903 became a menshevik
- remained in exile until 1917
- ‘father of russian marxism’
36
37
summary of growth of opposition to the tsarist rule 1855-1894
- little chance of success because of repression by tsar
- as industrialisation sped up and the number of workers organisations, illegal trade unions and marxist discussion groups rose, marxist and social revolutionist ideas were being spread
