the land, the people, and tsardom

Question 1

what was the significance of Russias geography?

Answer 1

• the sheer size of the Russian Empire tended to give an impression of great strength.
• this was misleading.
• the population contained a wide variety of people of different race, language, religion, and culture. -(too many different types, tended to clash, uncontrollable/riots).

Question 2

how was Russias politically backward?

Answer 2

• 1894, it was still a criminal offence to oppose the tsar or his government.
• there was no parliament, and although political parties had been formed, they had no legal rights to exist.
• government censorship was imposed on published books and journals.
• although not allowed, liberal ideas were still present just could not be openly expressed.
• in the 19th century, there had grown up a wide variety of secret societies dedicated to political reform or revolution.
• these groups were frequently infiltrated by agents of the Okhrana. - raids, arrests, imprisonment, and general harassment were regular occurrences.
• the denial of free speech tended to drive political activities towards extremism.
• 1881, tsar Alexander II was blown to bits by a bomb thrown by a terrorist group known as ‘The People’s will’.

Question 2

what was the significance of the tsar (emperor)?

Answer 2

• by law and tradition, the tsar was the absolute ruler.
• divine right of kings.
• there were 3 official bodies (the imperial council, the cabinet of ministers, and the senate), who were appointed and their role was merely to give advice.

Question 3

what was the significance of the Russian Orthodox Church?

Answer 3

• the tsars were fully supported in their claims to absolute authority by one of the great pillars of the Russian system, the Orthodox Church.
• by the late nineteenth century, it had become a deeply conservative body, opposed to political change and determined to preserve the tsarist system in its reactionary form.
• as an institution, it used its spiritual authority to teach the Russian people that it was their duty to be totally obedient to the tsar as God’s anointed.

Question 4

what was the significance of the Russian economy?

Answer 4

• the low number of urban workers was a sign that Russia had not achieved the major industrial growth that had taken place in the nineteenth century.
• the sheer size of Russia and its undeveloped transport system had limited the chances for industrial expansion.
• successful borrowing and investment had not yet been mastered.
• Russia’s financial sluggishness had discouraged the rise of entrepreneurialism.

Question 5

what was the significance of agriculture?

Answer 5

• a thriving agrarian economy had failed to develop.
• much of Russia lay too far north to enjoy a climate or a soil suitable for crop-growing or cattle-rearing.
• the great number of peasants added to the problem -there was simply not enough fertile land to go around.
• emancipation decree of 1861- the ex-serfs were entitled to buy land but it was too expensive. this was caused by a shortage of suitable farming territory and by the governments taxation of land sales imposed to raise revenue.
• those peasants who managed to purchase property with special funds provided by the government found themselves burdened with large mortgage repayments which would take generations to repay.

Question 6

what was the significance of the peasant problem?

Answer 6

• 82% of the population were peasants.
• their sheer size as a social class led to them being regarded with fear and contempt by the governing elite, who believed that these dangerous ‘dark masses’ could be held in check by only severe repression.
• the elite implied that any attempt to educate the masses would prove highly dangerous, socially and politically.
• the elites thought that the ‘dark masses’ would threaten their privileges.

Question 7

what was the significance of the Russian army?

Answer 7

• the lower ranks of the army and navy were largely filled by enforced enlistment.
• conscription was regularly used as a form of punishment for law-breakers.
• the Russian army was notorious in Europe for the severity of its discipline and the grimness of the conditions in which its soldiers lived.
• the cost of maintaining the army and navy accounted on average for 45% of the governments annual expenditure. -showed how unbalanced government priorities were considering things like education only had 4% of expenditure.
• the higher ranks of the army were the reserve of the aristocracy and commissions were bought and sold.

Question 8

what was the significance of the bureaucracy (civil service)?

Answer 8

• eighteenth century, Peter I had attempted to modernise Russia by establishing a full-scale civill service with the aim of maintaining central governmental control throughout the empire.
• nineteenth century, many saw the civil service as corrupt and filled with nepotism and incompetence leading to Russia’s backwardness.
• any challenge to the system was lost in bureaucratic procedures.
• Herzen- criticised the Russian government.

Question 9

summary

Answer 9

the land:
- Russia’s geography
- its great size

the people:
- the social structure
- the dominant elite
- the ‘dark masses’
-80% peasant population

the economy:
- undeveloped industry
- backward agriculture

the tsarists system:
- autocratic government
- reactionary church
- corrupt bureaucracy
- oppressive army