The rule of Nicholas II, 1894-1905

Question 1

When did Nicholas II become Tsar of the Russian Empire?

Answer 1

1894

Question 2

What does it mean by the fact that the Tsar’s power was not constrained by any constitutional checks?

Answer 2

• The Tsar’s power was not limited by law
• Russian subjects had no right to free speech or a fair trial because these rights would effectively limit the Tsar’s power.

Question 3

What were the consequences of autocracy?

Answer 3

• Corruption
• Limited civil society
• The Tsar’s isolation

Question 4

What was ‘Russification’?

Answer 4

Russification meant the aggressive promotion of Russian culture and the forceful suppression of other national cultures.

Question 5

What was Russification a response to?

Answer 5

Russification was a response to the development of nationalist feeling in various parts of the Empire, which the Tsar believed threatened the unity of the Empire.

Question 6

Why was Russification counterproductive?

Answer 6

It led to a backlash among groups who had been loyal to the Empire. Indeed, cultural persecution turned the Finns, the Armenians and the people of the Baltic against the Tsar.

Question 7

What did the nationalism in Poland and the Baltic states later feed into?

Answer 7

The 1905 Revolution

Question 8

In Russia, what did nationalism lead to?

Answer 8

In Russia, nationalism led to anti-Polish, anti-Finnish and anti-Semitic feeling, which sometimes led to violence against minority communities living in Russia.

Question 9

What three aspects of autocratic rule did the Tsar rely on?

Answer 9

Tsarism relied on Orthodoxy, anti-Semitism and the Okhrana, as well as Russification to control the Russian people.