The Russian Autocracy

Question 1

Who predominantly was in power of Russia?

Answer 1

The tsar and the Orthodox Church to demand obedience

Question 2

What was the political context of Russia like?

Answer 2

Russia was an autocracy. At it’s head was a tsar, who enjoyed unlimited powers. The tsar’s imperial edicts were law

Question 3

Who was the Tsar supported by?

Answer 3

-The church
-advisers and ministers
-the nobility
-the bureaucracy
-the army
-the police

Question 4

What was the church like?

Answer 4

The Tsar was regarded as an embodiment of god on earth, controlling the church. The lands were his property and the people were his ‘children’. The church and state were closely entwined

Question 5

What were the political developments like?

Answer 5

Liberal ideas were spreading from the west and many Russian intellectuals were arguing for a civil society based on the rule of law

Question 6

When did Tsar Nicholas I reign?

Answer 6

1825-1855

Question 7

Why did tsar Nicholas follow a path of repression?

Answer 7

He sought to maintain autocracy and to distance Russia from the west.

Question 8

Why was tsar Nicholas seen as incompetent?

Answer 8

His reign culminated in military defeat in the Crimea, which finally brought the need for change to the new tsar’s attention

Question 9

What was the economic situation like in 1855?

Answer 9

Britain, Belgium, France and the German states were industrially advanced. Meanwhile, the Russian economy remained predominantly rural. This was partly because the inhospitable territory and climate in much of Russia limited economic progress.

Question 10

What was the main reason for Russia’s backwardness?

Answer 10

The main reason for the backwardness was the serf-based economy. This limited the forces that drive change (wage-earners, markets and entrepreneurs)

Question 11

What were wage earners like?

Answer 11

Most only just managed to survive on the produce they grew, and starvation was coming in winter. Land management systems meant that individual sec families worked scattered strips, following communal farming patterns

Question 12

What was the internal market demand?

Answer 12

Few goods were purchased; instead, goods were exchanged. Money was irrelevant and there was no internal market demand

Question 13

What was the social context like in 1855?

Answer 13

Russia was divided between the privileged land-owning elite and the serf majority- also known as the non-productive and the productive classes

Question 14

What was the non-productive classes (landowning elite) made of?

Answer 14

Royal court:
-clergy
-nobility
-civil and military officials
-army and naval officers

Question 15

What was the non-productive classes (landowning elite) made of?

Answer 15

Royal court-
-clergy
-nobility
-civil and military officials
-army and naval officers

Question 16

What is the population of the non-productive classes?

Answer 16

Around 10% of the population-owned 75%of the land. Exempt from direct taxation

Question 17

What was the productive classes made of?

Answer 17

Peasant serf majority-
-urban artists
-manufacturers
-merchants

Question 18

What’s do the productive classes do?

Answer 18

Provided 90% of imperial finance. Liable for direct and indirect taxes (and private serfs paid feudal dues to their masters)

Question 19

Who were the intelligentsia?

Answer 19

the intelligentsia consisted of persons with a good modern education and a passionate preoccupation with general political and social ideas.

Question 20

When was the Crimean war?

Answer 20

1853-56

Question 21

What was the impact of the Crimean war geographically?

Answer 21

The Ottoman Empire stretched from the Middle East across the Black Sea straits and into the Balkan’s.

Question 22

What did Nicholas I do politically?

Answer 22

Attempted to increase Russian influence they had caused the Turks to declare war in October 1853

Question 23

What had happened internationally due to the impact of the Crimean war?

Answer 23

The British and French, protected their trade interests, entered the war in defence of Turkey

Question 24

Failures of Russia due to the impact of the Crimean war?

Answer 24

The Russians proved no match for the west and suffered defeats at balaclava (October 1854) and Inkerman (November 1854)

Question 25

When did Alexander II become tsar?

Answer 25

March 1855

Question 26

What happened in September during the Crimean war?

Answer 26

The fortress of Sevastopol, in the Russian Crimea, had fallen to its enemies. Russia was shocked

Question 27

When was the treaty of Paris?

Answer 27

1856

Question 28

How did the treaty of Paris impact Russia?

Answer 28

The treaty added the final humiliation by preventing Russian warships from using the Black Sea in peacetime

Question 29

What were Russia’s military and administrative inadequacies revealed by the Crimean war?

Answer 29

-outdated technology
-poor transport
-inadequate leadership
-the problems of having a conscripted army

Question 30

What were the social impacts of the Crimean war?

Answer 30

Trade had been disrupted, peasant uprisings had escalated and music of the intelligentsia were appealing for action to close the gap between Russia and the west

Question 31

What did the Russian failures in the Crimean war provide politically?

Answer 31

Proved a wake-up call. 1855 marked the accession of a new tsar, Alexander II, and a new generation of liberal-minded nobles and officials who would strongly influence his reign

Question 32

A summary of the Russian autocracy in 1855

Answer 32

1. In1855 the vast Russian empire was characterised by geographical, social, intellectual, economic and religious divisions
2. It was ruled by the tsar, and autocrat with unlimited powers, in regime backed by the Russian Orthodox Church and based on a feudal system of government
3. Politically, economically and socially, Russia remained undeveloped and ‘backward’ in comparison with the west
4. Failures in the Crimean war highlighted Russian inadequacies. This was the catalyst for change under the new tsar, Alexander ii

Question 33

What is an autocracy?

Answer 33

a system of government by one person with absolute power.

Question 34

What is a bureaucracy?

Answer 34

a system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

Question 35

What is a conscripted army?

Answer 35

When a military needs people to fight in a war, but there aren’t enough volunteers, sometimes they’ll begin conscription. conscription legally requires people to join the army, with penalties if they don’t.

Question 36

What is a police state?

Answer 36

country that is heavily controlled by the state through the use of the police force.

Question 37

What is serfdom?

Answer 37

the state of being a serf or feudal labourer.

Question 38

What are liberal intellectuals?

Answer 38

Someone who has liberal views believes people should have a lot of freedom in deciding how to behave and think.