To what extent was the security of the Tsarist state challenged in the years before 1905 Flashcards
Intro - Ku
During the late eighteen hundreds, Russia was the largest country in the world with a population of over 100 million. The quality of life for the Russian people was very low, with the majority barely getting by as peasant farmers.
Intro - Ku
There was little industry work, most of the population were illiterate and many lived as slaves under wealthy landowners, leading to extreme poverty and starvation all over the Empire. This was due to Russia’s leaders at the time, the tsars, who had been in power since Ivan the Terrible in 1547, to Nicholas II in 1905.
Tsarist Ideology - Ku
These were social barriers put in place by the ruling government to keep the tsar in power for as long as possible. The Fundamental Laws stated that “the Emperor of all the Russians is an autocratic, unlimited monarch.”, showing the extent of the power the tsar had.
Tsarist Ideology - Ku
Challenging the tsarist government was legally impossible and there weren’t any elections or a parliament to strip their power away from them, so the Russian people were stuck with whatever tsar was in leadership at the time.
Tsarist Ideology - Positive Analysis
This was really effective in keeping the tsarist state secure, as it took away any opportunity for anyone to challenge their position. It meant that the tsar was above everyone and no one even had the chance to oppose the tsar because it was impossible to do so, which was why he was in power for so long.
Tsarist Ideology - Negative Analysis
However, it could be seen that the tsarist ideologies made the state less secure due to the fact that it was really challenging to communicate tsarist messages all across the empire. Not only was the size of Russia a problem, but the empire contained 20 nationalities at the time, all with their own unique language and culture.
Tsarist Ideology - Evaluation
The tsarist ideology was key in keeping security in the tsarist state as it was able to persuade and control large parts of the empire to keep them in line. This worked especially well with the conservative peasants, who made up the majority of the Russian population, as to them it was seen as treason to have anti-tsarist views towards the state. However, tsarist ideologies were only effective in securing the state because of the people keeping the tsar in power and enforcing rules, such as the Ohkrana.
The Orthadox Church - Ku
The Russian population, especially peasants, were deeply religious and so strictly followed whatever the church said, making it a useful tool to control the Russian people. When the church was forced to say the tsar had been appointed by god as the head of the church, the population didn’t question it.
The Orthadox Church - Ku
The way he used the church was by giving orders to bishops, who passed them onto parish priests, who then would control their villages by making sure each person was following orders and not anti-tsarist. This allowed the tsar’s power to reach the far corners of the empire.
The Orthadox Church - Positive Analysis
This was very effective in keeping the tsarist state in power as the large peasant population who were very religious and conservative didn’t challenge the church’s messages, because then they’d be challenging the Tsar’s ‘divine right’. This made peasants so easy to control, preventing a huge portion of the Russian population from going against the government, allowing the tsar to stay in power.
The Orthadox Church - Negative Analysis
However, it was less effective securing the tsarist state because it is questioned if parish priests really had that much control over the entire village, as it was unlikely for a single priest to enforce rules substantially to everyone in their village. This would have allowed anti-tsarist views to develop in these villages.
The Orthadox Church - Evaluation
Control over The Orthadox Church was crucial in keeping the security of the tsarist state over Russia, as it allowed the tsar’s messages to be delivered through the church. This seperated what was being told to the Russian people from the tsar, which made it seem the messages were coming from the church and god themselves. This made it very easy to convince the religious people of the empire to follow rules, helping reinforce the tsar’s power, even if people did not know that they were doing so.
Russification - Ku
The empire was so large that it covered one sixth of the earth’s land mass, so only 44% of the population were actually Russian. This left the majority of the empire having different languages and cultures, making them harder to control.
Russification - Ku
The idea of Russification was to set rules in place to minimise the influence of national minorities on the empire. This was done by forcing the Russian language, culture and customs on these minories, for example, the Polish.
Russification - Positive Analysis
This was very effective in securing the tsarist state as the empire was able to separate national minorities from their own heritage by taking away their culture and language. Many were too scared to practice their own beliefs and speak their native language, so were forced to conform to the government standard, making them easier to control.
