Trying to preserve autocracy 1855-1894 Flashcards
Describe the geography of Russia in 1855
Vast empire spanning over 8m sqm. 5000 miles across 2000 down.
Rapid population growth (1815=40m , 1850 =70m, 1897, 125m)
Majority lived in West attracted by economic prosperity (mosc+spete) but 82% were peasants.
Multiethnic e.g. Ukrainian, Tatars, Latvians all seeking independence = threat.
Describe society in Russia in 1855
Dominated by a landed gentry who managed to control often very volatile peasants through village councils which established and collected taxes, selected peasants for army and allocated land.
Around half of peasants were slaves owned by gentry.
Peasant living conditions were terrible leading to life expectancy of just 35.
Describe the army of Russia in 1855
Deployed when law and order broke down.
1855 = 1.4m soldiers.
Most were conscripted serfs forced to join for 25 years (essentially life sentence)
Poorly trained and performed erratically especially in Crimean war.
By 1855 overriding concern in government was that Russia was falling behind the west who had already industrialised.
This anxiety was to have a profound effect on domestic and foreign policies.
Describe the economy of Russia in 1855
Economic growth was sluggish compared to West.
Russia possessed an undeveloped banking system unable to supply capital for introduction of modern technology so small scale production prevailed in most areas keeping output low.
Nearly half of total exports came from grain with most imports being finished goods from Europe.
Trade hard due to poor transport links. (no developed railway system. Just 1600km compared to 15000km in Britain)
Describe religion in Russia in 1855
Dominated by the Russian orthodox Church. = Conservative and supported tsar.
Intertwined with state = governed by holy synod which was headed by a govt minister.
tsar had absolute power over church = emphasises its use for social control.
Orthodox church became more detached from wants and needs of urban population.
Breakaway groups emerged e.g. old believers which challenged the orthodox.
Describe government and politics in Russia in 1855.
Tsar was autocrat contrasting Western democracy.
Nicholas 1 belonged to Romanov family who ruled since 1613.
114000 bureaucrats needed due to vast size but many unpaid so prone to bribes.
Another key feature was secret police (The Third Section) alongside traditional police.
All members of govt aristocracy appointed by tsar. Central govt in StPete.
Tsar chose to accept/reject advice of Imperial Council, Senate and Personal Chancellery.
When did Alexander II come to power and who preceded him?
1855 after the death of Nicholas I. ‘Best prepared heir the Russian throne ever had’.
What was the issue with Alexander’s push for social reform whilst maintaining autocracy?
Isolated him from both reformers and conservatives alike.
Describe Alexander II’s aims and character.
Committed to retaining autocratic powers but was more open to the ideas of those around him than his father.
What proportion of society were made up by the upper class?
12.5% - royalty, nobility, higher clergy
What portion of society were made up by the middle class (bourgeoisie)?
1.5% - merchants, bureaucrats, professionals
What portion of society were made up by the working class?
4% - factory workers, artisans, soldiers, sailors
What portion of society were made up by the peasants?
82% - Landed and landless gentry
Describe the characteristics of serfdom.
Could be bought and sold by their masters.
Could be conscripted into the army for 25 years against their will.
Illiterate, superstitious, conservative
No right to appeal misjudgement
Lord controlled marriage, employment, education, religion e.t.c
Lived in treacherous conditions (life expectancy just 35)
Loved and respected Tsar - didn’t see him as the creator of their conditions.
Describe the Royal family’s role in the pyramid of society at the time.
Autocratic and ‘unlimited’ monarch with endless privileges. Responsibility to the people and to God. Didn’t hold unlimited power e.g. couldn’t take land off people. Has to work with provincial governors but doesn’t have to take their advice.
Describe the Court’s role in the pyramid of society of 1855.
Administered autocracy and helped manage the Tsar’s orders but had little power to make their own decisions.
Tsar’s imperial edicts were the law of the land and chosen by him alone without the permission of advisors.
Describe the Russian Orthodox Church’s role in the pyramid of society at the time.
Tsar was head of Church appointed by God. Subject to Tsarist control over appointments, finances and administration. Priests delivered news on edicts.
Describe the army’s role in the pyramid of society at the time.
Maintained law and order but mostly made up of conscripted serfs forced to live in a ‘military colony’. (1.5m = worlds biggest)
What was the ratio of village to town dwellers in 1855 Russia?
11:1 compared to 2:1 in Britain at the time.
When was the Crimean War?
1854-1856
Who were the combatants in the Crimean War?
700,000 Russians vs 980,000 French, British, Ottoman, Sardinian.
Name 2 famous battles of the Crimean War
Battle of Balaclava 1854
Battle of Sevastopol August 1855 - loss of major naval base.
Why did Russia lose the Crimean War?
Serf conscripts + poor treatment + 25 year ‘life sentence’= low motivation.
Communication issues (60k of 1m summoned to battle)
No industrial revolution = lack of modern weapons.
Corrupt and ineffective administration.
Military suffered huge losses due to illness and disease.
Serf uprisings at home so troops had to squash these instead of fighting.
Landowners sent older, less fit soldiers so the younger ones can work.
What were the consequences of the loss in Crimea?
Embarrassing as fought on Russian soil.
Exposed the severity of Russia’s problems.
Why weren’t serfs previously emancipated?
They were seen as useful in war (Crimea proved this wrong) and the landowners wouldn’t be able to sustain their land without them.
Describe State Peasants
A category of ‘ free persons’ introduced by Peter I in the early 18th century.
They lived on and farmed lands owned by the state.
They were bound to land with varying levels of mobility and needed permission to leave.
Permitted to save up and buy freedom and in 1837 they were allowed to buy their own land.
Describe Obrok serfs
Obrok often had more value to nobles
They paid rent and often worked in industry
They were kept in poverty
Describe Barshchina serfs
Barshchina worked on land and provided labour.
Hard work during harvest and were given downtime after harvest.
What are Mir?
Regulated the lives of serfs.
Governed everyday affairs related to land usage, crop rotations, harvesting and represented peasants to nobility (didn’t provide protection).
Made up of a council of elders, each representing an extended family.
What is meant by Dvoriane and what did they do?
Nobility - Controlled marriage, roles and duties of serfs, allocated land, appointed village priests.
What was the role of Bailiffs in Russian society?
Dvoriane were frequently absent from their estates so Bailiffs ran them in their absence.
What was the opinion of Westernisers about 19th century Russia?
Believed Russia should adopt certain western values e.g. the rule of law and develop institutions similar to those in western Europe.
Who was Ivan Turgenev?
Turgenev was a Russian noble who wrote critically of serfdom and outdated Russian society.
What was the opinion of Slavophiles about 19th century Russia?
Wanted to preserve Slav culture and the autocratic system of government.
Saw western values and institutions as unsuited to Russia.
Describe how morality contributed to Alexander’s motivation for emancipation of the serfs.
Members of the royal family including Grand Duke Constantine (brother) and Duchess Elena Pavlovna (aunt) publically supported reform.
NIcholas I himself (father) said it was (an evil, palpable and obvious to all.
Enlightened nobles had been affected by writers such as Turgenev but nevertheless the majority of nobles believed it would be damaging to the Russian state.
Describe how risk of revolt contributed to Alexander’s motivation for emancipation of the serfs.
Concern for social stability - ‘better to abolish serfdom from above than let it abolish itself from below’ (1856)
Significant spike in disturbances 1857-1859 (Tsar even ordered weekly reports on the mood of peasantry December 57)
Army mostly serfs so stopping revolts difficult.
Describe how the Crimean War contributed to Alexander’s motivation for emancipation of the serfs.
Drew attention to state of serf army - Compulsory 25 year enlisting meant lack of motivation - military reformers thought Russia needed a better trained, smaller army.
However, releasing thousands of serfs back into villages was very dangerous so military reform could only happen when serfdom was abolished.
Describe how economic reasons contributed to Alexander’s motivation for emancipation of the serfs.
Vital to abolish serfdom to advance -
Free labour more productive than forced labour - free labour meant they could move around to where they were most productive - industry or agriculture.
Clearly expressed by Nikolay Milyutin, ministry official in 1847 (Quote in book)
Finish Alexander II’s quote (1856) ‘I ask you gentlemen…’ and explain its significance
‘I ask you gentleman, to figure out how all this can be carried out to completion’ - involves landowners in process.
‘Better to destroy serfdom from above…’
‘than wait until the time where it destroys itself from below’.
What was the Nazimov rescript and when was it signed?
November 1857 - Alexander gives an ‘imperial instruction’ to nobles
Nobles form committees and submit proposals - gradual liberation.
When and what was the Ukase on Emancipation?
February 1861
Article 1 - ‘serfdom and bondage (to land) forever abolished’.
Serfs receive about the same amount of land as they had farmed.
State pays nobility and serfs pay state.
Mir given increased responsibility - Collection and paying of taxes.
How many people received their freedom as a result of emancipation in 1861?
23 million
What were the key arrangements of the emancipation for the landowners?
- Landowners retained around 2/3 of their land.
- The landowners received market value for the land they were handing over.
- They could choose which of their holdings to hand over so kept the best land for themselves.
What were the key arrangements of the emancipation for the serfs?
- Received far less land than they had worked.
- 2-3 million peasants completely landless.
- The land they received was lower quality.
- Powers of the Mir increased.
What were the key consequences of the emancipation for the landowners?
- Felt like they hadn’t been properly compensated - loss in land, status, influence and power.
- Most of the money paid went towards repaying debts.
- Land prices doubled to satisfy needs of nobles - angered both sides.
- Economic loss due to fall in agricultural profits.
What were the key consequences of the emancipation for the serfs?
- Peasants felt cheated as they still didn’t own the land but had to pay for it over 49 years - peasant disturbances.
- Right to own property in their own names = beginning of the Kulak class.
- Radical intelligentsia reacted badly to the terms as they felt it protected the nobles.
How many peasant disturbances were there in 1861?
Over 1000 including one which involved 10,000 peasants.
The army had to be brought in to restore order on over 300 estates.
What was a kulak?
- Someone who bought land off poorer peasants and rented out to other peasants.
- Middle class peasants/rural bourgeoisie.
- The serfs who the kulaks bought the land off now owned no land so moved to cities.
What is a Duma?
Urban town council
What is a Zemstvo?
Rural council
Why did many serfs believe the nobles had edited the document by the time it had reached them?
The serfs were promised to be free, instead they were burdened with payment and often lived worse lives than before emancipation, whilst the nobles ‘benefitted’
why were many reforms introduced in the early stages of Alexander II’s reign, not just emancipation?
Current society relied on serfdom, so abolishing serfdom without reform would prevent a properly functioning society.
What reforms did Alexander II make which impacted the Church?
- more meritocratic system = talented and more educated priests gain promotion.
- Reduced influence in education and local government.
- Short-lived relaxation of treatment of Catholics and Jews in Poland, but increased again after 1863 Polish Reb
- Initial minor attempts to reduce corruption in ROC but reactionary policies of 1870s ended hope of significant ROC reform.
- Very little long-term impact
What reforms did Alexander II make which impacted the military?
- All classes now conscripted
- Conscription reduced from 25 years to 6 years (+ 9 in reserve) by Milyutin in 1856
- Military colonies abolished in 1857
- Investment in modern weapons but supply issues remained.
- New more meritocratic structure.
- New military colleges introduced to train non-noble officers.
- Unsuccessful = struggled vs Turkey 1877-78 and Japan 1904-05.
What reforms did Alexander II make which impacted local govt?
- Everyone can vote (ish)
- Zemstva and Dumas replaced gentry with power in countryside, but this orgs were dominated by nobility.
- Zemstva power was very limited, e.g held no control over taxation.
- Tsar appointed and influenced provincial governors/officials.
- Despite vast change, issues remained the same.
What reforms did Alexander II make which impacted peasants?
- Internal passports introduced to prevent peasants leaving to not pay redemption payments.
- Punishment of conscription banned
- Zemstva introduced to serve peasant needs, despite being controlled by nobility.
- Education improved, but still only elementary for peasants.
- Volost courts - people’s courts judged by peers e.g Zemstva
What reforms did Alexander II make which impacted (radical) university students?
- Number of people in Uni 3600->10,000
- Uni’s now self-governing, giving them more independence, increasing number of radical students and threat to regime.
- Censorship relaxed, increasing criticism of regime e.g newspapers, esp. around Uni’s
- Censorship re-tightened in 1870’s simply increased criticism further.
- Tsar took back govt control on ed in 1866
What judicial reforms did Alexander II make?
- Volost courts = people’s courts, judged by peers like Zemstva, but punishment was often even harder for peasants.
- Transparent trials with press led to ‘famous’ public cases = criticism of regime.
- Simplified court procedures to prevent decade long trials.
- Judges given more training to reduce corruption.
- Innocent until proven guilty
- More power to lawyers who were given a platform to criticise the regime to the press.
When and what happened in the trial of Vera Zasulich?
1878 - Vera Zasulich attempted to assassinate the much hated Governor of St Petersburg, Trepov. She was let off as the court decided she has ‘just cause;.
- This fueled the radical wing of Russia who felt that there wouldn’t be consequences for their actions.
What was the Trial of 193 and when?
1877-78 - Show trials for those accused of revolutionary activities.
- 153 of 193 acquitted, rest given light sentences.
- Defence lawyers’ heartfelt speeches reported in press and inspired more radical activity.
What is meant by the opinion that Alexander II became more reactionary later in his reign?
That his actions and policies were backward looking in order to restore the past and ‘undo’ his previous liberalising policies.
Why did Alexander become more reactionary after 1866.
- Polish Revolt 1863 (January Uprising)
- Death of son and heir 1865
- Attempted assassination 1866
- Family developments inc. mistress
What and when was the Polish Revolt?
- A.K.A January Uprising
- Poland was the most valuable land in Russia, and the Tsar had previously given it relative autonomy including freedom of religion, and yet they revolted 22/01/1863 to 11/04/1864.
- It took 100,000 troops to quell the revolt.
What was the significance of the death of the Tsar’s son and when did it occur?
- 24/04/1865 - Nicholas Alexandrovich
- Eldest son, therefore tsesarevich, leaving him one son left, making him reconsider the strength of the dynasty.
When was the first attempt on the Tsar’s life and what happened?
- 1866 nobility and former student Dmitry Karakozov shot (but missed) Alexander.
- There was 4 more unsuccessful attempts between 1867-1880.
Who was Alexander II’s mistress and how did she impact Alexander becoming more reactionary?
- Catherine Dolgorukova
- Led to him distancing himself from his family, including reforming elements such as Grand Duke Constantine and Grand Duchess Elena.
- Developments w/ e.g revolts and assassinations led to him becoming more aloof.
- He became less inclined to resist the reactionary conservatives who believed his reforms went too far.
What did reactionaries believe?
- Reactionaries believed that the Tsar’s reforms had gone too far, weakening the props to which the Imperial monarchy relied (Church, nobility).
- They also feared the spread of Western ideas through liberal universities and the free(r) press.
Which changes was Alexander pressured to make in government in 1866 from liberal ministers to conservative ministers?
Education - Golovnin to Dmitry Tolstoy (Epstein grabs toddlers)
Internal affairs - Valuev to Timashev (Infants veto Talbot)
Head of Third Section (secret police) - now Pyotr Shuvalov (teens scared of Saville)
Justice - now Konstantin Pahlen (jack kills prostitutes)
What counter-reforms did Tolstoy make to education? x6
- Zemstva’s power over education were reduced
- church was restored to a position of prominence in rural schools
-gymnazii (higher schools) were forced to abandon natural sciences and follow a strict classical curriculum
- From 1871, only students from traditional gymnazii schools were allowed to progress to universities
- critical thinking subjects (Lit., science, history etc.) were forced out
- censorship was tightened again
What counter-reforms did Pyotr Shuvalov and Konstantin Pahlen make to police, law and control? x4
- Third Section were now responsible for rooting out subversion
- Konstantin Pahlen ensured the judicial system made an example of those accused of political agitation.
- show trials, trial of 50 and the trial of 193 were set up to prosecute those who were involved in revolutionary activity
(this backfired as most were freed or given light sentences) - 1878, political crimes would be transferred from civil courts to military courts (sentences could be passed in secret).
What problems of the late 1870s meant that the Loris-Melikov Constitution was necessary?
- Growth of opposition in the 1870s, particularly among intelligentsia and Unis.
- Russo-Turkish war did not result in a swift victory as expected (11 months, rather than a matter of days)
- Famine in 1879-80
- Assassination attempts on the Tsar in 1879 and 1880.
- The Tsar realised that violence and unrest would be better curbed by widening democratic consultation.
Who was Count Mikhail Loris-Melikov and what did he suggest?
- Appointed Minister of Internal Affairs August 1880.
- Suggested a more democratic and representative government.
