Tsar Alexander II, 1855-1881

Question 1

Serfdom

Answer 1

System whereby one man owns another man, but they are interdependent: owner gives serf land, serf gives back rent & labour.
Half the pop. were serfs.
3 different serf owners: nobility, state, orthodox church.
Serfs: agricultural, industrial, domestic.

Question 2

1861

Answer 2

Alexander II abolished serfdom.

Question 3

Reasons for emancipation (and quotes)

Answer 3

1. Need for econ. modernisation.
2. Crimean War (1854-56)
3. Need for social modernisation (he was afraid of uprising, no. of serf uprisings increased)
4. Alexander II was sympathetic to serfs.
   -First 3 reasons were of fear that R. is falling behind as a great power and fear of revolution.
   “It is better to abolish serfdom from above, than to await the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below” -Alexander II
   “Something must be done for the poor Russian peasant” -Alexander II

Question 4

Crimean War 1854-56

Answer 4

R. had army based on manpower.
Fought against B.,F.,O.E.,Piedmont.
R. lost bec. allies’ army based on machine power - they had an industrial revolution - R. didn’t bec. to have industrial revolution you need mobile labour.

Question 5

Terms of emancipation

Answer 5

Redemption payments (paid over 49 years when life expectancy was 42 years)
Peasants received land, but landowners allocated them bad ones.
Freedom.

Question 6

Results

Answer 6

Serfs were worse off.
Politically free, economically enslaved.
No. of revolts increased.
Alexander II didn’t achieve aim of preventing revolt.
Many nobles turned against tsar.
Tsar loses support from nobles & peasants.
Mir 1864: village commune, controlled movement of ppl- contradiction (wanted industrialisation whilst restricting movement)
Some econ. progress - railway increased, but big changes e.g. T - S Railway only started w. Alexander III.
R. defeated O.E. 1877-78 (O.E. was declining, so not that big of an achievement)
Then 1904-05 revolution R. defeated by J.
“We are 50 or 100 years behind” - Stalin
R. was only truly modernised by Stalin.
“Too cautious, too little, too late” - Richard Pipes

Question 7

Other reforms: Military

Answer 7

Conscription reduction from 25 yrs to 15, 6 active & 9 in reserve.
Military school established (candidates chosen on meritocracy) (liberal)
If you had uni. education, you serve 6 months actively (encouraging education) (liberal)

Question 8

Other reforms: Legal

Answer 8

Trials established to check if accused is guilty
Open court
Local judges (liberal bec. they were elected)
Judges elected for life & payed salary.
-Advantage of life appointment: incentive to work well if you don’t have to worry about re-election.

Question 9

Education

Answer 9

Cost of uni/school reduced + scholarships available.
Education placed under state, not church control
Censorship removed - freedom of debate
Women could go to some unis (St. P, M, Kazan)

Question 10

Local Government

Answer 10

(rural) Zemstva: local gov. elected by all men (1st country to do this)
Controlled local services, education, welfare, taxes.
Voting wasn’t equal: 45% landowners, 40% peasants, 15% middle class.