Wider reforms

Question 1

Why did Alexander II reform?

Answer 1

Personal
Political-legacy of Crimean war
Moral
Economic
Fear of opposition
Avoid revolution from below

Question 2

What were the aims of Alexander II’s reforms?

Answer 2

Preserve autocracy
Modernise, “catch up with the west”
Make himself more popular
Better to have a revolution from above, to avoid revolution from below
strengthen Russia

Question 3

What were Alexander II’s personal reasons behind reforms?

Answer 3

recognised that some improvement was necessary to preserve his autocratic system of gov
he was aware that the Russian state was weak
to show he is listening & prepared to bring changes
better to abolish from above, then wait for below
fear of opposition
Put it on landowners so he couldn’t be blamed

Question 4

What were the political reasons behind reforms?

Answer 4

-Crimean War revealed the weakness & corruption of leadership of the army
-impossible to reform the army while emancipation survived
-loss made Russia realise they needed to industrialise to be on same level as other countries & highlighted serfdom was not working-it failed to provide the quality of soldier Russia needed
-loss exposed poor food production, inadequacy of Russia’s communications & inefficiency of Russia’s army (lost its superiority over the French + English armies, big shock)
-loss made it ideal for Alexander to introduce major reforms, now few had reasons to object it

Question 5

What were the moral reasons behind reform?

Answer 5

various groups had expressed concern about welfare of peasants under reform, eg 1842 Nicholas I declared to Council of State that serfdom was “evil” (gradual transition)
morally wrong for landowners to own human beings like possessions–> corrupted them

Question 6

What were the economic reasons behind reform?

Answer 6

-Serfdom seen as economically inefficient
-free wage labour more productive than forced labour
-the benefits of free wage labour had been demonstrated in Siberia
-serfdom was blamed for the rising debt contracted by nobles to finance their extravagant lifestyles
-by 1855 the gov was 54 million roubles in debt
-the State was suffering from a decline in its revenues from the taxes paid by peasants
-nobles & the state increased their demand for grain, caused famine among peasantry

Question 7

What did the army consist of?

Answer 7

Peasants
Dangerous for revolution from below

Question 8

What were the general reasons for reform?

Answer 8

Peasant disturbances had increased, led to rumours that serfs expected a liberator
by 1859, the country faced a prospect of a peasant war- worrying for rural nobles, provincial governors & gendarmes

Question 9

What other reforms did Alexander II make?

Answer 9

Administrative reforms
Judicial reforms/ political
Military reforms
Educational reforms
Economic reforms
Censorship

Question 10

What administrative reforms did Alexander II make?

Answer 10

Introduced a new system of local gov, the zemstva, gave peasants some representation but not as much as landowners
more democratic

Question 11

What was the Zemstva?

Answer 11

elected rural councils

Question 12

What did the Zemstva do?

Answer 12

They were given limited powers to approve local community projects eg roads, prisons, public health, poor relief, education & industrial construction

Question 13

What was the Zemstva a huge step towards?

Answer 13

Liberalising the Empire

Question 13

What were the successes of the Zemstva?

Answer 13

Their ‘good work’ in the fields of education, public health and local economies

Question 14

Who did the Zemstva represent?

Answer 14

the peasants, townspeople and gentry

Question 15

What did the Zemstvas and Dumas provide?

Answer 15

new opportunities for local political participation in ways that hadn’t been possible previously

Question 16

Why was a problem with the Zemstva?

Answer 16

It had a number of weaknesses that limited their effectiveness

Question 17

What were the Zemstva’s weaknesses?

Answer 17

Dominated by the gentry
Didn’t control the police
Their decisions could be overruled by the Provisional Governor
Permanently short of money

Question 18

What did the Zemstva being short of money mean?

Answer 18

It limited their practical options and the voting system was heavily weighted towards local landowners, made it easy for the conservative nobility’s interests to dominate assemblies

Question 18

What was the failure of the Zemstva evident in?

Answer 18

The new judicial system of 1864

Question 19

Why do some historians argue that Alexander introduced the Zemstva?

Answer 19

Because he was forced to introduce an element of democracy at local level but then regretted it because liberal members began to challenge his policies

Question 20

What judicial reforms did Alexander II introduce?

Answer 20

Introduced a modern western-style system, aimed to be “equal for all our subjects”
Juries introduced
Judges to be better paid to avoid bribery
Courts open to public & press coverage
new lower cases, volost, to replace serf owner as local magistrate

Question 21

What were the positive impacts of the judicial reforms?

Answer 21

System of justice considered good, fair & less corrupt this made major contribution to the modernisation of Russia
System very liberal, offered Russians chance of fair trial
helped promote a climate based on rule of law

Question 22

What were the negative impacts of the judicial reforms?

Answer 22

political cases were removed + secret police could still arrest people (revolutionaries)
there was a shortage of trained lawyers in the early years & they were still influenced by the gov who controlled their promotion prospects
trial by jury not universally enforced
apart from peasantry, other groups remained outside the new system eg priests, gov, revolutionaries

Question 23

Where was trial by jury excluded?

Answer 23

In Poland, the West provinces and the Caucasus

Question 24

Why was reform of the military necessary?

Answer 24

Defeat of Russia in the Crimean War 1854-6

The abolition of Serfdom that affected conscription of the rank and file

Question 25

Who was the Minister of War 1861-81?

Answer 25

Dmitri Milyutin

Question 26

What military reforms did Milyutin introduce?

Answer 26

modern weapons introduced to make Russia more competitive with European rivals
greater emphasis on military engineering
officer corps given proper training
administration improved with the introduction of 15 regional commands
changes to system of enlistment

Question 27

What changes did Milyutin make in the system of enlistment?

Answer 27

introduced universal military service (to all classes)
reduced length of service for conscripts from 25 years to 6 years with 9 years in reserve
ended practice of drafting convicts into the army
reduced size of annual conscription to 100

Question 28

What were the positive impacts of the military reforms?

Answer 28

army no longer seen as life sentence
attacked class inequality (universal service)
Milyutin restored Russia’s international reputation when Russia defeated Turkey in 1877
2-3 million soldiers were educated in the 1870s-90s due to encouragement of more educated recruits
army developed a trained reserve that could be readily mobilised when required

Question 29

What were the negative impacts of the military reforms?

Answer 29

system still unfair despite efforts, people could still be represented by substitutes + officers remained heavily aristocratic
army was still based on peasant conscripts-high levels of illiteracy reduced effectiveness of training, evident in wars fought in Russia in late 19th and early 20th centuries
problems of supply & provisioning as well as leadership remained

Question 30

What educational reforms were made?

Answer 30

Schools were declared open to all classes (equal)
Reforms to Unis: scholars allowed to travel abroad & curriculum broadened to include philosophy
new breed of liberal professors replaced conservatives
Poor students did not have to pay fees
Responsibility passed to Zemstvas

Question 31

Positive impacts of educational reforms?

Answer 31

standard of teaching improved & improvement in literacy (Zemstva in charge)
fair/equal, opened to all classes & poor didn’t have to pay, by 1859 2/3 of students students at Moscow uni exempt from fees
University numbers grew from 3600 to 10000 as did revolutionary activity

Question 32

What were the negative impacts of educational reforms?

Answer 32

Private schools-not equal
(For Tsar) Gov’s liberal policies made unis into a “powder keg”-student radicalism grew
gov retained the right to veto university appointments & to ban student organisations particularly after reactionary disturbances
In 1861, many universities closed down & students prosecuted for criticising the regime

Question 33

What reforms were made to the nationalities?

Answer 33

allowed a relaxation of central control in some regions especially Poland
removed some restrictions on Jews. allowed them into higher education & gov

Question 34

What were the economic reforms?

Answer 34

foreign trade, banking + planned railway network encouraged but with mixed success
Reutern attempted to improve auditing of tax reforms but there was no real tax reform
Russia’s currency, the rouble, not stabilised, 1/3 of gov expenditure went to repay old debts

Question 35

Positive impacts of economic reforms?

Answer 35

Russian railway developed from 1600km in 1861 to over 22,000km in 1871, growth helped stimulate internal trade
Industrial workforce expanded from 860,000 to about 1,320,000 by 1887 (more jobs)
considerable increases in oil & coal production + new industrial areas emerging (dependent on foreign investments)

Question 36

Negative impacts of economic reforms?

Answer 36

The ‘peasant market’ was extremely fragile & dependent on good harvests
Peasants still forced to pay poll tax, rose by 80% over Alexander’s reign while gentry were exempt

Question 37

What reforms were made to censorship?

Answer 37

Reorganised + relaxed but with limited success
editors given more freedom on what they could publish
however the regime retained control over what was written + read

Question 38

What did the relaxation of censorship encourage?

Answer 38

A growth in the number of books and of political journalism
Public opinion became more educated
however growth in criticism provoked counter-reaction, in 1870s tight censorship returned