Induction work- helping you to understand the basis of AS History- using evidence to create, support and develop an argument. This work needs to be completed for the first lesson you have in September. Read all information carefully and complete the tasks (>) Focus area= Alexander II (1855-1881) Comes to power at end of Crimean War when serfs are particularly dissatisfied and there are problems due to loss of war. (Note: All Tsars worried about peasant uprising especially as peasants made up over 80? of population). Major reforms take place during his reign becomes known as The Tsar Liberator. Is extremely worried about possible revolution of serfs and wants to improve things. Comes to throne in 1855 and in 1856 says will do something about serfs but does not do anything until 1861. His reforms encourage reformist groups to develop but his reforms do not go far enough for them which causes problems for him. In 1861 Alexander II emancipates the serfs - It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to allow serfdom to abolish itself from below - in preparation for increasing industrialisation in Russia. He believed serfs would have rebelled had he not emancipated them. Certain limitations placed on the freedom of serfs but still landowners and nobles not happy with it. Economic compensation for loss of serfs and loss of land for nobles as serfs needed to have own land. In Estonia where serfs had been freed without land there had been rebellions - Tsar needed to avoid rebellion therefore Russian serfs given land. They were given land but had to pay Redemption payments over 48 years at 6% interest. Nobles were given interest bearing State Bonds in return for their land. Nobles/landlords were able to decide how much their land was worth therefore they over valued it. Following emancipation serfs still remained legally obligated to the landowners for the first two years. Landowners had to hand over the serf s home and immediate area around it immediately but could pass rest of the land over to the serfs over a period of time. Household serfs were not given land. Results of Emancipation Idea of serfdom disappears but serfs still not completely free Land settlement unsatisfactory because Land overpriced Redemption payments greater than income produced from land Peasants resented redemption payments for what they saw as their own land Landowners retained best land for themselves Peasants farmed 20% less land than they had done before freedom Emancipation favoured landowners because to favour peasants would have cost central government far more than it could afford Emancipation of serfs leads to necessity of further reforms ie legal reforms, reform of the army, reform of the education system, church reform, establishment of local government Emancipation leads to wide ranging changes in society which are opposed by some groups ie Slavophiles but approved of by Westerners Westerners believed that if Russia wished to remain a great nation it would have to adopt the best features of the political and economic systems of the countries of Western Europe Slavophiles regarded western values as corrupting urged the nation to preserve itself as holy Russia by glorying in its Slav culture and its separate historical tradition.
Reforms under Alexander II Reform of Local Government The tsar had absolute power in Russia and this remained despite the reforms. However, due to the emancipation of the serfs a system had to be set up to take over the functions that previously the serf owners had done. Therefore a system of locally elected assemblies was set up called the Zemstva (Zemstva plural Zemstvo singular). Zemstva were elected annually. The vote, however, was weighted towards the landowners and because the peasants were generally illiterate and deferential they were not equipped to get much advantage from the system. There were two levels of Zemstva The district tier (uezd) and the provincial tier (guberniya). The district Zemstvo dealt with problems within its district and sent a proportion of their members to form the provincial Zemstvo. Landowners had 42% of the vote for the lower tier and 74% in the upper tier whereas peasants had 35% for the lower and 10.5% for the upper. The Zemstva were responsible for all the things that had been done by nobles and landowners when the serfs were owned by them. They dealt with local taxes, roads, education, public health, relief of the poor and local industry. The advantages of this system are that it would please the landowners (would gain prestige), serve a function for the ex serfs, please liberal opposition. However, it was not democratic and, in effect, did not carry out many real functions. Local government made little impact on the Tsar s autonomy as issues they dealt with did not affect the national picture. The real power therefore remained securely with the Tsar. This was shown when a third tier, a national Zemstvo was asked for and the tsar refused (it would affect his plans!) In 1870 local government structure was extended to towns where the elected assemblies were called Dumy (Duma in singular). The 8 largest cities were given Dumy equal to provincial Zemstva. This system has been criticised for inadequacies when measured against western systems. However, in a Russian context it was evolutionary. They had to engage in Russia's real social problems (or at least look at them!) Freedom of the Press December 1855 - Nicholas I's Buturlin Committee was dissolved. (It had been set up to extend censorship). By 1858 the Russian press was free. As literacy increased this freedom could be used to the revolutionaries advantage.
Reform of the Judiciary The judiciary was given an open western structure and system of procedure. Barristers and Juries were used, trials reported in a government newspaper 'The Russian Courier'. This was the most forward looking of Alexander II's reforms. For the first time the Russians had the possibility of a fair trial. However, the peasants were excluded from the new system and had to be content with their own local courts and government appointed justices of the peace. Reform of the Army After the disaster of the Crimean War it was clear that something had to be done. The man in charge was Nikolai Miluitin. Before 1861 serfs were drafted into the army by their owners for 25 years. Therefore, they had little education or morale or hope to do well in life. Between 1862 1874 professional military service was reduced to fifteen years (6 years in service and 9 years in reserves) and could be reduced according to level of education of the recruit. (The better educated serving shorter terms). The army became more civilised. A new recruit could now expect to return to his town or village. Reform of Education 1855: Restrictions on university students were lifted. 1857: Allowed to study European government. 1860: Allowed to study Philosophy. 1863: A University Statute gave autonomy from government. However, peasants remained uneducated. Reform of the Church The Orthodox Church made peasants loyal to the state. 1862 an Ecclesiastical Commission was set up charged with overhauling the church. However, the bureaucratic process in Russian politics delayed concrete reforms until 1867-9 when the political climate had changed. Reforms created greater opportunities for promotion for energetic and talented priests but they did little to improve the life of the lower clergy.
Russia in Revolution 1881-1924: From Autocracy to Dictatorship Chapter 1: Russia before 1881 Key questions/tasks 1. What was Russia like in 1881? 2. How had Alexander II (1855-1881) brought change to Russia? 3. What factors brought change in Russia in the period 1881-1924? In 1881 Russia was one of Europe Five Great Powers (Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary) and it dominated eastern Europe as well as being a major force in international politics. However, Russia was more than just a European state as it covered vast areas of Asia as well as Europe. Russia was also the most conservative and traditional of the Great Five with very anti-revolutionary and anti-liberal ideas being adopted. However, by 1924 Russia had been transformed into the world s most radical state the first communist society with a mission for world revolution. Autocracy was the system of government in Russia under the Tsars. The Tsar had no limits on his power and was accountable to no one but God. It was believed that he was divinely appointed and that God supported and endorsed his actions. One of the Tsar s strongest supporters was the Russia Orthodox Church. The Tsar had his advisors but was not bound to listen to their advice the ultimate decision always lay with him. Laws were made by ukase (imperial decree.) This total power made the Romanov dynasty (1613 1917) the most powerful in Europe 1801-1825 Tsar Alexander I Absolute Monarchy 1825-1855 Tsar Nicholas I Absolute Monarchy 1855-1881 Tsar Alexander II Absolute Monarchy 1881 1894 Tsar Alexander III Absolute Monarchy 1894-1917 Tsar Nicholas II Absolute Monarchy 1917 (Feb. to July + July to Oct) Prince Lvov (then) Alexander Provisional Government Kerensky 1917-1924 Lenin Communist Government The rulers of Russia before 1855 are regarded as reactionary (not willing to reform) autocrats as they were unwilling to consider any political change or social reform. Alexander II would receive the title Tsar Liberator because he carried out important political and social changes. His son, Alexander III, reverted back to the pre-1855 model and his son, Nicholas II, would be forced to make political changes due to the 1905 revolution. The only period of democratic-style government in Russia would be in the short period of the Provisional Government in 1917. The world s largest state Tsarist Russia was the largest continuous land empire in modern history covering 1/6 th of the world s surface. Russia stretched from Poland and the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. From 1789 it even included Alaska until 1867 when it was sold to the USA. It was over 5,000 miles from the capital in St. Petersburg to Vladivostock in the
far east. Before the 1890s and the extension of the railway system east of Moscow it could take months to travel that route. Although vast in extent much of the Empire was limited in productive value because of its geography and climate. Geography The Russian Empire could be divided from north to south into zones of vegetation. In the far north was the tundra, an area of grassland which was permanently frozen. It was inhabited by tribes who were related to the Inuit. South of the tundra was the taiga, a vast belt of coniferous forest. Next came a belt of deciduous forest and in the southern part of the Empire was a vast plain, the steppe, in the west. This was the main crop-growing area. In the Asian part of the Empire, however, the most southern belt was desert and semi-desert which spread as far as the Himalayas. In addition, the Empire possessed several mountain ranges. The Urals divided European from Asiatic Russia. On the borders of Turkey, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea were the Caucasus mountains. The tundra, desert and mountainous regions could sustain little human activity. However, the taiga offered the potential for hunting and timber, while the broad grasslands of the steppe were the breadbasket of the Empire. The economy Russia was overwhelmingly a rural country, with agriculture as the mainstay of the economy. Agriculture had to feed Russia s large and growing population (1831: 56 million, 1881: 98 million). Grain was also Russia s most valuable export, much of it being shipped from the Black Sea port of Odessa. Although Russia had immense natural resources (iron ore, coal etc) the country s industrial development was limited and existed only in towns such as St. Petersburg or Moscow, and in some parts of the Ukraine. Society Russian society in the 19 th century had changed little over the previous 100 years. At the top of the society was the Tsar who held absolute political power and owned vast estates across Russia. Beneath the Tsar was the Court which contained leading landowners and members of the government. This privileged group which was supported by the leading members of the Russian Orthodox Church comprised of the ruling elite and possessed considerable social and political power. Below the Court was a small group of businessmen and traders, who were supported by a small class of industrial workers. The vast majority of the Russian population, before 1861, consisted of state peasants and serfs. Serfdom had developed in Russia in the 15 th century as an essential part of what was regarded as the service state. Nobles owed allegiance to the Tsar and, in return for their support the serfs were tired to the land owned by the nobles. Serfs owed a variety of obligations to their owners. Some (barschina serfs) worked a number of days a week for their master, while others (obrok serfs) paid rent. Landowners had considerable power over the serfs, including the power to administer justice, with only capital punishment being forbidden. Serfs could not leave the land without permission from the landowners. Although they controlled serfs lives, the landowners did not technically own them. Serfs were legally tied to the land and the landowners owned the land. It s important to understand this connection, as it is the reason that freed serfs were required to pay redemption payments for the land after emancipation. This was a source of deep resentment for the serfs. Although nobles were freed from state service in 1762, it took until 1861 for the serfs to be freed from service.
A multiracial Empire Although known as the Russian Empire, the state was made up of a wide variety of ethnic groups. The largest and most powerful were the Russians centred on the area between St. Petersburg and Moscow. In European Russia there were also Finns, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians and Belorussians. In the Caucasus area were Georgians, Armenians and Azeris. And in Asiatic Russia were Turkmens, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Tajiks and Tartars. The Empire also had a variety of religions. The most powerful was the Russian Orthodox Church, which was the official religion. But in the west there were Catholics, in Asia a significant number of Muslims and in northern Russia there were Animists. The legacy of the Tsar Liberator, Alexander II, 1855 1881 The emancipation of the serfs, 1861 One of the biggest problems facing Russia in this period was the issue of serfdom. Roughly 80% of the Russian population were serfs of state peasants (25 million) and the vast majority of serfs were landless peasants. Although for many generations before Alexander II serfdom had been identified as a major obstacle to the modernisation of the Russian society nothing had been done about it. Serfdom caused subsistence farming producing enough just to feed yourself and your family and meant that there was little produce available for export. In times of poor harvests there was often widespread famine. Serfdom had existed in other countries but by the 19 th century Russia was the only major power which still continued with this system. Eventually, in 1861, Alexander II issued a ukase (imperial decree) which abolished serfdom. However, this did not mean that former serfs were now free. They had been tied to the land and as a result the owners of that land had to be compensated by the State. As a result, former serfs were forced to pay redemption payments (taxes) to the Russian government for a period of 49 years. Additionally, serfs were forced to live in mirs (communes) where land was held collectively. The mirs were administered by elders of the community and periodically these elders would redistribute land according to need which proved to be a major obstacle in agricultural modernisation. If a peasant wanted to leave a mir they had to ask permission of the elders. The system also obstructed people moving into towns which in turn impeded industry. In the second half of the 19 th century matters were made worse by the rapid rise in population in European Russia. The combined effort of all these changes resulted in periodic food shortages which occasionally became full-scale famines. Political and judicial reforms In 1864 Tsar Alexander II (the Tsar Liberator) introduced the first form of elective government in Russian history, albeit limited. The electorate was limited to the educated and wealthy and these were local government units in rural areas known as zemstva (singular = zemstvo). Their powers were limited to basic functions e.g. elementary education and road building and in 1870 these local governments were extended to towns and cities. In 1870 the Tsar s government modernised the Russian judicial system and introduced trial by jury. This meant that ordinary Russians participated in the process of justice where as before this reform justice had been the responsibility of the Tsar s officials.
The main themes in Russian history Change from above Russia had a tradition of strong political, social and economic change from above (change brought about by rulers or the government). In the early 18 th century Peter the Great brought about a period of change, in 1855 to 1881 Alexander II launched another period of change. From 1917 to 1924 Lenin forced through reforms from above as well. This was because for most of its existence, Russian politics was never democratic as it was ruled by either Tsarist autocracies or Communist dictators with power being kept, in both, in the hands of the ruler. War Change was also brought about in Russia due to war. From 1854 to 1856 Russia fought Britain, France and Turkey in the Crimean war, with a great deal of fighting taking place on Russian soil. Surprisingly, Russia was defeated, highlighting the need for reforms to take place and leading to the reforms of Alexander II in the 1860s. From 1904 to 1904 Russia was involved in the Russo-Japanese war over territory in the Far East. A Russian defeat was one cause of a revolution in Russia in 1905. Finally, Russian involvement in the First World War put Russia under huge social and economic strains as it struggled to fight Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Russian defeats undermined the authority of the Tsar and combined with the economic crisis, was a cause in bringing the Tsarist system down in 1917. The decision of the Provisional Government (February to October 1917) to continue fighting in the war, in turn, undermined its authority and assisted the Bolshevik seizure of power. Finally, the Civil War of 1918 to 1921 resulted in major political and economic change under the Bolsheviks. War Communism was introduced and political terror became part of the way that the Bolsheviks maintained power. Revolution Another key feature of Russian history was political change through revolution. In 1905 the Revolution resulted in the October Manifesto which allowed the creation of Russia s first elected national parliament, the Duma. In February 1917 the Revolution resulted in the abdication of the Tsar and the end of the 300 years of rule by the Romanov family. It also led to a brief period of liberal, democratic government under the Provisional Government. The October Revolution of 1917 brought about the reaction of the world s first communist state and led to a transformation in the social, economic and political struggle of Russia. Tasks 1. Using the information in this section, provide reasons for why Russia was regarded as a backward state in the 19 th century. 2. Find reasons why you think the Russian Empire was a difficult country to govern in the 19 th century. 3. Write down a list of reforms passed during the reign of Alexander II. 4. Study the timeline and the information on the main themes in Russian history. Link events within the timeline to each of the themes. 5. Study the reforms of Alexander II and place them in order of importance, giving reasons for your choice. TASK Essay preparation- To what extent is it accurate to say that Alexander II was a reformist Tsar? Work out key arguments for and against the statement