Russia In The 19th Century

Russia in the 19th century

Russia before 1855  Tsars in the 19th century:

Alexander I (1801-25) Nicholas I (1825-55) Alexander II (1855-81) Alexander III (1881-94) Nicholas II (1894-1917)  Only Alexander I before 1820 and Alexander II before 1863 had reform minds, other were absolute monarch

Different parties in Russia during mid 19th century  There were mainly two parties in Russia

in the 19th century  The Westerners believed that Russia was too backward and should be reformed in the model of the west  The Slavophiles emphasized the Russian tradition. They believed that Russia was an agrarian society and should not learn from West

December Uprising in 1825  In 1825, There were an uprising.  Some officers returned from the

Napoleonic War learnt western thoughts and advocated to reform Russia  There were also some secret societies in Russia.

The Northern Society  The Northern Society in St Petersburg,

members were mainly officers in the army  They aimed at changing Russia into a limited, decentralized monarchy  They were mild reformers

The Southern Society  The Southern Society in Kiev, members

were mainly officers in the army, too.  They believed that Russia should become a republic  They were radicals and advocated to use violence to reach their ends

The December Uprising in 1825  In December 1825, the Northern Society

began the Uprising and, two weeks later, the Southern Society had their uprising  They were suppressed by Nicholas I quickly

The reign of Nicholas I  Nicholas I were an absolute monarch  He hated liberalism, and believed in

Divine Right of Monarch  A secret police force was formed and the philosophy department in university was closed  During the period 1832-1852, more than 150,000 people were exiled to Seberia

The reign of Nicholas I  During the period 1832-1852, more than

150,000 people were exiled to Seberia  The foundation of his rule was absolute monarch, Orthodox church and Russian Nationalism  He suppressed The Polish revolts in 1831, and intervened into the Hungarian Uprising in 1849

The Reign of Alexander II  The situation in 1855

Externally: Russia lose the Crimean War Internally: The Economic condition was terrible. The Serfs were the most important problem  Alexander II realised that major changes were needed if Russia was to remain a great power

Alexander II : The Tsar Liberator?  Alexander II: The Tsar Liberator?  During the reign of Alexander II, The

Tsar had established a lot of reforms, especially the liberation (emancipation)of the serfs so he was nicknamed “the Tsar Liberator  Some historians think that he was not a real reformer. Only the situation forced him to reform.

The emancipation of the Serfs  80% of Russia’s 60 million people were  3. 4. 

peasants during in the mid 19th century Two types of peasant: The state peasants: enjoyed more freedom The landlord’s peasants (the Serfs): usually in very terrible condition The Serfdom faced many problems in the mid 19th century

Liberation of the Serfs  In 1861, the Emancipation Edict was issued  Main issues: 3. Serfs became free citizens 4. Peasants would get a piece of land but he

had to pay for that. 5. The peasants who received land had to repay the government in annual installments over 49 years 6. The Mir was responsible to collect the payment

The impact of emancipation  Peasants were not happy because they

had to pay for the land and the landlords usually kept the best land  There were over 500 incidents of rioting in 1861  The mir was kept to collect taxes and other duties which the landlord did in the old days  Peasants became the mir’s serfs. The life of peasants unchanged

The emancipation of Serfs  Merits: 2. The emancipation was a precondition for

reforms in other fields, such as military and economic reforms 3. Many landowners invested the redemption from the government for government purposes 4. Some serfs, especially the domestic serfs, went to cities and became workers

The emancipation of Serfs  Merits

4. The nobility lost their administrative and economic power, were also losing their power to suppress the revolution in the future 5. Some other reforms could be done after the end of Serfdom, such as reforms of legal system, army and local government

The emancipation of Serfs  Demerits  The condition of the serfs did not improve or

even worse after the emancipation  They had to pay for their land values and other taxes  The plan had so many defects which caused the disappointment among the peasants

The emancipation of Serfs  The reform was a “fall between two

stools”.  While people blamed that the reform was too cautious, too little and too late, the nobles thought that Alexander acted too speedily and radical  The government was blamed by everyone

Other reforms  Judicial reform (1862)  The jurisdiction was divided into 2

parts: the Justice of Peace and the regular court  The peace courts decided on petty cases  The regular courtsresponsible for more serious cases

Other reforms-Legal  Introduction of the conception of judiciary

independent  Trial by jury for criminal cases  Courts opened to the public  Justices of Peace was appointed for petty cases

Other reforms-Army  All males over 20, irrespective of class,

had to conscription. The actual service was decided by ballot.  Substitution and exemption by purchase were abolished  Service would be as long as 15 years (6 years regular service and 9 years in the reserve)

Other reforms-Army  Military colonies came to an end  Most barbaric forms of punishment were

abolished  Common soldiers were equipped with up-to-date arms  The construction of strategic railways was speeded up

Other reforms-Political  Local government (Zemstvo)  There were two levels of local government,

the district and the provincial  All classes of the population to articipate in the local affairs

Other reforms-Political  Local councils - Zemstvo –were set

up at two levels: The district level and the provincial level  Population was divided into 3 classes: The landowners, townsmen and peasants

Other reforms-Political  The district government was

elected by the three classes  The provincial Zemstvo was elected by district Zemstvo  Municipal councils were set up in 1870, elected by male property holders over 25

Other reforms-Political  All local councils were responsible

for maintain roads, arranged military conscription, supervised prisons, took care of education, public health and development of industries and agriculture  Zemstvo members were elected for 3 years

Other reforms- Education  Liberalization of the educational system

was carried out by the Ministry of Education  New schools were built. Between 186181, the number of Primary and secondary schools increased fourfold  After 1863 university were given much greater freedom, including the right to import scholarly text of any kind from abroad

Economic development  Russian Industries had a rapid growth

during the reign of Alexander II  Between 1865-79 the number of workers more than doubled  Exports increased from 26 million tons in 1864 to 86 million tons in 1880

Alexander II – The Opposition 1.

The Intelligentsia:

The intelligentsia was the educated classes who concerned the future of Russia  The Westerners believed tha Russia would be progress if she adopted the main features of Western civilizations  The Slavophiles believed that Russia had already moved too close to the west.  Radical ideas developed among the intelligentsia

Alexander II – The Opposition 2. The populists  They invested their hopes for change in peasantry.  They thought that the liberation of people should relied on the mass but not professional revolutionaries  They were failed and some people turned to terrorism.  Alexander II was murdered in 1881

Alexander III  He was a soldier and believed that

terrorism could be crushed our of existence by using irresistible force.  He use iron policy against liberal ideas and revolutionary movement

Alexander III – his policies  Strict cencorship  Monitoring universities  Appointing conservative Officals  Dismissed liberals from Zemstvos  Persecution non-Orthodox religions  Anti-semitism  Russianization of the minorities  Secret police

Consequences of the repressive policies  Revolutionary activities reduced  He had to shut himself up in the

palace and reduced the change to contact with the mass  He died a natural death in 1894

Economic development  Industries and trade continued to

grow rapidly  Railways were built and more remote area had the chance to contact with the outside world  Middle classes and working class began to grow

Nicholas II : His character and ideas He is often seen as a weak, indecisive man, much under the control of his German-born wife, Alexandra 2. However, he believed the principle of autocracy, liked his father 3. He is also seen as an opportunist, like provoking a war with Japan in 1904, and intervened in the Austrian-Serbian Crisis in 1914 1.

Industrial development under Nicholas II  Industrialization began in Alexander II,

the trend continued in Nicholas II’s time.  Factories sprang up, often with over 5000 workers  Town population increased by 30%  By 1914, the industrial population in Russia increased to over 3 million

Reasons for the rapid industrial development  Russia caught up the trend of the age of

industrialization in Europe  Serge Witte contributed a lot during his office between 1892 -1896  Cheap labour from the villages  Resources and market were available in Russia  French loans and support

Consequences  Long working hours and bad

environment for the workers because there was no labour law  Socialist movement was active  Strikes became common  A stronger middle classes appeared  A strong anti-government force had been created

Revolutionary parties  Anti-government parties were founded: 2. The Social Democratic Labour Party 3. The Socialist Revolutionary Party 4. The union of Liberation Party

The Social Democratic Labour Party  The party based on the revolutionary

theory of Karl Marx  The leaders were Lenin and Trotsky  The party was divided into the Bolsheviks (the majority) and Menshevils (the minority)

The Socialist Revolutionary Party  It believed that a peasant revolt was

essential to bring about a successful revolution  Terrorist methods was used in their struggle

The Union of Liberation Party  Formed by intellectuals and middle class  It favoured a liberal constitution and a

parliamentary system  It also opposed the idea of proletarian revolution  After 1905, it split into the October Party and the Constitutional Democrats

Russianization and its consequences  The policy of anti-Semitism forced more

Jews to join the extreme societies  The liberties of Baltic provinces were suspended. Reactionary policies in Finland and Poland aroused resistance in the dominions

The Russo-Japanese War (1905)  Defeated by Japan, the war once again

exposed the inefficiency of the Czarist government  Greater discontents were found among Russian people  They demanded constitutional reforms or revolution to overthrow the Czarist government

The Bloody Sunday  On 22 Jan 1905, A procession of

200,000, led by Father Gapon, to make a petition to the Czar.  He petitioned the Czar to improve the conditions of work and grant political freedom  The procession was a peaceful but the guards opened fire and killed over 1000 people

Consequences  The bloody Sunday massacre provoked

strikes and demonstrations throughout the country  Anti-government feeling spread and the Social Revolutionaries agitated riots in the countryside  Even the crew of the Battle mutinied

The October Manifesto, 1905  On Witte’s advice, Nicholas II issued a

manifesto in October  The manifesto promised to summon an elected parliament, the Duma and to grant people freedom of speech, press and association  Since strikes and demonstration faded out, the revolution ended in failure

1905 Revolution--Causes of Failure 1. The Revolution was not planned 2. The Russo-Japanese War ended in

September, 1905. The returned soldiers strengthened the repressive force 3. The October Manifesto split the revolutionaries 4. The nobles and army still supported the Tsar

Results of the Revolution 1. Establishment of Duma: There were totally 4

Dumas During the period 1906-1917 2. The ineffectiveness of the Dumas caused another revolution in 1917 3. A series of reforms were carried out by Witte and Stolypin. The peasants and workers enjoyed a limited improvement in their life 4. A “dress rehearsal” for the 1917 Revolutions

Russia after 1905 Revolution The Dumas  There were altogether 4 Dumas:  The 1st Duma was formed in May 1906, but was dissolved by the Tsar in July because it asked for more power  Many liberals re-elected in the 2nd Duma. Moreover, many seats were occupied by the Social Democrats. It was again dissolved by the Tsar

Russia after 1905 Revolution  The 3rd Duma was elected in 1907 and

lasted until 1912 because only rich men could vote  The 4th Duma, like the 3rd one, supported the government and lasted until 1916

Russia after 1905 Revolution Russia under Stolypin  Stolypin was Russia Minister of Interior before 1906, and he became the Prime Minister till he was assassinated in 1911  He carried a policy of both repression and reform

Russia after 1905 Revolution  He suppressed revolutionary activities

ruthlessly  However, he gave land to no land peasants and allowed the peasants to sell their land and move to cities  He introduced accident and health insurance  He also improve the conditions of the army and navy