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Introduction 27/5/98
Terms:
Tsar Autocracy Bureaucracy Revolution Democracy Socialists
Trade Unionism Reign Clergy Judiciary Aristocracy Noble Serf Chinovniks
Supreme Ruler. All power was concentrated in the hands of one person. The theory of the Divine Right of Kings. Governed by state officials not by elected representatives. A significant change in the nature of affairs. A belief in the power of the ordinary people and their right to make decisions. Production should be owned by the state, which in turn will distribute the goods and services to citizens according to their needs. Socialists aim to create an equal society in which all people are guaranteed equal opportunities for fair living and employment. A group of workers who are paid a wage and come together to take action against what they see to be unacceptable economic, social and political decisions. To rule, be supreme. Men who have been ordained as priests or ministers of the Christian Church. The whole body of judges in a country. The Hereditary upper classes of people in a country. Belonging to the aristocracy by birth or rank. A farm labourer. Acted primarily as the administration of the empire.
The Tsarist system: •
In 1613 Michael Romanov came to the throne. He established the dynasty, which was to govern Russia for the next 300 years.
Autocracy • • •
The first Tsar in the nineteenth century was Alexander I, who came to power in 1801. Few dared to criticise the Tsars actions for fear of losing their positions. Alexander’s autocracy came about because the first Tsars had exercised firm control over powerful landowners, people who might be tempted to challenge their position.
Bureaucracy •
Most civil servants were unwilling to make decisions because they feared punishment if those decisions were wrong. Luke Cole
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The whole system was highly inefficient, and was resented by almost everybody. Many Russians considered the post of a civil servant to be desirable, as the work was not difficult, and there were many opportunities to extort bribes from members of the public.
The church • • •
The bishops and priests taught the peasants to accept their difficulties, and not to try to change things. The Tsar granted the church many privileges. There were few schools for the poor, because it was believed that an education would make the peasants even more discontented with their lot, and perhaps lead to social disruption.
The Organisation of Agriculture: • •
At the start of the 19th century, most of Russia’s people were involved in agriculture rather than in manufacturing industry or commerce. Serf worked for wealthy landowners.
1800 – 1914: Social and economic change
This means a change in the social and economic systems of a nation and thus the living and working conditions of the people of that nation. During the 19th Century in Europe the following happened: • The spread of the Economic Revolution changed the economies of Europe from agriculture to industry, commerce and trade. • To accommodate these major portions of populations changed. • Rural villagers to new cities • Occupations – rural to factory workers, servant, clerks, miners. • Industrialization led to changes in class structure including: • The rise of a bourgeoisie (commercial and intellectual middle class). • Proletariat – industrial working class. • Industrialisation led initially to shocking living and working conditions for workers in the cities.
Russia before Emancipation (Russia in 1800):
At the beginning of the nineteenth century Russia was a country with about 40 million inhabitants, only 40% of who spoke Russian.
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Social System At the beginning of Alexander I’s reign, most of the population were agricultural serfs, virtual slaves bound to the land and at the mercy of their aristocratic landlords. They were either privately owned by the landlords or they were state peasants and owned by the Tsar. • They bore most of the tax burden. • They paid rent for this land as either barschina or obrok, or both. • Barschina was a form of rent whereby peasants were required to provide free labour for the landlord in return for the privilege of farming a section of the landlord’s estate. • Obrok was a different form of taxation whereby peasants paid rent for the privilege of farming the landlord’s land based on the composition and number in a peasant’s family – in short, obrok was a form of poll tax paid to the landlord, in addition to a separate poll tax which peasants also had to pay to the Tsarist government. • During the nineteenth century, the peasants became increasingly frustrated. • Less than 10% of the population were members of the privileged classes and less than 2% were members of the nobility and clergy. These two sectors bore the fewest • There was no commercial/industrial middle class to speak of.
Nature of Russian Government to 1800 • •
The Tsar was an absolute ruler restricted only by the opinion of the upper classes, who dominated the clergy, bureaucracy and judiciary. Autocratic methods of a government which strongly resisted the impact of more modern ideas from Western Europe.
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Map, 1801:
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The Romanov dynasty from 16131918:
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Time Line: 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1805 1816 1817 1819 1820 1822 1823 1825
Assassination of Paul I Accession of Alexander I Creation of eight new government departments and strengthening of the bureaucracy. Abolition of secret police Golitsyn appointed Over Procurator of Holy Synod Education Statute Russia declares war on Napoleonic France and loses Battle of Austerlirz Treaty of Tilsit and alliance with Napoleon Speransky appointed special advisor to Alexander Arakcheyev appointed Minister of War Reestablishment of secret police Draft constitution presented to and rejected by Alexander Formation of State Council Arakcheyev leaves War Ministry Formation of National Advisory Council War of 1812 Dismissal of Speransky Defeat of Napoleon Formation of Holy Alliance Foundation of first revolutionary societies Arakcheyev appointed chief advisor to Alexander Golitsyn appointed Minister of Spiritual Affairs and Education Second draft constitution presented to and rejected by Alexander Rebellion among St Petersburg regiments Edict dissolving all secret societies Dismissal of Golitsyn Death of Alexander I Decembrist Revolt Accession of Nicholas I
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The Reign of Alexander I (18011825): • •
Alexander I was the grandson of Catherine the Great, and she meant him to succeed her on her death. She disapproved of her own son, the Grand Duke Pavel, and wished to disinherit him because of his unstable nature.
The challenge
When Alexander became Tsar, Russia was facing some fearful problems. The worst of these was the problem of the serfs, and the untold misery they all endured. The wealthy clung to their privileges by resorting to military force, and there was no strong middle class who might press for reforms, it was felt that any changes to the system had to come from Alexander himself.
Early attempts at reform
He gathered a group of four young aristocrats about him as advisors people with similar views. The first thing he did as a result of their counsel, Alexander made several improvements in government administration, such as establishing Cabinet ministries. He also introduced a new system of public education, which involved the formation of new schools, the creation of teachers’ colleges and the foundation of three new universities. However, in relation to the most urgent need of all – the abolition of serfdom – Alexander achieved very little. Alexander sympathised with the serfs, saying on one occasion that serfdom was ‘a degradation and a misfortune for the nation’, but he lacked the energy and the courage to fight against the nobles.
Early foreign policy
By this treaty Alexander agreed to turn against Britain and support Napoleon’s Continental System, a scheme designed to crush Britain economically by restricting the purchase of British goods.
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Relations with France The business community was particularly critical, because the nation depended so heavily on British imports. The alliance between France and Russia finally collapsed in 1811. The main reason was Alexander’s official abandonment of the Continental System.
Patriotic War Eager to punish Alexander for his part in the destruction of the alliance, Napoleon led his Grand Army across the Niemen River into Russia on 24 June 1812. This aggressive move started what the Russians were to call ‘the Patriotic War’. The Russians finally turned to fight at Borodino on 7 September 1812. Napoleon narrowly won a savage and bloody conflict, and the Russians had to retreat. A week later Napoleon led his army into Moscow in triumph, only to find the city ablaze. The retreating Russians had torched their capital, rather than allow the enemy to take it intact.
The Congress of Vienna Dominated by the conservative Prince Metternich of Austria, the congress decided to oppose the spread of revolutionary ideas, and to restore the old privileged orders to their former levels of power. This new form of repression was called the Congress System, and was to dominate European politics for the next decade.
The Holy Alliance
He proposed that he and his fellow monarchs form a brotherhood, to be called the Holy Alliance. Under the terms of this alliance, they would all agree to govern their countries with justice, peace and piety, and consider their fellow rulers as brothers in Christ. Alexander, who was by then the most powerful ruler in Europe.
A new outlook • • • •
Alexander’s campaigns of 181214 were victorious in a military sense, but they had some important political byproducts as well. In terms of economic development, the Western nations were far more advanced than Russia, and their factories and transport systems made Russia’s look ancient. As a result of this new outlook in Russia a number of secret societies sprang up, devoted to the idea of instituting social and political change. Foremost among their aims was the desire to abolish serfdom and to introduce a formal constitution, which would limit the autocratic powers of the Tsar and give the people say in their own government. One such secret society later came to be called the Decembrists. Luke Cole
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Alexander’s foreign policy Sweden, which had been a Russian preoccupation since the sixteenth century.
Sweden •
Alexander to sign the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, confirming Russia’s control over Finland, in return for the Tsar’s support for Sweden's plan to seize Norway from Denmark.
Poland • • •
Poland was a nation which ceased to exist in the eighteenth century when its territory was divided up among Austria, Prussia and Russia. Once Napoleon was out of the way, Alexander wanted to create a new Poland. He succeeded in forming a new nation from the territories formerly held by Russia and Prussia, became its first monarch and granted it a fairly liberal constitution. The Poles’ disappointment over Lithuania gradually led to increased tension with Russia, and eventually to a revolt in 1830, then fullscale war in 1831.
Turkey •
In fulfilling its aims, Russia tried either to dominate Turkey by being the senior partner in a coalition, or by waging war.
Military colonies • •
In 1816 Alexander instituted a new scheme for serfs on crown lands. He converted many villages into ‘military colonies’, in which the serfs became soldiers but still spent part of their time working in the fields. The military colonies were not a success.
Alexander’s last years • •
He was aware of the growing discontent with his reign, and responded by suppressing secret societies, tightening censorship and forbidding students to travel abroad. An unstable man, his mind was always full of unrealistic illusions and unfinished projects.
The Decembrist Revolt • •
As he had no children, he was succeeded by Nicholas, the younger of his two brothers. About thirty young army officers of a revolutionary organisation called the Northern Society feared that there would be no reforms under Nicholas. They quickly organised a military coup in favour of Constantine, through whom they hoped to Luke Cole
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achieve their main aims: a national parliament, the abolition of military colonies and the abolition of serfdom. The Decembrists paid dearly for their failure. Hundreds were killed in the fighting, while five of the main ringleaders were hanged and many others sent into exile in Siberia.
Domestic Policy • • • • •
In his early years he showed some tendency towards Liberalism. Early in his reign he abolished the secret police, expanded the administration of Russia. In 1809 Alexander reinstituted the secret police. In 1816 Alexander attempted to introduce a policy of military colonies [A system of selfsustaining villages who produce was used to support the small military garrisons (Fort) in them. Exceptionally in western provinces such as Ukraine and Poland]. His reformation of the bureaucracy, Alexander I began the shift of power away from the decentralized feudal system, were the nobility held name of the Tsar to a more centralized system, with officials, appointed and paid by the Tsar, directly responsible for the administration of the empire and the ministers.
Religion •
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There were two levels to the Russian Orthodox Church. The “Black” clergy and the white clergy, names based on the colour of their vestments. • Black – Higher ranked bishops and above were the administrators and policy makers of the Orthodox Church. They were financed by the government and appointed from the upper classed. • White – Lower ranked village priests and acted under the instructions of their black superiors. Alexander began to turn away from orthodoxy and after 1815 he allowed more freedom for mystics, sects and freemasons.
Education • •
Alexander established a new primary and second education system based on western models, in order to accommodate illiteracy. He created three new universities by 1825; 265 000 were attended school, 100 000 of this in military academies.
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Roreign Policy • • • •
From 1805 to 1812, Alexander was preoccupied with defeating Napoleon. In 1812 he became concerned with expanding the Russian Empire and he conquered Finland, Bessorabia, Georgia and part of Persia. He became obsessed by the need to prevent a rise of a revolution in Europe. Furthermore the believe that god had given him a holy mission to restore order to the nations.
Economic Policy • • • • • •
Before and during the reign of Alexander I the Russia economic was based almost entirely upon the agriculture system of serfdom. A revenue system largely based on a pole tax and the feudal dues of the barschina and obrok emphasized landlord ownership of the countryside. The tax farming of Vodka provided most of the governments revenue. The Vodka farms produced varying qualities depending on the number of times it was distilled the cheaper and ruffer it was. Vodka was very important part of life foe most Russians in a culture were drinking was integral, and were vodka was the only recreational outlet for working class men in the towns. In 1825 the peasant Savva Morozov brought his freedom with the proceeds of his Moscow lace and silk factory and establish Russia’s first cotton mill, using English equipment. This was significant for several reasons: • It was extremely rare for serfs to be able to afford to buy their freedom to gain the landlord’s permission to do so. • It was the first time a peasant had been able to establish a sizeable business and it was still operation at the time of the Russian revolutions of 1917. • It also showed that Russia itself could not yet produce the machinery necessary to operate a modern industrial plant. Neither Alexander I nor his successor Nicholas I saw the benefits of a strong local industrial economy.
Revolutionary Movements •
The Napolenic wars brought many Russian soldiers into contact with French ideas of liberalism and revolution, which they began, to support.
Historian’s opinions – Alexander I • • •
The backwardness of Russian industry was due to the absence of a banking system; a lack of capital and difficulty in obtains labour. The most cultured and educated group and the source of reform were the higher nobility. Class distinction was accentuated more in Russian than any were in Europe. Luke Cole
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The Russian system of administration was feudal, the Russian economy was holly agriculture; commercial activity and communication basic – In 1825 there was only 200 000 industrial workers and most of industry was foreran owned. During the Napolenic wars the Russian army became familiar with the concept that rulers have duties to society and should only rule with the consent of the people they govern. The practice of serfdom, the tying of peasant to the land arose in the 18th century when the Russian land was so plentiful and labour was scarce – later in the time of Alexander I there was much discontent among the peasant when this necessity no longer existed and the nobility’s obligation to serve the state but the peasants obligation to serve the landlords increased. There character of Alexander I was greatly affected by his love of military spectacle – his inconsistencies were due to a conflict between a fear of disorder and his wish for the improvement of Russia.
The Reign of Nicholas I (18251855): •
• • • •
Born in 1796, Nicholas was nineteen years younger than Alexander I. As the third son of Paul I, he was not expected to become Tsar. He received a good education as befitted his rank, and became very interested in military science, specialising in army engineering. His early diaries show him as having distinct prejudices against Poles and Jews, and an intense dislike of democracy. “I consider the entire human life to be merely service, because everybody serves.” Because of his background and upbringing, Nicholas was the classic autocrat. Organisation of government Nicholas developed a new unofficial bureaucracy of his own. As a soldier he felt comfortable with military men, and soon surrounded himself with military advisors.
The Third Department • • •
The Third Department’s official responsibility was to guard the state from revolution and subversion. Aided by a vast army of spies and informers, the Third Department kept an eye on political dissidents, religious agitators and foreigners. Benckendorff controlled the Third Department until 1844, when he was replaced by Prince Aleksey Orlov. These two men had continued access to the Tsar, so their influence was very powerful. Luke Cole
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Serfdom • • •
Nicholas set up several commissions of inquiry into what might be done to help the serfs, but these invariably reported that landowners were bitterly opposed to reform, and that intense social disruption would result from changes to the present system. Nicholas did introduce some improvements: he forbade the sale of individual serfs, or any measures which would break up families. Finally, in 1842, he allowed landowners to free their serfs if they wanted to.
Censorship • •
Nicholas was not prepared to tolerate criticism from anyone, and established an office of censorship to keep ‘dangerous ideas’ from contaminating the minds of the people. This heavyhanded attempt to regulate the state and to stifle all criticism is sometimes referred to as ‘the Nicholas System’.
Westerners and Slavophiles • • •
England and France had made economic and political progress which should be emulated by Russia. Opposing the Westerners were the Slavophiles (lovers of things Slavic). It is interesting to note that although the Westerners and the Slavophiles differed profoundly in their approach to most issues, they were united in advocating the abolition of serfdom.
The Polish revolt, 1830 • • •
Determined to stamp out liberalism wherever it surfaced in Europe, Nicholas at once planned to send an army to Paris to crush the rebellion. Nicholas punished the Poles severely. By abolishing their Diet and withdrawing their constitution, he effectively cancelled their independence and made them more subject to his personal rule. He forced Poland further into the Russian orbit by giving all important government positions to Russians, and by making Russian its official language. In addition, he incorporated the now depleted Polish army into the Russian army. As a further blow to Polish nationalism he closed down the universities of Warsaw and Wilno, and made the students attend Russian universities.
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Foreign policy •
Nicholas’ attempt to intervene in the French revolution of 1830, and the subsequent war against Poland, is a good example of his desire to suppress outbreaks of liberalism in Europe. He was devoted to the idea of autocracy, and felt that successes achieved by liberal governments would undermine the old order in Europe, making his own position increasingly difficult to maintain. As a result, any national group in Europe contemplating a revolution against an autocratic government always had to consider the possibility of Russian intervention in their affairs.
Hungary •
A secret clause of the treaty gave the Russians a great advantage: the Sultan agreed to close the Dardanelles to all warships at Russia’s demand.
The Straits Convention •
To conclude the matter, the powers concerned signed the Straits Convention in 1841. This provided for the closure of both the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus to warships of all nations in time of war. This treaty effectively cancelled the gains made by Nicholas in the Treaty of UnkiarSkelessi.
The drift to war •
The situation deteriorated sharply in March 1853 when Nicholas suddenly claimed that Russia should be responsible for protecting all of the Sultan's Christian subjects, regardless of where they lived.
Rich noble, Poor noble: • • • •
The Russian noble measured his wealth by the number of male serfs that he owned. The usual landlord owned less then 100 serfs. The sheremet evs owned tens of thousand of serfs. A landowner was worth 4 511 rubles in south west and 7 936 rubles in New Russia if the landowner had 21 male serfs on his property.
Masters and serfs: • • • •
The nobles receive their income by cash; Kind and labour of serfs. The sovereigns of Russia maintained that all subjects served the state, why they existed. Runaway serfs and slaves, vagabonds, illegitimate, abandoned children, sons of priests, soldiers and hanger son were able to avoid paying taxes because of their classlessness. The law of 1763 was that limited freedoms of movement by making a peasant get a permit from a landlord. Luke Cole
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The decree of May 3rd 1783 was that peasants in little Russia were bound to the landlords of who owned their land when census was made. Serfdom was not established in Siberia. Male serfs have grown in numbers but decreased as a percentage of population. The Hungarians were crushed, and forced to accept Austrian control once again.
Nicholas System The brother of Alexander I, Nicholas I was an enthusiasticand competent ruler. Terrified that the Decembrist Conspiracy might have led to disaster for him, he decided to adopt polldes of repression to ensure that this threat would not materialise again. He set up a system of strict censorship, the dissolution of secret revolutionary or even simply radical organisations; close superidsion of university lecturers and students under the regulations of 1835 and, via the University Statute of 1849, higher barriers to entry into all areas of university life. This Nicholas System was an attempt to shift control away from the once feudal land owning nobility whom Nicholas identified with the aristocratic Decembrists. It resulted in the formalisation of the central, executive power of the Tsar. This affirmation of the autocracy, begun by Peter the Great, was abandoned in the latter half of the eighteenth century due to the agitation of the landowners and culminated in the assassination of Paul I and the installation of Alexander I by this caste. However, in restructuring the bureaucracy in 1803, Alexander had begun the move back to the centralisation of power this was completed by Nicholas. By reforming the Imperial Chancery into five sections, each of which was responsible for a key portfolio of Russian Affairs, Nicholas clearly identified and administered directly those areas he considered vital.
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Tsar Nicholas I Absolute autocratic power Committee of Ministers Each was responsible for a portfolio such as Foreign Affairs, Finance, Religion, State Domains, Defence and Interior, but limited to an advisory function as far as policy was concerned – their real function was to carry out the Tsar’s wished and the Committee itself had no collective power.
Imperial Chancery Responsible for key portfolios in area considered to be urgent tasks, each of which was in the direct interst of the Tsar – each section was responsible directly to the Tsar. First Section Secretariat Responsible for administration and all promotions to key position in the Empire
Ministerial Boards Public service bureaus responsible for carrying out ministerial directives and responsible to their ministers – staffed by Chinovniks.
Administration of the Provinces Under the old system, most provinces were run by governorsgeneral, drawn from the landowning nobility and directly responsible to the Tsar. They were able to avoid the constraints of a common Ministerial Policy on Provincial Administration – under the new system, most of the governorsgeneral were replaced by governors responsible to the Minister of the Interior.
Second Section Law Responsible for the codification of all of Russia’s laws into a single document – Speransky. Third Section Secret Police Responsible for internal security, gathering information and intelligence about the Empire, the identification and arrest of subversives and the monitoring of all ideas in the Empire – headed by Benckendorff. Fourth Section Education Fifth Section Serfs Responsible for investigating possible reforms for the conditions of the serfs – aim was to defuse revolutionary sentiment, not necessarily to improve the quality of the peasants’ lives – headed by Kiselev.
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Travelling in the Russian Empire:
In the 1870s a Scotsman, Mackenzie Wallace, visited many parts of the Russian Empire. These passages from his book, Russia, describe different ways of travelling about the huge land. All the places mentioned can be found in Source 2C. Notice that Wallace calls the people of the River Don district ‘Cossacks’. They were the descendants of people who had set up frontier settlements there two centuries before.
ABy train The carriages are decidedly better than in England, and in winter they are kept warm by small iron stoves, assisted by double windows and double doors a very necessary precaution in a land where the thermometer often falls to 30 degrees below zero. The trains never attain. It is true, a high rate of speed so at least English and Americans think but then we must remember that Russians are rarely in a hurry, and like to have frequent opportunities of eating and drinking… From. Moscow to St. Petersburg the locomotive runs for a distance of 400 miles [643 kilometres] almost as the crow is supposed to fly, turning to neither the right hand nor to the left. For twelve weary hours the passenger in the express train looks out on forest and morass(area of marshy ground), and rarely catches sight of human habitation. From D. Mackenzie Wallace. Russia. Cassell & Co., 2nd edn. 1912.
BBy boat, on the river Don
The river is extremely shallow, and the sandbanks are continually shifting, so that many times in the course of the day the steamer runs aground. Sometimes she is got off by simply reversing the engines .... The captain always gave a number of stalwart Cossacks(People of the Don region) a free passage on condition that they should give him the assistance he required; and as soon as the ship stuck fast, he ordered them to jump overboard with a stout hawser(thick rope or wire) and pull them off. From D. Mackenzie Wallace. Russia. Cassell & Co., 2nd edn. 1912.
CTravelling by Imperial post service One has to apply to the proper authorities for a… large sheet of paper stamped with the Imperial Eagle, and bearing the name of the recipient, the destination and the number of horses to be supplied. …Armed with this document you go to the poststation and demand the requisite number of horses. The vehicle… resembles an enormous cradle on wheels… An armful of hay spread over the bottom of the wooden box is supposed to play the part of seats and cushions. From D. Mackenzie Wallace. Russia, Gassell & Co., 2nd edn. 1912.
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DCrossing a bridge Making hurriedly the sign of the cross, he gathers up his reins, waves his little whip in the air, and, shouting lustily, urges on his team… First there is a short descent; then the horses plunge wildly through a zone of deep mud; next comes a fearful jolt, as the vehicle is jerked up on to the first planks; then the tranverse planks… rattle and rumble ominously at the… animals pick their way cautiously and gingerly among the dangerous holes and crevices; lastly you plunge with a horrible jolt into a second mud zone. From D. Mackenzie Wallace. Russia, Cassell & Co., 2nd edn. 1912.
Peasants’ homes: There were 129 million people counted in the Russian census of 1897. Most of them were poor peasants living in tiny wooden homes which straggled along both sides of a muddy or dusty village street. The peasants famed strips of land in the fields around. This is an Englishman’s description of the inside of a peasant family’s home, published in 1913. It refers to the ‘black earth’ district around the upper Volga which was the most fertile part of the flat grasslands known as the steppes.
AA peasant family's home Wooden benches stand along the walls, also a construction of planks on which the inmates make their beds. In some districts there is a bedstead used by the peasant and his wife. At the entrance there are black pictures of saints whose features are no longer recognizable, ancient heirlooms held in high honour; even in very poor houses a little lamp is kept burning night and day before them. The table utensils are kept in a cupboard, which finishes the furniture of the rom, for the Russian peasant knows no chairs. When he comes home in the winter stiff and covered with snow, he takes off his shoes and stretches himself out by the stove .... A small hut about twelve feet [3.6 metres] square with a door through which a medium sized man can only go by stooping the floor made of earth, the ceiling so low that a tall man cannot stand upright, tiny windows letting in but little light with much draught and cold the whole building made of thin wood, insufficiently plugged with oakum(strands of rope, usually waxed or tarred, which were used to plug cracks). That is the usual peasant’s home in Russia! and these poor peasants constitute ninetenths of the population. The stove takes up a quarter of the room, that is, the particular Russian stove. It heats the room and cooks the food, it bakes the bread and boils the dirty clothes, and all the members of the family bathe in it in turns, and the old people sleep on it. It is the universal stove which only a people under snow six months out of every year could have invented. And what do they not use to heat it wood, straw, dung… It is torture to go into a peasant’s hut when the stove is being lit. The room is full of smoke, no one can breathe, it is suffocating; the smoke stings the eyes, that is why there Luke Cole
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are so many blind people in Russia. The real Russian stove has no chimney. The smoke fills the room and tries to escape through the roof, through the thatch, or the holes in the walls and when the peasant can stand the accumulated smoke no longer, through the open door… The entire family live in this room, day and night. The old man mends his shoes and the women work the spinningwheel; the girls and young children sit here; the babe cries in his cradle; a calf, a lamb, a suckingpig huddle together round the stove here they are warm, and if left in the outhouses would freeze to death. They sleep on the benches and on the floor all together, men, women, old men, children, and cattle. From D. S. Rappoport, Home Lift in Russia, Methuen, 1913.
4A famine, 1892:
There was hardly any year when the crops did not fail in some part of the Empire. If the grain was destroyed by disease or bad weather the result was a dreadful famine the following winter. These accounts were written by a Russian lady who led a relief party which took food to villages in the Volga river area, which were suffering famine in 1892.
AHunger in the villages
It was a tragedy to see splendid men in the prime of their life walking about with stony faces and hollow eyes. And then there were women clothed only in wretched rags, and little children shivering in the cold wind. They would crowd around the relief parties, which drove about in sledges, holding out their hands saying: We have sold our last horses, cows and sheep, we have pawned all our winter clothing: we have nothing left to sell. We eat but once a day, stewed cabbage and stewed pumpkins and many of us have not eaten that. This was true. There were many among them who had not tasted food for days. It was agonising to hear these poor people pleading to us for mercy lest they die of starvation. As they spoke in dull voices, tears would spring up out of the eyes of strong men and course slowly down their cheeks into their rough beards; but there was no complaint, no cries, just the slow monotonous chant, broken by the sobs of worn out mothers and the cries of hungry children. The thermometer stood at 36°F. below freezing point, yet the air was so calm that the cold was scarcely noticeable. From O. Novikoff. Russian Meraories. H.Jenkins Ltd. 1916.
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BA family’s suffering Paul Axenoff is the head of a family of nine, two old people, Axenoff and his wife, and five children… The house and cow have been sold and the outhouses pulled down and used for fuel. Straw is usually employed in Russia for heating, but this year there is none, so the peasants are glad to find anything to burn… In this hut I discovered a fresh article of food a soup made of hot water and weeds. They didn't eat it for the good it might do them, but simply for the sake of having something hot. At another hut in this village I found a similar concoction made with boiling water and choppedup hay. From O. Novikoff. Russian Meraories. H.Jenkins Ltd. 1916.
Time Line: 1826
War against Persia Acquisition of Kazakhstan and Turkistan 1827 Administrative system of the Imperial Chancery, consolidated into the Five Sections 1830 War against Poland Russian expansion into the Caucasus 1833 Muchengratz Convention 1835 Education regulations introduced placing educational curators directly under the control of the Minister of Education 1836 Publication of Chaadayev’s ‘Philosophical Letter’, thus beginning the Westernisation debate 1849 University Statute Hungarian campaign Trial of Petrashevsky Circle 1851 First Russian public train line (Moscow St. Petersburg) 1853 Crimean War begins 1855 Death of Nicholas I Accession of Alexander II 1856 Crimean War ends in Russian defeat 1859 Vodka riots 1861 Emancipation Edict
Secret police •
Over 150000 of the critics of the Nicholas System were sent to Siberia.
Limited Reform • •
Nicholas I was not completely blind to the need for reform. His desire for a centralised imperial system led to the reform of the administration and the establishment of the five sections.
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Treatment of Serfs •
He forbade the sale of serfs by their masters to settle private debts, or sales which broke up families. He allowed serfs whose masters went bankrupt to but their freedom.
Primary Extracts the Serfs before Emancipation:
“The appearance of several villages surprised me; they displayed signs of wealth, and even a sort of rustic elegance, which was very pleasing. The neat wooden houses form the line of a single street. They are painted, and their roofs are loaded with ornaments... [but] on examining them more closely, these habitations are discovered to be ill built... It was the first time I had seen the peasants in their own houses. [He enters an inn.] An immense wooden shed, plank walls on three sides, plank flooring and plank ceiling, formed the hall of entrance, and occupied a greater part of the rustic dwelling. Notwithstanding the flee currents of air, I found it redolent of that odour of onions, cabbages, and old greasy leather, which Russian villages and Russian villagers invariably exhale.. A low and confined room adjoined this immense shed; it reminded me of the cabin of some riverboat; walls, ceiling, floor, seats, and tables, were all of wood rudely hewn. The smell of cabbage and pitch was extremely powerful. In this retreat, almost deprived of air and light for the doors were low, and the windows extremely small, I found an old woman busily serving tea to four or five bearded peasants, clothed in pelissers of sheepskin. the wool of which is turned inwards…There is ignorance and misery among the people… All [the women] I have hitherto seen have appeared to me repulsive…Here as in Petersburg, they are broad and short in figure…which spreads freely under the petticoat. It is hideous! Add to this voluntary deformity, large men's boots and a species of riding coat… falling indeed literally in rags. De Custine, French Writer, comments on the condition of the serfs in the 1830s – 1843
The population varies probably as much as the appearance of the village. It consists usually of serfs (panskiye liudi) of free peasants (kasakki), of priests, and of nobles. The free peasants and the serfs always keep carefully aloof from each other, usually occupy the opposite portions of a village. rarely intermarry, and differ from each other both in manner and appearance. The panskiye liudi pride themselves on the power and wealth of their lords the kasakki on their own independence. Among the latter will generally be found not only the wealthlest inhabitants of the village, but likewise all the beggars. This is natural enough. If a free peasant be a drunkard, as most of them are, he is likely to sink into abject poverty; and having no lord on whose bounty he can fall back, his only reliance must be on the alms of the benevolent; if, on the other hand, he be a careful, industrious man, he will be likely to accumulate property,, without being liable to the extortions of a lord. Villages in the Ukraine according to kohl English writer – 1842 lkjf
The peasants belonging to the nobles have their abrock [obrok] regulated by their means of getting money; at an average throughout the empire of eight or ten roubles… Each Luke Cole
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male peasant is obliged by law, to labour three days in each week for his proprietor. The law takes effect on his arriving at the age of fifteen. If the proprietor chooses to employ him the other days, he may; as, for example, in a manufactory; but then finds him in food and clothing. Mutual advantage, however, generally relaxes this law; and, excepting such as are selected for domestick servants; or, as above, are employed in manufactures, the slave [sic] pays a certain abrock, or rent, to be allowed to work all week on his own account. The master is bound to furnish him with a house and a certain portion of land. The allotment of land is generally settled by the starosta {eider of the village) and a meeting of the peasants themselves. In the same manner, when a master wants an increase of rent, he sends to the starosta, who convenes the peasants; and by that assembly it is decided what proportion each must pay. If a slave exercises any trade which brings him in more money than agricultural labour, he pays a higher abrock. Serfdom in the early Nineteenth Century according to Heber, English Writer
The Russian communes evince an organic coherence and compact social strength that can be found nowhere else and yield the incalculable advantage that no proletariat can be formed so long as they exist with their present structure. A man may lose or squander all he possesses, but his children do not inherit his poverty. They still retain their claim upon the land, by a right derived, not from him, but from their birth as members of the commune. On the other hand, it must be admitted that this fundamental basis of the communal system, the equal division of the land is not favorable to the progress of agriculture, which… under this system could for a long time remain at a low level. Haxthausen on the Russian commune – 1840
Foreign policy • •
Nicholas I’s foreign policy was guided by the two goals of expanding the territory of the Empire and crushing foreign liberalism. The Polish revolt of 18301 was crushed and further Russian control was established by denying the Poles the liberal reforms Alexander I had promised fifteen years earlier.
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Map showing imperial acquisitions under Alexander I and Nicholas I 1801 – 1855:
Intellectuals and the Superfluous Men •
• • • •
Some intellectuals were the sons of merchants from the small middle class, but most were younger nobles who had travelled abroad during the reign of Nicholas’s brother, adopted liberal views, and returned to Russia either to teach or to study at the universities. The intellectuals attempted to discuss and spread some liberal ideas borrowed from Western European liberals. Early Russian liberals were largely ineffective due to the strict control of the Nicholas System, under which critics could be imprisoned, banned, exiled, declared insane or executed. The liberal intellectuals of the 1830s and 1840s wanted to improve the system in a different way from the govemment’s policies. They began to write of their experiences and the suffering of the peasants, but were not able to infiltrate the corridors of power.
Intellectteal Debate PanSlavism and Westernisation • • •
PanSlavism was a popular movement which wished to create a separate 'Slav' culture under Russian leadership, which celebrated the Russian feudal system and which was flee of any of the influences of Western culture. As it was supported by Nicholas I and the bureaucracy, it became the philosophy that guided Russian foreign policy. Westernisation, the second major cultural movement of nineteenth century Russia, aimed to introduce Western culture, ideals and reform to Russia. Luke Cole
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They believed that the technical and industrial strength of the West was too great to be ignored so limited concessions should be made by the Tsar to match these strengths. Their proposals included economic modemisation and industrialisation, freeing the serfs, and the granting of limited political reform towards a more liberal government.
MV ButashevichPetrashevsky: A junior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Petrashevsky was deeply influenced by the pre Marxian Socialists. He believed strongly that peasant revolt was the only way for the people to overcome the military superiority of the Tsarist autocracy. From 1845 to 1849, he conducted discussion sessions for Similar intellectuals, poets and writers (including Dostoievsky) in which they condemned the autocracy, serfdom and military discipline and supported the establishment of free speech, equality before the law and a democratic republic. This Petrashevsky circle never progressed beyond informal Friday evening soirees, but over 100 were arrested by the Third Section in 1849 and put on public trial. Some were sentenced to hard labour and 15 were sentenced to death although their sentences were commuted to exile to Siberia by Nicholas at the last moment an action which only served to bring grater public attention to their plight. PA Chaadayev (17931856): Although from a military and aristocratic background, he favoured the liberal social circles in Moscow and St Petersburg. His First Philosophical Letter, written in 1829 and published in 1836, in which he condemned Russia as being sterile due to its dissociation with the West and with Catholicism, provoked the whole Westernisation debate. He believed in flee thought, rationalism, science and personal liberty. The government’s response to his letter was to declare him insane. AS Khomyakov (18041860): A nobleborn writer and poet who travelled widely outside Russia in his youth, Khomayakov was an ardent supporter of a society based on the traditional Russian values of the land, the village community and piety.
Primary Extracts the Intelligentsia and the Superfluous Men before Emancipation:
I shall, retire, marry and go off to my village in the Saratov district. The profession of a landowner is not unlike chat of the Service. To be concerned with the management of three thousand souls, whose wellbeing depends entirely upon us, is mort important than commanding a platoon or transcribing a diplomatic dispatch…The state of neglect in which we leave our peasants is unforgivable. The more rights we have over them, the greater must be our responsibility towards them. We leave them to the mere’ of a dishonest steward, who oppresses them and robs us. We mortgage our future incomes and ruin ourselves, and old age catches us worrying and in want. This is the cause of the swift decline of our nobility: the grandfather was rich, the son is needy, the grandson will go begging. Ancient families fall into decay; new ones arise and Luke Cole
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in the third generation go again. Fortunes are merged, and not one family knows who its forebears were. To what will such political materialism lead? I do not know. But it is time to put a stop to it. I was never able to see without regret the decline of our historic families; no one among us, beginning with those who belong to them, thinks much of them… But our Fatherland has forgotten even the real names of its saviours. The past does not exist for us. A miserable people… A gentry stemming from meritorious bureaucracy cannot replace an hereditary aristocracy, whose family traditions ought to be part of our national heritage. Bur what sort of family traditions would one get from the children of a collegiate associate? Pushkin, Russian novelist, in a novel in letters on the plight of the superfluous men – 1829
A conversation between the hero Pechorin and an old acquaintance, Maxim: ‘Delighted to see you, dear Maxim Maximych,’ said Pechorin. ‘How are you?’ ‘And what about you?’ the old man mumbled, with tears in his eyes, put out by Pechorin’s formal tone. ‘It’s been a long time... Where are you heading now?’ ‘Persia. Then on from there.’ ‘But you're not going this minute, are you? My dear fellow, you must stay on for a bit. We can't part Straight away after not seeing each other all this time.’ ‘I must be going, Maxim Maximych,’ replied Pechorin. ‘But merciful heavens, man, what’s all the rush? I’ve got so many things to tell you. And a lot of things to ask as well. How is it then? Left the army have you? What have you been doing?’ Pechorin smiled. ‘Being bored,’ he said. [Pechorin comments at the end of a failed romantic adventure:] ‘And anyway, the joys and tribulations of mankind are of no concern to me, an itinerant officer with a travel warrant in my pocket.’ [Pechorin comments on a conversation with a friend:] ‘Is it my sole function in life, I thought, to be the ruin of other people’s hopes? Through all my active life fate always seems to have brought me in for the denouement of other people’s dramas. As if nobody could die or despair without my help. I’ve been the indispensable figure of the fifth act, thrust into the pitiful role of executioner or betrayer. What was fate’s purpose? Perhaps I was meant to be a writer of domestic tragedies or novels of family life, or a purveyor of stories, perhaps for the Reader’s Library? Many people start life expecting to end up as Alexander the Great or Lord Byron, then spend their whole lives as minor civil servants.’ Some extracts from Mikhail Lermentov’s a hero of our times 1834
Confined in our schism, nothing of what was happening in Europe reached us. We stood apart from the world's great ventures... while the world was building anew, we created nothing: we remained crouched in our hovels of log and thatch. In a word, we had no part in the destinies of mankind. We were Christians but the fruits of Christianity were not for us. Luke Cole
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Herzen, Russian writer and exwesterniser, on the benefits of the Russian village system – 1850s
What a blessing it is for Russia that the rural commune has never been broken up, that private ownership has never replaced the property. of the commune: how fortunate it is for the Russian people that they have remained outside all political movements, and, for that matter, outside European civilisation. One of the Petrashevsky circle comments on its aims 1847
A life of wealth and bliss, to cover this beggar's earth with palaces and fruits and to adorn it with fruitsthis is our aim. Here in our country we will begin this revolution, and the whole world will bring it to fulfilment. Soon the whole of mankind will be freed from unbearable suffering.
Economic Policy • • • • •
Before the 1870s Russia was still predominantly a primitive agricultural society. There was no public railway system at all before the 1850s. Nicholas I discouraged economic growth and development because he was afraid that rapid industrialisation would create instability and a desire/or reform that would endanger his authority and position. Because Nicholas’s economic policy provided no encouragement for the growth of a middle class, there was no large middle class to apply pressure to the regime for industrialisation. With these two sources for increased prices for the drinker, costs for this most Russian of products began to rise to the level where the lower classes could not afford to consume the quantities they desired.
Weak Middle Class •
There was no prospect of change, so the liberal parliamentary ideas so popular in the rest of Europe in the 1840s had no appeal to the small middle class because they seemed unachieveable.
EF Kankrin (17741845): A German soldier who had acted capably as Quartermaster General during the War of 1812, he was Minister of Finance for 21 years and served under both Alexander I and Nicholas I. He was an efficient administrator who was an extremely conservative and ‘at times’ unimaginative director of state finance.
Orthodox Church •
The Russian Orthodox Church was still the major pillar of the Tsarist system.
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The Succession of Alexander II •
Nicholas I died in 1854 and left his successor, Alexander II, with many problems. Many Russians, including members of the aristocracy, now realised that Russia’s only hopes for military survival lay with modernisation.
War in the Crimea •
Russia lacked the industrial capacity to supply a modern army, the communications to transport men and products to the front line and Russian generals were more concerned with tee appearance of the soldiers on the parade ground than with their training for the battleground.
A challenge from Europe Thirty years after Napoleon died on St Helena, his nephew Louis Napoleon became Emperor of France. Louis Napoleon knew that if France were to have any chance of regaining her lost glory she would have to destroy Russia's preeminence in Europe. He needed to provoke a European warthis is why he intervened in a dispute involving the Holy Places of Jerusalem part of the Turkish Empire.
The Holy Places, 185153
Throughout 1851 there had been a series of quarrels between the Catholic and Greek Orthodox monks who tended the Holy Places. Louis Napoleon managed to persuade the Sultan to favour the Catholics. Tsar Nicholassuitably provoked demanded that the Sultan should grant to Russia the right of protecting all Christians living within the Turkish Empire. The Sultan refused and Russian troops promptly moved into Moldavia and Wallachia. British and French warships appeared in the Bosphorus and the Sultan illadvisedly declared war on Russia in October 1853.
The Battle of Sinope, November 1853 Admiral Nachimoff’s Black Sea fleet immediately sailed south to attack the Turkish naval base at Sinope. Many of the Russian warships mounted French manufactured guns which fired highvelocity incendiary shells. These soon reduced the Turkish warships into a row of blazing wrecks. News of this victory emotively labelled the ‘Massacre of Sinope’ arouscd Russophobia in London and Paris. It was partly this, together with Russia’s refusal to evacuate Moldavia and Wallachia, that persuaded Britain to join with France in a war to weaken Russian power in Europe. Yet this was easier said than done.
War in the Crimea
Allied fleets tested tile Russian coastline for its weak spots. They cruised off Kronstadt, attacked the fortress of Bomarsund, bombarded Sveaborg and raided the Finnish coast. They tried to force tile garrison at petropavlosk to surrender and sent help to resistance Luke Cole
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fighters in the Caucasus. Only in tile Crimea did the Allies seem to have any chance of victory. So it was that on 14 September 1854 AngloFrench forces landed on the Russian coast in an effort to capture Sevastopol. They defeated General Menshikoff at the Battle of Alma in September and slowly outflanked the huge base. Meanwhile, the Allied fleets approached the Russian warships anchored in Sevastopol Roads. Menshikoff ordered ViceAdmiral Korniloff to unship the guns from half the fleet and then scuttle tile hulks at tile harbour entrance. The rest of the ships would join the reinforced coastal batteries in firing incendiary shells at the approaching enemy. The plan worked. Before long several British ‘woodenwalls’ were ablaze. This experience convinced the Allies that they would have to lay on a fullscale infantry assault if they were going to capture Sevastopol. Surprisingly, it was the Russians who took the offensive by advancing on the British at Balaclava. A charge by the Heavy Brigade forced tile Russians back; then confusion among British senior officers led to the heroic but futile Charge of the Light Brigade (25 October 1854) a twentyminute epic which 195 troopers out of 600 managed to survive. Ten days later the Russians attacked at lnkerman Heights and suffered a major defeat. After this, the war degenerated into a bitter siege of Sevastopol in which both sides suffered appalling losses from disease. In June 1855 the Allies began a threemonth campaign to capture the massive forts called the Redan and Malakoff; when they had achieved this the Russians abandoned Sevastopol and melted away. They never surrendered.
The Treaty of Paris, 1856
Now the Allies faced the problem of translating this hollow victory into a meaningful peace treaty. The Russians had suffered some heavy defeats and could not any longer consider themselves the dominant power in Europe. But it was difficult to acknowledge these facts in the clauses of a peace treaty. Finally, the Russians promised to ‘neutralize’ the Black Sea. They would not rebuild Sevastopol or construct another Black Sea fleet Moreover, they accepted the existence of a new nation on their frontier: the two principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia became Romania. The fighting wits over; the treaty was signed. But tile effects of the war were now to be felt inside Russia.
Reform and Repression: By 1861 Russia was in dire need of reform a problem that had be recognised by the first few years of the 1860’s he introduced a wide range of political, social and economical changes. The most important of which was the emancipation of the serfs. However, attempt on his life caused him to turn away from the course of progress; he spent the rest of his day in fear of his life still considering but never implementing, constitutional change. In 1881 he was disintegrated by an assassin’s bomb, his son Alexander III reacted with extreme caution and was determined to return Russia to the days of complete autocracy, especially through the policy of Russification. The reforms changed the nature of Russia imparticular they paved the way for the introduction of more modern industry. Luke Cole
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Lessons from the Crimea • • •
Lack of an efficient railway system to keep them supplied with reinforcements, weapons and food. Alexander realised that to compete with his western enemies he needed to modernise the army. Alexander began to explore the means of abolishing serfdom.
The reaction of the nobles •
Despite the Tsar’s words, the majority of nobles remained opposed to any reform of the system that had served them so well.
Historic Development – Preparations for Reform: In 1858, Alexander II stated his aims for reform: Stage 1 – The peasants must immediately feel that his life has improved. Stage 2 – The estate owner must immediately be reassured that his interects are protected. Stage 3 – The government must never wanner for a moment at any point in ensuring against any disturbance of law and order. • In 1858, provincial assemblies of nobles were called together to advise the tsar on reform.
Historic developments – Detail of reform: Stage 1 – Between 1861 and 1863, 23 million private serfs were frees. There was no change in economic status as the land lords still owned all of the land except for the peasants houses and usad’ba (garden vegetable patched a feudal dues remained). Stage 2 – From 1863 exserfs became temporally obligated. This meant that feudal punishment and the justice system were handed over to communal courts. The government set the price raged and quantities of land to be bought, with the landlords to buy from the nobles. The financial arrangements for this were usually that the peasants bought the right to farmland with a 49year mortgage, the government used these payments to pay levies as compensation to the nobles. Household and domestic serfs were freed with no rights to the land. Stage 3 – Exserfs now had ruffly the same legal status as state peasants.
Zemstva (Zemstvo in the singular)
Zemstva were district and provincial elected local government assemblies and represented the first form of popular involvement in the government in Russia. All classes of men could vote but upper class members dominated the assemblies. The Zemstva had very limited powers over public health, public education and prisons and they had small budgets funded by local rates. Luke Cole
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Historical Developments – Immediate effects of reform:
As a result of the reforms, the nobility lost their traditional advantages of a free labour force, feudal dues, their traditional justice and police powers and some social status. They also lost input into local government to the Zemstva. These losses reflected the fact that the landed nobility was becoming less important to the autocracy. Poorer nobles could not afford to pay for labour and thus had to accept an even lower standard of living. The peasants were not immediately pleased with the reforms. There were many riots from 1861 to 1863 until the exserfs were able to secure their land rights. There was considerable resentment that they had to pay for land which they distribution was not really fair – on average most received 4%, less land than they rented before. Emancipation brought no economic freedom for the serfs. From 1870 on wards, there was a population shift towards towns when peasant families found that they could not succeed at running their own land, due to primitive techniques.
The Edict of Emancipation: • • • • • •
The edict to abolish serfdom was proclaimed in March 1861. In practical terms, this meant peasants could own land, marry whoever they wished, and be able to sue (and be sued) in court. The edict was determined to be fair to both nobles and peasants and tried to protect both classes’ separate interests. The farming land still belonged to the nobles, but the peasants were now allowed to buy a percentage of that land for themselves. For his role in bringing about this, one of the most important reforms in Russian history, Alexander was named ‘the Liberator’.
Emancipation in practice • •
Most historians now agree that the peasants paid too much for their land, especially in the north, thereby committing themselves to a heavy financial burden for the rest of their lives. There were some 1200 instances of violence by peasants during the first year of emancipation, and the police and the army had to be called in to put down the disorders.
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Local government • • •
In 1864 a new law was enacted to create district and provincial councils called zemstva (singular zemstvos) . Although all classes were supposed to have equal representation on the zemstva, they were in fact dominated by nobles and wealthy men from the towns. Despite these limitations, the zemstva helped to make the people more aware of self government, and were a useful training ground for future politicians.
Legal reform • •
A new legal system was introduced in 1864, based on British and French models. All these advances indicated equality of people before the law, regardless of their social class, and were clearly a step in the right direction.
Other reforms • •
There was the creation of a Ministry of Finance, and the establishment of a State Bank in 1862. In 1863 the government moved into education, creating a new system of secondary schooling and giving the universities a greater measure of self government.
Economic depression •
Despite the abolition of serfdom and the other reforms, the average peasant did not benefit greatly from the Edict of 1861.
The Polish revolt, 1863 • • •
Since his accession he had followed a policy of reconciliation with the Poles. As examples of his good will he had reopened Warsaw University and reinstated Polish as the official language, but this was not enough. During the rebellion Alexander decreed the emancipation of the Polish serfs, under much better conditions than he gave his own people.
Return to repression • •
He had lifted restrictions on foreign travel and abolished some barbarous medieval punishments. He changed his attitude to leadership. He began to turn from reform to repression, reimposing much of his father’s ‘Nicholas System’. He stepped up the activities of the secret police, increased censorship and limited the autonomy of the universities.
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Revolutionary writers • •
They argued that true equality could never exist while a few nobles owned half the nation’s land and millions of peasants tried to survive on the rest. They proposed that there should be no private ownership of land, and all land should be held by the state, in common ownership for all citizens. The profit from that land would then be shared by all, and the unequal distribution of the nation's wealth would then cease. Acknowledging that the rich would never give up their privileges willingly, these writers maintained that revolution was the only way to change the system.
The Narodniks •
They believed that the people were ready for revolution, but that no such revolution would happen while the masses were leaderless. It was therefore their duty to go among the people, to educate them politically and so indirectly inspire a rebellion.
Zemlya i Volya (Land and Freedom) • •
This was Russia’s first revolutionary party, dedicated to the idea that the peasants would be the source of social revolution. Its most famous victim was Alexander II himself, killed in an explosion in 1881.
The Treaty of San Stefano •
The most important clause concerned Bulgaria, which was given so large an increase in territory that it stretched from the Black Seato the Aegean. This ‘Big Bulgaria’ was to be ‘advised’ by Russia, making it in effect a Russian puppetstate.
The Congress of Berlin, 1878 •
This congress was something of a defeat for Russia. Although the previous agreements about Serbia, Montenegro and Romania were confirmed, ‘Big Bulgaria’ was cut into three parts. One became the new and reduced state of Bulgaria, the second became a semiindependent state called Eastern Roumelia and the third part was returned to Turkey.
Primary Extracts the Peasants after Emancipation: The present money dues and taxes are often more burdensome than the labor dues in the old times. If the serfs had a great many illdefined obligations to fulfil… they had on the other hand a good many illdefined privileges… All this has now come to an end. Their burdens and their privileges have been swept away together, and have been replaced by clearly defined, unbending, unrealistic legal relations. They now have to pay the marker price for every stick of firewood they burn, for every log they require for repairing their houses, and for every rood of land on which they graze their cattle. Nothing now is to be had gratis… Luke Cole
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The spinning, weaving, and other home industries have been killed by the big factories, and the flax and wool have to be sold to raise a little ready money for the numerous new items of expenditure. Everything has to be bought clothes, firewood, petroleum, improved agricultural implements, and many other articles which are now regarded as necessities of life. Mackenzie Wallace scottish writer, on the conditions of the peasantry 1878
Emancipation has utterly failed to realize the ardent expectations of its advocates and promoters. The great benefit of the measure was purely moral. It has failed to improve the material conditions of the former serfs, who are on the whole worse off than they were before emancipation. The bulk of the peasantry is in a condition not far removed from starvation… The frightful and continually increasing misery of the toiling millions of our country is the most terrible indictment against the Russian Government, and is the paramount cause and justification for the rebellion against it… The universal expectation, as proved by the universal disappointment, was that freed peasants would have all the land that they had previously tilled… The freed peasants were endowed with small parcels of land, carved out of the estates of their masters, who retained, however, the greater part of their properties… The land was so parsimoniously apportioned that the enfranchised peasants were utterly unable to provide themselves with the first necessities of life. With few exceptions, the bulk of the peasantry, are compelled to look to wage labour, mainly agricultural, on their former masters’ estates, as an essential, and often the chief source, of their livelihood. Kravchinsky, Russian writer, on the failure of emancipation 1894
The mir means a commonality, of interest among the inhabitants. The Russian peasant family has a head; the heads of the families form the mir… The arable land, part of which [the peasant] must work, is nor his actually; it belongs to the mir. The arable land is divided into three parts to suit the triennial rotation 6f crops, so that that which is used for winter grain this year is used for summer grain the next, and the third year lies fallow. Each family possesses in each of the two fields under cultivation so many strips, according to the richness of the toil and the working capacity of the Family. Thus the fields are divided up into innumerable long narrow strips parallel with one another, and these difficult proportional distributions are done by the peasants themselves with measuringsticksEach family must work according to the rules of the mir. Ploughing, reaping, sowing, harrowing work of any sort must be done at the time ordained by the mir, neither before nor after. Every family is responsible for every member of chat family. If there is a drunkard and ne'erdowell in the family, the onus of the nonfulfilment of his duties fails on the family. Similarly, if a family is lazily inclined, that family has a very bad dine of it, for if it does not do its share of the mir work, till its share of the mir land, and pay its share of the mir taxes, which the mir must pay to the government, then the mir, ie the village as a whole, is held responsible by the government.
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A peasant may not leave his village for other regions without having obtained leave from the mir, and, having gone, he is required to pay his taxes when away, and may be recalled at the will of the mir. Kennard, British writer, comments on the role of the mir at the end of the nineteenth century 1907
From reports reaching the ministry of the interior it is seen that in certain provinces, predominantly southern and southeastern, there has recently emerged a series of peasant disorders in the form of systematic damage to the landowners’ fields and meadows, together with the driving away of cattle under the protection of men armed with sticks, staves and pitchforks, and attacks on the landowners’ watchmen and guards or considerable illegal timbercutting in the landowners’ woods, and brawls with foresters. When the guards seize the peasants' cattle, the peasants, hoping to free it, often by moving whole villages, carry out armed attacks on the buildings and farmhouses of the landowners and divide up the working and even the living quarters, attacking and wounding servants and guards. A ministry of the interior circular on peasant unrest 1898
The effects of emancipation: The introduction of the zemstva meant that liberal professionals employed as experts had more contact with peasants and saw their miserable conditions, especially after 1878 as the zemstva spread to more provinces. However, the reforms of Alexander II were not motivated by sentiment or nationalism, but were designed to strengthen the autocracy. The two sectors of society who retained the gereatest power after the reforms and who gained the most overall, were the monarchy and the rapidly expanding bureaucracy. The reform and liberalization of education in the 1860’s encouraged free thinking and a desire for even more radical level of reform wide currents of popular feeling emerged in the 1870’s with the capitalists and rich peasants opposing revolution but also denying support to the autocracy. The poorer peasants loved the Tsar but hated his government. Unlike other reforms, those relations to the army had a great deal of success. The introduction of a literacy campaign in the army led to a rate of education five times greater than that of the general population.
Repression under Alexander II – The growth of the radical and revolutionary movements: In 1866, following his attempted assassination by Polish rebels, Alexander II turned away from reform. Russian language, religion and culture were force upon nonRussian provinces. Despite his reputation as the ‘Tsar liberator’, Alexander II confirmed his belief in autocracy. Over a ¼ million prisoners were exiled to Siberia between 1855 and 1875. As a result, movements developed which helped to feed and sustain revolutionary ideas. The increasingly intense debate between the westerners and slavophiles questioned whether Russia should follow the path of western industrialization or build a uniquely Russian society. The philosophies which dominated the political opposition of the monarchy from the 1860s were: Luke Cole
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Narodnism (Populism) Nihilism, Helland Anarchism Marxism
During the 1870s, revolutionaries called populists (narodniks) actively began to work for socialism among the peasantry. Their philosophy came from western ideas. Narodniks wanted to take advantage of the unhappiness the peasants felt. Populism argued that the state should consist of free peasant communities and the village commune or mir would provide the basis for economic progress.
Nihilism – A Radical Group
Nihilism rejected authority and relied on the notion of reason and the principles of natured scientists. It believes in Nihilism – nature was only there to be dominated and art was worthless.
Marxism in Russia By the 1880s, with the apparent failure of the movements for change, more intellectuals in Russia began turning to the Marxist view of society. It came to dominate political debate among revolutionary groups.
The Assassination of Alexander II
On March 1, 1881, the Tsar was bombed in his carriage while returing from a military parade. According to some historians, Alexander II did more to improve the lives and conditions of the Russian people than any other single person in their history. Far from encouraging revolt, the assassination shocked and appalled the nation. Alexander III hunted the men and reversed many of his father’s reforms.
The Reign of Alexander III: Alexander III’s beliefs and values
Alexander III was determined to wage war against all political opponents. He believed that antocracy was the only possible basis of government for Russia and that Alexander II’s reforms were ‘criminal acts’.
Domestic policy – Education, Rural controls and local government Alexander III introduced a reform so that secondary and higher education were to be only for the elite. Consequently, the number of high school enrolments fell. By 1904, only 27% of schoolage children were being educated. He also reduced the powers of the Zemstva in favour of increased control to the nobles in local affairs.
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Repression • • •
One of Alexander’s first actions was to organise a new and more efficient secret police, called the Department for Defence of Public Security and Order and known in Russia as the Okhrana. Alexander increased government powers. These powers meant that the government could close schools, shut down newspapers and exile people suspected of opposing the regime.
Persecution of the minorities • • •
Alexander saw the ideal nation as one with a single language and religion, and one form of administration. He decreed in 1885 that Russian should be the official language, and the following year he placed all schools under the Russian education system. The Ukrainians had been associated with Russia for centuries, but even they were not free from Russian interference with their culture. It was Alexander II who, towards the end of his reign, became alarmed at the growing strength of Ukrainian nationalism. He banned the use of the Ukrainian language in favour of Russian, and in the process provoked many Ukrainians to migrate to Austrian Galicia. Alexander III pursued this same policy with increased vigour.
Persecution of the Jews •
The severest measures were taken against Jews.
The Orthodox Church • •
Every village had a church and regular attendance at services was considered the right thing to do. The Church’s great weakness was its close association with the repressive regime of the Tsars, and the teaching that it was sinful to oppose the monarchy.
Social critics Tolstoy •
His main themes were the waste and futility of war, excessive interference by governments in people’s affairs and the artificiality of much of human life.
Death of Alexander III •
He was the last Tsar to exercise the full powers of autocracy to the end of his natural life. His son, Nicholas II, was to be Russia’s last Tsar.
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Summary of main events:
Alexander II Reforms 1858 Nobles invited to submit plans to abolish serfdom 1861 Proclamation of the Emancipation Edict 1862 Ministry of Finance and State Bank organised 1863 Education reforms instituted 1864 District and provincial councils (zemstva) formed Reform of legal system 1874 Army reforms introduced
Opposition to Alexander 1863 1873 1876 1879
The Polish revolt Narodniks staff their activities Formation of Land and Freedom Formation of People's Will and Black Repartition
Alexander II’s foreign policy 1860 18651876 1867 1877 1878 1881
Treaty of Peking gives Russia gains in Manchuria Russian advances into lands beyond Caspian Sea Russia sells Alaska to United States War between Russia and Turkey Treaty of San Stefano Congress of Berlin Alexander assassinated
Alexander III 1881 1882 1883 1889
Formation of the Okhrana Nobles given more say in zemstva George Plekhanov forms ‘Liberation of Labour’ Land captains appointed to direct the mir
Foreign policy 1881 1887 1890 1892 1894
Revival of the Dreikaiserbund Reinsurance Treaty with Germany Reinsurance Treaty allowed to lapse Dual Alliance with France Death of Alexander III
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Nicholas II The last of the Tsars: Introduction
Nicholas II was more interested in his family than his nation and he wanted to preserve autocracy handed to him by his father. He did little to relieve social and economic distress in the countryside and the new cities. A disastrous attempt to promote Russia image in the east saw a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Japanese 1905. Finally the social protest of Father Gapon turned into a bloody slaughter. Revolution, though disorganized, erupted all over Russia. The Tsar’s commitment to autocratic power meant that he was reluctant to allow the drastic changes needed to save his reign and his dynasty from collapse.
Beliefs and Character of Nicholas II In October 1894 Nicholas II succeeded the throne following the natural death of Alexander III. Nicholas II preferred to live in his country estate rather then be a Tsar. He was very much a family man and a love father to his children. However, he had little understanding of the out side world. In 1894 Nicholas II married Princess Alix of Hesse – Darmstadt (grand daughter of Queen Victoria of Britain) who became Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia. Nicholas II was devoted to but dominated by his manipulative wife, a highly emotional woman, whose increasing interference in government affairs was ultimately a disaster for Russia. In addition, the royal family concerns over Prince Alexei’s condition of hemophilia meant that the royal attention was often diverted completely from matters of state.
Marxism By the early 1890’s Marxism had moved from the peasants to the industrial workers as the main revolution force. Julius Ossipovich Zederbaum aka Martov (18731923), came up with the idea that Marxists should live and work among the industrial workers with the aim of wining there trust and assisting in the struggle for high wages and better conditions. This worked and from 18951897 wide spread strike action gained may benefits for the employees, However may Marxists where sent to Siberia. Lenin (18701924) became revolutionary in 1887 after the execution of his elder brother. Lenin was expelled from Kazan University for revolution activities in December 1887 but past his law exams by studying at home and practice as a lawyer in St. Petersburg. In 1895 he was jailed for is months and then exiled for 3 years in Siberia. Luke Cole
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The last years of peace: Imperial Russia, 190613: Hope for the future •
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The transformation of the countryside. Between 1906 and 1911 Stolypin tried to impose his vision of a new and vigorous Russia on the uncomprehending minds of the Tsar’s 170 million subjects. Aware that the root cause of Russia’s problems was the archaic system of land tenure, Stolypin abolished the mir and began to transfer land to those peasants who were capable of farming efficiently. Peasants with little or no land either had to seek work in industry or migrate to Siberia in search of cheap farmland. A national system of education. As they were entering a twentieth century world in which technological competence was increasin~y important, the people would need a sound, basic education. Stolypin supported a crash programme of teacher training and school building so that by the time of his death a national system of primary and secondary education had begun and nearly sevenandahalf million children artended school. Conditions in the wwns. The towns were the most likely source of revolution and Stolypin was ruthless in suppressing trouble. He had few constr~ctive ideas for improving living conditionsthe uncontrolled influx of peasants frustrated any planning. However, a stateorganized system of health insurance became available to industrial workers after 1912 and this was an important step forward in a long overdue programme of social reform.
The revolutionaries
Most remained in exile. bickering among themselves. In 1912 kenin made his final break with the Mensheviks who now claimed the support of the working classes living in the older industrial towns. Nevertheless, Lenin could still make his views heard in Russia. A legacy from a rich sympathizer enabled him to start another news paperPravda (Truth).* Lenin now pinned his hopes on the peasant rabble pouring into the factories, for they would make excellent revolutionary material. His problem, as always, was how to get at them. As late as January 1917 he would confess to some of his younger supporters, ‘We of the older generation may not see the decisive battles of this coming revolution.’
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A brief industrial explosion Indeed, Lenin’s task seemed pretty hopeless. Tsarist Russia, for all its inperfections, had survived. Industry was positively flourishing. New factories. often located outside the towns, sprang up in many parts of the country. The older factories became relatively efficient. In the Ukraine, for example, nine monster works produced twoandahalf million tons of pigiron annually. The cotton factories around Moscow were some of the best equipped in the world and dominated the export markets of Central Asia. Individual firms such as the Sormovo works outside Nizhniy Novgorod manufactured firstclass locomotives while, in Kiev, Igor Sikorsky built and flew the world's first fourengined aircraft.
The importance of peace for Russia
Admittedly, the Tsar’s image had suffered badly during the 1905 Revolution. Even so, many Russians still revered their ‘Little Father’. The sordid stories about the monk Rasputin’s hold over the royal family had not circulated widely before the end of 1912.t Of course, Russia still seethed ~ith discontent, especially after the murder of the Lena goldfield strikers during 1912. But even in extreme cases such as this the relentless Okhmna and the other security forces seemed able to contain most symptoms of social unrest. Russia's stability would appear to depend far more on the maintenance of inter national peace than on the domestic ‘law and order’ problem. She had already reached a ‘friendly understanding’ with Britain in the 1907 dngloRussian Entente. It was a pity that Russian ministers were still playing with fire by supporting revolutionary cells inside the Austrian Empire and by dabbling in the dangerous politics of Serbia. On three occasions, when Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 and during the two Balkan Wars of 191213 (both of which caused dramatic changes in the map of South East Europe) there were serious international war scares. But bemuse the great powers deliberately chose to find peaceful ~lutions to these problems. the danger of war receded. It seemed that a major war would occur only if one of the big powers such as Russia, Austria, Germany or France attempted to resolve a crisis by force. * Now that Russia purported to be a constitutional monarchy. There was a more liberal attitude towards censorship. Trade unions ='ere tolerated after 1906: and the Bolsheviks were allowed to sell Pntvda inside Russia. tThe Tsar had a son. AlexeL who suffered from haemophilia. Rasputin appeared to be able to hypnotize the boy and in this ~'a,~ stop the bleeding.
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The 1905 Revolution: The Russo – Japanese War, 1904 and 1905
This war began on Plehve’s misguided advice Nicholas II agreed to fight a ‘small victorious war that would stop the revolutionary tide’. Long – standing tensions between Japan and Russia over clams to Manchuria and Korea were the reasons for the war and on February 8, 1904, the Japanese attacked Port Arthur. After, an 11month seige, Port Arthur fell in January 1905. Then in May 1905, the Baltic squadron was sunk by Admiral Tojo in less than six hours. The Russian military and navy powers were completely beaten. The effect of this lost were dramatic. No one could believe that a force the size of Russia could lose. This was a huge blow to the Russia government, the humiliating defeat stirred up the revolution of 1905. There was unrest among every social class.
Causes of Revolution The most important cause of the 1905 revolution were: (1) The military and navel defeats under the Japanese (2) Famines in 1897, 1898, 1901 (3) Unrest among the new industrial working class as a result of poor living and working condition in the cities (4) The unfeasible Tsarist government who was out of touch with his people
Father Gapon and ‘Bloody Sunday’ In January 1905, a strike broke out in the Putilov Munitions Works in St. Petersburg, and spread to other factories in Russia. On Sunday 22 January, Father Georgei Gapon, the organizer of a policesponsored union, led over 150 000 peaceful, unarmed marchers through the snow to the Winter Palace in the same city. These men, women and children took with them petitions asking for reforms, aimed at achieving a better system for the distribution of food and employment opportunities. As they approached the palace the police order everyone to stop then the officers gave the order to shoot. A bloody massacre occurred. Up to 1 000 killed and many injured. The massacre convinced many of the people that the Tsar was a murder, they called ‘Bloody Nicholas’ and he could do nothing to prevent the outbreak of a revolution. Following bloody Sunday there was an immediate strike in St. Petersburg. This brought the whole country to a stand still.
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The October Manifesto Nicholas II abandoned earlier plans for a military dictatorship and appointed Witte as P.M Reluctantly, Nicholas issued an Imperial Manifesto, which promised • Civil liberties • That all future laws would require the approval of the State Duma
Financial Relief for the Peasantry In 1902 the government made some attempts to ease the economic burden of the peasants. In late 1905 the peasants developed a peasants manifesto. As a result the Tsar authorized laws which gave the peasants genuine land reform. This include: • The cancellation of all tax debts • Outlaw of Corporal punishment
The End of the Revolution
Witte’s task was to make the Russian people happy. His next job was to make sure he had the army on his side. As a result, all rebels were hunted and hung, including all suspects.
Experiments with Constitutionals 19051914: Establishment of the Dumas The Tsar contradicted the October Manifesto from the beginning. The conduct of all affairs remained the responsibility of the Tsar. Under Article 87, the Tsar said that the Duma could not pass laws without the agreement of Tsar and Imperial council. As soon as he could Nicholas II sacked Witte in July 1906, his successor was I. L. Goremykin who was replaced by Peter Stolypin in 1906.
History of the Dumas Between 1906 and 1916 the Dumas meet four time. They were denied an effective Role in government. Anyone who didn’t agree with the Tsar was arrested.
Peter Stolypin He was a strong supporter for the Tsar. His reforms however were genuine and helped him to improve the life of the peasants he gave peasants the right to pay for their land he promoted voluntary migration to Siberia to help stop land hunger & between 1907 and 1909 over 2 million people moved eastward. However his reforms didn’t go for enough one thirds of the peasants remained land less while 30 000 landlords were in possession of 76 million hectors of agricultural land. In September 1911, Stolypin was shot dead.
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Grigori Rasputin (1871 – 1916) & the Royal family • • • • •
Known as the mad monk. Had a strong appetite for sexual activity. Eyewitness say that his appearance was poor had a strong body odor and his drinking bouts frequently in orgies and rape of noble women. Despite his reputation Rasputin was constantly sought after. The Romanovs began searching for remedies for their boy – Rasputin soon came to their attention. After 1911, Rasputin had a political over the royal family especially the Tsarina.
Foreign Policy’s: Central Asia Nicholas II added new territories to the Russian Empire and Central Asia.
Far East
Russia had no ice free part in the Far East.
Karl Marx: • •
Its main theme was that all history was a record of class struggles, and that these would end with a final victory for the working classes. The followers of Lenin were known as Bolsheviks.
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