alexander II and reaction

Question 1

why did more enlightened members of Russian society feel a certain optimism?

Answer 1

various reforms were begun which promised to transform the Russian state

Question 2

1865

Answer 2

death of Alexander II’s son and heir

Question 3

what happened in 1866

Answer 3

an attempted assassination attempt shook the emperor’s confidence

Question 4

after attempted assassination

Answer 4

a more repressive policy was adopted

Question 5

from 1881, how was the reign of Alexander II son, Alexander III?

Answer 5

-characterised by reaction(backward-looking in an attempt to restore the past)
-believed in preserving + righteousness of autocratic power–> traditional view

Question 6

historian Hosking view

Answer 6

-problems of the later years of 19th century primarily result of Alexander II’s failure to set up ‘institutions of civil society or ‘rule of law’(concepts of a democratic society) which left the tsarist regime with nothing to fall back on except the repression
-attempt to ‘repair’ the tsarist autocracy was a threat to the whole system

Question 7

‘institutions of civil society’ or ‘rule of law’

Answer 7

all members of society enjoy the protection of laws, which are applied equally and fairly
-organisations exist in which people of the country can express their views + influence decisions

Question 8

attempted assassinations of Alexander II

Answer 8

-April 1866- formal student of noble status Dmitry Karakozov shot at alexander–> missed
-following year- polish immigrant Antoni Berezowski fired on carriage with Alexander + his two sons but hit a horse and cavalryman instead
-April 1879- Aleksandr Soloviev(another former student) fired at alexander 5 times
-december 1879 bomb intended to blow up Tsar railway journey

Question 9

February 1880 assassination attempt

Answer 9

mine positioned below the dining room in Winter palace(by revolutionary posing as carpenter) killed 12 people wounded further 50, Tsar was late to getting to dinner that evening so survived

Question 10

Alexander II’s later years (personal problems)

Answer 10

-in 1865, Alexander;s eldest son + heir died
-wife suffered from tubercolosis
-tsar sought consolation from his mistress- Catherine Dolgorukova
-distanced him from reforming elements with his own family (brother-grand duke konstantin)

Question 11

what did Alexander II’s personal problems + many assassination attempts cause?

Answer 11

-helped to make him more aloof (distant, detached)
-he became less inclined to resist the reactionary conservatives who believes the tsar’s reforming instincts=too far

Question 12

what did reactionaries fear?

Answer 12

the spread of ‘Western’ ideas through the liberal universities and freer press + argued that the ethnic minorities with their different religions were diluting Russian strength

Question 13

Alexander persuaded to make a series of new appointments in 1866 , what did he do?

Answer 13

replaced more liberal ministers with conservatives

Question 14

appointments made by Alexander (education)

Answer 14

-Dmitry Tolstoy = minister of education replaced liberal Golovnin

Question 15

internal affairs

Answer 15

-Aleksander Timashev as minister of internal affairs, replace Pyotr Valuev

Question 16

secret police

Answer 16

-Pyotr Shuvaolv as head of Third section(secret police)

Question 17

Minister of justice

Answer 17

Konstantin Pahlen

Question 18

count Dmitry Tolstoy (1823-89)

Answer 18

-noble became over-procurator of the Holy Synod in 1865-1880
-1866- joined the state council (minister of education from 1866-1880)
-1882-1889 Tolstoy=minister of internal affairs
- he was elected president of St Petersburg Academy of Sciences 1882

Question 19

Dmitry Tolstoy was a staunch Orthodox believer what did he think?

Answer 19

-felt a tight control over education = essential to eradicate Western liberal ideas + growing criticisms of the autocracy

Question 20

Tosltoys’s view on education meant that?

Answer 20

-zemstva’s powers over education were reduced
-church regained its authority over rural schools -higher gymnasia schools ordered to follow a traditional classical curriculum
-abandon teaching natural sciences

Question 21

from 1871

Answer 21

only students from a gimnaziya could progress to universities
-students at modern technical schools limited to higher technical institutions

Question 22

university

Answer 22

-in uni, more liberal courses replaced with traditional curriculum
-subjects encouraged critical thinking(literature, history ) forced out, whilst maths , Latin encouraged
-censorship tightened + strict control over student activities + organisations

Question 23

why were more state teacher-training colleges set up?

Answer 23

to increase tsarist control rather than improve education
-Tolstoy reluctantly accepted Moscow university’s decision to organise lectures for women

Question 24

police,law and control (pytor Shuvalov)

Answer 24

• strengthened police, encouraged Third Section
  -stepped up the persecution of other ethnic minorities
  -searches + arrests increased
  -new governor generals established in 1879–> emergency powers to prosecute in military courts + exile politcal offenders

Question 25

what did Pahlen held?

Answer 25

open ‘show’ trials with the intention of deterring others from revolutionary activity

Question 26

The Loris-Melikov Constitution- why was the late 1870s a time of political crisis in Russia?

Answer 26

-russian army bogged down in Russo-Turkish war(1877-78)
-famine swept countryside in 1879-80
-industrial recession began
-further attempts on the Tsar’s life in 1879 + 1880=Alexander accepted at least implicitly violence + unrest might be better curbed by widening democratic consultation

Question 27

Count Mikhail Loris-Melikov

Answer 27

-appointed minister for internal affairs
-released political prisoners
-relaxed censorship
-removed the sale tax
-lifted restrictions on the activities of the zemstva
-third section abolished- powers transferred to the regular police
-special section (okhrana created) but became just as opressive

Question 28

188- Loris Melikov produced report in repsonse to zemstva demands

Answer 28

-recommended inclusion of elected representatives of nobility, zemstva + town governments in debating drafts of some state decrees –> known as ‘Loris Melikov’s constitution but did not create constitution at all

Question 29

assassination of Tsar Alexander II

Answer 29

-13th march 1881
-alexander II traveling to winter palace in st petersburg in closed carriage
-members of revolutionary group (the people’s will) positioned themselves along the route with concealed bom
-tsar got out carriage check on injured men, bomb thrown =killed instantly