Chapter 1 Definitions Russia

Question 1

What does autocracy mean?

Answer 1

Having no limits on a ruler’s power

Question 2

What was the Russian empire like?

Answer 2

The Russian empire was made out of many states ruled over by Alexander II at the start of 1855. It was 21 million square kilometres and was a sixth of the globe’s surface, having been acquired through military conquest.

Question 3

What positions did the Tsar hold?

Answer 3

Head of State as Tsar
Head of the Russian Orthodox Church - regarded as the embodiment of God on Earth

Question 4

What was the Patriarch of Moscow?

Answer 4

They worked closely with the tsar to provide spiritual guidance

Question 5

Who was the Over-Procurator?

Answer 5

A government minister appointed by the Tsar to run Church affairs

Question 6

What was the significance of the role of Over-Procurator?

Answer 6

Intertwined government and Church affairs and showed those at the highest positions of the Church hierarchy like archbishops could be subject to tsarist control in appointments, education, finances and administration

Question 7

What was the Holy Synod?

Answer 7

A group of bishops who formed the ruling body of the Church and was the highest authority of regulations of the Church organisations

Question 8

What were edicts?

Answer 8

An official order issued by the Tsar that decided the law.

Question 9

Did the Tsar have much influence over him?

Answer 9

Was subject to advice from advisers and ministers but no-one could do anything without his approval

Question 10

What was the Imperial Coucil

Answer 10

A group of 35-60 nobles who were picked to advise the Tsar personally a provide their opinion

Question 11

Who were the Council of Ministers?

Answer 11

A group of 8-14 ministers in charge of different government departments

Question 12

What was the Senate?

Answer 12

Supposed to oversee how the government worked but were largely redundant by 1855

Question 13

Where the Tsar and his government bases?

Answer 13

In the Imperial capital of St Petersburg

Question 14

What did the provincial nobility do?

Answer 14

They supported the Imperial regime and may acted as provincial governors on behalf of the State. They had a strong sense of obligation and kept order on their estates. The Tsar could also choose them to prepare a report or create a special committee.

Question 15

Who made up the bureaucracy?

Answer 15

Civil servants who were paid noble officials selected from different ranks. There were 14 ranks with top ranks held by those in the Council of Ministers to the lower ranks held by local state positions like a JP.

Question 16

What were the main problems with the bureaucracy>?

Answer 16

Riddled with internal corruption

Orders passed down from central government to provincial governors to district governors to town commandants so one-way operation which was considerably slower

Question 17

Who was the army made up of?

Answer 17

1.5 million conscripted serfs, forced to fight for 25 years in military colonies

Question 18

What was a military colony?

Answer 18

Conscripts lived here under strict military laws with their families

Question 19

What were the problems with the army?

Answer 19

Took up 45% of the Imperial finances
Higher ranks reserved for nobles who bought and sold commissions
Lower ranks was tough working and living conditions

Question 20

Who were the Cossacks?

Answer 20

Tsar’s personal bodyguards and police reinforcements. They were known for skills in horsemanship and formed a prestigious military class. They were provided with arms and supplies from the government.

Question 21

What was a police state?

Answer 21

To maintain autocracy, the country became a state where activities of people were closely monitored and controlled.

Question 22

What did a police state do?

Answer 22

Prevented:
Freedom of speech and press and travel abroad
Political meetings and strikes
Censorship existed in the government and exercised by the State and Church

Question 23

What was the Third Section

Answer 23

Run by the secret state security, this network of the Imperial Council kept a surveillance over the population and had powers to carry out raids and arrest or imprison anyone suspected of anti-tsarist behaviour

Sometimes used word of informers and were feared

Question 24

What was a serf?

Answer 24

A person who was the property of the landlord they worked for. There were two kinds, state or private-owned serfs.

Question 25

How where other European countries advancing?

Answer 25

Britain, France and Germany were developing with factories, coal pits, quarries and railways advancing industrially

Question 26

Why did the landscape make economy backwards?

Answer 26

The harsh climate in Siberia and the tundra meant that a vast proportion of the territory was inhospitable. The vast size and climate strained economic developments and communications were poor and profits from farming low.

Question 27

What was Russian a good exporter of?

Answer 27

Timber, coal, oil, gold, precious metals at the end of 1800s.

Question 28

What was the serf-base economy?

Answer 28

The landowners, government and the army were reliant on serfs which inhibited economic developments and limited how many could become wage-earners or entrepreneurs.

Question 29

What issues did the serfs face?

Answer 29

Low pay Struggled with starvation in the winter and bad harvests Survived off the land given by landowners and cottage industries providing special purchases and taxes. Little opportunity to become a wage-earner

Question 30

What were cottage industries?

Answer 30

Work done in the worker's home such as spinning, weaving and wood and metal work.

Question 31

What were the issues with land management?

Answer 31

The Mir gave small strips of land to serf families and serfs had to follow a communal pattern of farming

Question 32

Was there a need for a market?

Answer 32

There were small markets but this was small-scale with more common peasant purchases such as salt and metal tools. However, there was a culture of self-sufficiency meaning there was low internal market demand and few goods were purchased and exchanges took place. Money was not the usual method of payment However, in larger cities markets developed as peasants sough wage-work in towns when profits were low in the farming year

Question 33

What is an internal market demand?

Answer 33

The desire and ability to buy products of manufacturing within the country

Question 33

What did the landowning elite do?

Answer 33

They obtained what they needed through the serfs in their service and feudal dues. They weren't interested in how the estates operated as long as they had enough profit. This meant there wasn't much capital accumulation as income fell and many were forced to take out mortgages on estates and mortgage serfs to deal with debt.

Question 34

What was capital accumulation?

Answer 34

Building up money to invest

Question 35

What was income falling?

Answer 35

Competitiveness of the European markets due to new agricultural changes such as crop rotation and fertilisers. This alongside new machinery meant in Western agriculture, farming was more efficient and more profitable.

Question 36

What were serfs liable for?

Answer 36

Conscription into the army and could be bought or sold, couldn't travel without permission or marry who they wanted

Question 37

What did the private owned serfs pay?

Answer 37

30% of them paid rent or obrok and 70% provided labour or barshchina

Question 38

What did state serfs pay?

Answer 38

Both rent and taxes and worked on the land in village communes known as MIRS

Question 39

What were the government financed by?

Answer 39

The main revenue income was from poll tax paid by all excepts merchants and was introduced in 1719 to cover costs of maintaining large army. All male peasants had to pay this at the same rate

Question 40

What made up 25% of the government income

Answer 40

Obrok paid by state serfs, land and services dues and poll tax

Question 41

What represented 30% of the ordinary government income?

Answer 41

Indirect taxes on services and goods like a tax on salt and vodka

Question 42

How much of the Imperial finance did peasant, urban workers and tradesmen provide?

Answer 42

90%

Question 43

What was Russia like socially?

Answer 43

Divided between the upper class elite and the serf majority

Question 44

Who were the upper class?

Answer 44

Clergy, nobility, civil and military officials, army and naval officers and the royal court

Question 45

Who made up the lower classes?

Answer 45

Serfs, merchants, urban artisans and manufacturers

Question 46

What was urban artisans?

Answer 46

Manual worker in a town who had skills

Question 47

What was missing from society?

Answer 47

The middle class which was dominant in Europe like professionals and the educated intelligentsia

Question 48

What were the legal barriers limiting social mobility?

Answer 48

Serfs paying feudal, service and land dues Serfs paying poll tax whereas the nobility and the clergy were exempt from monetary taxes Serfs paying both direct and indirect taxes to the government Serfs being tied to their landowner