Unit 1.2 Alexander III

Question 1

Alexander Ill’s approach to government

Answer 1

1881- In the first year of Alexander’s reign a clear tone for his rule:
* March - The conspirators involved in his father’s assassination were publicly hanged
* March - The Loris-Melikov proposals were abandoned and four reforming ministers, including Loris-Melikov and Dmitry Milyutin, resigned. They were replaced with conservative nationalists like Nikolai Ignatiev (Interior Minister) and Ivan Delyanov (Education Minister).
* April - The ‘Manifesto of Unshakeable Autocracy’ was published reaffirming autocratic rule in Russia as God’s will
* August - Law on Exceptional Measures (aka Statute of State Security) declared that if necessary, a Commander-in-Chief could be appointed to take control of a locality, using military police courts and arbitrary powers of imprisonment.
*His approach was very strongly influenced by his former tutor Pobedonostsev, now Holy Procurator of the Holy Synod (a post he had held since 1880)

Question 2

Alexander III
Reasserting political authority
1881-1894 - Education

Answer 2

Educational developments were overseen by Delyanov, whose new university charter in 1884 made appointments of chancellors, deans and professors subject to the approval of the Education Ministry based on religious, moral and patriotic orientation, rather than academic grounds. Delyanov also closed universities for women and abolished separate university courts. All university life was closely supervised, with students forbidden from gathering in groups of more than five, Children from the lowest classes were to be restricted to primary education (fees for secondary schools were increase to prevent entry for lower classes) , lest they be taken out of the social environment to which they belong, and primary education was placed firmly in the hands of the Orthodox Church.
Although the overall number of schools and the numbers of those receiving some education increased, nevertheless, only 21 per cent of the population were literate by the time of the first census in 1897.
These education policies were of dubious value, since they both ran counter to the government’s attempts to promote economic modernisation and failed to prevent student involvement in Illegal political movements, particularly in the1890s.

Question 3

Alexander III
Reasserting political authority
1881-1894 - Local government

Answer 3

1889- land captains introduced
1890- Zemstva act
1892- Municipal Government act

A new state-appointed office of Land Captain’ was created in July 1889, with power to override elections to the zemstvo and village assemblies and to disregard zemstvo decisions. Land Captains were made responsible for law enforcement and government in the countryside and could ignore the normal judicial process, overturning court judgements.
A further act in 1890 changed election arrangements for the zemstva, so as to reduce the peasants’ vote, and placed the zemstva under central government control. This had the effect of channelling their efforts away from political discussion towards the social services, including education, health, local transport and engineering projects.
In June 1892 a similar arrangement was made for the towns. The electorate was reduced to the owners of property above a certain value, and the mayor and members of the town councils became state employees, subject to central government direction. Following this law only 0.7 of the population of Moscow and St. Petersburg could vote

Question 4

Alexander III
Reasserting political authority
1881-1894 - Police

Answer 4

The Department of Police (Including the Okhrana), was ably led by Vyacheslav von Plehre between 1881 and 1884, and from I884 by Pyotr Durnovo. The number of police was Increased and new branches of the criminal investigation department were set up. There was also a drive to recruit spics, counter-spies (to spy on the spies) and agents provocateurs, who would pose as revolutionaries in order to incriminate others.
By the 1882 Statute on Pollce Surveillance, any area of the Empire could be denied an ‘area of subversion and police agents could search, arrest, detain. question, Imprison or cxile not only those who had committed a crime but any who were thought likely to commit crimes or knew, or were related to, people who had committed crimes. This gave them tremendous power over peoples live particularly since any such arrested person had no right to legal representation.
The Okhrana had offices in St Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw, where they took responsibility for security and investigation. They intercepted and read mall, and checked up on activities in the factorics, universities the army and the State, detaining suspects and resorting to torture and summary executions. Communists, socialists and trade unionists were particular subjects of their investigations but they also watched members of the civil service and government.

Question 5

Alexander III
Reasserting political authority
1881-1894 - judicial system

Answer 5

Thejudicial reforms of Alexander I were partially reversed. In 1885, a decree provided for the Minister of Justice to exercise greater control, for example in the dismissal of judges. In 1887 the Ministry was granted powers to hold closed court sessions and in 1889 it became responsible for the appointment of town judges. In 1887, the property and educational qualifications needed by jurors were raised, while in 1889 the volost courts ivere put under the direct jurisdiction of the Land Captains in the countryside and judges in the towns.
Justices of the Peace were abollshed and Land captains now oversaw all court proceedings at a local level

Question 6

Alexander III
Reasserting political authority
1881-1894 - Censorship

Answer 6

Tolstoy (replaced by Nikolai Igatiev as interior minister in 1882) established a government committee in 1882, which issued the so-called ‘temporary regulations! These allowed newspapers to be closed down and a life ban placed on editors and publishers. Censors became more active; all literary publications had to be officially approved and libraries and reading rooms were restricted in the books they were allowed to stock Censorship also extended to theatre, art and culture where ‘Russification’ was enforced.

Question 7

Alexander Ill’s approach to Jews in the Empire

Answer 7

The racial group that suffered the most from the intense nationalism under Alexander III was the Jews. This group possessed both a distinctive ethnic background and religion.
* There were around 5 million Jews within the Russian Empire, and since 1736 most had been confined to an area of western Russia known as the Pale of Settlement
* During Alexander Il’s reign, anti-Semitism had existed among the poorer elements in society, who not only hated Jews because of the teachings of the Orthodox Church, but also resented their money lending and personal riches.
* Nevertheless, Alexander II had allowed the wealthier Jews to settle elsewhere until the Polish revolt frightened him into withdrawing his concessions and reducing participation of Jews in town government. This action encouraged the growth of anti-Semitism.
* Anti-Semitism was further encouraged in the reign of Alexander III by ministers such as Pobedonostsev, who used inflammatory slogans such as, ‘Beat the Yids - Save Russia and suggested that one third should emigrate, one third die, and one third assimilate [i.e. be converted].
* Alexander III was himself anti-Semitic, largely on religious grounds. He wrote in the margin of a document urging him to reduce Jewish persecution, ‘but we must never forget that the Jews have crucified our Master and have shed his precious blood? However, he also had political concerns. The right-wing Russian press had helped encourage the belief that Jews had orchestrated Alexander Il’s assassination, and there was a real fear of Jewish involvement in the growing opposition movements.

Question 8

Russification

Answer 8

Alexander Ill, once again heavily influenced by Pobedonstsev, embarked on a policy of Russification.
* Russification meant the destruction of all non-Russian culture and the enforcing of Russian culture, including Russian Orthodoxy. Pobedonestsev (Over procurator of the Holy Synod) wanted the Orthodox Church to be at the centre of the Russification policy.
He believed non-Orthodox subjects must be disloyal
* They believed the empire would be strengthened by uniting all the Tsar’s subjects into a single nation with a shared identity. Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Nationality were the pillars of tsardom.
* Supporters of Russification genuinely believed they were acting for the greater good of
Russia. They believed it was necessary to ‘unite the country in order to improve its administration, to allow for modernisation, and to reassert Russian strength.
* Russification was used right across the empire including the Caucasus, Asian regions and even people in Siberia were subject to Russification. Poland, Finland, The Baltic Germans and Ukrainians were subjects of particularly aggressive Russification. Why do you think this was the case?

Question 9

Alexander Ill’s approach to Jews in the Empire - The Jewish pogroms of 1881-84

Answer 9

The Jewish concentration in the areas of the Pale made them ready targets for the anti-Jewish pogroms that broke out in April 1881, in Yelizavetgrad in the Ukraine.
2. The immediate cause of these pogroms is unknown. They may have started because of some business competition, involving Jews, for lucrative railway contracts, but it is regarded as highly probable that they were encouraged by the Okhrana using the link to Tsar Alexander Il’s assassination as an excuse to stir up trouble.
3. The governing authorities certainly did little to curb the violence. They were slow to act and the ‘Holy League’ organisation, which was supported by Pobedonostsev, helped to coordinate the early attacks, although this was banned in 1882.
4. From Yelizavetgrad, the riots spread to other Ukrainian towns such as Kiev and Odessa, and beyond to Warsaw and Nizhny Novgorod, causing many Jews to flee across the border into western Europe. Around 16 major cities were affected, with Jewish property burnt, shops and businesses destroyed, and many incidences of rape and murder. The main outbreaks continued into 1884, but there were still sporadic pogroms after this, as in Odessa in 1886.
5.Following the pogroms, many Jews left the country. Some went of their own free will but others were expelled, for example from Kiev in 1886.
From 1890, foreign Jews began to be deported from Russia along with Russian Jews who had settled outside the Pale. In the winter of 1891-92, around 10,000 Jewish artisans were expelled from Moscow where they had legally settled during the reign of Alexander Il.
6.More expulsions followed when the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Alexander IIl’s brother, was made Governor-General of St. Petersburg in
1892. He forced around 20,000 Jews from the city during the Passover and closed down a newly built synagogue.

Question 10

Alexander Ill’s approach to Jews in the Empire - Anti-Semitic Legislation 1882-94

Answer 10

Anti Semitic legislation 1882-94
1882 -May Laws and Army Law. The Governor- General of St Petersburg orders 14 Jewish apothecaries to shut down their businesses
1886- No Jew can be elected to a vacancy on the board of an orphan asylum
1886 -Jews engaged in the sale of alcohol can only do so from their own homes or personal property
1887- Jews who have graduated from a university outside Russia no longer possess the right to reside outside the Pale by virtue of their qualifications
1887- The number of Jews admitted to schools and universities is regulated by quotas. ten per cent within the Pale, five per cent outside the Pale; and three per cent in the capitals (Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev). Jews are prohibited from settling in Finland Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog are removed from the pale.
1889- Jews need a special permit from the Minister of Justice to be elected to the Bar (the legal professional body]. Any Jewish lawyer who wishes to become a barrister needs the express consent of the Minister of Justice
1891- Non Christians are forbidden from buying property in the provinces of Akmolinsk, Semirietchensk, Uralsk and Turgai
1892- Jews are banned from participation in local elections and prohibited from the right to be elected to town dumas. The mining industry in Turkestan is closed to Jews
1893- It is illegal for Jews to adopt a Christian name
1894 -Jews who graduate from veterinary college can no longer be admitted to the service of the State. Jews are no longer eligible for any licences 10 sell alcohol

Question 11

Alexander Ill’s approach to ethnic minorities: Examples- Baltic Germans

Answer 11

Baltic Germans (Lived in the Baltic States -today Latvia and Estonia)
* Measures introduced 1855-89 enforced the use of Russian in all state offices, schools the police and the judicial system
* The German university of Dorpar was russified and made the lure University
* Money was poured into Orthodox controlled schools while Lutheran schools struggled to find funds
* Land was offered to landless Lutherans who converted to Orthodoxy - 37,000 converted.

Question 12

Alexander Ill’s approach to ethnic minorities: Examples- Across the Empire

Answer 12

Religion
* From 1883 no non-orthodox place of religious worship could be built and non-Orthodox religious dress could not be worn outside places of worship
* New Orthodox Churches and cathedrals were built all over the Empire and more Orthodox clergy were trained to fill them
* Any attempt to convert a member of the Orthodox Church was punishable by exile to Siberia
The Russian army
* Conscripts from ethnic minority areas were dispersed within the army to prevent any national groupings

Question 13

Alexander Ill’s approach to ethnic minorities: Examples- Central Asia

Answer 13

Central Asia (including Uzbeks, Kazakhs and Tartars)
* Uprisings were mercilessly suppressed in 1882 and 1884, in modern day Uzbekistan
* The All-Russian Orthodox Missionary
Society worked to convert ‘heathens and Muslims’ and this included forced mass baptisms. It’s estimated as many as 100,000 Muslim Tartars were forcibly converted

Question 14

Alexander Ill’s approach to ethnic minorities: Examples- Finland

Answer 14

Finland (Finns/Karelians)
* The Diet (parliament) had its political power reduced in 1892
* Instruction to use the Russian language
increased
* Independent postal service abolished
* Russian coinage replaced local currency

Question 15

Alexander III’s approach to ethnic minorities: Examples- Poland

Answer 15

Poland (Poles)
* The National Bank was closed in 1895
* All subjects in schools except Polish language had to be taught in Russian.
Even Polish literature had to be studied as a Russian translation
* All independence was taken from Polish administration
* Catholic monasteries were closed
Russians were given all of the most important jobs in government

Question 16

Alexander III’s approach to ethnic minorities: Examples- Ukraine , Armenians and Georgians

Answer 16

The Ukraine
* Use of the Ukrainian language was further limited, 1883
* 1884, all theatres were closed

Armenians
* An uprising was mercilessly suppressed in 1886

Georgians
* An uprising was mercilessly suppressed in 1892

Question 17

The impact of Alexander III’s Russification and Antisemitism

Answer 17

The process of Russification was not accepted without resistance. The emphasis on the superiority of the Russian way of life infuriated the nationalities who saw Russification as a fundamental attack on their way of life, their national and cultural heritage, and a monstrously unfair policy that discriminated against them. This was especially true in respect of religion. In June 1888, the Department of Police estimated 332 cases of mass disturbance in 61 of Russia’s 92 provinces and districts. This included 43 disturbances in 9 of the 12 central provinces. Nevertheless, troubles were swiftly curbed. In 51 of these cases, the military was employed.

As well as popular disturbances, Russification caused particular resentment among the more educated and wealthy Finns, Poles and Baltic Germans in the west of the Empire. Here, national groups constantly petitioned the Tsars for more liberties, and the secret publication of local language books continued. Some ethnic schools also survived (particularly in Poland) and fanned the flames of resentment against the tsarist impositions.

The effect of nationalist policies among the Jews that remained in Russia was to drive a disproportionate number of them towards revolutionary groups, and in particular Marxist socialist organisations. It is perhaps not surprising that the revolutionary movement in Russia in the early twentieth century would contain a disproportionate number of Jews, including Trotsky and Zinoviev.

The historian Peter Waldron writes that Russification ‘failed to achieve its ends and ‘intensified national feeling among the non-Russians of the Empire’. Furthermore, it drove some of the wealthier citizens to emigrate and persuaded others, who might otherwise have proved loyal, to join political opposition groups.

Question 18

Alexander Ill’s approach to Jews in the Empire - Anti-Semitic Legislation 1882-94 - The May Laws 1882

Answer 18

The May Laws of 1882 added to the discrimination against the Jews, making
life even harder for them, oven within the Pale of Settlement:
Article 1. Jews are forbidden fo settle hereafter outside cities and towns of fewer than ten thousand people. Exception is made with regard to Jewish villages already in existence where the Jews are engaged in agriculture.
Article 2. All contracts for the mortgaging or renting of property situated outside cities and towns to a Jew, shall be of no effect.
Article 3. Jews are forbidden to do business on Sundays and Christian holidays; the laws compelling Christians to close their places of business on those days will be applied to Jewish places of business.

Question 19

Economy in 1881

Answer 19

Russia had started to industrialise and move away from a traditional agricultural economy. Reutern had also taken steps to address the financial crisis. Yet, in 1881 the Russian Empire was still:

-Behind the West industrially and agriculturally
-Largely agricultural with underdeveloped industry and transport
-Without a stable currency
-In budget deficit

Question 20

Finance Minster - Mikhail von Reutern 1862-78 - Aims

Answer 20

-Encourage industrial growth by creating a more stable financial environment for private investors
-Balance the budget (government revenue would match expenditure)
-Stabilise the currency
-Encourage industrial growth through government intervention
-No aims regarding agricultural productivity

Question 21

Finance Minster - Mikhail von Reutern 1862-78 - Actions

Answer 21

Finances
-Tax-farming was abolished
-The Treasury was reformed with budgeting and auditing
-State bank (1860), municipal banks (1862)

Industry
-Subsidies were offered
-Import tariffs were reduced (1863) to make raw materials and machinery more affordable for industries
-Guaranteed annual dividends for foreign investors
-Joint-stock companies regulated to protect investors
-Foreign experts were brought in (coal, iron, steel)
-The emancipation also meant alabourforce was available

Question 22

Finance Minster - Mikhail von Reutern 1862-78 - Impact ( Successes and Failures)

Answer 22

Finances
-F- The value of the rouble still unstable
-F- 1/3rd govt expenditure still paying off debts
Industry
-P- More investment in Russian industry
-P- Growth of metallurgy and cotton industries
-P- New industrial developments eg. Baku oil
-P- Growth of the railway (3000 to > 13,000 miles)
-P- An annual growth rate of 6%
-F- Textiles still the dominant industry
-F- Transport and labour mobility remained low
-F- Growth slow and remained weak relative to West
-F- Peasantry still poor so consumer market was small

Question 23

Finance Minister - Nikolai Bunge 1881-87- Aims

Answer 23

• wanted to encourage industrial growth and increase government revenue by making the peasants better producers of crops and wealth as well as turning them into consumers who would spend more.
• he wanted to shift dependence away from direct taxation and enhance the importance of indirect levies.

Question 24

Finance Minister - Nikolai Bunge 1881-87- Actions

Answer 24

-he consolidated the banking system and founded the Peasants Land Bank in 1883, which helped peasants to purchase land (although it should be noted that the bank only helped in 20% of peasant land purchases). A Nobles’ Land bank was also set up in 1885 to support the transfer of more land to the peasantry. Nobles could get loans from the bank to cover the legal costs involved in the transfer of land
-Only now did the government feel confident enough to reform tax following upheaval of emancipation 1860-70
-Bunge reduced the poll tax that had been established under Peter the Great as a tax on households, eventually abolishing it altogether in 1886, despite the fact it had brought in 60 million rubles annually during the 1870s. As well as abolishing the poll tax he also reduced redemption payments, both measures which reduced the tax burden on the peasantry. Although at the same time Bungereformed the system of cash payments due from former state peasants, converting them to full redemption payments in 1886 (20 years after their emancipation), which increased state income from this source by 30%.

Question 25

Finance Minister - Nikolai Bunge 1881-87- Impact

Answer 25

Bunge’s policies towards the Russian industries were extremely protectionist. Heintroduced tariffs on imported goods in 1878, which increased government revenue and allowed domestic industries to grow. This supported the ironindustry in southern Russia particularly allowing for the development of industrial machinery, weapons and ships. Bunge also promoted the construction of railways (by 1885, there were 17 000 miles of track). Yet,he could not avoid government borrowing and in 1887, under pressure from conservative deputies accusing him of incompetence and incapability of overcoming the budget deficit due to continued problems of state capital, Bunge resigned.

Question 26

Finance Minister - Ivan Vyshnegradsky 1887-92 - Aims

Answer 26

• Took a different view of policy to predecessor Bunge. Vyshnegradsky’spolicy can be summed up by the following quote: ‘We shallourselves not eat, but we shall export’. By exporting as much grain as possible he hoped to finance industrial development
  -He thought that by curbingimports and state expenditure whilst increasing exports and taxationhe could boost gold reserves, create a surplus and encourage investment in Russian industry.

Question 27

Finance Minister - Ivan Vyshnegradsky 1887-92 - Actions

Answer 27

-From 1881-91 grain exports by 18% but his policy ended in disaster for the peasantry
- He increased indirect taxes onconsumer goods and pushed the collection of redemption payments whilst raising tariffs on imports even more than Bunge had (reaching 30% of the value of the raw material by 1891). In addition he was able to negotiate French loans in 1888.
-A protectionist policy and increased government revenue supported the further development of iron production, railway construction and the manufacture of weapons and industrial machinery.

Question 28

Finance Minister - Ivan Vyshnegradsky 1887-92 - Impact

Answer 28

-Russia’s gold reserves almost doubled, enabling him to claim some success in his period in office as there was finally a budget surplus by 1892.
-However, a bad harvest in 1891 demonstrated the risks of Vyshnegradsky’s approach: many peasants had been left with insufficient grain to survive a cropfailure. They had sold off increasing amounts to be able to afford everydaygoods and pay redemption payments. Some had even had grain requistioned by the state for the export drive.The famine that ensued in 1891-2 hit 17 of Russia’s 39 provinces. The heirto the throne, the future Nicholas ll, was appointed to oversee famine relief and
sought to coordinate charitable efforts to help those suffering. The government spent 444million rubles giving aid to 13 million peasants but 35 million were affected so much of the famine relief was left to volunteers. Around 400 000 peasants died (many of them from a simultaneous cholera epidemic).
- Although Vyshnegradsky’s export policies thus cost Russia dearly, the kulak class had responded positively to his export drive and agricultural production continued to expand by 2.1 per cent annually between 1883 and 1914. The famine, however, forced Vyshnegradsky to retire in disgrace in the summer of1892. His policies had helped to politicise Russia as the plight of the peasantry was brought to the fore once again, and resurgence in opposition to the government had become inevitable.

Question 29

How far were economic problems dealt with- Agriculture

Answer 29

-As was the case under Alexander II, neither finance minister under Alexander III addressed agricultural productivity as their priority. Theirfocus was balancing the budget and industrialisation.
-Yet, there was slow and steady progress in agriculture leading to a2.1% annual increase in grain production between1883 and 1914. This was largely an indirect result of both emancipation and industrialisation but there were also some government initiatives intended to improve agriculture directly:
1883 - Peasant Land Bank (with low interest rates)set up to support peasant purchase of land
1883 - Government decree to establish a system of agricultural schools; by 1890, 43 agricultural schools with 2715 students and 3 agricultural colleges.

Question 30

Why was opposition less effective under Alexander III - Okhrana

Answer 30

Following the assassination of Alexander Il in 1881, a nationwide police offensive led to 10,000 arrests and the emergency measures of that year (Law on Exceptional Measures - aka Statute of State Security) saw a crackdown on anybody connected with terrorist or revolutionary activities. The new secret police, the Okhrana, took shape as a sinister and effective body. It recruited thousands of informers and agents who penetrated revolutionary groups to uncover terrorist conspiracies and sow confusion. Many masqueraded as cab drivers to listen in to conversations; most post offices had a room where mail was read. As the decade progressed, thousands suspected of being a danger to the state, many innocent, were arrested and sent into exile. Its main target for surveillance was the educated class: newspaper editors, teachers, university professors and students. However, whole towns or even provinces could be designated ‘areas of subversion’ (from 1882) under supposedly temporary legislation (the Statute on Police Surveillance), and provincial governors were given extraordinary powers to search, fine, arrest or deport individuals within such areas without evidence. Between 1881 and 1894 the Ministry of Internal Affairs approved the exile of 5000 dissidents”,mostly to Siberia. The major players in the revolutionary movements could no longer operate inside Russia because the Okhrana had agents in almost every building: even caretakers now became authorised government agents, required to report suspected illegal activities.

Question 31

Why was opposition less effective under Alexander III - New Laws

Answer 31

In 1882 one of Tolstoy’s ‘temporary laws’ tightened censorship, making it difficult to distribute or sell publications that were seen to be critical of the government in any way; editors were threatened with life bans if found guilty of publishing ‘harmful’ works. In 1884 a new statute was passed that completely destroyed any autonomy enjoyed by university professors in terms of what was taught and who was teaching.
By 1887, the Church had begun to take back full control over primary education and significant financial barriers had been put in place to deter young peasants from entering education. Newly established
‘closed’ courts from 1887 and more severe conditions in prisons demonstrated the regime’s determination to control dissent. In 1889, Alexander Ill wanted to reward the nobles who had remained loyal to the regime and to reinforce the traditional social structures in Russia. He introduced ‘Land Captains, who could exercise substantial administrative, judicial and police authority in the districts reducing the role of the zemstvo. Increased control at all levels of society meant it was very difficult to express a dissident opinion during
Alexander Ill’s reign let alone form an effective opposition group.

Question 32

Evidence that suppressed opposition was not eradicated

Answer 32

Liberals- Liberals in Zemstvo were disappointed when their power was shrunk after Land captains were introduced which reduced power or zemstvo, also they try to introduce educational reforms to counter education reforms brought in but ends with them loosing more power.
Slavophiles decrease whilst Westernisers increase as western style of socialism starts to take route. Intelligentsia split into 2 groups - Moderate liberals who wanted to keep Tsar but change system, and then Marxist Socialists who wanted to get rid of the Tsar. 1891- 92 there was a famine - Inaction of the government meant Zemstvo had to do all the relief work. Want Tsarist system to change. Zemstvo lead call for change.

Radicals ( Agarian socialism etc) - Populists cease to exist after killing the Tsar, people begin to not like them after this, Police waves of control stop them as well, small group still remain who try to take out minor terrorist attacks. ‘ Self- education’ circles, e.g. Muscovite Society of Translators and Publishers emerge which translate and reproduce writings of foreign socialists. Keep in contact with radicals in exile abroad. Famine in 1891 increases revolutionary activity. Hardship = Opposition. Students in St Petersburg try to reform peoples will in March 1887, Group make bombs to try and kill Alexander III but are arrested. 2 months later, 5 of them are hung.

Both Liberals and Radicals both were involved in the emergence of Russian Marxism as both shared an interest however it doesn’t really get going until Nicholas II, has little impact.

Question 33

The Russia Orthodox Church - position in 1881

Answer 33

The position of the Russian Orthodox Church in society had remained unchanged during Alexander II’s reign. It was important to the government in the uncertain times following emancipation that the Church maintained the respect of the people and helped implant loyalty to the state. If the Church were open to criticism, or did not toe the official line, it was feared that the authority of tsardom would be weakened.

Question 34

The Russia Orthodox Church - Changes 1881- 94

Answer 34

Alexander III and his minsters were also conscious of the power of the Church and under Ivan Delyanov (Minister of Education) the Orthodox Church was given increased control over primary education. Repression under Alexander III continued through the Russian Orthodox Church. As lay head of the Church, Pobedonostsev believed that re-educating the people was the best way to stop a revolution. Under him, by 1894, the number of clergy had increased markedly. The numbers of church schools increased sevenfold (to 31,835), and numbers of pupils attending these schools increased ninefold (to 981,076). The Church published spiritual literature and laid on more church festivals, while clergy were encouraged to give more sermons. Under Pobedonostsev, each year 250 new churches and 10 monasteries were built.
Pobedonostsev’s religious policies were most clearly evident at the edges of the Russian empire, where the Orthodox Church expanded its influence in the 1880s-90s as part of the government’s Russification policy.Alexander III’s policy of Russification enabled him to promote Orthodoxy throughout the Empire. It became an offence to convert from the Orthodox to another faith, or even to publish criticisms of it. As many as 10,000 Muslims and 50,000 pagans were (in theory at least) converted to Orthodoxy during Alexander IIl’s reign as well as 37,000 Catholics and Lutherans in Poland and the Baltic provinces

Question 35

The Russia Orthodox Church - Continuities

Answer 35

The Russia Orthodox Church still used largely to maintain autocracy for Tsar- Fundamentally role stays the same

Question 36

nobility - Position in 1881

Answer 36

Although there were changes under Alexander II for the nobility their dominant position in society was preserved. Their personal land holdings declined as many sold land to pay off debts or pursue other activities away from agriculture. The reforms presented new opportunities and many became professionals in education, law or banking. The zemstvo and growth of industry presented new opportunities too with roles in local government or industry.

Question 37

nobility - Changes 1881 -94

Answer 37

Under Alexander III their land ownership continued to decrease but similarly their status remained. Supported by the Nobles Land Bank, an increasing number of nobles sold their land: in 1861 they owned 80 per cent of land, in 1905 only 40 per cent - and they sold it mainly to peasants. A relatively small number developed their estates, using modern methods and more agricultural machinery such as threshing machines. These nobles achieved high yields and grew cash crops for the market. Most moved to the cities and towns adapting to their changing circumstances and forged new careers and paths:
Many, as they had for centuries, made an income from the military or civil service. They maintained their stranglehold on the top jobs - in 1897, 1,000 of the 1,400 highest ranking civil servants were nobles.
 A significant number moved into the growing professions - medical, legal and education.
Some became investors in new companies.
Relatively few became industrialists but in Moscow in 1882, 700 nobles owned businesses and nearly 2500 were employed in commerce, transport or industry. Most private industrial enterprises were in the hands of the traditional nobility.
Under Alexander III the zemstvo resented the restrictions he placed on them. Education counter-reforms meant that zemstvo control of primary
education was further reduced. The appointment of Land Captains in 1889 greatly restricted the power of the zemstvo as they could override
elections to the zemstvo and disregard their decisions and the 1890 Zemstva Act reduced the independence of the zemstvo further. Control
became more centralised and they were put under the Ministry of the Interior

Question 38

nobility - continuity 1881- 94

Answer 38

Under Alexander III their land ownership continued to decrease but similarly their status remained.
Alexander III continued to preserve the status of the nobility through his counter-reforms. Only those who could afford it could be educated beyond a primary level.
The electorate for the zemstvo and jurors had to own property above a certain value. In 1889, Alexander Ill wanted to reward the nobles who had
remained loyal to the regime and to reinforce the traditional social structures in Russia. He introduced Land Captains, who could exercise substantial
administrative, judicial and police authority over peasants in the district.
Generally, central government interfered with or stifled local
initiatives. Nevertheless, the zemstva continued their programme of improvements, such as building roads and hospitals, and played a key role in
alleviating the effects of the famine of 1891-92.

Question 39

Middle class - Position in 1881

Answer 39

Many historians prefer to talk of middling groups rather than middle classes in Russia because they were not like the bourgeoisie in other parts of Europe. Though small in number the business and professional classes were growing and playing an increasingly important role in society. With improved education and industrialisation the middle class had started to grow under Alexander II. The Tretyakovs, the Mamontovs and other families, often from humble origins, made money from railways, banking, textiles and other industries. Some became patrons of the arts (Mamontovs), others ran town councils. His reforms had also provided opportunities for a professional class to emerge as lawyers, teachers, professors and administrators were more in demand. Although, it is important to remember that whilst Alexander’s initial reforms had provided them with some authority in court rooms or at a local level in education and government his later counter-reforms restricted their autonomy in these areas.

Question 40

Middle class - changes 1881-94

Answer 40

Under Alexander III the middle class continued to grow as Russia continued to modernise and industrialise. New opportunities afforded by industrialisation allowed some Moscow merchants to become very wealthy indeed. They became vital patrons of the arts, for example Mamontov had founded the Abramtsevo colony, Tretyakov became the main buyer of Russian art - he was to give his huge collection and purpose-built gallery to Moscow in 1892, and Russian businessman, Shchukin had 37 Matisses and 51 Picassos.

The middle classes formed professional associations to exchange ideas and experiences. For example, in 1881 the Pirogov Medical Society was set up and in 1892, the first All-Russian Teachers’ Congress met. Many of them worked for the zemstva, forming the ‘third element’ in society - lawyers, statisticians, civil engineers, managers, doctors, teachers, vets and agronomists. They began to see themselves as more representative of the nation and able to do a better job of running things than the regime.

Under Alexander III the zemstvo resented the restrictions he placed on them. Education counter-reforms meant that zemstvo control of primary
education was further reduced. The appointment of Land Captains in 1889 greatly restricted the power of the zemstvo as they could override
elections to the zemstvo and disregard their decisions and the 1890 Zemstva Act reduced the independence of the zemstvo further. Control
became more centralised and they were put under the Ministry of the Interior. Generally, central government interfered with or stifled local
initiatives.

Question 41

Middle class - continuities 1881-94

Answer 41

Yet, they still only numbered half a million by 1897.
The zemstva continued their programme of improvements, such as building roads and hospitals, and played a key role in
alleviating the effects of the famine of 1891-92.

Question 42

Peasants - postion in 1881

Answer 42

Despite emancipation by 1881 the position of the peasantry was largely unchanged. Agricultural yields remained low and the mir continued to control village life. An important factor in this period was the huge increase in population. There was a new wealthy kulak class who had benefited from the freedoms granted by industrialisation but they were not the majority.

Question 43

Peasants - Changes 1881-94

Answer 43

Peasants under Alexander III and there may have been regional variations as we saw with agricultural progress. In areas outside of the central regions, especially those nearest to cities or with access to transport, many peasants enjoyed higher living standards. Quite a lot were producing foodstuffs for the market. These peasants were able to pay their taxes and mortgages with money to spare. There was also a small but ever-growing class of more prosperous peasants. Some of these were buying or renting land, employing labour, had several animals and were farming more efficiently – kulaks. Others were becoming merchants making money out of trading goods or builders and property developers. Some became involved in industrial ventures. There was, of course, a lot of variation in earnings from: those who were just a little bit better off to those who were relatively wealthy. But there was a growing divide between the richest and poorest sections of the peasantry.
that it would be wrong to assume that villages remained unaffected by modernisation because a large number of peasant households sent members off to work in towns so they would have one foot in the old world and one in the modern. Further industrialisation led to further urbanisation and more peasants sought work in the growing towns and cities as street vendors, builders, shop assistants and domestics. In 1890 over two-thirds of the population of St Petersburg had been born outside the city; in Moscow the proportion was even higher. The traditional family structure was dislocated by urbanisation. Fewer townspeople were married or married later and had fewer children. Initially when peasant migrants moved to the cities, wages were too low to support a family living in separate accommodation. Women who moved to cities tended to remain single. This pattern changed as men became more established towards the end of the nineteenth century. Some brought wives from their villages to join them, and families grew in size.
Rural areas were changing in other ways, particularly in areas closest to cities and large towns. The money economy was penetrating the countryside: urban factories were replacing old handicrafts and new technologies - railways, roads, the telegraph - were moving closer to the peasantry. Hospitals, schools, reading clubs and libraries were appearing. The number of primary schools quadrupled between 1878 and 1911

Question 44

Peasants - continuity 1881-94

Answer 44

The peasantry continued to grow in size as the population continued to increase. The Russian Empire grew from 74 million in 1858 to 128 million in 1897. Around 80 per cent were peasants.
, in other parts of Russia things did not change much, particularly in the overpopulated central region where living standards remained low. Here most peasants sold a small amount of produce and perhaps some handicrafts to pay their taxes and buy a few household goods. Otherwise, their farming produced enough food to keep them alive. A zemstvo survey in the 1880s found that in the central province of Tambov two out of three households could not feed themselves without getting into debt. Large numbers of peasants lived hard, often miserable lives and many died of diseases such as typhus and syphilis. Government policy added to their misery: redemption payments and taxes - especially indirect taxes on everyday items like matches and tobacco - drove some peasants into poverty. Matters reached a head in 1891-92 when harvest failures in the Volga region caused a massive famine, affecting 17 of Russia’s 39 provinces, while the government carried on exporting grain.
In rural Russia the traditional way of life remained, and the patriarchal nature of the family household survived - the male was the head of the household, women’s rights were restricted. The villages looked much the same with huts along the main street. The elders ruled the village through the commune.
Yet, despite improvements in health care, provided through the zemstva, a large proportion of the peasantry were turned down as unfit for military service and mortality rates were higher than those in any other European country. Average life expectancy was around 27 years for males and 29 years for women; in England the average age of death was 45 years. What’s more the status and opportunities for the peasantry were also reduced under Alexander III. The zemstva electoral reform reduced the peasant vote, education reform restricted them from education beyond a primary level, Land Captains could overrule zemstva decisions and local judicial processes. Alexander III wanted to restore the traditional social hierarchy as far as possible. He could not reverse emancipation, but he could ensure the peasants remained firmly at the bottom of society.

Question 45

Workers - position in 1881

Answer 45

Industrialisation had led to urbanisation and the development of a small working class by 1881 (2% of the population). Many were peasants who still working in rural areas at certain points in the year but some with beginning to live permanently in urban areas. The living and working conditions were poor.

Question 46

Workers - changes 1881-94

Answer 46

The workforce grew rapidly in the 1880s and especially the 1890s. By 1900, the urban workers numbered around 3 million although this was only 2.5 per cent of the total population. Around one-third had fathers who had been industrial workers. The rest, ex-peasants, retained their family and village connections and many returned at harvest time to work on the land. Even in 1907 half of Moscow printers, the aristocracy of the working class, still kept farms in their home villages while 90 per cent sent money back to relatives. So there was constant interaction between town and country. Semen Kanatchikov, who went to work in Moscow from his village at the age of 18 in 1895, describes how the peasant patternmakers he worked with would every payday without fail send part of their money back to the village … On holidays they attended mass and visited their countrymen and their conversations were mainly about grain, land, the harvest and livestock.
Some measures were taken to improve the lives of workers by Nikolai Bunge: Laws were passed to restrict child labour, limit working hours for women at night, reduce fines for workers, and to provide compulsory education for younger factory children. A factory inspectorate was established to monitor living and working conditions. However, these laws were not well enforced and so had little impact. Unsurprisingly, although they were illegal, there were around 33 strikes per year between 1886 and 1894. The Okhrana used factory ‘informers’ to watch out for early signs of unrest by observing workers’ conditions and looking for the instigators of the strikes.
Peasants from different regions or villages often worked and lived together to ameliorate the dislocation of moving to the city. Informal organisations of workers (artels) rented communal apartments and would employ a woman to cook for them. These co-operative ventures generated a sense of community.
There were other things for workers to do. Respectable workers were likely to attend the music hall, tea-drinking clubs, dances and lectures on self-help arranged by mutual aid societies. Some Marxist groups began to invite workers along to reading circles, talks and social events. There were more primary schools in the cities and towns and this was changing aspirations. The literacy rate among male urban workers was high; according to the 1897 census 57.8 per cent could read and among more skilled workers, like metal workers, almost three-quarters were literate. They were reading popular broadsheets, cheap thrillers and political leaflets. These workers, particularly skilled workers, had aspirations to better themselves and improve their quality of life

Question 47

Workers - continuities 1881-94

Answer 47

Many workers were employed in large factories containing thousands of workers. But most workers were employed in small workshops in towns or small factories. Wherever they worked, working conditions were grim. Long hours, normally over eleven hours a day but often longer, were compounded by a harsh environment where workers were disciplined and fined for the smallest infractions. Accidents, causing death or serious injury, were common and there was a high rate of disease. Wages were generally low apart from a small section of skilled workers. In the 1890s employment was not stable or secure: in some factories the labour force changed regularly and employers had a hard job to hang onto workers. At the other extreme it could be difficult to get an unskilled job and many fell into dispiriting destitution. Some factories had dormitory accommodation attached and it was not unknown for workers coming off shift to get into the beds of the workers going on shift when the factories were kept going 24 hours a day. Living conditions were usually dirty and unsanitary whether in the dormitories or in the huge overcrowded tenement buildings in Moscow and St Petersburg. Privacy was a luxury, with men, women and children living alongside each other, separated only by a curtain - cooking, eating, sleeping and having sex. Workers often slept on plank beds in dirty grease-covered bedding. In smaller workshops some slept around their machines. One immigrant worker was lucky enough to share a private room, which stank of ‘humanity’, with fifteen other men: he slept on a cot which was full of ‘bed bugs and fleas. The cities had poor sanitation and were generally very unhealthy.

Question 48

marxism

Answer 48

Set out by Karl Marx in a pamphlet he wrote in 1848 with Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. It was a first of its kind and Marx’s’ unique vison attracted many thousands of young people all over the world. The Manifesto presents Marx’s analysis in the from of predictions, convincing his early followers that revolution was inevitable. The key to Marx’s vison is the control of the means of production by a particular social class that could then use this to control to exploit the labour of the rest. As one class becomes dominant it establishes its own beliefs that reflect its self interest. The supremacy of this class can never be permanent as it will always be overthrown by oppression. Therefore history is a constant struggle between classes. Using this approach Marx singles out socio economic periods or stages in history: primitive society, (slavery), feudalism, capitalism, socialism and communism (he saw capitalism as the present in mid-19th century Western societies and Communism as the future). The central idea in Marx’s analysis of capitalism was that the present phase of history, dominated by the bourgeoisie, had brought a remarkable ‘acceleration’ in global development. Marx put forward the view that all value was created by human labour and that the owners of the means of production - the capitalists (for example, factory owners) - took for themselves the ‘surplus value’ created by their workers. They invested their ill-gotten surplus value (capital) in labour-saving machinery (technology), growing production and their wealth but also reducing wages and eliminating jobs. As a result, wealth would be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands and the workers would become poorer and poorer. Eventually. Marx argued, the workers would rise up in revolution against the capitalists and then create socialism, in a state run by the workers on behalf of the workers, which would lead to communism. The theories of Karl Marx were based on the idea that all history was composed of class struggles. Marx had predicted that a struggle between the working class ‘proletariat’ and the factory-owning capitalists ‘bourgeoisie’ would ultimately (after a short dictatorship of the proletariat) herald the perfect ‘communist society in which everyone would be equal.
Marixsm was attractive because it seemed to offer a scientific view of history, similar to the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin. According to Marx, history was evolving in a series of stages towards a perfect state - communism. Each stage was characterised by the struggle between different classes. This was a struggle over who owned the ‘means of production’ and so controlled society.

Question 49

How far were economic problems dealt with- New methods and approaches

Answer 49

Outside the central regions the Mir was not a Barrier to change:
-used crop rotations, new crops, fertilisers
-Potatoes= more important, production grew by 43%
- Co operative movement in some villages -> gave loans to buy livestock.

Question 50

How far were economic problems dealt with- Change and geographical variations - Increased peasant land ownership and production after 1880

Answer 50

The situation began to change after 1880. Some peasants were taking advantage of the market in land that had opened up as a result of emancipation. Peasants could now buy and sell land - aided by the creation of the Peasants’ Land Bank in 1883 - and they could take advantage of the large quantities being put on the market by the nobility. Between 1877 and 1905 the amount of land owned by the peasants grew from 6 million to 21.6 million hectares. By 1905, 27 per cent of landlord land had passed to the peasantry. More than this, the peasants were renting land from the nobility in ever increasing amounts, much more than they bought. By 1913 peasants owned 66 per cent of arable land and rented more. It is now argued that yields were higher on peasant land.
Agricultural production grew rapidly. Grain production grew by 2.1 per cent annually between 1883 and 1914, or by 1.1 million tons per year. This kept it ahead of the substantial increase in population.

Question 51

How far were economic problems dealt with- Change and geographical variations - Still agricultural crisis in central regions

Answer 51

But this picture of growth conceals great geographical variations in production and it was in the central agricultural region that production was weakest. There are various reasons for this:
* The amount of land received by each peasant household after emancipation was less than previously farmed.
* The communes were conservative and used backward agricultural methods.
* The huge increase in population (from 50 to 79 million during 1861-97) created pressure on the land. When land was repartitioned, households ended up with smaller, less efficient units.

Question 52

How far were economic problems dealt with- Change and geographical variations - Improvements outside of central regions

Answer 52

Outside of this central area there was more prosperity and progress:
* In parts of the Baltic, landowners with access to Western grain markets had established capitalist farms worked by wage-labourers.
* In the western Ukraine there were huge sugar-beet farms.
* In the fertile regions of the south, mixed farms were producing grain and other products (see below).
* In western Siberia, with access to markets by way of the Trans-Siberian particularly butter.
Railway, peasants were producing cereals, livestock and dairy products,
Historians now consider that there was a real improvement in food supply throughout the Empire and that the consumption of grain per head had increased. For two brief periods - the famine years of 1889-92 and the revolutionary years of 1905-07 - bad harvests caused by bad weather and drought meant that production dropped considerably. But the trend was upward.

Question 53

Emergence of Russian Marxism- growth

Answer 53

Marxist teaching proved attractive intellectually, but in the 1870s its message seemed largely irrelevant to a predominantly rural country, with hardly any proletariat and still fewer bourgeoisie. In the 1880s, following the Populists’ disastrous campaigns, it seemed to some Russian intellectuals that there was no hope of a revolutionary movement developing among the peasantry. Instead, they turned to the latest theories of German philosopher, Karl Marx. The scientific nature’ of Marxism appealed to them - it was an optimistic theory which saw progress through the development of industry and the growth of the working class to the ultimate triumph of socialism. Russia hadn’t been significantly affected by industrialisation until the 1880s, and so the earlier radical groups, such as the Populists and university students, had largely ignored Marx’s theory as applicable for Western Europeans, not Russians. They accepted his criticisms of capitalism and the bourgeoisie, but rejected his doctrine that Russia must follow a capitalist path where peasants would become factory hands or proletarians (workers).

Question 54

Emergence of Russian Marxism- Groups forming

Answer 54

The first Russian Marxist group had been set up in Switzerland in 1883 by Georgi Plekhanov, ‘the Father of Russian Marxism’. Plekhanov had been attracted by Populism and became a leader of Land and Liberty and Black Partition. He was exiled in 1880 and settled in Geneva where he studied Marxism. This led him to co-found the Marxist group ‘Emancipation of Labour’ in 1883 (with Vera Zasulich). The members of his small organisation, ‘Emancipation of Labour”, had been active Narodniks in the past, but the failures of the 1870s had led them to re-evaluate their ideology. They now identified the urban working class as their base of support and Russia’s main potential for revolution. This was set against their former populist ideology, which had focused on Russia’s rural peasantry.) The ‘Emancipation of Labour’ translated and arranged for Marxist tracts to be smuggled into Russia but also sought to demonstrate that Marxism was fully applicable to Russia. Plekhanov analysed the situation in Russia from a Marxist perspective and wrote Socialism and Political Struggle (1883) to attract the intelligentsia to the revolutionary cause. He mapped out a two-stage revolutionary strategy: Russia was at the start of the capitalist stage, and a democratic movement by the workers in alliance with the bourgeoisie was needed before the socialist stage could commence. Since the proletariat of Russia was still small and backward, he wanted bourgeois revolutionary leaders to organise the workers so as to be ready for Marxism, cooperating to fight autocracy, in order to accelerate the capitalist stage. For decades, revolutionaries had rejected capitalism, but Marx’s views, as explained by Plekhanov, began to gain ground with young radicals, as they appeared to prove in a scientific way that socialism was inevitable: history was on the side of the proletariat.
Emancipation of Labour had a limited impact at the time but Plekhanov’s development of the ‘two-stage revolutionary strategy’ was vital in advancing Marxism in Russia

Question 55

Emergence of Russian marxism - famine

Answer 55

The famine of 1891-92 encouraged further support for Marx’s theory. It illustrated to many that the peasantry as a class was literally ‘dying out’. The disaster was a reminder to many educated Russians that the country was economically backward and that industrial-scale change was necessary. Confronted by a regime that included staunch ‘anti-modernists’ such as Pobedonostsev who was determined to maintain the social order through brutal repression whilst facing the emergence of an industrialised proletariat, it is perhaps not surprising that many of the more radical members of the intelligentsia found Marx’s political philosophy so appealing

Question 56

Emergence of Russia Marxism - opposition

Answer 56

By the 1890s, opposition movements still appeared to stand little chance of success in the face of tsarist repression. However, as industrialisation speeded up, a number of workers’ organisations, illegal trade unions, Marxist discussion circles and other groups developed, spreading radical Marxist ideas more widely. It was from these small beginnings that changes in thinking that were to have massive long-term importance began to take root. The working class, not the peasants, were the key to the revolution.

Question 57

The death of Alexander III

Answer 57

Alexander III died suddenly on 1 November 1894 of a kidney complaint; he was 49. His father had shaken the personalised power structure of the autocracy. Alexander Ill’s policies of repression had restored the regime’s political authority and given Russia thirteen years of peace. In doing this he had abandoned any attempt to build the institutions of civic society based on the rule of law. He had strengthened traditional elites and antagonised social and ethnic groups throughout the Empire. The educated intelligentsia had become alienated and many fled abroad, some to plan revolution. Those who hoped for more representation in government at local or national level were left frustrated and angry. Alexander had done his son no favours. He had pressed ahead with industrialisation but had not provided any mechanisms to deal with the social pressures and tensions this generated. All the regime could fall back on was repression to maintain order and stability.