7. Policies towards the Nationalities

• When did Poland become part of the Russian Empire?

  1795
• What concessions did Alexander II make early on in his reign towards Poland?

  Answers:

  • They had a constitution and a parliament.
  • Polish was the official national language.
  • He appointed committees to consider Polish grievances.
  • Relaxed restrictions on the practice of Catholicism.
  • Gave the Poles more local authority and greater freedom of expression.
  • Permitted displays of Polish national identity.
  • Allowed Polish nobles to form their own nationalist organisation called the Agricultural Society of Poland.
• When did Polish nationalist demonstrations take place in Alexander II's reign?

  1861
• Where did the Polish nationalist demonstrations take place in Alexander II's reign?

  Warsaw
• How did Alexander II respond to the Polish nationalist demonstrations in 1861?

  Agrarian reform was carried through, giving freehold tenure to 700,000 peasant families without any redemption payments to the Russian government.
• When did the 1861 Polish nationalist demonstrations escalate into armed revolt?

  January 1863
• Why did the Polish nationalist demonstrations escalate into armed revolt?

  Alexander II's concessions were not followed up with any others, and Polish demands for a separate constitution provoked the Tsarist response of 'no daydreaming'.
• How did the 1863 Polish revolt end?

  Answers:

  • The rebel leaders were executed and 80,000 Poles were sent to Siberia (the largest political contingent in Tsarist history).
  • By 1866, the Kingdom of Poland had been destroyed and lost its status, simply becoming the Vistula region of the Russia Empire.
  • The power of the Polish nobility had been broken.
• What freedoms did Alexander II grant to Jewish people?

  Answers:

  • They were allowed to attend universities and he permitted the appointment of the first Jewish professor.
  • Prepared to encourage Jewish participation in the expanding commerce and industry of the empire.
  • Allocated Jewish people with academic degrees to live in Russian towns beyond their assigned areas in the Pale.
  • In 1859, Jewish merchants of the First Guild and all foreign Jews were allowed to live and trade throughout the empire.
• What freedoms did Alexander II grant to Jewish people (card two)?

  Answers:

  • In 1860, the right to live and trade throughout the Russian Empire was extended to all Jews who had served in certain regiments, and in 1867 to all Jews who had been soldiers.
  • In 1865, the Policy of Jewish Artisans abolished the 'pale' for Jewish artisans.
• What concessions did Alexander II make in relation to Finland?

  Answers:

  • He recalled the Finnish Diet of the Four Estates in 1863, which had not met since 1809.
  • Allowed Finnish to become the sole official language from 1863, and several Finnish journals were founded.
  • He created a separate currency for the area, and under the military reforms of 1874, Finnish soldiers could not be made to serve outside Finland.
• Which areas of the Caucasus and Asia were absorbed into the Russian Empire under Alexander II?

  Answers:

  • Khanates of Khiva
  • Khokand
  • Bukhara
  • Sakhalin
  • The territory north of the Amur River
  • The area north of Korea (Vladivostok)
• What were Alexander II's economic motives behind the expansion into Asia?

  The demands of the Russian economy which sought new markets and new sources of raw materials.
• What were Alexander II's nationalist motives behind the expansion into Asia?

  Reflected the growth of Pan-Slavism inside Russia and the feeling that, as a centre of civilisation, Russia had a duty to bring the benefits of civilisation to all.
• What were Alexander II's domestic motives behind the expansion into Asia?

  He sought concrete success to offset the humiliation of the Crimea.