Russia

• Collectivization was the reorganization of agricultural production on the basis of collective ownership of land, labor, and farm equipment.
• The third five-year plan (1938–42) was interrupted by World War II but included plans for increased production of consumer goods.
• The second five-year plan (1933–37) focused on heavy industry such as coal mining, iron ore extraction, and oil refining.
• The first five-year plan (1928–32) aimed to industrialize the Soviet Union by increasing steel output from 4 million tons to 15 million tons per year.
• Crimean War: 1853-55

  Russia in conflict with Turkey - influence in Balkan access to Mediterranean + crusading desire for Istanbul

  Humiliated when British + France supported Turkish and superior British navy and army land small professional army in Crimea (Western forces are stronger/longer range)

  Huge Russian army is poorly trained (generals are based on nepotism) malnourished serfs, who are conscripted, hampered by lack of transport links (British parked battalions of professional ships on the Crimea)

  Nicholas I dead in 1855 - Alexander II - need negotiate disastrous peace deal to end war
• Foreign policy pre 1855

  Russia views itself as the victor over Napoleon due to war of 1812 but it is actually isolated and seen as backward by Europe

  Nicholas isolaated Russia from the revolutions of 1848, due to the censorship of the Government
• 50-50 rule


  Half of Russia is Russian, other half isn’t

  Russian cultural and language domination is enforced by imperialism
• Economy pre 1855

  Russian economy is based on subsistence agriculture - lack of motivation for more, harsh conditions

  No entrepreneurial middle class or industrial basis - no real internal market

  Serfdom holds the economy - 90% are peasants and 45% are serfs, who are tied to the land and controlled by the nobility

  Land owning elite are not financially well off because their only income is the serfs and peasants
• Religion pre 1855

  State power of Eastern Orthodox Russian Church

  Tsar is head of Church

  Church owns 25% of land

  God given power through the Tsar - Tsar was often called the “Little Father” (“Big Father” was God)
• Censorship pre 1855

  Government controls all material published in the Empire and suppress foreign books, liberals ideas and non-Russia nationalism

  Writer named Chaadayev caused a huge scandal in 1836 - attacked autocracy, orthodoxy and Nicholas, banned but it was still read

  The Third Department - set up after 1825 Decemberist Revolt, a secret police that monitors population for opposition, death penalty can be given to “political terrorists”
• Reforms of Alexander II - Government

  Motive:

  • Increase invest - country politically stable?
  • If someone invest Rus, fair trial

  Method:

  • Create Zemstvo for local gov by indirect election - Z make local state job appointments
  • Loris Melikov constitution - advisory national elected chamber

  Success:

  • Z popular
  • Mid class in local develop
  • Liberal happy - get constitution?

  Failure:

  • Little power
  • No further democratic reform
  • Lack tax raising ability
  • Conservative unhappy
  • No represent peasantry (electoral college)

  Legacy:

  • Alexander III no abolish - create Land Governors - rule over top
• 1856

  Alexander II tells nobles he won’t abolish serfdom

  Inheritance that nobles had would be taken away

  Prestige took away as well as their income

  Lose political power as well

  Nobles don’t want this to happen

  He said that he needs to get rid of it at some point but that he won’t yet

  The peasants will have a revolt if they don’t get rid of it

  By later 1856 his wife and brother forced him to move on, the bureaucracy supported Alexander. Liberalism was now in fashion as it was believed this would please the Tsar. Liberalism began to flourish in the literate classes of St Petersburg
• 1857


  After his official coronation in 1857 Alexander II set up a Secret Committee on Peasant reform led by favourite of Nicholas, Count Rostovtsev. The committee argued fiercely on compensation for the serfs. Nobles wanted to keep all their land and claimed that they would be victims of peasant vengeance the moment emancipation occurred.
• 1861


  Alexander abolishes serfdom

  Does it by signing a decree

  No civil war

  Forces his nobles to follow it

  Not scared of losing nobility support
• Emancipation background


  Took 6 years to reform

  Not rushed

  • Afraid that the nobles might turn on him
  • Many nobles are friends with the tsar
  • If the nobles undermine autocracy, they undermine themselves
  • Nobles are chosen by the tsar

  Alexander was someone who is nervous about taking a clear path

  • Worries about taking big decisions
  • Comes up with an idea, and then gets talked down by his advisors
  • Could be a way to blame his advisors if it’s wrong
  • Vacillating
• Political reason for emancipation

  Peasants are threatening to have a revolution

  Middle class didn’t want to revolt

  • Middle class have something to lose

  Peasants don’t know who to revolt against

  Students led the revolution

  Either thinks that there will be a revolution or that he wants to scare the nobility into wanting to abolish serfdom

  They’ll believe it because he’s tsar
• Political reason for emancipation for

  Between 1840 and 1844 there had been fewer than 30 outbrakes of disorder pa on privately owned estates, but more than doubled over the next 15 years

  Partly because

  • Landowners pushing peasants to produce more or pay higher rents in order to maintain their own incomes
  • Protests against military conscriptions during the Crimean War
  • Disturbances subside once the war ended in 1857
  • Traditional for the tsar to announce the freedom of serfs conscripted to fight at the end of a war
  • Alexander II’s delay (while he considered the future) increased tensions
• Political reason for emancipation against

  Issue with peasantry

  • Culturally live in local villages – very religious
  • Would see tsar as head of church - quite conservative
  • Very loyal to tsar
  • Don’t travel
  • No communication to other peasants
  • Uprisings aren’t linked to eachother
  • Could be economic issues + protests to free veterans from serfdom

  If they change it, might start to question rulership of Russia

  • No control of serfs
  • Could cause chaos

  Nobility upset

  • Coup against tsar
  • Not likely because officers lost their power
  • Political unrest
  • Undermining concept of autocracy - they support
• Economic reason for Emancipation

  End serfdom and give peasants individual land

  Peasants have incentive to produce + entrepreneurial agriculture

  • Become successful and use projects to expand = buy more land
  • Kulaks
  • Middle class peasants
  • They don’t end up getting this
  • Some peasants move to cities
  • Produces an urban workforce for factories
• Entrepreneurial agriculture plan

  Give land

  Peasant incentive to produce

  Become successful + use projects to expand = buy more land

  Kulaks

  Some peasants move to cities

  • Produces urban workforce for factory

  Grain surplus

  • Don’t get this, but still export
  • No food for people

  Export grain

  Increase state revenue from tax

  • State led investment + industry
  • Government lead urbanisation
  • State
  • Government
  • Not private
  • Government revenue up
  • No organic middle class
  • Created one
  • Get less than they want but still a bit
  • Go into debt for improvement
  • Borrow money
  • Foreign investment
• Grain surplus

  Making more grain than they need
• Social reason for emancipation

  The creation of a middle class of kulaks would strengthen Russia and those not needed in the countryside could move to work in the new industries being created in the cities of the Empire. Nobles freed from living off the poor profits of serf estates may apply themselves as entrepreneurs or invest in middle class businesses. 
• Military reason for emancipation

  Just lost Crimean war

  Made up largely conscripted serfs

  Military returns – more professional army

  All classes allowed for conscription

  • 15 years of service
  • Used to be 25 years
  • Most of the time – serf
  • Could be taken into wars or taken into training once a year
  • Serfs aren’t doing too well
  • Malnourished
  • Uneducated
  • No proper training
  • Any age
  • Reduce number of years of conscription
  • Training men then put back into serfdom, where unhappy + likely to rebel

  Get rid of serfdom so people no potential of revolting
• Moral reason for emancipation

  No wage

  Work conditions are bad

  • Beating to keep order
  • A lot of exploitation of young peasant girls

  Bad health conditions

  Only country in Europe to do it

  • They all think it’s backwards

  Alexander had liberal tutors

  Miligatin brothers

  Given more liberal education so knows what other people think about serfdom

  Also appointed liberal advisors

  Appointed people who were in favour of getting rid of serfdom

  Could be that he needs other people to persuade him
• Emancipation successes

  Was greatest transfer of land in European history

  • 45% of the population were serfs and then he got rid of it

  Nobility thought that it was going to be a disaster

  • But there was a very muted response
  • Some disturbances but mostly okay
  • In comparison to USA
  • Civil war in USA

  Carried out in a few years - quick

  Allows for urbanisation + modernisation to increase
• Emancipation act


  Privately owned serfs were freed immediately with state owned serfs to follow in 1866. They were given land to accompany their freedom. 

  Volosts were established to allow peasants some political control over their communities.

  There was widespread joy on the announcement of the decree.
• Emancipation failures

  647 riots in the months after

  • Bezdna saw 70 peasants killed
  • Grievances wold damage loyalty to government
  • Government had to use military force

  Landlords were unhappy

  Economic motives of emancipation was largely not met

  • Mir system kept

  The desire to limit noble anger and restrict peasant freedom after emancipation undermined the attempt to create a class of kulaks

  • Redemption payments
  • Landlords got first pick of land

  Nobility angry at loss of prestige and political power
• Electoral college


  Weighted voting system

  Middle person between voter and result

  Was the middle class
• Zemstvo

  Elected local government to run education, road building, health care, prisons and other works
• Alexander II judicial reforms

  Made juries

  • Western thing
  • Emancipation created million of private land owners and the gov needed a system to resolve disputes without vigilantism taking place

  Meant that they would have more political stability

  • More investment
  • No worry about corruption

  Filled in the gaps that emancipation left

  Peasants would be in court a lot

  • Peasants would not know who’s land is who’s

  Trial by jury for political terrorism was ended after Vera Zasulich in 1877
• Vera Zasulich

  However in the 1870s concerns were raised about the sympathy of juries towards political criminals. In 1877 Vera Zasulich shot the governor of St Petersburg in revenge for the treatment of political prisoners at the Peter and Paul Fortress. She admitted and justified her actions and was then cleared by a jury and smuggled abroad by her radical supporters. The government was furious and trial by jury for political terrorism was ended.
• Alex II reform - education/censorship

  Liberalisation

  Need basic education to machine

  • Key to industrialisation

  Kulak likely happy if educated

  Educated population bad

  • Realise wrong

  1862-1867

  • Alexander Golovin
  • Staff choose teach/read
  • Orthodox Church no responsible primary + secondary
  • Zemstva
  • Improve population literacy
  • Pupil primary education
  • 400,000 - 1mill
  • Tripling uni student
  • 10,000 after
  • Major rollback censorship
  • Publishing increase tenfold
  • Gold age Russian literature
  • 1866
  • Dimitri Tolstoy try shoot Alex
  • More censorship, university restricted
• Alexander II reform - military

  Reduced from 25 years to 15 with 9 in reserve

  Needed new colleges to make more professional

  • Not nepotism, but rather because they were professional

  Gets extended to everybody

  • Not just peasants

  1878

  • Russian army was able to successfully defeat the Turkish army in 1878
  • Still high casualties and not win advantageous peace at Berlin conference
  • Alexander III
  • No wars
  • Nicholas II
  • 2 wars

  Nobles and middle class would pay others to take their conscription duties
• Conservative opposition to Alex II

  Not really an opposition group

  • But they oppose the reforms

  Nobles won’t get rid of the tsar

  • Catherine the Great
  • It’s happened before

  If autocracy goes, the nobility probably goes, so they probably won’t do anything

  Also Alexander’s 2nd son was a conservative so they wouldn’t have to wait too long for conservatism

  Retrogrades

  • Conservative
  • Nobility
  • Appeal to nationalism in the lower classes

  Salvophiles

  • Russia is very good in their eyes
• Liberal opposition to Alex II

  Happy reform, but no constitution

  • But reforms are happening

  Elite middle class

  • Elite nobility + professional middle class
  • Not mass population
  • Students, teachers, lawyers etc.

  Count Tolstoy in charge

  • Retrograde
  • Ban books

  Liberals mad after Count Tolstoy

  • Don’t tend to revolution
  • Have something to lose
  • Jobs
  • Want reform, not break
  • Complain + put pressure
  • Disgruntled/frustrated liberals
  • Have Zemstva
  • Elected + complain
  • Probably not critical about tsar
  • People around him

  No danger to Alex

  • No political power
  • Small part population
  • Not radical
• Marxism

  Inevitability of communism

  • Hate capitalism, but great advance

  Simplifies class system

  • Nobility
  • Not relevant
  • Bourgeoise
  • Owners means of production
  • Industrial work force
  • Proletariat

  Capitalism based on exploitation

  • When “class consciousness” occurs, revolution
  • Feel powerless
  • But revolution successful because numbers

  Capitalism creates its own grave diggers

  • No marxism
  • No/small proletariat
  • Small nobility + small bourgeoise
  • A lot peasant

  Come away from Marxism

  • Use peasantry as revolutionary class
  • Kill tsar + heirs
  • Leads to mass revolution
• Anarchism

  No government or authority

  Probably been since the French Revolution

  But the most powerful people take over

  • Mafia
  • Gangs
  • People who have guns

  Tends to lead to less freedom

  • No government

  No rules

  Can take whatever and whenever
• Nihilism

  Belief in nothing

  Might lead to compete destruction
• Communism

  Equality

  • No class system

  Each from their ability to each from their need

  Based on economic incentive

  • Do it for yourself and family
• Radicals


  Want revolution rather than reform