The Russian Autocracy in 1855

• What did Russian society roughly look like in 1855:

  • Localism: a loyalty to the local community or local area
  • Lack of national consciousness
  • Held together by a 'reverence for the Tsar' and by the power the tsar and Orthodox Church demanded obedience.
• What is an autocracy?

  Having no limits on a ruler's power, such a ruler was called an autocrat
• What did the 'Collected Laws of the Russian Empire' say about the tsar?

  Compiled by Nicholas I in 1832, it said 'The Emperor of all the Russians is an autocratic and unlimited monarch; God himself ordains that all must bow to his supreme power, not only out of fear but also out of conscience'.
• • Russian Orthodox Church
  • The land of the Russian Empire was private property and the Russian people were its children.
  • Russians were taught to show devotion to the tsar and accept that their position is asserted by God.

  Orthodoxy:
• Since the Over-Procurator of the Holy Synod of 1721 was created, the tsar ran affairs in the church. Resulting in, structures of the church and state were entwined, as archbishops and bishops at the head of the Church hierarchy were subject to tsarists control over appointments, religious education and most of their finances and admin. 


  How was the church controlled by the tsar?
• Tsar's imperial edicts were the law of the land. He had the ultimate power and while he does have ministers beneath him, they are all chosen by the tsar and nothing happens without his approval. 


  What were ukazy?
• An advisory body which is chosen by the tsar to advise him personally and for them to provide their 'expert opinion' which consisted of about 35-60 nobles. 


  Imperial Council
• appointed by the Tsar from the laity, this was the highest Church offical.

  Over-procurator:
• A group of bishops, which forms the ruling body of the orthodox church; it is the highest authority on rules, faith and matters of church organisation.

  Holy Synod:
• There are many different ethnic groups that live in the Russian empire each with their own customs, cultures and languages and religion which makes it difficult to control everyone in the empire, not only due to the size of Russia but because it is difficult to enforce the customs of Russian onto those other regions. 


  Problems of governing an empire:
• Less than half of the population was Russian, around 69 million and around 3/4 of the population lived in European Russia.

  Population in 1855
• A system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

  Bureaucracy:
• A person who was the property of the lord for whom he or she worked; serfs and serfdom.

  Serf:
• A state in which the activities of the people are closely monitored and controlled for political reasons.

  Police state
• It consisted of civil servants under a system of bureaucracy which were paid noble officials selected form a 'table of ranks'. There were 14 levels which were responsible for a number of things such as collecting taxes. This system was very incompetent and corrupt as it's orders were given by the central government and these officials couldn't go up the ranks. 


  How did the government system work during this time?
• • Tsar had one of the largest armies which consisted of around 1.5 million conscripted serfs each were forced to conscribe for 25 years and made to live in a military colony.
  • It absorbed about 45% of the government spending 


  Army:
• They came from the Ukraine and South Russia. They were known for their skills in horsemanship and their strong military tradition. By the 19th century, they formed a special military class serving the tsar. They were provided with arms and supplies by the tsarists government, but each solider role their own highly trained horse. 


  Cossacks
• • maintained autocracy
  • prevented freedom of speech, press and travel
  • political meetings and strikes were forbidden
  • they also ensured that censorship was enforced in the State and Church


  What was the effect of the police state
• It ignited the spread of liberal ideas and a demand for greater political freedom in Europe. 


  What was the significance of the French Revolution?
• Britain, Belgium, France and Germany were already well advanced industrially. They had mills, factories, coal pits and railways which were way more industrialised than that of Russia. It was mostly rural with a ratio of 11:1 village to town dwellers, compared to 2:1 in Britain.

  Economic situation in 1855
• Much of its territory was inhospitable, compromising of tundra and barren of country sides. The difference in size and climates across Russia was challenging.


  What was the issue with Russian geographically:
• • Agricultural produce
  • timber
  • coal
  • oil
  • gold and other precious metals.

  What was Russia the main exporter of
• It's commitment to serfdom. This meant that the land-owning elite and army was living off the work of the serfs. The middle class was very limited as there were that many entrepreneurs which would have given the economy a but of a boost. The serfs themselves were poor and lived off whatever they grew themselves. 


  What was holding the economy back in Russia?
• They mostly faced starvation in the winter, bad harvest and faced land management within serf communes (mirs) meaning they were obliged to follow their rules such as their particular pattern of farming.

  Life of a serf
• They were treated like property, they could be bought and sold, not allowed to marry without permission and were liable for conscription of the army. 


  How were serfs treated?
• Types of serfs:

  • Obrok: a little over half were privately owned and around 30% of them paid taxes.
  • Barshchina: 70% provided labour
  • They was also the privately owned serfs who paid rent and taxes known as 'state serfs'
• the desire and ability to buy products of manufacturing within the country; if a country's inhabitants are poor, there will be little internal demand.

  Internal market demand;
• • Mostly small-scale
  • most common peasant purchase was vodka, metal tools and salt (to preserve food) which they bought in the nearest town.
  • In peasant markets, while money was not an unusual form of payment in towns, they did often trade with items as there was no internal market demand. 


  What did markets look like
• For many owning serfs promoted idleness as long as they got as much out off the serfs as possible for their own personal gain. There was no opportunity for capital accumulation.

  Many landowners were forced into debt and taken out mortgages in which they owned previously to provide for their families.

  Landowning elite and serfs
• • serfs working and living conditions were primitive
  • normal for corn to be cut by hand with sickles and for peasants to share their huts with animals.
  • Most were illiterate and very religious, deeply hostile to change.

  Serf poverty:
• A very small middle class which consisted of a small number of professionals such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. -;


  Intelligentsia:
• • government was financed from taxes and dues
  • direct tax: poll tax paid by all except for the merchants
  • 25% of the normal government income came from taxing the obroks
  • Indirect: tax on salt and vodka and represented 30% of the ordinary government income by 1855.
  • Peasants, urban workers and tradesmen provided around 90% of Imperial Finance.

  Taxes:
• • Russians 55.6 million
  • 22.4 million Ukraine's
  • 7.9 million Polish 


  Ethnic population of 1897:
• • Empire of the Ottoman Turks stretched from the Middle East across the Black Sea and into the Balkans.
  • Since the 1820s, the Sultan struggled to control the Christians in his European dominions.
  • So Nicholas I posed as the Protector of the Slavs and Christians. 


  What was the reason for the Crimean War 1854-55
• • Nicholas sent the Russian army to Moldavia which provoked the Turks into declaring war in October.
  • They were stronger and sank a squadron from the Turkish Black Sea Fleet which had an anchor in the Black Sea.
  • The French and British got involved to protect their trading interests and defended Turkey. 


  Why did the French and British get involved in the war?
• • 60,000 men were sent to the Russian Crimea
  • The war was incompetent on both sides, death was worsened by a cholera outbreak and Russia suffered badly from outdated technology, poor transport and inadequate leadership.
  • Russian army soldiers lacked determination and flexibility compared to the British and French 


  How did the French and British interference affect Russia in the CW
• • March 1855 his death: ' I hand over to you my command, unfortunately not in as good order as I would have wished'
  • Later, Russia lost the war and faced embarrassment 


  Nicholas I handing the army over to Alexander II
• • trade had been disrupted
  • peasant uprisings escalated
  • intelligentsia renewed their cries for something to be done to close the gap between Russia and the West.
  • Treaty of Paris 1856, prevented Russian warships from using the black sea in times of peace. 


  Effect of CW on society;
• • Major problems in the CW
  • It took them longer to get equipment to the front line than it took France and Britain to send soldiers and materials from the channel ports.
  • Their equipment was outdated, muskets were inferior and there was only one to two soldiers.
  • They also used wooden bottomed ships while the Wests used metal and ones that were powered by steam.

  Transport in the CW
• • Highlighted Russia's poor communications and inability to harness and deploy human and material resources effectively. There was no railway south of Moscow, so troops, armaments and supplies had to moved along bumpy roads which turned into mud in wet weather
  • The armies rifles were outdated
  • Questions about the efficiency of the army
  • It was clear that Russia did not have adequate resources to fight major EU powers


  What did the Crimean war reveal