The Nobility

• The nobility made up about 1-2% of the population and they were very wealthy landowners who helped the Tsar run the state.
• Nobles collected taxes, raised soldiers for the army and held all the senior positions in the military and the Tsarist bureaucracy as provincial governors, commandants of towns and civil servants.
• It was birth, not ability that dictated who got the top jobs.
• However, Nicholas I was keen to ensure that the sons of nobles were well educated and university places doubled between 1836 and 1848.
• It was the educated son’s of the nobility that favoured moderate reforms.