Liberalism - 1894-1904

• Before 1904, the key aim of the liberals was to create a national assembly through which they could influence government decisions.
• Liberals also wanted:

  • The abolition of corporal punishment.
  • The end of the office of Land Captains.
  • The extension of primary education.
• In 1896, Shipov attempted to set up an "All-Zemstvo Organisation" to represent the views of the zemstva across Russia.

  • This was immediately banned by the government but liberals continued to meet in secret.
• In 1900, the government ordered the dismissal of hundreds of liberals from the elected boards of the zemstva.

  • Rather than destroying liberal opposition, they galvanised it.
• In 1903, liberals came together under the leadership of Pyotr Struve to form the Union of Liberation.

  • Struve had been publishing the Liberation newspaper in Germany from 1901.
  • He argued for a peaceful evolution in Russia to a constitutional system through which people could campaign to improve their lives.