Alexander II

• KD1: What motivated alexander's great reforms (3) - Crimean war - Liberal Beliefs - Preserve/strengthen tsarist autocracy
• KD1: How did the crimean war motivate Alexander's reforms (3) - Conditions of the 1856 Peace of Paris deprived Russia of its naval fleet and black sea bases, exposing how far russia lagged behind europe - Russia could not compete with Britain or france on its own territory - The defeat was attributed to the serf army as they were forced to serve for 25 years before they were freed leading to an old army
• KD1: Why did liberal beliefs motiveate alexander to reform (3) - 1837 tour before he was tsar, he saw the success of countries who had abolished slavery which was likely to influence him - Morally members of the royal family had already thought serfdom was incorrect - Alexander's inner circle including the Milyutin brothers had very liberal beliefs
• KD1: What wee the Turgenev's sportsman sketches of 1852 A russian intellectual who critiqued serfdom through the sketches and depicted how it was wrong to own a life
• KD1: Why did liberal beliefs not motivate alexanders reforms (2) - Unlikely these beliefs motivated reform as they had been held by the romanovs for over 60 years prior - His inner circle were already committed to reform, evident through how it was the Milyutins who wrote the terms of the emancipation
• KD1: How did the want to preserve tsarist autocracy motivate alexander to reform (4) - Alexander needed a mobile workforce to promote industrialisation - Serfdom had stymied the growth of the middle class, a class that had the incentive to create wealth - If the peasants developed the urge to profit then it would stimulate industrial demand for consumer goods - There were 1467 revolts since 1800 which was frightening to the tsar
• KD1: How is the French revolution of 1789 relevant It proved the peasantry could overthrow the monarchy, which may have scared alexander
• KD1: Why wouldn't the intention to preserve autocracy motivate alexander to reform (2) - Alexander may never have made the link between serfdom and industrialisation as the cotton industry had developed in the 1850's without emancipation - Peasants had been repressed in all uprisings and never threatened the regime with unorganised revolts only involving a few villages
• KD2: What reforms are we debating whether or not they modernised Russia (6) - Emancipation - Zemstva - Legal reforms - Military reforms - Education reforms - Censorship
• KD2: How did emancipation modernise russia (3) - Between 1877 and 1905 noble land holdings reduced from 200 million acres to 144 million - Many nobles moved into cities investing in new industried and helping to fund industrialisation - 20 million peasants freed overnight through bloodless means, compared to the US with bloodshed and rioting to abolish slavery
• KD2: why didn't emancipation modernise russia (4) - 1861 there were 1159 riots one of which involving 10,000 peasants - On average farmers received 20 acres less land following emancipation - The mir controlled internal passports and restricted mobility of the peasants - Redemption payments of 6% - farmers could not make profit and hence did not pay it back
• KD2: How did the zemstva modernise Russia (3) - Improved quality of schoools and living conditions locally - First form of democracy introduced into tsarist structure - Responded more effectively to 1861 famine than national governments due to localised nature
• KD2: Why didn't the zemsntva modernise russia (3) - Had limited powers and never lead to a national parliament - Electoral system favoured the nobility - By 1914 just 37 out of 90 provinces had a zemstva
• KD2: How did legal reforms modernise russia (and one form of evidence) (2) - Standardised legal system inline with other european countries putting equality before the law - Vera zasulich case 1878 - got away with murder for claiming defense against the governor of st Petersburg after he had mistreated prisoners, she shot General Trepov
• KD2: Why didnt legal reforms modernise Russia (2) - Poland and other regions were excluded from legal reforms - Tsar could appount and promote judges in the judiciary system
• KD2: Who was behind the military reforms between 1863 and 1875 Milyutin
• KD2: How did military reforms modernise russia (4) - Universal conscription made army more representative - Provided education and training - 3 million more peasants received an advanced education this way - Railways under Milyutin grew to allow for movement of troops - Reduction in conscription age allowed milyuting to reduce expenditure on the army by reducing its size - 25 years serfs served compared to 6 years following milyutins reforms
• KD2: why didn't military reforms modernise russia - The next war Russia fights (russo-turkish war in 1877) they lose - Also loses in Japan in 1905
• KD2: How were education reforms pushed through By liberal leaning minister Golovnin
• KD2: How did education reforms modernise Russia (3) - More schools were opened, 8,000 primary schools in 1856, 81,000 by 1900 - Univeristy statute of 1863 allowed greater independance for universities and reduced government control - From 1864 women could attend secondary school
• KD2: Why didn't education reforms modernise russia - univeristy statute led to reintroduction of censorship as teachers became more radical and inflicted their beliefs on students
• KD2: How did censorship modernise russia - Period of glastnost allowing das kapital to be published and politicisation of the press
• KD2: Why did't censorship modernise russia - Led to retightening of censorship after assassination attempt in 1866
• KD3: What was the time period of Alexander's liberal era with all of the Key debate 2 reforms 1855- 1866
• KD3: When and why did alexanders liberal era end 1866 - first assassination attempt
• KD3: who became education minister in 1871 and what did he do - Tolstoy - Intoduced entrance exams to univeristy making it more conservative
• KD3: Key events that occured in 1871 (2) - Trial of the 50 and 193 - During shuvalov era (1873-77) 1611 revolutionaries were arrested
• KD3: What was alexander going to do in 1881 before his assassination (2) - Going to consider extending the zemstva to a national parliament, the loris melikov constitution - Proved he was still at least partially liberal
• KD4: Alexander II's reforms did greatly improve the lives of the peasants (3) - They had the legal right to won property and marry whoever they wished - Peasants in the Steppe region received vas amounts of land - 13% of peasants after emancipation had plenty of land due to lack of population concentration
• KD4: Alexander's great reforms did not greatly improve the lives of peasants (3) - Peasants farmed around 20 USD less than prior to emancipation - Only 40% of peasants had enough land to live off - Land remained property of the nobles until redemption payments had been payed
• KD4: Alexanders reforms did marginally improve the lives of peasants (3) - Executive powers given to abitrary to ensure peasants did receive land from nobles - 47% peasants didn't have enough land to sustain themselves - By 1887 50% of peasants were making profit
• KD4: By 1870 what percent of peasants had payed back their redemption payments 55%
• KD4: Alexanders reformed did help the nobility more than the peasants (2) - Nobility remained at the top of the civil service (1,000 of top 1,400 jobs were nobility) - Nobles sold up in the countryside and reinvested in urban areas - in 1882 700 nobles owned factories in Moscow
• KD4: Alexander's reforms did not help the nobility more than the peasantry (2) - Noble land holdings fell from 200 million to 144 million acres between 1877 and 1905 - Only 40% of land owned by nobles by 1905
• KD5: 3 forms of opposition to Alexander - narodniks - peasant opposition - National minorities
• KD5: How were the Narodniks effective (3) - Managed to kill the tsar after six attempts in 1881 - Glastnost allowed radical ideas to be spread by the organisations - Lavlov's going to the people campaign had the support of 4000 peasants in 1874
• KD5: How were the Narodniks ineffective (3) - Ultimatley their campaign resulted in the reactionary rule of Alexander III - Statute of State Security in 1881 allowed Okhrana to repress peoples will and by 1881 they were effectivly killed off - 1,000 revolutionaries from going to the people were reported by the peasants as they were too conservative to care
• KD5: How was peasant opposition effective - 1159 protests in 1861 may have worred Alexander into emancipating suggesting a degree of success
• KD5: How were the Peasant opposition ineffective - Army dealt with the protests and the protests had little organisation so didn't pose a threat
• KD5: How was opposition from national minorities effective (2) - In 1861 polish conscipts refused to join the army which led to rioting - 1863 revolutionaries formed a provisional government backed by 10,000 soldiers and Russia lost control of Warsaw for 40 days