Russian History-Alexander II 1855-1881

• Crimean war 1853-1856 
• State of Russian Army- large, expensive, conscript, inferior weapons, low 

                                        morale, insufficient ammunitions, wealthy 

                                        purchased rank. 
• Social impact of war- escalation in peasant uprise due to conscription,

  death toll of troops (over 450,000) and poor medical treatment angered public 
• Economic impact of war- disruption of trade 

  extensive military spending with no victory (1 billion rubles more than expected)

  +Treaty of Paris 1856 (limited trade routes in the Black Sea) 

  highlighted poor transport in Russia 
• Political impact of war- a new tsar 

  liberal minded nobles advising Alexander II 

  Russia looked weak and was now vulnerable to attack 
• Military impact of war- Russian warships could no longer use the Black Sea due to the Treaty of Paris 

  incompetent 

  in need of radical change 

  outdated equipment 
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Role of Intellectuals

  -influenced by liberal intelligensia e.g. Nicholas Milyutin

  -liberal-minded family members e.g. Grand Duke Constantin, his brother, and Grand duchess Elena Pavlovna, his aunt

  -Circle of nobles=Party of St Petersburg Progress

  -'Enlightened bureaucrats' in court committed to the abolition of serfdom

  -Emergence of Westernisers push for the embracement of western values
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Economic

  -need for industrialisation, this relied on the freedom of serfs to move and work in towns and cities

  -emancipation would incentivise serfs to work, producing grain surplus which could be exported and increase state revenue

  -population rise put pressure on the land, land hunger was an issue

  -younger nobles were in debt and challenged Russia's economic system
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Domestic Difficulties

  -army was dependant on conscript serfs which was a huge financial burden (45% of budget spent on military)

  -Russia needed to protects its Great Power Status

  -Russia was backwards compared to other great powers e.g. Germany and UK
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Crimean War 1853-1856

  (see other cards)
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Serfdom

  -Address to the nobility in 1856 expressed it was better to reform serfdom from above rather than wait for it to destroy itself from below

  -Emancipation Edict of 1861 suggests, so far after his reign started, that this issue was approached with caution

  -Other major reforms were not possible while serfdom remained e.g. Military
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Moral

  -Alexander travelled around Russia, building his belief that serfdom was morally wrong

  -Serfdom affected Russia's international reputation

  -Toured Europe in 1839- gained Western ideas

  -His tutor Zhukovsky taught him a leader must be a human being and win the love of his subjects#
• MOTIVES FOR REFORM-Risk of Revolt

  -increasing peasant uprisings from the 1840s onwards, spike between 1857 and 1859

  -Maintained autocratic attitudes

  -Nihilism and Anarchism were popular with younger intelligensia

  Nihilists called for radical change and revolution
• Emancipation of the serfs 1861 
• Terms of Emancipation- serfs were free men 

  -each serf family was entitled to keep its cottage and allotment 

  -landowners received compensation for loss of land in the form og government bonds 

  -49 annual redemption payments with 6% interest 

  -serfs must remain in mir until redemption payments paid 

  -mir controlled allotments and collected taxes from peasants in the area 

  -peasants continued labour for 2 years before receiving free man status 
• Emancipation in practice

  1. Kulaks gained surplus grain for export

  2. Kulaks bought up land from less prosperous neighbours

  3. Some serfs forfeited their rights within the mir and moved to cities to earn regular wages

  4. Redemption payments resented by serfs

  5. Peasants granted less land and forced to pay higher dues

  6. Not enough land to live on as it was in the hands of the landlord

  7. Some resorted back to working for free or working to rent the land and not make redemption payments to own the land themselves

  8. No spare money- industrialisation was not simulated

  9. 1878-only 50% of peasants could make surplus

  10. Rural population liable to famine
• Milyutin Brothers- most influential enlightened officials 

  Nicholas- Deputy minister of Interior 1858, planned to reform municipial gov in St Petersburg, praised for honest and efficient service to state for public good, driving force behind difficult reforms, dismissed to appease other bureaucrats who viewed him as too liberal 

  Dmitri- centred around military, War minister in 1861, led to a string of reforms. 
• Reforms

  1864 Local Government- elected councils (zemvsta) 

  healthcare, education and transport reforms in local areas 

  local nobility 

  middle class professions gained a chance at representation within government e.g business owners or teachers 

  POSITIVES- more facilities in local areas 

  -middle class gained givernment experience in zemvsta councils

   

  NEGATIVES- no worker representations 

  -nobility regained control, they manipulated and ran local areas to their own interests 

  -new zemvsta tax on top of redemption payments 
• Reforms

  1861-81 Military- all social classes liable in army from age of 21 

  military service reduced to 15 years 

  military colleges used as a form of training/education 

  reduction of corporal punishment 

  POSITIVES- soldiers and staff well trained and educated 

  -introduction of modern weaponry 

  -improvement of soldiers conditions 

  -broke down class privilege 

  NEGATIVES- opposed by nobles, shows rife classism in Russia 

  -soldiers remained conscripted and illiterate for the most part 
• Reforms

  1863-64 Education and Censorship- more schools 

  modern subjects such as science 

  autonomous universities 

  women allowed to attend university 

  newspapers could discuss government policy 

  publishers no longer had to submit to prior censorship 

  POSITIVES- literacy improved 

  -student numbers increased 

  -journalistic freedom 

  -rise in publications 

  -a much more informed public 

  NEGATIVE- students questioned and challenged the regime 

  -women could not obtain a degree 

  -education reforms reversed by the 1870s 

  -overt criticisms in papers 

  -minister of interior closed down 
• 1866 attempt on Alexander IIs life by Dmytri Karakozov  
• Reasons for Reactionary approach 

  -Tsar spent less time with reformist Grand Duke Konstantin and more time with his mistress following his eldest sons death 

  -Reactionary Conservatives in government claimed reforms had gone too far and made tsar look weak 

  -Four assassination attempts between 1866 and 1880 
• Education counter reforms

  due to a fear that rise in education caused opposition to tsar 

  -reduced zemvsta power over education 

  -church regained authority over local schools 

  -GIMNAZII SCHOOLS- taught classic curriculum, modern subject schools (eg science over religion etc) could not send students to uni 

  -in universities, liberal courses replaced with classic, censorship, student activity controlled 

  -state teacher-training courses to maintain the tsarist regime. Tolstoy vetoed university appointments often
• Police and Law counter reforms

  due to rise in assassination attempts 

  -SHUVALOV- head of the Third Section (secret police) increased persecution of ethnic and religious minorities 

  -PAHLEN- made an example of ‘political agitators’  

  -searches and arrests increased 

  -offenders prosecuted under emergency powers and exiled, radicals who fled russia tracked down and brought back to face justice 

  -show trials, deterred people from revolutionary activity, however this had an opposing effect. 

  -1878- political crimes transferred to secret courts 
• Loris-Melikov appointed minister of internal affairs (relaxed restrictions and appointed the Okhrana- a special section of police just as oppressive) 
• Slavophiles


  Traditional ideologies e.g. Russia centred on prevailing peasant society and the preservation of the Orthodox Church
• Westernisers


  Modern ideologies e.g. the abandonment of Slavic traditions and the adoption of Western customs
• The Tchaikovsky Circle 1868-9, organized the printing and publishing of revolutionary literature
• Black Repartition


  Organized by Georgi Plekhanov, worked peacefully amongst peasants
• The Peoples Will


  Led by Aleksandr Mikhailov, violent methods e.g. undermining government and assassinating officials
• -Reaction towards younger children of intelligensia who developed a radical more educated strand of opposition, adopting theories of MARX (change of the regime from below, from the peasants) and HERZEN (change from the powers above e.g. the tsar) 

  -1869- Bakunin and Sergei Nechaev fled Russia after eradicating students to assassinate the tsar and published the manifesto Catechism of a Revolutionary in Switzerland. Encouraged restless pursuit of revolution 
• -1874 Pyotr Lavrov organized 2000 young nobility and intelligensia (Nardoniks) to peasant commune to expose true working conditions and oppression. Peasants showed deep rooted loyalty to tsar and failed to recognise the issues adressed and met with oppression. 
• -Populism in practice- Mikhail Romas set up a cheaper fruit and vegetable store in a peasant commune, poorer peasants became suspicious, richer peasants who shared deals with urban merchants caused an explosion to threaten poorer peasants for shopping there. His peasants assistant was murdered in the process with his body mutilated and scattered over river as a threat
• 1877 Land and Liberty- populist group less intrusive on peasants, demonstrated with political assassinations; split into Black Repartition and The Peoples Will 
• Key Revolutionists 1855-1894

  Mikhail Bakunin- Co- wrote Catechism of a Revolutionist, influenced by liberated western ideas in the USA 
• Key Revolutionists 1855-1894

  George Plekhanov- part of Land and Liberty, Leader of the Black Repartition, believed Russia had to go through capitalism to reach revolution, placed in exile towards the end of his life 
• Key Revolutionaries 1855-1894

  Pyotr Lavrov- revolutionary actions caused his exile in Russia, preferred reform to revolution, widely read Historical Letters, inspired the Narodinks to widen the socialist society in Russia to bring about change 
• Key Revolutionaries 1855-1894

  Sergey Gennadiyevich Nechayev- Co-wrote Catechism of a revolutionary, associated with Nihilist movement; pursuit of revolution with all means necessary, read subversive Russian literature to students, sentenced to life sentence by tsar in Siberia 
• Key Revolutionaries 1855-1894

  Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky- founder of Nardonism (Russian populism) son of a priest, literature teacher in Saratov, arrested and wrote many novels that inspired young revolutionaries 
• Key Revolutionaries 1855-1894

  Vera Zasulich- 1878 shot chief of police Trepov, found not guilty by sympathetic jury, translated Marx’s words, co-founded Emancipation of Labour group in 1883