Alex II/III Opposition and Tsarist reaction

• Alex ii initial reforms encouraged spread of radical literature
• Creation of Duma and Zemstva provided platform for intellectuals and educated to challenge tsarist policies whilst judicial reform founded challenging lawyers
• Later repression reinforced demands for change - intelligensia mildly behaved - Vociferous student radicals and socialist
• Emergency measures remained in place till 1917
• 1881 - Okhrana

  1882 - allowed to declare any citizen subject to surveillance
• Tolstoy appointed gov officials to have direct control over peasants and village communes
• Education

  1884 - University statute

  Women barred from uni

  Fees raised to exclude poorer students
• Local Gov

  1890 - Zemstva act

  • Centralused control of Zemstva under interior ministry
  • Peasant representation reduced
  • Zemstva continued proving roads and hospitals - key role in alleviation of famine effeats 1891 - 1892
  • Only 0.7% of population in Moscow and st petersburg could vote
• Legal

  Wanted back power Alex ii gave away but struggled

  • Reduced number of crimes in law courts
  • Court martials helped privacy
  • MOJ could order a private trial - crime against state without jury
  • Judges lost security of tenure - increased corruption - moj appointed directly
  • Centralisation of power
• Repression

  1881 - nationwide police offensive - 10k arrests

  • Okrana recruited thousands and uncovered revolutionaries and terrorist conspiracies
  • Post read, fake cab drivers
  • Thousands were exiled - majority innocent
  • Difficult to express dissident opinion
  • Peoples will never recovered - every act followed by wave of arrests - public revulsion to Alex ii death
  • Lenin’s brother hanged
• Liberal intelligentsia

  Grew with economic and social reforms of nineteenth century

  Possessed knowledge, money, time and interest to reflect

  • Many had travelled abroad and could see Russia's stagnation
  • Nihilism and anarchism were influential + Westerners
• Zemstva provided a place for liberal opposition to voice themselves and members hoped to reform autocracy

  Alex iii repressed their powers in 89-90
• Slavophiles dissapeared under industrialisation which created conditions for western socialism. Split the intelligentsia with Marxism and socialism
• 1891-92 famine - inaction of over-bureaucratic tsarist gov left the Zemstva in charge of relief - important to develop opposition

  mid 90’s called for national body to advise gov
• radical opposition

  June 1862 a series of fires burned over 2k shops - Young Russia blamed
• 1863 - The Organisation set up by Moscow uni students calling for reform - heightened by increased repression of 60’s and socialist writers
• Tchaikovsky circle 


  1868-69 in St Petersburg - literary society which published revolutionary literature - no more than 100 people

  • Populism - 1874 2000 young went to countryside to talk about peasant commune - explore resentment - Ignrance and prejudice and loyalty to tsar - 1800 arrested
  • attempted 1876 - show trials held 77-78
• Land and Liberty 


  1877 - Carried out political assassinations - head of third section 1878

  Elicited lots of public sympathy - conversed with Zemstva

  1879 : split into black partition and the peoples will

  Black partition - worked peacefully with peasants - severely weakened by arrests in 80-81 - turned to Marxism

  The Peoples will - planted a spy in third section - advocated violence - 79 declared tsar had to be removed and killed him in 81
• by 1890’S opposition stood little chance however with industrialisation came educated workers and illegal unions which developed Marxist discussion