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AQA History A-level - Tsarist and Communist Russia 1855-1964 - Trying to…
AQA History A-level - Tsarist and Communist Russia 1855-1964 - Trying to preserve autocracy, 1855-1894 - The Russian Autocracy in 1855 1️⃣
Definitions
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Over-Procurator - appointed by Tsar from the laity, this was the highest Church official
Holy Synod - a group of bishops, which forms the ruling body of the Orthodox Church; it’s the highest authority on rules, regulations, faith and matters on Church Organisation
Bureaucracy - system of government in which most important decisions are taken by state officials rather than elected representatives
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Military colony - where conscripts lived w/ families and trained, under strict military discipline
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Cottage industry - work done in a worker's own home, typically spinning, weaving, small-scale wood or metal work; occasionally some villages specialised
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Intelligentsia - Educated members of society, incl. writers and philosophers w/ both humanitarian and nationalist concerns; many opposed State for various cultural, moral, religious, philosophical and political reasons
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Orthodox Church - after split in Christian Church in 11th Century, Eastern Orthodox Church developed own beliefs/rituals; in 1453 (after Constantinople fell to Turks) Moscow became spiritual capital
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Police State - state in which activities of people are closely monitored & controlled for political reasons
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Mortgage - this involves borrowing money by providing a guarantee for a state loan, & if burrowed money and add. interest wasn’t repaid, and State could seize serfs
Political Context
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Tsar
According to ‘Collected Laws of the Russian Empire’ by Tsar Nicolas I in 1832, ‘The Emperor of all the Russias is an autocratic and unlimited monarch; God himself ordains that all must bow to his supreme power, not only out of fear but also out of conscience’.
The lands of Russia were private, and the Russians were his children
Edicts (orders) were laws of land, and even though Tsar had advisors, Tsar approved all of them
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Church
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Tsar is also, in name, Head of the Russian Orthodox Church
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Advisers and Ministers
Another advisory body was Council of Ministers, a body of 8 to 14 ministers with different responsibilities
Another advisory body is Senate, overseeing workings of government, but practically redundant by 1855
Tsar’s main advisory body was Imperial Council or Chancellery, a body of 25 to 60 nobles
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Bureaucracy
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14 levels of rank in bureaucracy - each rank had own uniform, form of address, status, but bureaucracy was corrupted and incompetent
Regime also depended on provincial nobility; nobles not obliged to serve state from 1875, but did so, mostly as provisional government
Army
‘World’s largest army of around 1.5m conscripted serfs, each forced into service for 25 years and made to live in a military colony’.
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Higher ranks were reserved for nobles who bought and sold commissions; lower ranks had harsh discipline
Tsar had an elite service of Cossacks with special social privileges, acting as both personal bodyguards to Tsar and police reinforcements
Police (State)
Prevented freedom of speech, travel abroad, press
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Serfs made up 50% of population, over 1/2 privately owned, w/ the rest being state serfs working in mirs in primitive conditions; most were illeterate yet deeply religious, superstitious and hostile to change
After French Revolution, Alex I (Tsar 1801-1825) wanted to set up advisory representative assembly w/ law making powers (liberal ideas begun to spread in West), but never put it into practice; brother Nicholas I (Tsar 1825-1855) rejected the thought and followed a path of repression, esp. after military uprising in Dec 1825, w/ reign ending in military defeat in Crimea
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Closer Look
Empire - Is made up of a number of lesser states ruled by one monarch; 19th Century Russia was vast (about 21m sq km) - 2x size of Europe & 1/6 of Globe’s surface; Acquired through military conquest, colonisation, & still growing
Problems of Empire governing - Empire was very multicultural, each w/ own customs; <1/2 of pop. of 69m were Russian in ‘55; 3/4 lived in European Russia (<1/4 of land mass)
The French Revolution - French had risen against their absolutist King in 1789 and a republic were set up in 1792; French was example of representative government (already in GB) was spread across Europe by Napoleon before 1812; French ‘liberal’ ideas ignited a demand for greater political freedom in Europe
Serfdom - People who were classed as 'property of their owners', rather than 'citizens'; they could be bought/sold, were subject to beatings, couldn't marry w/o permission; were liable for conscription; 2 types - private & public, w/ most working in mirs
Agricultural change - crop rotation, new fertilisers, developments in machinery transformed Western agriculture
Serf poverty - lives were primitive by western standards; cut corn by hand, shared huts w/ others and animals; most were illiterate but deeply religious, inclined to superstition
Taxes - main direct tax (poll tax) was paid by all but merchants from 1719 to cover army costs; obrok (rent) paid by state serfs in lieu of land/service dues made up 25% of govn. income; indirect taxes made up 30% of income by '55
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