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Trying to preserve autocracy, 1855-1894 - Coggle Diagram

- - - - the tsar also had regiments of elite cossacks who came from ukraine or south russia and were known for their skills in horsemanship
        
        the country also had a developed police state which prevented freedom of speech, press and abroad travel
  - - - serfdom was where the peasants (serfs) were classed as the 'property' of their owners. They could be bought and sold and were also liable to army conscription
      - most serfs worked on land in village communes (mirs) that were run with strict rules imposed by village elders
  - - - land owning elite consisted of the clergy, nobility, civil + military officials, army + naval officers and at the top, the royal court
- - - - influence of other bureaucrats such as Milyutin brothers
        
        Nikolai Milyutin
        
        influential voice in the ministry of internal affairs
        
        in 1859-61 he was largely responsible for drafting the terms of the emancipation edict
        
        also supported the establishment of the zemstva
        
        Dmitry Milyutin
        
        minister of war 1861-81
        
        believed serfdom was morally wrong and an economic handicap
        
        earned reputation as a military scholar
      - increased peasant uprising
      - humiliation of crimean war
      - economically falling behind and wasn't living up to its 'great power' status
    - - initially only applied to privately owned serfs but state owned serfs got their freedom in 1866
        
        it granted them freedom and an allotment of land while landowners received government compensation
      - however, freed serfs were required to pay redemption payments for 49 years and were remained tied to the mir till these were paid off
        
        the mir controlled the distribution of allotments, controlling the farming and controlling taxes
        
        volosts were established to supervise the mir and they also ran their own courts
      - there was a 2 year temporary obligation before freedom was granted in order to organise allotments
      - the emancipation took much longer than expected and around 15% of peasants still remained 'temporarily obligated' to their landlords until 1881 when redemption was made complusory
    - - kulaks (a prosperous land peasant) profited by buying extra land so they could produce surplus grain for export
      - others sold up their allocations or got passports to leave the mir and moved to industrialising cities
      - many peasants felt cheated as land allotments were small and divided hereditarily
        
        in 1878, only 50% of the peasantry were capable of producing a surpulus
      - led to further unrest in the countryside and even cities
  - - - criminal cases were heard before barristers and a jury, judges were appointed by the tsar
        
        accused were assumed innocent until proven guilty. There were local, provincial, national and volost (peasant) courts
        
        the emancipation demanded an overhaul of the law system where the accused were considered guilty. The new system was modelled on the west...
        
        courts were open to public and could be freely reported. National trials were recorded in a government newspaper "the russian courier"
        
        however, these reforms were not made in poland, the western provinces and the caucasus. In the volost courts the peasantry were still also treated different from those of higher status
    - - primary and secondary education was extended with 'modern schools' established at secondary level
        
        universities were given the opportunity to govern themselves and responsibility for schooling was transferred from the russian orthodox church to the zemstva
        
        the abolition of serfdom increased the need for basic literacy and numeracy among peasants trying to run their private smallholdings. Some reforms under Alexander Golovin (minister of education, 1862-67) took place...
        
        schools were declared "open to all" regardless of class and sex (allowing women to attend secondary school for non vocational education from 1870)
        
        educational provision grew markedly but the new independent universities increased the number of radical and militant thinkers
    - - the zemstva were given power to improve public services (roads, schools, public health, prisons) , develop industrial projects and administer poor relief in times of hardship
        
        establishment of the zemstva which was a system of local councils at both district and provincial levels. However, the voting system was arranged in a way that allowed nobles to dominate
        
        provincial zemstvas were 74% nobles and district zemstvas were 42% nobles
        
        zemstvas had no real power and they attracted doctors, lawyers, teachers and scientists to debate political issues and criticise central government
    - - this led to a short lived growth in the number of books (1020 in 1855...1836 in 1864...10,691 by 1894)
        
        restrictions on publishers were reduced, foreign publications were permitted with government approval and the press was allowed to print editorials with comment on government policy
        
        however, a growth in critical writing brought re-tightening of government control in the 1870s
    - - conscription was made compulsory for all classes from the age of 21 and the length of service was reduced from 25 years to 15
      - punishments were less severe and there was better healthcare
      - organised by dmitry milyutin to make a smaller, more professional and cheaper army
      - new modern weaponry
      - however problems with leadership and supply continued and the army struggled to win the war against turkey (1877-78), they were also defeated by japan (1904-05) and germany (1914-17)
    - - some reform of the condition of jews and ethnic minorities
        
        however, the 1863 polish rebellion led to a reversal of this leniancy
      - some economic liberalisation
        
        came at the expense of the peasants
  - - - continuity
        
        agriculture still remained dominant in the russian economy
        
        the noble class retained much of its former dominance
        
        peasant society didn't change much due to heavy taxation and control of the mir
      - change
        
        emancipation marked a turning point for the governments interest in economic matters
        
        changed patterns of land ownership, produced a more mobile labour force and permitted a substantial increase in grain exports
        
        social change through reforms empowered a growing group of professionals
- - - - from 1881 the reign of Alexander III was also characterised by reaction
    - - after the death of his son in 1865 and many assassination attempts, the tsar became less inclined to resist reactionaries who feared the spread of western ideas and argued national minorities diluted russian strength
    - - the tsar firstly replaced more liberal ministers with conservatives in 1866
        
        Aleksandr Timashev replaced Pyotr Valuev as minister of internal affairs
        
        Pyotr Shuvalov as head of the third section (secret police)
        
        Dmitry Tolstoy replaced Golovin as minister of education
        
        Konstantin Pahlen as minister of justice
      - education
        
        tolstoy felt a tight grip over education would eradicate western ideas
        
        zemstvas power over education were reduced and the church regained its authority
        
        in universities more liberal courses were replaced by a traditional curriculum
        
        subjects that encouraged criticism (e.g history, literature) were forced out whilst maths, latin, etc was encouraged
        
        censorship was tightened and there was strict control over student activities and organisations
      - police, law and control
        
        Shuvalov strengthened the police and stepped up the persecution of other ethnic and religious minorities
        
        search and arrests increased, with radical opposition who fled the country being tracked down
        
        open 'show trials' were held to deter others from revolutionary activity
        
        however the whole plan backfired in 1878 when political crimes were transferred from civil to special secret courts
    - - the late 1870s were a time of crisis in russia with the army bogged down in the russo-turkish war (1877-78), famine in the countryside (1879-80) and industrial recession
        
        count mikhail loris melikhov was appointed minister of internal affairs
        
        he released political prisoners, relaxed censorship, removed the salt-tax, lifted zemstva restrictions and abolished the third section
        
        transferred power to the regular police but also created a special section known as the okhrana which became just as oppressive
        
        in 1880, he produced a report in response to the zemstvas demands which became known as the loris melikhov constitution
        
        Alexander II accepted and signed the report on the 13th march but later that day he was killed by members of the radical group "the peoples will"
  - - - 1880 - loris-melikov proposals
        
        1879-80 - famine and industrial recession
        
        1879 - new governor-generals established
        
        1878 - vera zasulich shoots military governor of st petersburg but isn't convicted
        
        1877 - trial of the 50
        
        1877-78 - war with turkey
        
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  - - - Alexander III believed with gods direction, he alone could decide what was right for his country
      - his reign began with the public hanging of the conspirators involved in his fathers assasination
      - the loris melikov proposals were abandoned and reforming ministers (e.g dmitry milyutin) resigned
    - - a further act in 1890 effected the peasants vote in the zemstva
      - a similar act occurred in 1892 which was made for towns
      - "land captain" position was created (July 1889) with power to override elections. They were also made responsible for law enforcement + government in the countryside and could ignore tha normal judicial process
    - - police officers could question, detain, arrest, imprison or exile anyone who had committed a crime or anyone who looked likely too
      - any arrested person had no right to legal representation
      - numbers of police increased, new branches were created and there was also a drive to recruit spies
    - - in 1887, closed court sessions became a thing
      - most of alexander II reforms were reversed
      - in 1889, volost courts were put under the jurisdiction of the land captains in the countryside and the judges in towns
    - - he closed universities for women
      - all uni life was supervised and you couldn't meet in a group of 5+
      - educational developments were overseen by delyanov
      - children from the lowest classes were restricted to only primary education
      - primary education was placed firmly in the hands of the church
      - only 21% of the population were literate by 1997
    - - tolstoy established a gov committee which issed "temporary regulations"
      - this allowed for the banning of editors + publishers and the closing down of newspapers
      - restricted books in libraries and russification was enforced in theatre, art and culture
    - - although Alexander III's policies reversed most of his dads reforms, not all of them changed
        
        in May 1881, a law reduced redemption fees and cancelled the arreas of ex-serfs in 37 central provinces
        
        in May 1885, the poll tax was abolished
        
        people got the right to appeal to the higher court
        
        in 1883 the peasants land bank was established
- - - - tsarist russia was a multinational empire occupied by over 100 different ethnic groups
        
        slavs in russia, ukraine and belorussia compromised two thirds of the population
        
        the remaining people were a mix of many different nationalities, languages + religions
        
        the diverse empire started to pose an issue with the development of national ideology in the 19th century
        
        polish rebellion in 1830's
    - - he cared more about control then matters of racial superiority
        
        in 1863, a polish rebellion broke out when more than 200,000 poles organised an underground national government
        
        Alexander II sent his brother who dealt with the rebellion
        
        the tsar used concessions to keep control such as allowing Latvians and Estonians to revert to lutheranism. He also allowed finland to have their own parliament
    - - Alexander III engaged with the policy of russification which sought to merge all the tsar's subjects into a single nation with a feeling of shared identity
        
        the finnish parliament was reorganised in 1892 to weaken its influence
        
        russian langauge had to be taught in schools in poland, even polish literature was taught in russian
        
        in ukraine further laws limited the use of ukranian language in 1883
        
        adherence to the orthodox church was encouraged everywhere with laws benefitting those of orthodox faith
        
        in the baltic region, 37,000 lutherans converted to orthodoxy to gain benefits
        
        from 1883, members of non-orthodox churches were not allowed to build new places of worship or wear religious clothing apart from in their meeting place
        
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    - - police estimated 332 cases of mass disturbance in 61 of russia's 92 provinces and districts (in 51 of these the military was deployed)
        
        secret publication of books continued
        
        supporters of russification believed it was for the greater good
  - - - the pale made jews ready targets for pogroms but the cause for them are completely unknown
        
        it's highly probable they were encouraged by the okhrana using the link to Alexander II's assassination to stir trouble
        
        they caused jews to flee across the boarder into western europe
        
        the May Laws of 1882 made life even harder for jews as it confined them to living in ghettos in cities and towns
    - - many jews left the country at their own will but many were forcefully expelled
        
        from 1890, foreign jews began being deported
        
        all this anti-semitism caused many jews to turn to opposition groups such as marxist groups
- - - - the creation of the zemstva and dumas also provided a platform for educated people to criticise the tsarist regime
        
        opposition ranged from mostly mildly behaved, liberally minded intelligenstia to more radical student and socialist groups
  - - - mainly two categories of them...
        
        westernisers who wanted to catch up with the west and slavophiles who favoured a superior 'russian' path
        
        the zemstva provided a natural home for westernisers
        
        the restrictions of zemstva powers by Alexander III in 1889-90 disappointed the zemstva liberals
        
        industrialisation split the intelligentsia into people with a more marxist view point being drawn to socialism
  - - - nikolai chernyshevsky (his writings suggested peasants had to be made leaders for revolutionary change)
        
        aleksandr herzen (suggested a new peasant-based social structure)
        
        mikhail bakunin (was an anarchist and socialist who helped introduce marxism to russia by translating karl marx's communist manifesto
    - - in june 1862, a series of fires in st petersburg destroyed over 2000 shops and the younger generation were held responsible
    - - named after nikolai tchaikovsky and was setup in 1868-89 in st petersburg
        
        primarily published revolutionary literature such as the first volume of marx's 'Das Kapital'
        
        relatively small circle of no more than 100 people and from 1872 they began to organise workers with the intention of sending them to work among peasants in the countryside
    - - populism was the idea of 'going to the people' and they played on gaining the support of the peasantry
        
        some nardoniks even dressed as peasants and tried to rally up opposition
        
        however, the peasants rejected their appeals due to their deep-rooted loyalty to the tsar and many of the populists were arrested (1600 arrests in the first attempt)
    - - a radical populist group setup in 1877 that carried out assassinations e.g general mezemtsev (head of third section) in 1878
        
        in 1879 land and liberty split into two groups ...
        
        the people's will
        
        successfully planted a spy in the third section and got inside information on the secret polices activities
        
        turned to more radical methods and assasinated Alexander II in 1881
        
        black repartition
        
        continued to work peacefully among the peasants but were impacted by arrests in 1880-81
        
        some of the early leaders turned to marxism
  - - - however, as industrialisation sped up, more groups of workers and marxist circles increased
- - - - alexander II's minister of finance from 1862-78, Mikhail Von Reutern produced a reforms
        
        tax system reformed to more indirect taxation
        
        more banks and credit facilities
        
        trade promoted with reduction on import duties from 1863
        
        subsidies for railway development
        
        foreign investment promoted
        
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    - - vyshnegradsky took over in 1887 and increased tariffs in order to boost home production
        
        between 1891-92 grain exports increased 18%
        
        however all the exporting caused widespread famine in 1891-92 and vyshnegradsky was dismissed
        
        witte took over as minister of finance and focused on tariffs, heavy taxation and forced exports
        
        foreign investment increased from 98 million roubles (1880) to 280 million (1895)
        
        lots of this investment went into mining, oil and banking
        
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    - - the countryside was in a bad place with peasants receiving minimal land, high taxes and redemption payments
        
        there was an overall increase in agricultural production in the 1870s and 80s due to the effort of the kulak class
        
        overall, the average peasant had to little land to become prosperous
  - - - originally no more than 2% of the population and many peasants moved back to their villages to help at peak times
        
        by 1864, 1/3 of inhabitants in st petersburg were peasants by birth
        
        conditions in the city were bad and pay was little
        
        there were a series of reforms from 1882-90 that improved conditions
        
        there were around 33 strikes a year between 1886-94
    - - with urban and industrial expansion russia's middle class began to grow
        
        bankers, doctors and teachers were in greater demand although the middle class only made up less than half a million in 1897
    - - kulaks succeeded at the top of peasant society and poorer peasants found life getting harder
        
        in the 1880's two out of every three of former serfs in the tambov region were unable to feed the household without incurring debt
        
        life expectancy was 27 for males and 29 for women
        
        in england it was 45
    - - mostly of noble status
        
        more than 700 nobles owned a business in moscow
        
        most former serf owners retained much of their previous wealth and status
        
        society remained highly stratified