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Empire, Nationalities + Satellite States - Coggle Diagram
Empire, Nationalities + Satellite States
Russo-Polish relations
Tsars:
- Poland had been under Tsarist rule since 1815 but had retained nominal independence with the Tsar as head of state
- Alexander ll's succession brought optimism as he brought in reforms e.g emancipation of the serfs - the Poles thought they would be granted freedoms leading to increased demand for political autonomy - threatening gov.
- A law was made to conscript Poles into the Russian army to try maintain clear order led to a full scale revolt breaking out in 1863 - rebellion was largely rural with many landowners supporting the rebels + took a year to control
- Destruction of the revolt led to reassertion of Russian dominance with any autonomy removed + the area placed under direct Tsarist control
- Level of nationalism diminished along with the level of autonomy that the Poles had before the revolt
- Russia became the official language of administration + governance - taught in schools - this was the start of Russification which ensured that Poland was considered a part of Russia until 1915
- Warsaw uni was constricted + it was not until German invasion in WW1 did Poland receive its freedom granted from the Prov. Gov.
Concessions:
- Milyutin was put in direct control of Poland + so made some reforms e.g Polish peasants were emancipated + gained even more favourable terms than their Russian counterparts in 1861 - all landowners payed tax not just peasants
- Rural district councils were set up similar to the Zemstva + were to contain members from all sections of Polish society
Communists:
- Communists were desperate to take back Poland + spread communism to Poland that they launched an unsuccessful war in 1920 - Russian forces were halted outside of Warsaw before being forced to retreat
- An armistice was signed between Russia and Poland in 1920 + Polish independence was confirmed + it was also agreed that western Ukraine + western Belorussia should come under Polish authority - freedom and territory gained would remain till post-WW2
- The Nazi-Soviet pact soured relations between the Polish gov. + Russia + things got worse when the German occupying forces in Poland revealed that they had uncovered the mass graves of ~4000 Polish officers in a forest at Katyn (Katyn Forest Massacre)- each corpse had his hands tied behind his back and had been killed by a bullet to the head - Germans blamed the NKVD and the Russians blamed the German soldiers for the massacre
- After the defeat of the Nazis, Poland were given their theoretical independence where a communist gov. was set up in Poland
- Destalinisation led to demands from polish intellectuals + a more liberal leader (Gomulka) was put in charge of Poland - led to an easing of control over Polish people
Russification:
- Process of trying to impose a Russian cultural identity (religion + language) on minorities
- Under Alexander ll + Nicholas ll russification was spread to areas where there was less opposition - e.g Ukraine, the Baltic states + the Caucuses were all targeted
- It was all about incorporating other regions to create a unified Russian empire - this policy was continued by Lenin, Stalin + Krushchev
- The communists aimed to create a federal system of gov. - each national minority had a certain amount of autonomy but together formed a federation of states to be guided centrally from Moscow
Russo-Finnish relations
Tsars:
- The Tsars did treat them fairly + Alexander ll allowed Finland's autonomy through a Diet (Parliament) of Finland in the early 1860s - this was due to consistent loyalty to the Tsar
- The Russification policy practised by Alexander lll didn't affect the Finnish hugely, although there were attempts of forcing Russian language into their education system
- BUT under Nicholas ll, the Diet was disbanded n 1904 + there were attempts to fully Russify it
- Prov. Gov. once again allowed Finnish independence in 1917 this time without German invasion
Communists:
- At the start of WW2, Stalin wanted to allow the Soviet Union to set up military bases on Finnish territory but Finland refused which angered Stalin + resulted in him bombing the Finnish capital
- This sparked the brief, unsuccessful Winter war between the Soviet Union + Finland from 1939-1940 - this war again highlighted military weaknesses
- BUT it wasn't forced into a satellite status + after WW2 Finland signed a Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation + Mutual Assistance 1948 where they gained neutrality status + were left alone by the Soviet Union
The Baltic provinces
Tsars:
- The Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia + Lithuania were treated reasonably well by the Tsars due to their loyalty like the Finns - but Alexander lll + Nicholas ll did wish to Russify them
- They were important regions of industry + agriculture as they had an abundant supplies of raw materials
- Riga university was heavily monitored + the Russian language was encouraged e.g various educational institutions were renamed
- Only gained full independence when invaded by Germany + by encouragement of the Prov. Gov.
Communists:
- The communists treated these states much worse than the Tsars
- They were invaded during the early part of WW2 + incorporated into the USSR as the Nazi-Soviet pact divided eastern Europe
- Stalin dealt with these states very harshly after the war as he felt that they had collaborated with the Nazis when they invaded in 1941
- Many Baltic minorities were deported + imprisoned
- Soviet control was totally imposed on the region + although Krushchev decentralised + destalinised they were still looked at with associated with the Nazis
Ukrainians
Tsars:
- Very important area for the Russian empire as the whole of the Ukraine region was Russia's 'bread basket'
- The Ukrainians like the Poles wanted to build a separate cultural identity - in response, Alexander ll issued decrees which forbade the publication + import of books written in Ukranian
- Tsars were keen to maintain control + as part of Russification the Ukrainian language was banned + a refusal to entertain any idea of autonamy
- BUT no brutal repression was in evidence
- The Prov. Gov. did allow some moves towards autonomy by Ukraine - Peace treaty that ended Russia's involvement in WW1 granted them full independence
Communists:
- Ukrainian peasants fully aware of their importance for the empire so were resistant to changes that they believed were unjust - e.g Stalin's collectivisation programme was opposed leading to Ukrainian peasants suffering more when it came to the purges
- Red Army forced had killed thousands + taken any grain that had been hoarded by Ukrainian peasants leading to famine of 1932-4 leaving millions dead - seen as a deliberate mistreatment as a punishment for their disloyalty
- Some improvement under 1936 constitution after it retained its status
- During and after WW2, many Ukrainians were accused of being German collaborators + so were either executed or transported to the far north
- Slight economic freedoms in production targets under Krushchev due to decentralisation
-
Caucasians
Tsars:
- Those living in Caucasus region were divided by religion - Christians (Armenians + Georgians) + Muslims (Chechens + Abkhazians) - these divisions + a high rate of illiteracy made russification easy
- Armenian non-orthodox religion was strongly discouraged by the Tsars
- There were still nationalist movements eg in Georgia, the Georgian Mensheviks
Communists:
- Georgia gained independence in 1920 but was 'retaken' by the Red army in 1921
- Georgian nationalism that threatened the state at the end of the civil war had been brutally crushed
- Georgia + Armenia were integrated into the USSR after war + for the first time these minorities were recognised as genuine national groups, given their own flag + representation in the Soviet of Nationalities + the 'theoretical' right to leave the Union under the 1936 Stalin Constitution
Jews
Tsars:
- no homeland in the Russian empire for the Jews and an artificial place of settlement was established (Pale of Settlement) but was restrictive for the Jews
- Allowance of members of the Pale to migrate elsewhere under Alexander ll
- Alexander lll clamped down on this + persecuted Russian Jews through policies of anti-semitism - he banned Jews frombuying land in some rural areas, restrictions on senior positions in the military + medical professions
- He also encouraged pogroms + prevented them voting in the zemstva elections
- Nicholas ll continued anti-Jewish position taken by his father + pogroms took place in 1903-5 BUT did allow some Jews to sit in Duma after 1905 revolution despite his dislike of Jews
Communists:
- Lenin - up to 250,000 Jews died in pogroms + violence during the Civil war mostly at the hands of the Whites
- Pogroms by the Red Army were not officially sanctioed + led to execution of those who took part
- Stalin banned Jewish religion along with others + closed Jewish schools + societies
- The Doctor's Plot of 1952 led to 15 Jewish leaders being tried + executed - BUT he did support the creation of Israel + allowed Czechs to send arms to them during the 1948 Arab Israeli war
- Krushchev was less anti-semitic but some prominent Jews were executed for anti-communist activity