Chapter 10 Nationalism Triumphs in Europe

Section 5

Russian Reform and Reaction

Setting the Scene Although serfdom had almost disappeared

in Western Europe by the 1700s, it survived and spread in Russia. Masters exercised almost total power over their serfs. In the 1800s, a noble described the brutal treatment of serfs:

"I heard ... stories of men and women torn from their families and their villages, and sold, or lost in gambling, or exchanged for a couple of hunting dogs, and then transported to some remote part of Russia to create a [master's] new estate; ... of children taken from their parents and sold to cruel masters”

Reformers hoped to free Russia from autocratic rule, economic backwardness, and social injustice. But efforts to modernize Russia had little success, as czars imprisoned critics or sent them into icy exile in Siberia.

I. Conditions in Russia

By 1815, Russia was the largest and most populous nation in Europe and a great world power

I. Conditions in Russia

Peter the Great and Catherine the Great tried to westernize Russia, but it remained economically undeveloped

I. Conditions in Russia

One obstacle was the rigid social structure - landowning nobles, a small middle class, and a majority of serfs

II. Russian Absolutism

Czars ruled with absolute power and resisted reforms that would undermine their power

II. Russian Absolutism

In 1801, Alexander I seemed open to liberal ideas but feared losing the support of nobles

Czar Alexander I, grandson of Catherine the Great - On November 19, 1825 in the town of Taganrog, he is claimed to have faked his own death, disappearing to become a monk named Kuzmich, wandering the forests of Siberia for years afterward

II. Russian Absolutism

When Alexander I died, a group of army officers led an uprising known as the Decembrist Revolt

The Decembrist revolt or the Decembrist uprising was attempted in Imperial Russia by army officers who led about 3,000 Russian soldiers on December 14, 1825. Because these events occurred in December, the rebels were called the Decembrists

II. Russian AbsolutismNicholas I suppressed the Decembrists and all dissent, banned books from Western Europe and jailed or exiled liberals

Czar Nicholas I 1796-1855

Nicholas saw himself as God's general in charge of Russia's well-being and every citizen as his subordinate. He insisted his will be followed at all times and ruled the Empire personally and believed in "One Tsar, One Faith, One Nation"

II. Russian AbsolutismNicholas I embraced the three pillars of Russian absolutism - "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationalism”

Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, Moscow

Romanoff Czar’s Coat of Arms

Czar Alexander

II. Russian AbsolutismAlexander II came to the throne in 1855 during the Crimean War, which Russia lost and revealed the country's backwardness

The Crimean War (1854-56) seriously weakened both Austrian & Russian powers; A humiliating defeat for Russia by Turkey, France, England, Sardinia & Austria

II. Russian Absolutism

In 1861 Alexander II issued a decree that required emancipation of the serfs

The reign of Alexander II is marked by contrasts; while Alexander II was known as the "Tsar-Liberator" for his emancipation of the Russian serfs, he also reigned over one of the most repressive periods in Russian history and faced numerous attempts on his life, ultimately resulting in his assassination.

II. Russian Absolutism

Other changes were government, military and legal reforms, and easing censorship

Alexander II implemented important reforms in national, military and municipal organization. He also rethought foreign policy: Russia now refrained from overseas expansion and concentrated on strengthening its borders. In 1867, he sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States. His greatest foreign policy achievement was the successful war of 1877-8 against the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the liberation of Bulgaria

IV. Reaction to ChangeAlexander's reforms failed to satisfy many Russians and in 1881, he was assassinated by terrorists

"'It is Too Soon to Thank God.' - The Assassination of Czar Alexander II"

IV. Reaction to ChangeAlexander III increased the power of the secret police, restored censorship, exiled critics, and began a program of Russification

V. Building Russian IndustryRussia finally entered the industrial age in the 1890s

The shell-shop of the Putilov works St Petersburg 1903

VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution

War broke out between Russia and Japan in 1904 and Russia suffered one defeat after another

VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution

Military losses and years of oppression led to wide spread protests

Demonstrators march to the Winter Palace

VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution

Bloody Sunday - Sunday, January 22,1905 - protesters were fired on by the czar’s troops and hundreds were killed or wounded

VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution

Discontent exploded across Russia and Nicholas finally agreed to summon a Duma

On May 6th, 1905 Czar Nicholas announced the implementation of the Fundamental Laws. Under the laws, a State Council was established to act as the upper house of the Duma. This upper house was controlled by Nicholas.

VI. Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution

In 1906 Nicholas dissolved the first Duma and appointed a new prime minister, Peter Stolypin

VI. Turning Point: Crisis and RevolutionStolypin sought to restore order and made some reforms, but was assassinated in 1911

Stolypin introduced legislation that enabled peasants to have more opportunity to acquire land. People living in rural areas also got more freedom in the selection of their representatives to the zemstvo. Stolypin instituted a new court system that made it easier for the arrest and conviction of political revolutionaries. Over 3,000 suspects were convicted and executed between 1906-09. As a result of this action the hangman's noose in Russia became known as "Stolypin's necktie".