Social Science

Pg.37-46

Alexander II

Alexander II

• Eldest son of Nicholas I• In 1855 he came into power after the

death of his father from pneumonia• Highly educated , trained in liberal arts and

European languages• Liberal despite his strict, reactionary

upbringing

• Responsible for settling the peace after his father’s defeat in the Crimean War

• Reversed many of his fathers prohibitive polices: censorship, education, political expression

• Gained nickname “Alexander the Liberator” after emancipating the serfs

Emancipation of the SerfsMarch 3, 1861

• Ended serfdom on economic, political, and moral grounds

• Alexander gained sympathy for the plight of the serfs – Due to their military contributions in the

Crimean war– Alexander's extensive tours of Russian

territories

Problems with Serfdom

• Russian agriculture was confronted with market based limitations

• Serfdom undermined innovation and inhibited efficiency

• The state was becoming more responsible for maintenance of serfs. The landed gentry, in need of money, used serfs as collateral when borrowing from the government

• 50% of population was in servitude and the government held 2/3 of them

• Frequent uprisings• Serfdom limits conscription

Other Reforms

• 1864: began overall of Russian legal system– Corruption– Class based bias– Secretive deliberation process– Lack of peerage

• More modern and western independent civilian judiciary– Life appointment for judges– Open and public procedures– Representation and council– Trial by jury– Egalitarian application of law

Zemstvo• Modernized, democratized, and

bureaucratized form of local government• Designed to manage Russian territories

more effectively and efficiently• First Russian attempt to institutionalize an

emerging form of democratic government • Had representative, elected and

administrative boards in charge of local government services

• In the Crimean War, Russia suffered in terms of logistics, personnel, and weaponry

• Modernized army included conscription, randomized draft, and selective reduction of the time one served

• Massive railway project

Nationalist Movements

• Alexander had to deal with the challenges of managing a multiethnic empire and was confronted with radical leftist movements against the Russian government system

• Russification created more resentment among minority population

Radical Groups• More education and the rise of the lower

classes allowed for the development and spread of radical political ideas

• Many Russian groups were mimicking western movements– Slavophilism, Marxism, Nihilism, Jacobinism

• These groups had disdain for the monarchy– Will of the People assassinated Alexander II in

March of 1881

Alexander II’s Foreign Policy• Besides border conflicts, not much can be

said concerning foreign policy under Alexander II

• 1877: war with Turkey over the brutal representation and massacre of the Balkan peoples

• Gained territories along the Black Sea and in the Caucasus Mountains

• Invaded the khanates of Central Asia• 1867: Sold Alaska to USA for $7.2 million

Alexander III (1845-94)

• Counter reforms to undo much of his father’s reforms

• Inspired by his grandfathers ideology of “Official Nationality”

• Return to orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality to combat the growing diversity

Alexander III’s Counter Reforms

• Temporary Regulations (1881)– Originally designed to destroy

revolutionary/terrorist groups and create a sense of security

– Eventually used as a political weapon to oppress, control, manipulate, and punish

• University Statute of 1884– Reversed 1863 statute granting universities autonomy– Russian education under state control– Universities were seen as breeding grounds for

revolutionary activity– Eliminated rights of students to organize for any social

or political purpose – Increased religious presence– Emphasis on Russian culture and language– Marginalized women

• Alexander III created the State Gentry Land Bank to manage the wealth of the gentry

• Authorized policies designed to micromanage the lives of peasants

• Land Captains: Nominated by local gov. and oversaw the use of peasant land

• Restructured the zemstvo to increase the powers of the gentry and undermine representation of peasants

• All subjects in the Russian Empire must speak and read Russian

• Gave the church executive right to proselytize and co-opt individuals into its belief system

• Non Orthodox-Christians had religious restrictions

• The state did not take note of anti-Semitic programs

Foreign Policy under Alexander III

• No major wars• Diplomatic efforts to maintain peace • Purposely avoided major conflicts due to

budget constraints caused by modernization programs

• Alexander III negotiated an alliance with Austria-Hungry and Germany known as the Three Emperors Leage

Tsar Nicolas II (1868-1918)

• Considered a less skilled ruler,relied heavily on advisers

• Lacked vision, creativity, ability so solve complex problems

• Simply continued managing his father’s programs

• Responsible for the collapse of Russian military, economy, and monarchy

Foreign Policy Under Nicolas II

• Participated in the Hague Peace Conference of 1899, designed to move Europe toward disarmament and establish rules of war but failed on both goals

• Russo-Japanese War

The Revolution of 1905

• Result of the structural transformation of Russian society followed by reactionary policies of the last two tsars

• Russia had experienced many changes after the emancipation of the serfs->

• Transition from agricultural society to industrial

• Growth of middle class• In Marxist terms

– Bourgeoisie: owed means of production– Proletariat: workers forced to sell their labor to

survive

The Social Democrats• Most revolutionary elements were

predominantly leftist, but not unified in their goals/methods

• Social Democrats were one of the first major organizations to appear

• Strong intellectual and philosophical traditions of Marxism

• Social Democrats split– Bolsheviks: consisted of professional

uncompromising radicals led by Lenin – Mensheviks: Marxist

Socialist Revolutionary Party

• Leftist radicals who had a more populist orientation and more direct ties to the Will of the People (the terrorist group responsible for assassinating Alexander I)

Liberals

• Formed the Union of Liberation in 1903• Two years later they were known as the

Constitutional Democratic Party• Wanted to replace Russian monarchy with

a constitutional monarchy of full republic

Revolutionary Strategyalthough not very effective, included:

• Strikes• Social unrest• Peasant uprisings• Terrorist acts on people and property• Assassination• Pressing Tsar for political representation,

political reform, and overhaul of state institutions

Bloody Sunday and Aftermath

• Jan 22, 1905• Massive protest in St. Petersburg,

marching on the Winter Palace (home of tsar)

• To protect the property of the royal family, police opened fire on the crowd, killing 130 and wounding hundreds more

• This led to heightened contempt for the tsar

The October Manifesto

• General strike that shut down the entire Russian economy for 10 days

• During the strike the first Soviet was created which was a political entity that issued demands

• Document extending civil rights and established representative legislation or duma

The Fundamental Laws

• Russia made its first move towards becoming a constitutional democracy when Nicholas II followed the program laid out by the October manifesto

• The Fundamental Laws was the central guiding document for how the new government would operate

• Tsar retained executive power• Legislative assembly designed for political

representation • The tsar still held a unreasonable amount

of power• Only the elite and gentry were fairly

represented

WW I• Began after the assassination of

Australian Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by Serbian nationalists

• Austria Hungry threatened Serbia for its support in the black hand-> Russia (having strategic interests in the Black Hand and cultural interests in protecting Slavs) backed Serbia->Germany backed Austria-Hungry->France backed Russia->Germany attacked Belgium prompting Great Britain to enter the war

• Russia had a limited role in WW I due to its defeats early on

• Russia was not ready to fight a large scale war– Lack of preparedness– Recent domestic turmoil– Military under development

• Russia was known for sending unprepared soldiers unarmed or with farm tools

• Nicholas II became increasingly under the influence of his wife, Empress Alexandra, and her peasant mystic Gregory Rasputin

• Conservative members of the palace court gruesomely murdered Rasputin in an effort to rid the palace of his irrational advice