History HL notes on Tsarist Russia with carefully analyzed historiography that has helped me achieve a level 7 in the 2020 Session. Useful for those studying for the Paper 3 topic of Imperial Russia, Revolution and the Establishment of the Soviet Union ()
IMPERIALIST RUSSIA AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE SOVIET STATE
Nature of the Tsar: 2. Economy
- Absolute monarch a. Growing slowly and very backward
- Only answerable to god b. Poor transport -> export like timber was very expensive to be
- Makes rule without legislation lucrative
- No parliament of legislative process to go through it c. Weak monetary flow
- God-given legitimacy lies in the ability to protect the people i. No banks
- Given also by nobility and church ii. No stock/trading of assets
- Tsar has advisors who fed back popular appeal to the Tsar
3. Culture
Russia 1853: a. Melting pot - lots of cultures & countries mixed together
1. Social hierarchy b. Language barriers, difficult for Russification
- 5% Elites : 95% peasants c. Population doubled every year in the 19th century
- 96% lived in countryside
- Peasantry: revenue from tax + manpower for army 4. Peasant lives
- Resented and resisted by its minority groups a. Lived in villages commune/mirs
- Russian nationalists: b. Village councils comprised of head of each family were
- Westernizers: constitutions, liberalism responsible for most decision-making and answerable to the
- Slavophiles: Russian unique culture, elites focus here landlord
- Noblemen, middle class, clergy less than 10% of the c. Serfdom -> very backward
population d. People did not travel out of their communes, must ask for
- VERY SMALL middle class: lack a source of entrepreneurship, permission from landlords + mirs to marry
industry and education but this was absent completely in
Russia 5. Things that were missing
a. Emancipation of serfs
b. Industrialization
c. Human rights
d. Liberal constitutionalism -> no suffrage
e. No overseas colonies, no trading between states
1
, Causes and Results of Emancipation 1861:
Factor 1855-1881 Alexander’s reasons for change Impact on serfs
The Crimean War Mike Wells & Nick Fellows: - Couldn’t demobilise peasants because they need their
- Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War: inferior societal system jobs
and can’t fight other superpowers - Leads to uprisings
- Country’s economy was considered backward/outdated - 1945~1954: 348 outbreaks in villages
- Obsolete system of serfdom - 25-year conscript kept
Revolutionary Daniel, Beer: - Negative impact on serfs: lots of them created many
Threats - Shifting clusters of parties, ideological orientations and uprisings and strikes in only the first 6 years of
individuals inspired by the writings of radical thinkers Alexander’s reign, alongside the terror that caused lots of
- Gradualist campaigns of agitation and propaganda among killings of those in the revolutionary movement
peasants would politicize people and overthrow the gov. - Made Alexander realize emancipation of serfs is needed in
- Some favored violent action & propaganda - assassination of order to prevent further revolutionary movements
tsar would trigger a collapse of autocracy
- People’s Will - campaign of terror (emperor hunt). Killed 2
provincial governors & 6 failed attempts to kill the tsar
- Gov. responded with ad hoc laws to radically increase admin
powers of police and gov to detain/imprison/exile
individuals suspected/sympathized with revolutionary
movements
- After assassination of tsar, the police destroyed People’s
Will
Figes, Orlando:
- 500 peasant uprisings and strikes in first 6 years of
Alexander’s Reign
- Liberation of serfs were a necessary measure to prevent a
revolution
Social System Figes, Orlando:
- Great reforms were a high-water mark of bureaucratic
enlightenment
- Modernizing and westernizing to strengthen the
2
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