The Tsarist regime was successful in suppressing opposition between 1861-94. To what extent do you agree?
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Course
1H: Tsarist and Communist Russia
Institution
AQA
The Tsarist regime was successful in suppressing opposition between 1861-94 - in depth analysis of the reigns of Alexander II and III dealing with opposition (Okhrana, Land and Liberty, Populists, liberals, reforms, etc.)
The Tsarist regime was successful in suppressing opposition between 1861-94
The Tsarist regime was confronted with several revolutionary groups and reformist
movements during 1861 to 1894. Whilst Alexander II’s reforms satisfied some, they did not
go far enough for radical revolutionaries, who demanded more significant changes. The
amount of anti-tsarist dissent and unrest actually increased. By the 1870s, Alexander’s
reformist spirit had dwindled and he was forced to impose repressive measures. However,
his later reactionary impulses that attempted to reduce and damper these expectations only
angered reformers further and encouraged the growth of radical extremism against the state.
The Tsarist regime was successful in suppressing opposition to an extent in the short term,
but it was unsuccessful in suppressing opposition as they spread many ideas and the regime
came to an end in 1917.
The Tsarist regime was unsuccessful in suppressing the spread of liberal ideas and the
liberal opposition groups as they continued to have a lot of influence over the people and
they used the famine as a way to prove the Tsarist regime was weak. Liberal intellectuals
and the intelligentsia grew their influence as the reforms and the economy were changing.
They were educated and possessed the time, wealth and interest to reflect on political
matters. This included the writer Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy. They used the zemstva to
provide a natural home for westernising liberal opposition voices. The regime recognised
their spread of ideas and in 1866, much of the zemstva’s control over primary education was
given to the Church. In 1890, the Zemstva Act reduced the independence of the zemstvo
and they were put under the control of the Ministry of the interior, reducing their power. In
1870, Alexander II also abandoned the Loris-Melikov proposals for a national assembly,
which made it even harder for people to voice their ideas and proposals to the state.
Alexander II’s education reforms was a major factor in the spread of new ideas against the
Tsarist regime. The freer and more open political atmosphere of the reforms, and the
toleration of Western liberal ideas in the university lecture-rooms, led to the growth of a more
radical opposition who demanded fundamental changes to Russian autocracy and society,
particularly among students influenced by the growing flood of radical ideas in this period. In
1884, the University Statue reduced the university's autonomy. University staff members
were now appointed by the Minister of Education, which reduced liberal influence in the
universities. He also changed the number of people eligible to vote in elections drastically -
only 0.7% of the population in Moscow and St Petersburg could vote. The government also
tightened up censorship to make it even more difficult to spread liberal ideas. On the other
hand, Alexander II’s reforms led to an increase in liberal opposition, such as education,
setting up the zemstva and giving universities more independence. After 1866, liberals
continued to play a key role in the zemstvo despite their counter-measures. In the
mid-1860s, there were renewed zemstvo-led calls for a national body to advise the
government after the government’s failure to deal with the famine of 1891-92, and
intelligentsia such as doctors, teachers and engineers began to demand more influence over
public policy. Therefore, the government was unsuccessful in suppressing the liberals
because they continued to spread a lot of influence throughout Russia despite the
counter-measures Alexander II created.
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