History A-Level
Russia and its Rulers 1855-1964
Context: Russia by the mid-nineteenth Century
Topic: Geography
By the Mid-Nineteenth Century the Russian Empire was vast
o Spread over 8 million square miles
o Covering Europe and Asia
o The people living in this area numbered around 70 million (a substantial increase
from 1815, where there had been about 40 million)
The Middle of the Century represents something of a demographic explosion in Russia,
closely linked to economic change
o Most people lived in western Russia in-between the two main cities of St Petersburg
and Moscow
o The majority (80%) were peasants
Throughout the empire there were many different races, with their own language, religions
and cultures
o Ukrainians, Tatars and Latvians
o Minority groups posed a threat to Russia rulers as many wanted independence
Topic: Society
Russian society was dominated by a landed gentry
o A middle class did exist, consisting of merchants, early industrialists and
professionals (lawyers) but was much smaller
o The gentry controlled an often volatile peasantry through the adoption of village
councils led by village elders known as the ‘mir’
These councils had an important role in establishing and collecting
taxes, selecting peasants for the army and allocating plots of land to be
worked
o Half of the peasant who essentially serf slaves owned by the gentry; the other half
were owned by the state
Peasants provided labour or cash from their labour to their owners for
shelter and crop shared
Punishments for breaking arrangements were harsh (public floggings)
Peasants needed the permission of a noble landlord if they wished to move out of the
community or if they wanted to get married
o Peasant living and working conditions were appalling causing disease, starvation
and death
, Town and city dwellers were employed in small-scale textile industries, iron and steel
production or mineral extraction
o Roughly 15,000 enterprises employing more than 800,000 workers
o Signs of deterioration as living conditions were inadequate (poor sanitation and
workplace danger)
Topic: Economy
Economic growth by the middle of the nineteenth century might best be described as
sluggish when compared to the first industrialised nations of Britain, Germany and the USA
o At the start of the 19th Century, Russia was the world’s greatest producer of pig
iron but in 1855 Britain had overtaken it and was producing ten times more
The poor economic growth was due to Russia possessing an undeveloped banking system,
which was unable to supply investment capital required for the introduction of modern
technology
The majority of economic activity was related to the production of grain, both for home
consumption and for export (nearly half of the value of all Russian exports cam from the
trade of grain)
Trade could have been more fruitful if transport and communications had been more
advanced
o Russia lacked a developed railway system; it took until 1851 for a link between St
Petersburg and Moscow to be opened
o The alternative forms of transport were roads and rivers but their condition varied
from region to region which made rans-regional transportation of raw materials
difficult
Topic: Government and Politics
Russia was governed by a Tsar which contrasted to how many countries in the West were
governed, which was through constitutional governments or monarchies
Nicholas I (tsar in 1855) belonged to the Romanov family which had ruled since election in
1613
All Romanovs were raised to believe that their authority was ordained and that they were
answerable only to God
All members of the Government were appointed by the Tsar
o The governmental institutions of the Imperial Council of State, the Senate and the
Personal Chancellery of his Imperial Majesty all appeared to have a degree of
power
It was the tsar who accepted or rejected the advice of ministers and
who had the final say of policy
The centre of government was based in St Petersburg
, Due to the vast size of the empire, many bureaucrats were needed: by 1855, there were
around 114,000, ranging from provincial governors to assembly members, local judges and
police chiefs
Another key feature of the Government was the secret police, along with a more
conventional police force in order to maintain law and order
o When law and order broke down, the army was deployed
In 1855, the army consisted of about 1.4 million soldiers where the majority were
conscripted serfs who were forced to join up for at least 25 years as part of their serf-based
obligations
o Serfs were badly trained and poorly looked after which meant that they performed
erratically in conflict situations such as the Crimean War
By 1855, the overriding concern for the Government was that Russia was falling behind the
West and would soon become a second-rate power
Topic: Religion
Religion was dominated by the Russian Orthodox Church
The Church was a very conservative body that supported the authority of the tsar, but it
was not separate from the State as it was governed by Holy Synod which was headed by a
government minister
Tsar had absolute control over Church matters (particularly those related to finance)
The Church was therefore important for the ruling authorities as a means of control
An assumption was that religion was all-pervasive in Russia: peasant homes contained ‘red
corner’ shrines decorated with icons and religious celebrations dominated the national
holidays
In parts of Russia, there were breakaway religious groups (Old Believers and Hysts)
o These groups challenged the Orthodox Christians and focused on dealing in some
unorthodox practices
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Orthodox Church was becoming more
detached from the wants and needs of both urban and rural populations
, History A-Level
Russia and its Rulers 1855-1964
The Nature of Government in Russia 1855-1964
Topic: Ideologies – Autocracy (Repression and Reform)
How far could all Russian government from 1855 to 1964 be described as autocratic?
Subtopic: The principal of Autocracy
What was Autocracy in Russia from 1855-1917?
Russia was government by an autocracy from 1855 to March 1917
Tsars had absolute power which was said to be ordained by God
All Russians had to obey the will of the tsar or suffer punishment
The historian J.N. Westwood has indicated that there were three strands to tsarist
autocracy:
o The ‘tsar expected willing and total submission of his subjects’. This was a system
based on religious faith, and did not require the tsar to be made accountable the
people through elections or a constitutional government
o The tsar was obliged to act as a ‘moral judge’ on behalf of God
He had a paternalistic duty to project his subjects and control their
behaviour for the good of the nation as a whole. He was supported in
this role by the Russian Orthodox Church
o As the Russia Empire was so large and diversified, autocracy was seen as a
practical, straightforward way to rule
Advisers of the government, such as Konstantin Pobedonostsev, argued
that liberal democracy would have led to too many people demanding
too many different policies
The Russia population was made up of illiterate peasants, it was
believed that democracy would be in the hands of those who did not
have the ‘ability to reason’
Subtopic: Continuity in the belief in Autocracy
Although there were variations in how autocratic power was used by the tsars throughout
the period, the significance of autocracy was continuously enforced through manifestos,
speeches and policies
