Alevel History (Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964) essay on ‘Opposition movements posed little threat to the Tsarist regime during the time of Alexander II’. Assess the validity of this view.
‘Opposition movements posed little threat to the Tsarist regime during the time of Alexander
II’. Assess the validity of this view.
Although there were some successful opposition groups such as the radical populists, for
example the People’s Will who eventually successfully assassinated Alexander II, it can be more
strongly argued that opposition movements posed little threat as their ultimate goal of bringing
down the regime was not achieved. It is also evident that the regime’s strength, consisting of
the secret police and the ability to control policies, prevented the groups from standing any
chance in either reforming the regime or destroying it completely.
In contrast to the statement, it can be argued that there were moderate opposition movements
such as the liberal intelligentsia, which posed a threat to the regime. Despite being a relatively
small group due to the low literate levels amongst the Russian population, the size and
influence and therefore threat of the liberal intelligentsia grew with the reforms and economic
changes under Alexander II. This is because the liberal intellectuals had the advantage of time,
wealth and interest consequently being able to reflect on political matters. The basis of this
group was the desire for reforms to be made to the Tsarist system and for new Western ideas
such as Marxism to be introduced, significantly by spreading these new ideas to the peasantry
to create a more equal, westernised society. Developments in industrialisation created
conditions in which western-style socialism began to take root for example Marxist theory.
Furthermore, due to the reforms made by Alexander II especially to the judicial system,
professionally trained lawyers skilled in the art of persuasion were produced, posing a threat as
a result of their readiness to challenge autocratic practices. Lawyers therefore posed a threat as
they pushed for rights by politicizing cases for example the Vera Zasulich case. Another example
of threat was posed from the creation of the Zemstva and dumas, which provided a platform
for the educated intellectuals to challenge tsarist policies. However, despite this, Alexander II
refused to give the Zemstva national influence and rejected their demands for a central body to
coordinate the regional councils in St Petersburg highlighting their lack of power against the
regime. Therefore, in terms of moderate opposition movements the threat they posed was only
‘little’ as in comparison to the regime they were weaker for example the attractions of the
Slavophiles diminished in the 1890s and the intelligentsia did split which highlights a weakening
in this opposition movement and therefore allowing for it to be concluded that the extent of
this threat can only be stated as ‘little’.
Radical opposition groups such as Young Russia and Radical thinkers can be argued to…
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