Autocracy in 1855-1894
Political context:
Collected Laws on the Russian Empire from Tsar Nicholas I in 1832- “autocratic and unlimited
monarch”
By name, head of the orthodox church
All advisers and ministers chosen by Tsar- nothing without his approval
Imperial Council/Chancellery- 35-60 nobles
Council of ministers- 8-14, in charge of different departments
Bureaucracy riddled with corruption, 14 ranks of civil servants, one way operation,
everything went downwards not up
Largest army of conscripted serfs- 1.5 million, service for 25 years
45% of annual spending was on military
Cossacks- personal bodyguards and special force
Censorship enforced
Economic context:
Russian economy mostly rural by Alexander II
11:1 village to town dwellers, 2:1 in Britain
Most territory inhospitable
Potential not explored in industries of timber, coal, oil, gold and other precious metals
Serf- based economy, limited change (wage-earners, markets and entrepreneurs)
Little incentive to work so did bare minimum
Business mostly small scare- most common serf purchases was vodka, metal tools and salt
Exchange in kind not in money
No interest in change from landowning elite
No interest in capital accumulation because income was falling
Money such little use that they did seek out alternative ways of making money
Nobility and clergy exempt from taxes
Social context:
Very divided between landowners and serfs
Absence of any coherent middle class, only a few urban artisans
Beginnings of an intelligentsia- but mostly sons of nobles
Impact of the Crimean war:
1853-1856
Stronger at the beginning, sunk Turkish Black Sea Fleet
Attack from French/British at Sevastopol
Outdated technology, poor transport, inadequate leadership, cholera outbreak, lack of
medical staff, lack of determination
Peasant uprisings increased, trade halted, intelligentsia wanted gap to close between Russia
and west
Treaty of Paris in 1856, humiliation, couldn’t use black sea in times of peace
Alexander II: Tsar Reformer
, Emancipation of 51 million serfs
Further reforms in military, judiciary, and education
Intent to maintain political authority but actually created further divisions
Reasons:
Well-travelled
Tutor- Vasily Zhukovsky (romantic poet) and Milyutin brothers (bureaucrats), committed to
abolition
Increase in serf uprisings since 1840s- figured doubled, about higher rents and military
conscription
Humiliation of Crimean War- Dmitri Milyutin pleaded for reform
Previous other reforms- pardoned Decembrists, relaxed censorship, lessened travel
restrictions, cancelled tax debts, restored some rights to Poland and Catholic church
Edict:
1861 for privately owned serfs, 1866 for state serfs
Freedom and allotment of land
Landowners received compensation
Freed serfs required to pay redemption payments over 49 years
Had to be in Mir until payments paid- responsible for distributing allotments, farming
control, collecting and paying taxes
15% still remained obligated to landowners until 1881
Results:
Emergence of Kulak class- did well from land allotments
Produced surplus grain for export, get a passport and leave or find work in cities
For rest, land small, still technologically backwards
Restrictions on travel from Mir, burden of redemption payments
Student protests and riots in St Petersburg, Moscow, and Kazan (70 peasant deaths)
Other reforms:
Military:
Conscription compulsory for all classes from age of 21
Length of service reduced to 15 from 25 years in active, 15 in reserves
Less sever punishments
Military colonies abolished
Better medical care
Modern weaponry
New command structure
Military training colleges set up
Mass army education campaigns
Lost war in Turkey/Japan and first world war
Local government:
Zemstvo established, chosen from electoral colleges//nobility still dominated
Given power to reform public services
Dumas set up in 1870
Very limited influence from Zemstvo
, Judiciary:
Lawyers could be employed
Innocent until proven guilty
Barristers and jury
Judges given training and pay
Courts opened to public and could be reported
Some became almost celebrities after cases were reported
Political crimes then had to be tried by special procedure
Trial by jury not allowed in Poland, western provinces and Caucasus
Education:
universities could appoint their own staff
Schooling responsibilities given to Zemstvo not church
Primary and secondary education extended “modern schools” introduced with gimnazii
Women allowed; any age allowed
Increasing number of radicals and militants from universities
Censorship:
relaxation of press censorship
Foreign publications permitted with government approval
Press allowed to comment on government policy
Number of public books published increased 10 fold
Retightening in 1870s
The autocracy of Alexander II and Alexander III
Assassination attempt in 1866, 1879 (twice) and 1880, death of son, wife withdrew
1878, Vera Zasulich shot military governor of St Petersburg and is found not guilty- political
crimes moved to special courts
New appointments in 1866, replacing more liberal with conservatives
Education:
Zemstva’s power over education reduced, church regained authority over rural schools
Only students in gimnaziya could go to university after 1871
Maths, Latin, Greek and divinity encouraged over history, modern languages, and literature
Tsarist control over teacher training colleges
Many went to universities overbroad instead
Reluctantly let women stay
Police, law, and control:
Strengthened by Shuvalov
More persecution of ethnic and religious minorities
Searches and arrests increased
Trial of the 50 and trial of 193- show trials of people accused of revolutionary activities
Over national minorities:
Reacted swiftly to Polish rebellion in 1863- 200,000 Guerrilla warriors
Did not engage in systematic persecutions
Concessions to keep control- decrees to allow Lutheranism instead of Orthodoxy in Latvia
and Estonia
Finns allowed own parliament
Prohibition of Ukrainian language in 1876
