Summary

Summary Overview of AQA Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964

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Module
Tsarist and Communist Russia 1855-1964 (1H)

Institution
AQA

17 pages covering from pre-Alexander II to Khrushchev Has overviews but also separates into economic/social/cultural/political/opposition/military affects and developments Has some statistics throughout- but is more a big overview with specific details Predicted A at a-level

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Uploaded on May 28, 2023
Number of pages 17
Written in 2022/2023
Type Summary

russia
russian revolution
communist russia
tsarist russia
aqa
history
political
social
cultural
economic
military

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 Outdated technology, poor transport, inadequate leadership, cholera outbreak, lack of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

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