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Summary Russia: Alexander III
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- Alexander III
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Alexander III and Manifesto of ‘Unshakable Counter-Reformsautocracy’ Emancipation - Redemption payments reduced - Easier for peasants to buy redemption payment + buy land to
- Peasant land bank 1882 become kulaks
Government - Land Captains created 1889 - Mir control reduced
- forceful, formidable and very patriotic, 6’4 (very tall) - Electorate reduced 1890 + 1892 - Halts modernisation process
- More limited educated as wasn’t heir apparent for most of life - Plans for elected national assembly removed, Loris removed - Less people could vote – less democratic
- After death of brother Nicholas, heir apparent, taught by
- Zemstva power reduced, more power to Land Captains
antisemite + reactionary Konstantin Pobedonostev – installed
values of Orthodoxy, Nationalism and Autocracy. Police + Judicial - Minister of Justice greater control 1885, e.g. dismissal of judges - Tsar more power to deal with opponents, could no longer
- At end of Alexander II’s reign, relationship distant, disagreed with - more secret trials for political offenses 1887 escape persecution via free courts
political views + his affair. - property + education needed by jurors raised 1887 - peasants could no longer be judges, only highly educated
Manifesto - Volosts controlled by LC/town judges 1889 (nobles)
- Okhrana + in power and size - secret police more harsh, + state control + infiltration of
- Believed chosen by God to rule Russia
- Wanted to preserve Autocracy
suspected.
- Viewed Alexander II’s reforms as good + necessary Educational - University Charter 1884 (Delyanov), uni appointments made by - Reinforcing Orthodoxy
- Viewed Orthodoxy as essential to unite Russians against Education Ministry based on ‘religious, moral and patriotic - More state control over education, trying to prevent spread of
revolutionaries. (to reduce risk of rebellion + strengthen legitimacy) orientation’ radical ideas
- viewed Western ideas as dangerous and only Russia’s traditional - Unis for women + uni courts banned - Prevents economic modernisation as only 21% literate
ideas will preserve the motherland and save it from revolution - students cannot gather in groups more than five compared to over 75% in Britain
Legislation for antisemitism - lower classes only primary education
- Orthodox church in charge of primary education
Censorship - 1882 press censorship + (Tolstoy) - Overturning of Alexander II’s reforms
- Newspapers could be closed + life ban on editors + publishers - Lack of freedom
- All literary publications had to be approved + library/reading - Radical + revolutionary ideas forces to go underground
rooms restricted - lack of freedom of press
- Russification enforced on theatre, art and culture
Military - Alexander II’s reforms weren’t reversed - Alexander II’s reforms continued slowly
- Clear emphasis on strong military
- Used to enforce Russification and repression
Economic - Peasant Land Bank 1882 - Improvement of working conditions for women and children
- Abolition of Poll tax 1886 - Abolition of poll tax reduces tax burden for peasants
- Regulation of working conditions 1882
How were ethnic minorities treated? How were Jews treated under Alexander II + III?
Latvians + Estonians: Decrees in 1864 and 1875 made Latvians + Estonians allowed to revert to Lutheranism instead of Orthodoxy. Pale of Settlement: 20% European Russia where Jews could live, some cities excluded in area
Poles: Rebellion in 1863, 200,000 Poles created underground National Government for Poland. Guerrilla warfare. Crushed in 1864. Polish National Jewish Pogroms 1881-1884: Broke out in April 1881 in Yelizavetgrad in Ukraine (likely encouraged by Okhrana due
Bank closed 1885In all schools/universities teaching of all subjects except Polish language + religion had to be in Russian Polish literature had to be to Alexander II's assassination. Jews easy targets as concentrated in Pale. "Holy League" organisation (supported by
studied a Russian translation. Catholic monasteries closed down, influence of Catholic priests curbed + incentives given for non-Catholics to settle in Pobedonostsev) helped coordinate early attacks (banned in 1882), govt slow to react. Riots spread to Kiev, Odessa +
area beyond to Warsaw and Nizhny Novgorod (many Jews fled to Western Europe). 16 major cities affected. Continued
Ukrainians: Prohibition on use of Ukrainian language in publications/performances in 1876, Intensified laws limiting use of Ukrainian language in into 1884 and beyond (Odessa in 1886)
1883, 1884 all theatres in provinces closed. Military service arrangements extended + conscripts dispersed to prevent national groupings in army Pobedonostev’s Policy: Believed all citizens under Empire should be Orthodox Christians and non-Christians
(business conducted in Russian) disloyal. Many Orthodox churches and cathedrals built across country - clergy num increased to fill. Forced
Finns: Prohibition on use of Ukrainian language in publications/performances in 1876. Intensified laws limiting use of Ukrainian language in 1883. conversion of over 100,000 Muslim Tartars (many reverted to Islam after). Attempt to have more control over
1884 all theatres in provinces closed. Military service arrangements extended + conscripts dispersed to prevent national groupings in army autonomous churches (e.g. Georgian Orthodox Church) + used troops. Campaign to remove Lutheran church is
(business conducted in Russian) Baltic provinces: landless Orthodox peasants given food/land to farm and much funding given to Orthodox-
Baltic Germans: 1885-1889 enforce use of Russian in all state offices, elementary + secondary schools, police force and judicial system. German controlled schools. (73k Lutherans converted during reign). Large onion-domed cathedrals build in capitals of Latvia
University of Dorpar Russified and became Iurev University (1889-93). 37k Lutherans converted to Orthodoxy to take advantage of special and Estonia - looked alien-like to medieval architecture. Created massive hostility among minorities + various
measures of support churches resented govt interference. "Beat the Yiddish" slogan
Georgians: Uprising brutally supressed in Guriya, Georgia in 1892 and Bashkira in 1884 Impact: Many Jews left country, some voluntarily but others forcefully (Kiev 1886). From 1890, foreign Jews
Uzbeks: Uprising brutally supressed in district of Fergana and another in Tashkent in 1892 deported + Russian Jews who settled outside Pale. In Winter of 1891-92 10k Jewish artisans expelled from Moscow.
Asian: All-Russian Orthodox Missionary society worked to convert "heathens and Muslims" - included forced baptisms When Alexander III's brother, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich made Governor General in 1892, forced 20k Jews
Impact of policies: Boost to separatist/nationalist movements, increased resentment against Tsar (particularly among wealthy minorities), 332 mass from city during Passover + closed newly build synagogue. Drove many Jews to revolutionary groups (particularly
disturbances in 61 of Russia’s 92 provinces + districts (in 51 cases military deployed). Some ethnic schools survived (mainly in Poland). Marxist organisations e.g. Trotsky, Martov, Zinoviev and Kamenev
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