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Social Science. Pg.37-46. Alexander II. Alexander II. Eldest son of Nicholas I In 1855 he came into power after the death of his father from pneumonia Highly educated , trained in liberal arts and European languages Liberal despite his strict, reactionary upbringing.
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Social Science Pg.37-46
Alexander II • Eldest son of Nicholas I • In 1855 he came into power after the death of his father from pneumonia • Highly educated , trained in liberal arts and European languages • Liberal despite his strict, reactionary upbringing
Responsible for settling the peace after his father’s defeat in the Crimean War • Reversed many of his fathers prohibitive polices: censorship, education, political expression • Gained nickname “Alexander the Liberator” after emancipating the serfs
Emancipation of the SerfsMarch 3, 1861 • Ended serfdom on economic, political, and moral grounds • Alexander gained sympathy for the plight of the serfs • Due to their military contributions in the Crimean war • Alexander's extensive tours of Russian territories
Problems with Serfdom • Russian agriculture was confronted with market based limitations • Serfdom undermined innovation and inhibited efficiency • The state was becoming more responsible for maintenance of serfs. The landed gentry, in need of money, used serfs as collateral when borrowing from the government
50% of population was in servitude and the government held 2/3 of them • Frequent uprisings • Serfdom limits conscription
Other Reforms • 1864: began overall of Russian legal system • Corruption • Class based bias • Secretive deliberation process • Lack of peerage
More modern and western independent civilian judiciary • Life appointment for judges • Open and public procedures • Representation and council • Trial by jury • Egalitarian application of law
Zemstvo • Modernized, democratized, and bureaucratized form of local government • Designed to manage Russian territories more effectively and efficiently • First Russian attempt to institutionalize an emerging form of democratic government • Had representative, elected and administrative boards in charge of local government services
In the Crimean War, Russia suffered in terms of logistics, personnel, and weaponry • Modernized army included conscription, randomized draft, and selective reduction of the time one served • Massive railway project
Nationalist Movements • Alexander had to deal with the challenges of managing a multiethnic empire and was confronted with radical leftist movements against the Russian government system • Russification created more resentment among minority population
Radical Groups • More education and the rise of the lower classes allowed for the development and spread of radical political ideas • Many Russian groups were mimicking western movements • Slavophilism, Marxism, Nihilism, Jacobinism • These groups had disdain for the monarchy • Will of the People assassinated Alexander II in March of 1881
Alexander II’s Foreign Policy • Besides border conflicts, not much can be said concerning foreign policy under Alexander II • 1877: war with Turkey over the brutal representation and massacre of the Balkan peoples • Gained territories along the Black Sea and in the Caucasus Mountains • Invaded the khanates of Central Asia • 1867: Sold Alaska to USA for $7.2 million
Alexander III (1845-94) • Counter reforms to undo much of his father’s reforms • Inspired by his grandfathers ideology of “Official Nationality” • Return to orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality to combat the growing diversity
Alexander III’s Counter Reforms • Temporary Regulations (1881) • Originally designed to destroy revolutionary/terrorist groups and create a sense of security • Eventually used as a political weapon to oppress, control, manipulate, and punish
University Statute of 1884 • Reversed 1863 statute granting universities autonomy • Russian education under state control • Universities were seen as breeding grounds for revolutionary activity • Eliminated rights of students to organize for any social or political purpose • Increased religious presence • Emphasis on Russian culture and language • Marginalized women
Alexander III created the State Gentry Land Bank to manage the wealth of the gentry • Authorized policies designed to micromanage the lives of peasants • Land Captains: Nominated by local gov. and oversaw the use of peasant land • Restructured the zemstvo to increase the powers of the gentry and undermine representation of peasants
All subjects in the Russian Empire must speak and read Russian • Gave the church executive right to proselytize and co-opt individuals into its belief system • Non Orthodox-Christians had religious restrictions • The state did not take note of anti-Semitic programs
Foreign Policy under Alexander III • No major wars • Diplomatic efforts to maintain peace • Purposely avoided major conflicts due to budget constraints caused by modernization programs • Alexander III negotiated an alliance with Austria-Hungry and Germany known as the Three Emperors Leage
Tsar Nicolas II (1868-1918) • Considered a less skilled ruler,relied heavily on advisers • Lacked vision, creativity, ability so solve complex problems • Simply continued managing his father’s programs • Responsible for the collapse of Russian military, economy, and monarchy
Foreign Policy Under Nicolas II • Participated in the Hague Peace Conference of 1899, designed to move Europe toward disarmament and establish rules of war but failed on both goals • Russo-Japanese War
The Revolution of 1905 • Result of the structural transformation of Russian society followed by reactionary policies of the last two tsars • Russia had experienced many changes after the emancipation of the serfs-> • Transition from agricultural society to industrial
Growth of middle class • In Marxist terms • Bourgeoisie: owed means of production • Proletariat: workers forced to sell their labor to survive
The Social Democrats • Most revolutionary elements were predominantly leftist, but not unified in their goals/methods • Social Democrats were one of the first major organizations to appear • Strong intellectual and philosophical traditions of Marxism • Social Democrats split • Bolsheviks: consisted of professional uncompromising radicals led by Lenin • Mensheviks: Marxist
Socialist Revolutionary Party • Leftist radicals who had a more populist orientation and more direct ties to the Will of the People (the terrorist group responsible for assassinating Alexander I)
Liberals • Formed the Union of Liberation in 1903 • Two years later they were known as the Constitutional Democratic Party • Wanted to replace Russian monarchy with a constitutional monarchy of full republic
Revolutionary Strategyalthough not very effective, included: • Strikes • Social unrest • Peasant uprisings • Terrorist acts on people and property • Assassination • Pressing Tsar for political representation, political reform, and overhaul of state institutions
Bloody Sunday and Aftermath • Jan 22, 1905 • Massive protest in St. Petersburg, marching on the Winter Palace (home of tsar) • To protect the property of the royal family, police opened fire on the crowd, killing 130 and wounding hundreds more • This led to heightened contempt for the tsar
The October Manifesto • General strike that shut down the entire Russian economy for 10 days • During the strike the first Soviet was created which was a political entity that issued demands • Document extending civil rights and established representative legislation or duma
The Fundamental Laws • Russia made its first move towards becoming a constitutional democracy when Nicholas II followed the program laid out by the October manifesto • The Fundamental Laws was the central guiding document for how the new government would operate
Tsar retained executive power • Legislative assembly designed for political representation • The tsar still held a unreasonable amount of power • Only the elite and gentry were fairly represented
WW I • Began after the assassination of Australian Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by Serbian nationalists • Austria Hungry threatened Serbia for its support in the black hand-> Russia (having strategic interests in the Black Hand and cultural interests in protecting Slavs) backed Serbia->Germany backed Austria-Hungry->France backed Russia->Germany attacked Belgium prompting Great Britain to enter the war
Russia had a limited role in WW I due to its defeats early on • Russia was not ready to fight a large scale war • Lack of preparedness • Recent domestic turmoil • Military under development • Russia was known for sending unprepared soldiers unarmed or with farm tools
Nicholas II became increasingly under the influence of his wife, Empress Alexandra, and her peasant mystic Gregory Rasputin • Conservative members of the palace court gruesomely murdered Rasputin in an effort to rid the palace of his irrational advice