russia 1848-1914
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Russia 1848-1914. The Bear. Alexander II. Alexander II (1855-1881). I. Perhaps the most liberal ruler prior to 20 th century Russian conditions 90 % Russians lived on farms Serfdom still a problem Uprisings Poor production Serfs bought/sold Serve military 25 yr terms. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Russia 1848-1914 The Bear
Alexander II
Alexander II (1855-1881)• Perhaps the most liberal ruler prior to 20th
century
• Russian conditions– 90 % Russians lived on farms
– Serfdom still a problem• Uprisings• Poor production
– Serfs bought/sold
– Serve military 25 yr terms
I.
• Emancipation Act (Edict) 1861–Alexander II abolished Serfdom
–Most Russians unaffected • Lived in Mirs (highly regulated communes)
• Collective ownership
• Zemstvos established in 1864–Local assemblies
–Step toward political participation
–Lords, however, controlled Zemstvos
• Judicial system improved
• Censorship relaxed (not removed)
• Liberal education programs
• Put on Gold Standard
• Growth of Industry helped spread popularity of Marxism!
• Railroads and Industry–1860-1880 RR built: 1,250 miles to
15,500 miles
• Domestic manufacturing–Suburbs grew around Moscow and
St Petersburg
–Modern factory workers
–Strengthen military: Expansion South & East
Critics of Alexander II’s reign
• Alexander became increasingly conservative (realism replaced romanticism)
• Radical populist movement advocated utopian agrarian society
• Intelligentsia and Nihilism grew
• Alexander II assassinated in 1881
Intelligentsia and Nihilism• Intelligentsia
–Hostile group of intellectuals
–Believed they should take over Russia
• Nihilism–Intellectual philosophy
• Science only is real
• No spiritual ‘meaning’ to life
• Said society should be torn down and rebuild
Alexander III
Alexander III (1881-1894)• Most reactionary czar of 19th century
• Slogan:–Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Russification”
• Encouraged anti-Semitism–Pogroms initiated: resulted in
persecution of Jews
–Zionism was Jewish reaction (Herzel led: Jewish home in Holy Land
II.
Count Witte oversaw Industrialization
• Brought West Tech & built factories
• Rise in Russian middle class (small #’s)
• More railroads (35,000 miles by 1900)
–Trans-Siberian Railway biggest rail line• Moscow to Vladivostok (5,000 miles)
• By 1900 became 4th in steel industry (US, Germany, Britain, Russia)
• ½ World’s petroleum supply
Nicholas II
• Russo-Japanese War (1904-05)–Sphere of influence in Manchuria
–Sought Korea
–Japan moved to stop Russia expansionism
–Japanese defeated Russians• Very Humiliating!
• Russia turned away from Asia
Nicholas II (1894-1917)III.
• Revolution of 1905–Poor economy
–Russo-Jap war hurt
–“Bloody Sunday” Jan 1905• 200,000 worker/peasants march to
Winter Palace
• Czar not in town
• Fires shot; many killed
–General Strike and troop mutinies
–Czar forced to make concessions
• Duma created–Assembly serving as advisory board to
Czar–Freedom of speech, assembly, and
press–Czar could veto
• Revolutionaries politically divided–Unable to agree
• Propertied classes benefit at expense of workers
• Brief mild economic recovery 1907-1914
• Peter Stolypin make reforms–Agrarian reforms
–Broke down collective village ownership
–Encouraged enterprising peasants
• Post 1911, Nicholas II’s court dominated by Gregorii Rasputin–Caused doubt about Czar’s ability to
rule