how Russia developed after the loss of the Crimean War up to 1905
by Dillon Petersen
Military defeat
orthodox faith. • Tsars ruled through an autocratic regime. • Tsars enjoyed the support of the Russian Orthodox Church and powerful nobles. • Peasants made up the vast majority of the population. • Most where serfs bound to the land that they cultivated. • During the nineteenth century the Russian empire expanded in three directions. • One led to interference in the Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire. • Russia tried to establish a unilateral protectorate over the weakening Ottoman Empire. • This expansive effort threatened the balance of power in Europe. • This led to conflict between Russia and a coalition including Britain, France, The Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. • The Crimean War revealed the weakness of the Russian empire witch could not stand up to the industrial powers of Western Europe. • Russian armies suffered devastating defeat. |
Map of the Crimean War showing what regions were lost to which empires.
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Both are pictures of Russian serfs.
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Social Reform
• Military defeat compelled the Tsarist autocracy to undertake anextensive reconstruction program, and reevaluate the social order. • The key to social reform was emancipation of the serfs. • Opposition to serfdom had grown steadily not only among radicals but also high officials. • Most believed it had become an obstacle to economic development. • Serfdom also was the source of revolts. • In 1861 the tsar abolished the institution of serfdom. • The government compensated landowners for the loss of their land and the serfs who worked there. • Serfs gained freedom, had their labor obligations gradually canceled, and gained opportunities to become land owners. • Peasants won few political rights and they had to pay a redemption tax for most of the land they received. • Few peasants prospered and improved their position but most remained desperately poor. • To deal with oval issues the government created elected district assemblies, or zemstvos. • Although all classes elected representatives, the zemstvos remained subordinate to the Tsarist autocracy and landowning nobility. • The revision of the judiciary system created a system of law courts based on Western European models. • Legal reforms instituted trial by jury and elected justices of the peace. |
Industrialization
• Tsar Alexander II emancipated the serfs with the intent of creating a mobile labor force for emerging industries. • Tsarist government encouraged industrialization as a way to strengthen the Russian empire. • The motivation for development was political and military and the driving force was government policy. • The prime mover behind Russian industrialization was Count Sergei Witte • His aims were removing the unfavorable conditions which hamper the economic development of the country and kindling a healthy spirit of enterprise. • Witte implemented policies designed to stimulate economic development. • The centerpiece of his industrial policy was a massive program of railway construction. • This linked the regions of the Russian empire and stimulated development of other industries. • Most important of these railways was the trans-Siberian railway. • This railway opened Siberia to large scale settlement, exploitation, and industrialization • Witte remodeled the state bank and encouraged the establishment of saving banks. • Witte supported infant industries with high protective tariffs. • French and Belgian capital played a key role in developing the steel and coal industries. • British funds supported the booming petroleum industry. • Witte system payed a crucial role in the industrialization of Russia • Peasants and industrial workers however were unwilling to tolerate the low standard of living that this policy entailed. • Recently freed serfs often did not tolerate factory work which forced them to follow new routines. • Employers kept wages of overworked and poorly housed workers at the barest minimum. • The industrial sections of St. Petersburg and Moscow become notorious for miserable working conditions. • The government later limited the max working day to 11.5 hours but this did little to help workers. • Government prohibited the formation of trade unions and outlawed strikes. • Underground movements soon formed among workers. • A growing Russian business class benefited from government policy that protected domestic industries and it's profits. • Russian businessmen generally did not challenge the Tsarist autocracy. |
Alexander II
Sergei Witte
I got some of the information for this thinglink from this site.
MLA format: MOTE, VICTOR L., "Trans-Siberian Railway." World Encyclopedia. 2005, and Elizabeth Knowles. "Trans-Siberian Railway." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2004. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. |
Repression
• Antigovernment protest and revolutionary activity increased in time.
• Hopes aroused by government reforms gave impetus to reform movements.
• Social tensions from industrialization also fueled protests.
• At the center of opposition were university students and a class of intellectuals known as intelligentsia.
• They sought substantial political reform and thorough social change.
• Many revolutionaries were anarchists who sought to destroy institutions that they considered oppressive.
• Hundreds of radicals traveled to rural areas to enlighten and rouse the peasantry.
• The peasants did not understand there speeches and the idealists were quickly arrested
• Authorities sentenced some to prison and banished others.
• Tsarist sent secret police to break up organizations
• Repression only radicalized revolutionaries further.
• In the Baltic provinces people speaking their own languages used schools and political groups as foundations for separatist movements
• They sought autonomy or independence from the Russian empire.
• Tsarist official started to repress the use of languages other than Russian.
• Jews were targets of suspicion.
• To escape violence Jews traveled by the hundreds of thousands to Western Europe and the US.
• Antigovernment protest and revolutionary activity increased in time.
• Hopes aroused by government reforms gave impetus to reform movements.
• Social tensions from industrialization also fueled protests.
• At the center of opposition were university students and a class of intellectuals known as intelligentsia.
• They sought substantial political reform and thorough social change.
• Many revolutionaries were anarchists who sought to destroy institutions that they considered oppressive.
• Hundreds of radicals traveled to rural areas to enlighten and rouse the peasantry.
• The peasants did not understand there speeches and the idealists were quickly arrested
• Authorities sentenced some to prison and banished others.
• Tsarist sent secret police to break up organizations
• Repression only radicalized revolutionaries further.
• In the Baltic provinces people speaking their own languages used schools and political groups as foundations for separatist movements
• They sought autonomy or independence from the Russian empire.
• Tsarist official started to repress the use of languages other than Russian.
• Jews were targets of suspicion.
• To escape violence Jews traveled by the hundreds of thousands to Western Europe and the US.
Terrorism
• In 1876 a group formed called the Land and Freedom Party. • They promoted the assassination of prominent officials in order to pressure the government into political reform. • Eventually they killed Alexander II with a bomb • The attack brought the era of reform to an end. • Tsarist autocracy adopted an uncompromising policy of repression. • In 1894 Nicholas II ascended the throne. • Nicholas championed oppression and police control. • Tsars government embarked on expansion ventures in east Asia. • Russian designs clashed with Japanese intentions and led to war. • The war started by a surprise attack on a Russian naval squadron. • The war ended in 1905 with the destruction of the Russian navy. |
Nicholas II
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Revolution
• A group of workers marched on the tsars winter palace in St Petersburg to petition Nicholas for a popularity elected assembly. • Government troops met the petitioners killing 130. • This Bloody Sunday massacre an uproar in the empire. • This led to labor unrest, peasant insurrections, and mutinies in both the army and navy. • Urban workers organized new councils known as soviets to organizes strikes. Elected delegates from factories and workshops served as members of these soviets. • Sergei Witte urged the tsar to creat an elected legislative assembly. • The tsar permitted the establishment of the Duma. • This was Russia's first parliamentary institution. • The Duma did not end unrest. • Violence still flared especially in the Baltic provinces. • Though bloody reprisals the government eventually restored order. |
Picture of the Bloody Sunday Massacre
Got some information from this site. MLA format: "Bloody Sunday Massacre in Russia." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. |