In addition, World War II introduced change through industrialisation, which was key to Russia’s success in the war. These key reforming leaders and other factors of change saw Russia grow from a very deprived country in 1856 to an industrial superpower in 1964. Alexander II became known as ‘Alexander the Great Reformer’ and ‘the Tsar Liberator’ which suggests that his work and reforms changed the nature of Russian government and society to a large extent. The emancipation of the Serfs in 1861 initially appeared to have major benefits for the serfs. As Alexander II said: “We vowed in our hearts to fulfil the mission which is entrusted to Us and to surround with Our affection and Our Imperial solicitude all Our faithful subjects of every rank and condition”2.
Why did Alexander II decide to embark on a series of reforms when he came to power in Russia? Following the death of Nicholas I in 1855, Alexander II came to power as the new Tsar who would introduce major reforms to the Russian state in an attempt to modernize the country so it could again compete with the western countries such as France and the United Kingdom whilst preserving the Autocratic structure that the Tsar and Aristocracy so heavily depended upon. There were many reasons Alexander felt Russia had to change from the issue of the serfs to the Crimean war but in this following essay we will look closer into the reasons for reform and which one was in my opinion the most significant. When Alexander II took over reign from his father Nicholas I, in 1855, Russia had just suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Crimean War in the October of 1954 and again in the November of 1954. Russia’s greatest naval base in Vebastapol had fallen to Russia’s western enemies and following the Treaty of Paris, a mission which was supposed to conquer the black sea area and take advantage of the weakness of the ottoman empire, resulted in Russia being pushed back and prevented from holding any Russian war ships in the Black Sea area during times of piece.
Peter the Great helped shape the previously unsuccessful nation of Russia into an active European political power by following the examples set by Western European powers at the time. Before the 17th Century Russia was only considered a part of Europe out of courtesy. Geographically and politically, it lay on the periphery. Fortunately for Russia, that all changed when Peter the Great came to power. To do this he set out to accomplish certain general goals for the country which included: reorganizing the administration, developing the economy, building a strong military, and quashing the potential independence of the nobles, guard, and church.
Catherine developed the Free Economic Society in 1765 which encouraged modernization of agriculture and industry. The division of Russia into districts empowered administers of the local area. Westernizing Russia brought better changes to Russian politics, resources and military enabling Russia to become a European power. Frederick involved himself in the First Partition of Poland to unite the newly gained West Prussia with Eastern Prussia. Frederick also participated in the War of Bavarian Succession in 1778, stopping Austria from trading the Austrian Netherlands for Bavaria.
Explain why in the years 1906 to 1911, Stolypin attempted to reform agriculture. (12 marks) Stolypin attempted to reform agriculture for many reasons, one of the most important being to strengthen tsarist autocracy. He strongly believed that the future of Russia depended on building a prosperous peasantry. There was widespread rural poverty but an upper class of peasant that farmed efficiently and were wealthier, they were known as the Kulaks. Stolypin believed that the encouragement of a class such as the Kulaks would make them hostile to further change therefore more conservative and loyal to the Tsar as the Tsar had made them wealthy.
In addition it will also examine the human failures; this would be defined as human loss, death and or a decrease in living conditions and quality of life. Stalin’s first economic policy of the 1930’s was to introduce Collectivization. This was the joining of private plots which had been previously divided amongst the peasants by the Tsar, in order to increase the amount of output production altogether. Efficiency of farms and a boost in agriculture was essential in order to support industrialization which Stalin wanted to push forward. He needed enough food to be produced in order to support the working masses that would be turning to industry in cities.
The lack of a warm water port would also be an important issue for a number of Tsars and the desire to obtain one would have lasting impacts on Russia's foreign policy. Until the advent of railways, one of the easiest methods of movement, including the transport of major quantities of goods was via the water, by river or sea. By being situated in the centre of a network of rivers systems in the Valdai Hills, Russian rulers were able to benefit greatly through-out their history. In the fifteenth century Muscovy was able to weaken the power of Novgorod to its north by constricting its grain supply after gaining control over the Upper Volga River.2 From this now relatively strong position, Muscovy would have been more easily able to take Novgorod. However the taking of Novgorod was not solely down to the ability of the Russians to take control of the grain supply.
The position of Prime Minister was not created it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to numerous acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical perspective. The origins of the position are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement (1688–1720) and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. Although the Sovereign was not stripped of his or her ancient prerogatives and legally remained the head of government, politically it gradually became necessary for him or her to govern through a Prime Minister who could command a majority in Parliament (Low, S. 1904). In history, Britain is one of the countries whose governments are dominated by men who incidentally not yet been able to demonstrate progress for the country.
Ruling by divine right was common of the Stuart dynasty but only Elizabeth of the Tudor family ruled in that manner. The dynasties are similar in that both mostly ruled England. In addition to ruling England, James I ruled Scotland also. His heir to the throne, Charles I not only ruled England and Scotland, but also ruled Ireland. While the Tudor dynasty did not have many problems with parliament, the Stuart dynasty did not cooperate well with parliament at all.
At that time Bismarck wasn’t even born. German liberal nationalists made the first major attempt to unify Germany in 1848, it was an ultimate failure, but the failure to achieve unification in 1848 resulted in the late formation of the nation-state in 1871, which in turn delayed the development of positive national values. At that time Bismarck strongly opposed the revolution, but he changed his views later and started the unification. Prussian economic and military development was also a factor for unification. J.M.