During Alexander III rule from 1881-1894 he had made significant changes in Russia like the counter reform, which was literally undoing his fathers Great reforms, which he thought, had weakened Tsarism and left it insecure. In 1881 Alexander III first step as Tsar was throw out Loris-Melikov Plan, which indicated establishment of two new government commissions that were to have an advisory role in relation to proposed new laws. Alexander III saw this as a threat to autocracy in Russia and so he completely rejected this approved plan by his father. Further on in late 1881 Temporary Regulations were introduced, which gave the government special powers to prohibit gathering of more than 12 people, prosecute any individual from political crimes, introduction of Okhrana the secret Police, and the setup of special courts outside the legal system. Then In 1889 the zamstva magistrates were replaced with land captains how were recruited from the nobles and given powers to direct and control peasant affairs in their areas.
This was probably due to their authoritarian ideology. It can be considered a fact that for the majority of the 1855-1964 period, the Russian citizens had little if any political freedom. Despite the legalization of political parties in 1905, this was a very short lived concession as Lenin revoked this in 1920. A similar approach was taken by Alexander III in reversing the reforms of Alexander II, including a reduction in power for the Zemstva. A recurring theme throughout the period is the regime’s desire to maintain autocracy, which Lenin’s disregard for democracy in any area and opposition shows.
How successfully did Alexander II deal with the opposition he faced, 1855-1881? Alexander II had opposition during the years 1855-1881 as his reforms had raised hope of the intelligentsia, who wanted further modernisation specifically a constitution and as he failed to deliver they were all disillusioned and angry. Secondly he abandoned his reforms in 1866 which led to more extreme opposition. I feel Alexander II was successful in dealing with opposition as he had support from the serfs which I feel was the most successful way to deal with opposition. The emancipation of the serfs appeared to have strengthened the loyalty of most peasants to the tsarist regime leading the peasants to greet the Populists with hostility due to their loyalty to the tsar.
The areas to investigate include political, economic, social and military reforms from the Russian government in order to see if they are ‘reluctant reformers’ or not. Socially, Alexander II introduced arguably the most radical reform in 1861 by emancipating the serfs and granting peasants freedom. This is by far the reform that affected the population most widely in the period – by granting this, peasants were allowed to own themselves in body and soul and could dictate their own lives as far as they could. Class bias was reduced and education was given more widely across Russia, regardless of social standing. This certainly fights against the view that Alexander II was reluctant in his reforms on the surface – however, once investigated, the limits of emancipation are clear.
Explain why Alexander II introduced further reforms after the emancipation edict of 1861 Emancipation opened many opportunities for further reforms and forced a change in the structure of the Russian society. Serfdom was abolished and the nobility could no longer control them which led to light being shed on other problems in society such as the law, industry and also the military. The most important reason for the introduction of further reforms is that they were a reasonable response to the emancipation of the serfs, but only in short term. The emancipation act gave the serfs power to control their own lives instead of being dictated by people of a higher status, such as the nobility. For this, rural councils known as the Zemstvas were set up in 1864 which offered the serfs a representative government; but they were mostly dominated by the nobility and professionals and many of them resented their loss of power over the serfs.
For example this caused divide within the populists leading to the formation of the Land and Liberty (1876) and the Black Repartition and the radical terrorist group People’s Will (1879). Eventually the Social Revolutionaries formed (1901) they believed that Russia’s future lay with the peasantry and so they wanted to give peasants their own land and improve living conditions for working classes. They used tactics such as terrorism and assassinations. However, the Liberals (Octobrists and Kadets- 1905), who also wanted to establish some sort of democracy did not
The second outcome of the revolutions was that the countries were dramatically changed, two great powers were stopped and communist leaders eventually took over in the two countries. Russia and China both shared similar goals in that they both wanted a new form of government and leadership. Russia’s ruler was Tsar Nicholas II which ruled Russia for more than three centuries. China’s ruling dynasty was the Qing Dynasty. Tsar Nicholas II wasn’t much of a good ruler for Russia; he ignored the fact that Russia wasn’t doing so good and overlooked the industrialization and nationalism that was occurring throughout Russia.
Why did Alexander II reform Russia? http://rudbeck-ib-history-revision.wikispaces.com/Alexander+II Intro – what would you include? The reforms= Emancipation, Judicial, Political, Military, Church and education Situation= Inheriting the problems of Nicholas I + context in Russia. Known as Tsar Liberator To modernise: -To solve industrial backwardness -To solve military issues= unorganized, weak, inconsistent. Point 1.
Preliminary Modern History Task: Decline and fall of the Romanovs Alex Lai Due: Wednesday 28 March 2012 Under the repressive and conservative rule of Nicholas II from 1894 to 1917, the Russian autocracy experienced a failure in satisfying the demands of its populace. Through the reversal of earlier policy and further imposition of repressive policy, this inability to govern fuelled the mentality of revolutionists and secured the fall of Tsardom. Nicholas’ conservative upbringing concerning the maintenance of autocracy within Russia largely influenced his policy platform and how he responded to the various situations he encountered during his reign. His mindset was heavily influenced by his personal tutor, the arch conservative Pobedonostev, who possessed a concrete belief that autocracy was the only viable
During this revolution, Lenin didn’t play any important role, however, just as well as the 1905 Revolution, he was using this experiences to make something more carefully planned. In the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin wrote and announced what is known as the April Thesis, in which he attacked Bolsheviks for supporting the Provisional Government. Lenin accused those Bolsheviks who were still supporting the Provisional Government of betraying socialism and suggested that they should leave the party. Some people took Lenin`s advice, arguing that any attempt at revolution was certainly going to fail and would lead to another repressive, authoritarian Russian government. Because of his April Theses, the October Revolution and the July Days would have never sparked up.