Russia was seen as having a feudal system where the working class (peasants) were holding up everyone above them and retaining nothing. The response from the Tsar was the emancipation in 1861. Nicholas was quoted saying to nobles of Russia that “the existing condition of owning souls cannot remained unchanged. It is better to begin to destroy serfdom from above than to wait until that time when it begins to destroy itself from below”. Although there were a few cases of the Tsar redistributing land to the peasants Riasanovsky claims that the “Fundamental inequality and widespread destitution could not be remedied by a re-division of the peasants inadequate land” This further brings the idea of Marxism into Russia which is discussed later.
In Russia, the peasants were treated very poorly, Russian princes did not want to pay their share of the tribute, so they raised taxes on the peasants and kept some of the money for themselves. Unlike the Russians, Chinese peasants were treated fairly better had restored granaries and reduced taxes. While securing the empire in China, they secured the most valued trade region in all of Asia; the Silk Road. It was necessary for the Silk Road to be protected from bandits and thieves. It would be a great risk if travelers did not have a secure route to trade on.
ALEXANDER II Alexander II Alexander II was emperor of Russia from 1855 to 1881. He is called the "tzar liberator" because he freed the serfs (poor peasants who lived on land owned by nobles) in 1861. Alexander's reign is famous in Russian history and is called the "era of great reforms." Born: April 17, 1818 Moscow, Russia Died: March 1, 1881 St. Petersburg, Russia Fact : Alexander learned to speak Russian, German, French, English, and Polish. He gained a knowledge of military arts, finance, and diplomacy, or the study of dealing with foreign countries.
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.
Due to the contributions of some of the Russian princes who cooperated with the Mongols by acting as agents for them and collecting taxes, the Mongols provided protection for them and the land they came from. Moscow also grew during this time. The Mongols also adapted Russian culture and used it to control. The Mongols spared some cities if they submitted to Mongol rule. Events such as this took place wherever the Mongols went.
And those who fall behind are beaten. But we do not want to be beaten!” (Document 1) Attitudes such as these helped to rally the people of Russia, so that they came together as a united force. People came together to provide workers for the factories, and farmers on the collective farms. Stalin created a feeling of pride and nationalism that also helped this country grow strong. Yet, for all of Stalin’s positive accomplishments, he also seemed quite the negative ruler, First, Stalin developed a system of collective farming that combined once privately owned farms into large farms, operated by the government.
Thus, an element of continuity pervaded and there is only limited evidence that the situation of the peasants improved, but this does not mitigate the different economic and social conditions facing peasants in 1964 as opposed to 1964. Consequently, the view can be cautiously accepted. 2. Primarily, during the 1855-1964 period, the reason why the condition of the peasantry was transformed is because their role in Russian society was deliberately reformed. This changed role resulted in significant changes to their working conditions
Dr. John Ziker in Chapter six of “Peoples of the Tundra” (2002) begins to explain the difference of property rights between societies. The author, Dr. Ziker explains how some societies have written titles symbolizing an individual’s right to sell land, and how in other societies such as kin groups, an individual has to go through others to negotiate the land. In a kin group, property negotiating is a less formal affair. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Dolgan and Nganasan have gone back to their informal ways by relying on the land for survival. After communism disappeared, the Dolgan and Nganasan began to use the land in three ways.
Prior to industrialization, Russia and Japan had a system of feudalism or serfdom. In Russia, serfdom was effective until 1816 when serfs were emancipated due to Russia needing to industrialize. In Japan, the overthrow of the Tokugawa system caused an end to the feudalism system in Japan being replaced by the imperial system. Another similarity includes, both countries starting out with a weak army but due to industrialization new, more powerful weapons were created. However, in Russia these powerful weapons did not contribute to success to their military.
In Russia, communism has had a tremendous impact on the history of the country, while constitutional monarchy has been key to shaping the development of Great Britain. Communism, originally proposed by Karl Marx in his Communist Manifesto (1848), aimed to solve the mistreatment and poverty suffered by the industrial working class by creating a cooperative, classless society where all property and profit are shared equally. However, the communist ideal of peaceful societal change that would benefit everyone was not demonstrated in countries where it was implemented, the first of which