Societies+at+Crossroads;+The+Russian+Empire+Under+Pressure

=Societies at Crossroads; The Russian Empire Under Pressure=

The Crimean War (EG)

 * 1853-1856
 * Russia had a "respected and feared" military power"
 * They expanded east, south, and southwest which was into the Ottoman lands where they tried to form a protectorate
 * This threatened the balance of power so Britain, France, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire allied together to stop the Russians which started the Crimean War
 * September 1854 the allied forces attacked Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula (the headquarters of Russian Black Sea Fleet)
 * Russia lost horribly


 * People began believing serfdom was an obstacle to economic development(HC)
 * Hundreds of revolts broke out during early 19th century from it(HC)
 * Tsar abolished institution of serfdom(HC)
 * Remained a practice awhile afterward
 * Government compensated landowners for their loss of land and serfs who worked it.(HC)
 * Serfs received;(HC)
 * Freedom
 * Labor obligations slowly cancelled
 * Gained opportunity to become landowners
 * But, they won few political rights and had to pay redemption taxes for received land.(HC)
 * Few peasants prospered and most found themselves in debt.(HC)

Political and Legal Reform(HC)

 * Government created //zemstvos//, elected district assembles, in 1864, to try and deal with local issues of health, education, and welfare.(HC)
 * All classes voted, but the //zemstvos// remained with the tsarist autocracy.(HC)
 * Held authority over national issues, landowning nobility.
 * The legal reforms made helped to institute trial by jury for criminal offense, as well as elected justices of the peace for minor offenses.(HC)
 * Helped the emergence of attorneys and other legal experts.(HC)
 * Legal reform was more fruitful than expeirmentation with representative government.(JM)

The Witte System-NA
(NA end)
 * prime mover behind Russian industrialization was Count Sergi Witte- minister of finance, 1892-1903
 * first budget in 1893 was outlined as 'removing the unfavorable conditions which hamper the economic development of the country' and 'kindling a healthy spirit of enterprise'
 * his implemented policies were designed to stimulate the economic development of Russia
 * his main project was a massive program of railway, linking far regions of the Russian empire
 * most important line was the trans-Siberian railway, which opened up Siberia to settlement, explotation, and industrialization[[image:http://www.justgorussia.co.uk/UserFiles/Image/tours/trans_mongolian_railroad/map.jpg width="772" height="457"]]
 * doing this raised the development of other industries too, not only Russia's economic situation
 * remodeled the state's bank and encouraged the establishment of using the banks for your savings and such; raised the domestic capital for industry
 * Witte supported infant industries with high tariffs' he also secured foreign loans from western Europe to help finance the industrialization
 * it all paid off in the end and helped to develop the steel and coal industries( French and Belgian) and petroleum industry in Caucasus( Britian)

Industrial Discontent-AE
 * For a decade, the Witte system played a crucial role in industrialization of Russia
 * Large segments of the population were unwilling to tolerate the low standard of living, that Witte's policy entailed
 * Industrial growth began to generate an urban working class
 * Economic exploitation and the lack of political freedom made workers increasingly interested in revolutionary propaganda and underground movements that soon developed among them
 * Not everyone was dissatisfied with the resuldts of intensified industrialization. For example, the growing Russian business class who benefitted from government policy

Protest(JHO)

 * In the last thee decades of the 1800s anti-government protests and revolutionary activity increased, due to hopes aroused by promise of governmental reform.(JHO)
 * Intelligentsia(JHO)
 * Class of intellectuals
 * Sought substantial political reform and thorough social change
 * Anarchists (JHO)
 * Opposed all forms of government and firmly believed individual freedom cannot be realized until all government is abolished.
 * Some anarchists relied on **__terror__** **// tactics and intimidation to achieve their goals. //**
 * Wanted to vest all authority in local governing councils elected by universal suffrage

Repression(HC)
Terrorism (MR Start)
 * Anarchists/ other radicals began traveling to rural areas to enlighten the peasantry(HC)
 * Peasants didn't understand what they were saying, but soon the police arrested the anarchists.(HC)
 * Some of these people were sent to prison, others were sent to Siberia.
 * Tsarist began censoring publications & sent secret police to infiltrate to try and break up secret organizations.(HC)
 * In such places as Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, central Asia, & Baltic provinces, they opposed the tsarist autocracy.(HC)
 * Began using schools and political groups to start separatist movements(in their own language); wanted independence from the empire.
 * Tsarist officials began repressing the use of different languages other than Russian. Also, they tried restricting education to those loyal to the tsarist state.(HC)
 * Jews were also big targets to the tsarist, who tolerated many anit-Jewish riots(pogroms)(HC)
 * Jews began migrating to western Europe and the United States to get away from this.(HC)
 * Groups began to form that supported the assassination of prominent government officials, in an attempt to influence political reform
 * The biggest of these was the Land and Freedom Party
 * A terrorist faction called the People's Will branched off from this party
 * They planned, and successfully assassinated Alexander the 2nd who had emancipated the serfs, and started a program of political and social reform
 * After Alexander's death, the era of reform was ended in Russia
 * Nicholas the 2nd took Alexander's place after he died
 * Nicholas attempted to maintain order by maintaining a powerful police force, and enforcing strict rule upon the people
 * He also tried to divert their attention away towards foreign countries, by attempting to expand into east Asia
 * East Asian countries also hoped to expand their lands
 * Conflict between Russia and Japan eventually led to the Russo-Japanese war (MR End)


 * January 1905; Group of workers marched to tsar's Winter Palace petitioning Nicholas for a popularly elected assembly.(HC)
 * Troops shot the petitioners, killing 130.(HC)
 * Caused an angry uproar, causing labor unrest, peasant insurrections, mutinies in both the army and navy.(HC)
 * Urban workers created new councils(soviets) to organize strikes/negotiate with employers & government authorities.(HC)
 * Tsar reluctantly established the Duma; their first parliamentary system.(HC)
 * Disorder still continued, especially in Polan, Ukraine, Georgia, and central Asia, where ehtnic tensions addded tension.(HC)