Imperial Russia
The Problem of Reform
Ideology
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Westerners: believed if Russia wished to remain
a great nation it would have to adopt the best
features of the political & economic systems of
Western Europe.
Slavophiles: regarded western values as
corrupting – urged the nation to preserve itself
as ‘holy Russia’, by glorifying its Slav culture and
separate historical tradition.
Local Government Reform
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Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861 (Alexander II)
Setting up of the zemstvos in 1864:
Local councils elected by wealthy citizens
Emphasis of the mir:
Traditional village community to which people
belonged to
Government officials saw this as a tool with
which to keep order and collect tax & mortgages
Alexander II
Alexander III
Legal Reforms
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In the late C19th a number of legal reforms
were introduced to try and simplify the court
procedures
Alexander II relaxed the controls over the press
and university
Greater freedom of expression encouraged the
development of an intelligentsia
Limited nature of reforms
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Alexander II was only supportive of reforms which
might lead to a lessening of opposition to the tsarist
regime
To some extend emancipation and greater freedoms
of speech were met with enthusiasm by progressives
Alexander II was assassinated by the People’s Will in
1881 which led to an abandonment of reformist
policies by Alexander III (known as the ‘Reaction’)
When Nicholas II ascended the throne it was obvious
that he intended to continue with the repressive
policies of his predecessor.
The ‘Reaction’ in detail
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Government-controlled courts were set up to
run outside the existing legal system
Judges and officials who were sympathetic to
liberalism were removed
The powers of the Okhrana were extended and
censorship of the press was tightened
Universities were brought under strict
government control
The independence of the zemstvo was decreased
The Okhrana
Agents of Okhrana - Yevno Azef, Dmitry Bogrov, Father Gapon, Roman Malinovsky
The Early reign of Nicholas II, 1894-1905
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His upbringing and education made him suspicious
of change
He continued the repressive policies he had
inherited which further angered the intelligentsia
Nicholas was tutored by Konstantin
Pobedonostsev, who dismissed the idea of
participatory government
The policy of Russification grew intensely under
Nicholas II – the Russian Jews were particularly
victimised under this ideology
Anti-Semitism
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Over 600 new measures were introduced
imposing heavy social, political and economic
restrictions on the Jewish population
Pogroms increased sharply under Nicholas II
The ‘Black Hundreds’ were notorious for
carrying out anti-Semitic attacks
Most Jews lived in ghettos
Response to Nicholas’s policies
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Despite greater police interference, opposition
became more organised
In 1897 Jews formed their own revolutionary
‘bund’ or union
Growing number of political parties formed
Economic Reform, 1893-1914
Peter Stolypin
Sergei Witte
Background
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In the 1890s Russian industry grew so rapidly that the
term the Great Spurt was used to describe the period
The acceleration was the result of private enterprise,
sustained by deliberate government policy
The motives of the tsar were military rather than
economic
A growing economy would produce more and better
guns, equipment and ships
The main individual involved was Russia’s Minister of
Finance (1892-1903), Sergei Witte
State Capitalism
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Witte was impressed by the results of the
Industrial Revolutions of the UK and USA
He negotiated loans from abroad and raised
taxes at home to raise capital for investment
He limited the import of foreign goods and set
up protective tariffs
In 1897 Witte put Russia’s currency on the gold
standard, but this led to an increase on goods
The importance of railways
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Much of the foreign capital was invested in the railways
In 1881 there were 13,270 miles of track & by 1913 there
were 43,850 miles of track
Witte’s special project was the Trans-Siberian Railway
constructed between 1891 and 1902:
The line stretched 3,750 miles between Moscow and
Vladivostok
It was supposed to encourage migrants to work in more
remote areas where industry was picking up
Led to improved communication and trade links
Trans-Siberian Railway
Improvements in Figures
Table: The Russian economy: annual production (in millions of tons)
Coal
Pig Iron
Oil
Grain
1890
5.9
0.89
3.9
36
1900
16.1
2.66
10.2
56
1910
26.8
2.99
9.4
74
1913
35.4
4.1
9.1
90
1916
33.8
3.72
9.7
64
In real terms
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Not so impressive when we consider that Russia
was experiencing a massive growth in population
Per capita production was lower than official figures
suggested
Witte’s problems
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He made Russia too dependent on foreign loans
and investments
In giving priority to heavy industry he neglected
vital light engineering areas such as machine tool
production, which would have helped to modernise
manufacturing
He paid no attention to Russia’s agricultural needs
But Witte had to yield to the demands of the
military commanders who stated their transport and
equipment needs should have priority
continued
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Witte’s freedom of action was restricted by
resistance to change from the court and
government
Witte was disliked and not an easy man to get on
with but in ability he towered above the other
ministers
In 1903 the tsar forced him to resign
If his talents had been fully recognised Russia
may have been led to peaceful modernisation
The end of the ‘great spurt’
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By 1900 there was a serious trade recession
Earlier boom led to population rise in the cities, this was
disorganised and resulted in acute overcrowding
Recession led to mass unemployment in the cities and a
presence of thousands of disaffected workers on the
streets of St Petersburg and Moscow
Few workers gained from the industrial and financial
expansion and trade unions were weak
The rate of inflation rose by 40% between 1908 & 1914
but the average industrial wage only rose from 245 to 264
roubles a month. Disaffection loomed...