
 1796: Catherine the Great died
 Alexander I becomes tsar
 Very conservative ruler
 Established the Holy Alliance with Prussia and
Austria
 Tight control to keep liberal ideas from spreading in
Russia


 Nicholas I (ruled from 1825-1855)
 Also a conservative ruler
 Decembrist Revolt (1825)
 Revolt led by army officer who were demanding reform
 Nicholas responds by brutally crushing the rebellion
 Tight censorship, political opponents arrested, secret police expanded, etc.


 Anti-western sentiment hindered Russia’s industry
 Refusal to adopt new technologies
 Continued to rely on serfs to do labor
 Russian economic development was also hindered by the lack of a strong middle class and sub-par transportation systems


 Russia had been pursuing policies of expansion for a couple hundred years
 Conflict with Ottoman Empire over lands in the
Black Sea region
 Crimean War leads to a humiliating defeat for
Russia


 Following Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War, demands for reform began again.
 Alexander II (ruled 1855-1881) began to initiate reform
 Emancipation of Serfs in 1861
 Former serfs were given land (known as mir) but no political rights. They were also still tied to the land until they were able to repay debt owed for the land they were given.


 Alexander II also created local government councils
 Zemstvos in villages
 Dumas in urban areas
 Zemstvos and Dumas were in charge of local policies
 Road building, education, etc.
 Alexander II also increased recruitment into the army and implemented education policies for soldiers
 He did NOT, however, attempt to expand political rights to the lower classes

 Lack of a strong middle class hindered Russia’s industrial development.
 Russian government began to push for industrialization
 Trans-Siberian Railroad helped to stimulate the
Russian economy by improving transportation
 By the 1880’s, factories were being constructed in major cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg)
 Russia, however, remained a predominantly agricultural, rural society


 Nationalism became a destabilizing force in Russia
 Russia was multi-ethnic with numerous different nationalities and cultures living under one government
 Intelligentsia (educated professionals) began to voice radical ideas on political reform


 Nihilists: called for reform
 Rejected the materialism of the west
 Saw the Russian people as a revolutionary force
 Used literature to try and bring change
 Often advocated violent revolution.
 Anarchists: rejected the need for a state/government
 Michael Bakunin famous anarchist


 Marxism became a popular ideology
 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov…aka Lenin was a major supporter of Marxist ideas
 Author of What is to be Done?, a pamphlet that circulated among radical intelligentsia in the early-
1900’s
 Lenin believed that Russia was a prime location for a revolution.
 His followers became known as Bolsheviks


 1881: Alexander II was assassinated
 Killed by a group of radicals known as “People’s Will”
 Hoped that the death of the tsar would spark a popular revolution…did not happen
 Alexander III assumed throne after his father’s murder
 Ruled from 1881-1894
 Responds to his father’s assassination with force


 Alexander III began to crack down on opposition
 Professors and teachers were put under tight government control to prevent them from teaching liberal ideas
 Many critics of the government fled into exile


 Alexander III implemented a policy known as
Russification
 Banned use of languages other than Russian in schools
 Placed restrictions on non-Orthodox religions
 Ex: Jews
 These policies caused unrest to grow among the intelligentsia as well as various ethnic groups living in the Russian empire


 1904-1905: Russia went to war with Japan
 See pages 719-721 for additional information
 Japan wins
 Russia shocked by defeat
 Again, the people demand reforms.


 Popular uprising against the tsar
 Refer to pages 721-722 for more information
 Thousands of people marched on the tsar’s Winter
Palace demanding reform
 Troops fired on the crowd
 “Bloody Sunday”
 News of the massacre spread, leading to antigovernment demonstrations


 Nicholas II (ruled from 1894-1917) agreed to a few reforms
 New constitution as well as the election of a parliament
(Duma)
 Forgive redemption payments that former serfs were required to pay in return for communal lands (mir)
 Relaxation of Russification policies
 These reforms, however, did not satisfy the most radical of the intelligentsia
 Revolutionary ideas continued to thrive….especially those of the Bolsheviks