How the rulers of Russia dealt
with opposition 1855 – 1964.
Alexander II 1856-1881
Methods
Tried to ‘reform from above to prevent revolution from below’.
e.g. emancipation, zemstva, trial by jury
Evaluation
Many of his reforms were flawed
They certainly failed to popularise his regime
From the mid-60s opposition flourished e.g. Narodniks, Land & Liberty, Peoples’
Will
After a failed assassination attempt in 1866 Alexander II reverted to more
reactionary methods but proved an ‘inefficient liberal and an ineffective autocrat’
Assassinated by the Peoples’ Will in 1881
Alexander III 1881-1894
Methods
With Pobedonostev re-imposed authoritarian rule – his reactionary policies
are usually known as ‘the Reaction’
Land Captains, the Okhrana
Evaluation
Apart from a failed assassination attempt in 1887, opposition was driven
underground or abroad; it is possible to argue that Alexander III dealt with
opposition very effectively – that he restored the authority of the Romanov
dynasty.
However it is also possible to criticise him; he turned away from reform and his
reign, which included the famine of 1891 and the start of the rapid expansion of
urban slums under Witte’s ‘Great Spurt’, set the dynasty on collision course with
revolution. As Trotsky commented: ‘Alexander III bequeathed Nicholas II a
revolution’.
Nicholas II 1894-1917
Methods
With Pobedonostev attempted to ‘rule like my great unforgettable father’
Condemned plans for a constitution as ‘senseless dreams’
Was forced into reforming as a consequence of the 1905 Revolution
Evaluation
Lacked his father’s ability; a weak personality; increasingly prone to mistakes; poor
judgement
In early years of his reign rapid growth of opposition groups: SDs
(Bolsheviks/Mensheviks), SRs, Cadets
By 1905 failure to achieve a ‘short victorious war’ against Japan and the horror of
‘Bloody Sunday’ saw Russia spiral into revolution
By Feb 1917, abandoned by the elites, he was forced to abdicate and the dynasty
ended
Kerensky & the PG 1917
Methods
Planned to rule temporarily until democratic elections to a Constituent
Assembly could be organised
Evaluation
Misjudged the popular mood, continuing to fight in the First World War and
hesitating to give out the nobles’ land to the peasants
By October when Kerensky armed the Bolshevik Red Guards to defend Petrograd
from Kornilov’s failed coup the game was up
Easily overthrown by Lenin’s Bolsheviks in October
Lenin 1917 - 1924
Methods
Introduced immediate reforms – Decree on Land, Decree on War
Used ‘Red Terror’ through the Cheka and the Red Army in order to defeat
the forces of counter-revolution in the Civil War 1918-20
Crushed the Kronstadt Revolt of 1921 ruthlessly, but then reformed by
abandoning War Communism for the NEP
Evaluation
Massive achievement to first seize power in October 1917 and then to defeat the
Whites
Showed he could use the most brutal methods to defend his revolution
Historians argue as to whether he was so dictatorial because of circumstance or by
natural preference
Introduction of NEP in 1921 suggests he was prepared to change course if
circumstance (famine e.t.c.) demanded it
Stalin 1924+ - 1953
Methods
Ruthless in his acquisition and accumulation of power
Paranoid about possible opponents; a latter-day Ivan the Terrible
Terror, purges, Show Trials, gulags, de-kulakisation
Evaluation
Ruled supreme having rid himself of all possible rivals (and countless others by
1940)
Certainly possible to argue that he was coldly efficient in dealing with opponents,
but it is also possible to argue that his fixation with getting his retaliation in first
against real or imagined opponents led to much unnecessary and gratuitous
brutality.
Khrushchev 1954+ - 1964
Methods
Attempted to reform – destalinisation and ‘the Thaw’
In his secret speech of 1956 admitted that under Stalin the Soviet peoples
‘came to fear their own shadows’
Evaluation
As with Alexander II 100 years earlier (and as with Gorbachev in the 1980s) ,
Khrushchev proves that reforming a monolithic, backwards and huge Russian
Empire is a difficult act.
In 1964 he was told to resign and retired (unique amongst the rulers of the Soviet
Union)