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Summary Alexander III - Russia and its Rulers OCR A-Level History
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What was Alexander III expecting to be Tsar? - 05/10/21Who was he:
King 1881 at 36
Born in 1845
Tall - 6’3 and strong - entertained his son’s friend by tearing cards in half
First Tsar since before Peter the Great to have a beard (had connotations of being
very Russian and any modern)
Grudd and unsophisticated, hasted society balls. When one partner thanked him for
a dance he said ‘why can’t you be honest? I have ruined your slippers and you have
made me sick with the scent you use’
Became heir in 1865 when his older brother Grand Duke Nicholas died from
Tuberculosis aged 21
Even considered abdicating ‘ i feel incapable of ruling, i have too little respect for
people and get fed up with everything that concerns my position;
Like his grandfather Nicholas I, Alexander III was never educated for the role, indeed
his tutor though him quite thick and didn’t teach him to read and write until he
became heir at the age of 20
Never close to his father, disapproved of his father decision to keep his favourite
mistress Katya in the same place as his mother
Had a strong sense of morality and duty, Served in the army during the Russo-
Turkish war of 1877
A natural conservative, he criticised extension of conscription to all classes as a
violation of Russian tradition
Had few vices except for vodka, refused to give up drinking even after developing the
kidney disease that would eventually kill him
Alexander’s views were shaped by his conservative tutor Konstantin Pobedonostsev
- hated the idea of a constitutional “ i hear everywhere the trite, deceitful, and
accursed word ‘constitution’.’’ and that those drafting it were ‘perverted apes’
When Alexander II the constitution that nearly happened dies with him
Four immediate steps taken by Alexander III:
Orders a crackdown on the People’s Will. Five of his fathers assassins were
executed on the 3rd of April 1881
Publishes the ‘Manifesto of Unshakeable Autocracy’ written by Pobedonostsev
Introduced to Statute of State Security
Begins plans for the church of the Saviour of Spilled Blood (opposite) on the site of
Alexander II’s assassination - has very eastern and orthodox architecture
Message of the ‘Manifesto of Unshakable Autocracy’: - written by Konstantin Pobedonostsev
People who killed Alexander II would not get away with it they were ‘monsters’ - the
assassins were out of the ordinary for the Russian people, fear for the gov now is
that the people are turning against the system and the potential of what is still out
there as it is shown it is possible and is not ‘divine’
Stresses a lot the god given power of the Tsar and that to strike at the tsar is to strike
at God
Tries to push that the Russian people like the tsar and the people who killed them are
extremists and do not represent the people as a whole and that mourned him with
‘universal grief and terror’
The Russian people are ready to lay down their lives for their Tsars
‘Generation to generation have been devoted to the Hereditary Tsarist Power’
Also a message about how great Alexander II’s reforms were for the people and that
‘it was not by stern orders as by goodness and kindness, which are also attributes of
, power, that He carried out the greatest undertaking of his reign - the emancipation of
the serfs’
The terms of the Statute of Security:
Significantly strengthened and extended the powers of the state in pursuit of
revolutionaries
Ministry of Internal Affairs could declare any part of the country to be in a state of
‘reinforced’ or ‘extraordinary’ protection - this meant that the authorities had the right
to prohibit all gatherings of more than 12 people, suspend periodicals, close schools
and unis and dismiss local employed as well as prosecute any individual for political
crimes - Special government controlled courts operated outside the legal system and
all judges, magistrates and officials sympathetic to the revolution were sacked - at
first the regulation was for 3 years but regular extensions meant that it became
(according to Lenin) ‘the real Russian constitution’
Reach of power of secret police (Okhrana) were extended - its offensive against the
revolutionaries following Alexander II’s assassination had been extremely effective.
The Okhrana had agents in almost every building and caretakers now became
authorised government agents required to report suspected illegal activities
But even the Okhrana did not provide a genuine permanent protection from the threat
of revolutionaries as it was riddled with corruption and dishonesty
Ekaterinoslav Police Chief (Rittmeister Krementskii) had a national reputation for
efficiency - each year he closed down 3 to 4 illegal printing presses until it was
discovered he had the presses set up in order to ‘discover’ them
Okhrana factory informers were supposed to watch out for early signs of unrest but
spent most of their time looking for instigators of the strikes - but even this policy
didn’t work
Should also note that some plans (that scared even some conservatives) put forward
were dropped e.g. to end the autonomy of the zemstva. But their independence was
reduced in 1890 and at the same time the number of voters eligible to take part in
elections was drastically reduced - 1892 estimated 0.7% of population of Moscow
and St Petersburg were eligible
Was Alexander III’s repression successful? - 11/10/21
Propaganda:
Borki train disaster - 1888 - Gov owned newspapers celebrated alexander III’s
heroics in helping his family escape and claimed the Tsar’s survival was due to divine
intervention
Church propaganda:
Repression under Alexander III continued through tot Russian Orthodox Church
As lay head of the church Pobedonostsev, believed in re-educating the people was
the best way to stop revolution
Under him in 1894 the number of clergy had increased markedly (White clergy by
20%, Black clergy by 64%)
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