Summary Russia and its Rulers Complete Revision Notes (History OCR A-Level)
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Russia and its Rulers 1855—1964 (Y318)
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Russia 1855-1964
The nature of government
Ideologies: autocracy, dictatorship and totalitarianism
Autocracy
3 strands to autocracy
• The tsar expected total willing submission from his subjects
• The tsar was to be a moral judge on behalf of God and had a paternalistic duty to
protect and control his subjects
• The Russian Empire was so big that it was believed to be better if one person had total
control over imperial a airs
• A liberal democracy and constitutional government would have led to too many
people demanding too many di erent policies
Autocracy was usually enforced through manifestos, speeches and policies
KONSTANTIN POBEDONOSTEV (1827-1907)
• Pobedonostsev helped the Alexander II draft the judicial reforms of 1864
• He mentored the Alexander III and Nicholas II about Autocracy and is known as the
‘father of autocracy’ and was said to be a major in uence in their policy making
• He was appointed as chief procurator of the Holy Synod in 1880 allowing him to
give the tsar advice on religious matters and have an in uence in the Church
• An enemy of liberal democracy and anti-semitic due to his Russian Orthodox views
• His in uence faded during Nicholas 11’s reign until his death in 1907
Alexander II (1855-1881)
• Alexander II adhered very strongly to autocracy after the rst assassination attempt
made on him in 1866 such as by introducing the Zemstva
• However, he allowed many reforms which were bene cial to peasants such as
increasing freedom of movement and censorship
ALEXANDER II (1818-1881)
• He became the tsar of Russia in 1855 after his father, Nicholas I’s, death
• He believed that ‘it was better to abolish serfdom from above than wait for it to
begin to abolish itself from below’
• Introduced the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1961
• He allowed for the existence of private schools, altering the curriculum and
beginning inspectors
• In 1964, the Zemstva was formed to improve local government
• He gave more freedom to publishers and writers but these reforms ended after the
rst attempt on his life in 1866
• Many welcomed him as tsar, but some were impressed Russia was still autocratic
Page 1 of 48 A Level History
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, Russia 1855-1964
The Emancipation of the Serfs 1961
Social
• Serfs lived on states of landed nobility and were bound to them as their property
• The 1861 Abolition of Serfs (22 million, half peasant population) was signed by
Alexander II in February 1861, the aim was for serfs to become legal owners of
allotments, and said to be a 3 stage process:
1. Transition period
• Between 2-9 years and most things would stay the same
2. Temporary obligation
• The former serfs and landowners relationship would be regulated by law and
allotments would be allocated
3. Redemption operation
• The former serfs could purchase their own land from the landowners usually using
government loans
• Most serfs couldn’t read or write, therefore they had expectations that complete
freedom would come sooner
Economic
• The serfs could pay the dues in two forms, work (barshcnina) or dues (obrok) as some
landowners turned over most of their land to the serfs
• Male serfs had to pay poll tax and were liable to conscription (mandatory army)
• The size of the land granted was dependant on land value, local customs and regional
di erences
• In more fertile regions, former serfs would lose land because repayment of
government loans would last 49 years with 6% interest per annum
• Most serfs didn’t have a sustainable income so they couldn’t a ord to buy back their
land, they believed that they should be given land without payment including all the
other land on the estate as they had worked on it for generations
Political
‣ Governance of the newly freed serfs was handled by new local peasant governments
‣ The peasants believed the Tsar was on their side and heavily in favour of reforms, by
1863, most peasants realised that they would have to wait for true freedom as these
were the terms of the emancipation
Alexander III (1881-1894)
• Alexander III kept even closer in line with autocracy after blaming moves towards
liberalism for his father’s assassination in 1881
• He reversed many changes that his father had made, strengthening his autocratic rule
• He was a very cruel ruler - ordered the assassination of Lenin’s brother and many Jews
ALEXANDER III (1845-1894)
• Became the tsar of Russia in 1881 when Alex II was assassinated
• He introduced the Statute Concerning measures for the Production of State Security
and the Social Order and the Russi cation program in 1881 too
• He allowed cheap loans for the purchase of land in Peasant Land Banks
• Land Captains were appointed to control the peasants
• Alex III’s rule is seen as one of a reaction and repression in response to his father’s
more relaxed period of governance
• He wanted to ensure social unrest and opposition to tsarist was controlled
Page 2 of 48 A Level History
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, Russia 1855-1964
Nicholas II (1894-1918)
• Nicholas II made liberal concessions and his dilution of reforms in the Fundamental
Laws were signi cant as they helped preserve autocracy
• He kept autocratic control by introducing the Duma as a tool for politicians to promote
autocracy
• All the tsars consistently promoted and justi ed autocracy and even when reforms were
enacted it was clear they still had ultimate power and control
NICHOLAS II (1868-1918)
• Became the tsar of Russia in 1894 after the death of Alexander III
• He announced the October manifesto in 1905 and introduced the Duma in 1906
• He was murdered in 1918 after bringing Russia into the First World War in 1914 in
which his mishandling led to his downfall
• Nicholas seemed to lack the political knowledge, understanding and skill of Alex III
• He had a stubborn attitude which resulted in strict adherence to autocracy
Changes in the way autocracy was implemented
• Alexander II introduced a string of reforms which indicated to represent a dilution of
autocracy
• Alexander III used a more repressive form of autocracy and opposition such as the
People’s Will were ruthlessly repressed and many of Alex II’s reforms were reversed
• His ‘reaction’ was heavily in uenced by Pobedonostsev
• Nicholas II implemented constitutional reforms but these were actually forced on the
tsar as a result of economic crisis and the result of Russo-Japanese War (1904-05)
• Political, economic and social reforms were never made with the intention of the tsar
relinquishing any degree of control
Dictatorship
Marxism
1. The idea of superstructure
• Marx believed the foundation of society was maintained and established by a ruling elite
2. The labour theory of value
• Claimed that under capitalist economy, the proletariat would never gain the full value of
their e orts. Especially as workers were increasingly realising that they were being
exploited, a worker uprising would overthrow the system
3. The dictatorship of the proletariat
• Before full communism could emerge, there would be a dictatorship of the proletariat
where political control would be placed in the hands of the workers
KARL MARX (1818-1883)
• He worked with Friedrich Engels who he worked with to develop ideas about
revolutionary communism
• He was expelled to France after being too radical and then produced
• The 12,000 word Communist Manifesto expressed their principles of communism
and how the ideology was likely to lead to revolution
Page 3 of 48 A Level History
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, Russia 1855-1964
FRIEDRICH ENGELS (1820-1895)
• Engels believed deprivation he saw in Manchester was due to failings of capitalism
• Marx was the thinker of radical ideas and Engels provided the air and money
• Marx and Engels set up the English Communist League in 1846 in Brussels
Marxism-Leninism
• Initially Lenin and Martov supported worker attempts to gain higher wages and better
working conditions
• But when help was given to organise strikes in St Petersburg, the authorities exiled the
ringleaders to which Lenin argued that this showed the ‘superstructure’ never failing to
put workers in their place
• Lenin decided it would be better to overthrow existing ruling order by attacking the base
• Lenin revised his own version of Marxism in a pamphlet ‘What is is to be done?’ (1902)
where he argued the dialectical phase could be speeded up in Russia
• After the October Revolution, the Civil War began where some believed Lenin welcomed
the war as an opportunity to eradicate the bourgeoise
• Lenin’s toleration of ‘moderates’ was clear when he replaced War Communism with the
NEP which was more liberal allowing people to produce goods without restriction
• Trotsky, however, wanted a more permanent revolution where communism was spread
throughout the whole world
• Lenin, like the tsars, adjusted ideology and policies to avert opposition
V. I. LENIN (1870-1924)
• Lenin was exiled to Siberia in 1897 and in 1900 joined the Social Democrats and
went into a self-imposed exile
• In 1903, he led the Bolsheviks as a breakaway group from the SD’s
• He was exiled overseas once again between 1906-17 but returned to Russia after
the February revolution to overthrow the Provisional Government in October
• Some believe Lenin laid a rm foundation for future communist leaders to build on
Totalitarianism
Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism
• Stalin argued the Communist Party couldn’t in uence the growth of communism
elsewhere until it was rmly established in the Soviet Union
• Stalin gained leadership of the Soviet Union by 1927 and introduced a re ned version of
Marxism-Leninism which factors included:
1. The base of society could only be permanently changed by a particular type of
superstructure which led him to introduce a command economy centred around Five-
Year Plans and collectivisation
2. The superstructure had to be under total control of one individual and disagreement
would be labelled bourgeoise - Stalin enforced his ideology through his cult of
personality, repression and propaganda
• Some believe Stalin’s ideology provided a practical solution to the Soviet Union’s
problems
Page 4 of 48 A Level History
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