The Reign of Alexander III, 1881-1894

Problems facing Alex III:

•  crisis following assassination of Alex II by the ‘People’s Will’
•  immense challenges maintaining Tsar’s supreme political power & keeping empire together
•  Alex II’s reforms had raised expectation of major change in Russia
•  pressure from advisers to make empire more like western & central Europe
  •  i.e. reforming autocracy, allowing elective parliament to share power w/ Tsar
•  hadn’t approved of father’s modernising methods

Repression & Reaction:

•  assassination of Tsar threatened social & political system
  • threat to Tsar meant threat to upper social classes therefore Alex III’s campaign of repression had widespread support from upper levels of society

Political Repression:

• to Alex III, those who supported political reform should be repressed
• brought in Pobedonostsev as Tsar’s chief minister & leading official of State Church
  • wielded immense power & influence
  • masterminded Alex III’s Manifesto, April 1881
• April Manifesto declared Tsar held absolute political power
• govt introduced Statute of State Security - setup govt controlled courts to try govt opponents
  • were meant as temporary measure, but stayed in existence until 1917
• press freedom = severely restricted, foreign books & newspapers = censored by Okhrana
  • aim: to prevent dangerous foreign ideas, e.g. democracy & parliamentary govt
• universities = under strict govt supervision
• extremist groups continued to operate underground

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