the russian autocracy in 1855

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  • Created by: jingerb99
  • Created on: 07-02-22 17:45
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  • the russian autocracy in 1855
    • political context
      • tsar’s supporters
        • church
          • controlled by tsar
          • closely entwined with the state
        • advisers and ministers
          • chosen by the tsar
        • nobility
          • served as provincial governors or in special committees appointed by tsar
        • bureaucracy
          • were paid noble officials
          • riddled with corruption and incompetence
          • passed orders from central government to provinces, districts and towns
        • army
          • absorbed around 45% of annual expenditure
          • included 1.5 million conscripted serfs serving for 25 years
        • police
          • prevented freedom of speech, the press and travel abroad
          • forbade political meetings and strikes
          • enforced censorship
      • over 50% of russian population were serfs
        • just over half were privately owned
        • most worked on mir lands
    • economic situation
      • russian economy predominantly rural compared to the west
      • serf-based economy, limiting forces that drive change
        • wage-earners
          • serfs were poor, with most surviving on own produce
          • starvation was common in winter
          • little opportunity for serfs to become ‘wage-earners’
        • internal market demand
          • goods were exchanged
          • no internal market demand
            • money was irrelevant
            • market forces beginning to develop in some areas
              • peasants sought wage-work in towns when farming was slack
        • entrepreneurs
          • small landowning elite largely obtained what they needed
            • squeezed it out of serfs through service and feudal dues
          • many landowners were in debt
            • money of little use
            • little incentive to seek alt ways of making money
    • impact of the crimean war 1853-6
      • military and administrativeinadequacies
        • outdated tech
        • poor transport
        • inadequate leadership
        • issues of having a conscripted army
      • internal issues
        • trade disrupted
        • increase in peasant uprising

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