The Land, the People and Tsardom

• In 1894 Imperial Russia stretched over 8,000,000 square miles (it was huge)
• It covered a large part of two continents
• Population betwee 1814 and 1914 quadrupled from 40 million to 165 million
• Two capital cities (located in European Russia): Moscow and St.Petersburg

• Its vast size gave the impression of strength; however, as the population contained a wide variety of peoples of different race, language, religion and culture, controlling this large variety had long been a major problem for Russian govs
• Facts:
• 55.6% spoke Russian as mother tongue
• 22.4% spoke Ukranian as mother tongue
• 22 major languages spoken in Russia in 1897

• Russian Empire governed by one person - the Tsar
• Romanov dynasty since 1613
• Tsar was an absolute ruler:
  • No restrictions on his power
  • People owed him total obedience
• His absolute rule had been clearly expressed in the 'Fundamental Laws of the Empire' by Nicholas I in 1832
• His rule was exercised by three official bodies:
  • The Imperial Council - group of honorary advisers directly responsible to the Tsar
  • The Cabinet of Ministers - ran the various gov departments
  • The Senate - supervised the operation of the law
• NB: These bodies had much less power than their titles suggested
  • They were appointed, they only advised and had no authority over the Tsar

• By the beginning of the 20th Century, all major western-European countries had some form of democratic or representative government
  • Russia did not - the Tsar's absolute power showed how little it had developed politically
• Reforming Tsars like Alexander II (1855-81) had tried to modernise the country:
  • Re-built Moscow and St.Petersburg, improved transport system, made army more efficient
  • Only achievements in practical areas - not the extension of political rights
• 1881 in Russia: still an offence to oppose the tsar or his gov
• No Parliament
• Political parties were illegal
• Never a free press
• Gov censorship on published books and journals

• Liberal ideas had seeped into Russia but couldn't be openly expressed
• Supporters of reform or change had to go underground
• These groups were frequently infiltrated by Okhrana agents
  • Raids, arrests, imprisonments and general harassment were regular occurences

• Denial of free speech drove many poltical activists towards extremism
  • E.g. Tsar Alexander II killed by bomb planted by 'The People's Will'
• Russia had a society where state oppression was met with revolutionary terrorism
  • No moderate middle ground could develop for ordered poltical debate

• Branch of Christianity that had been entirely independent of any outside authority
• Had an essentially Russian character
• Supported the Tsar in his absolute rule
• By late 19th century it had become deeply conservative
  • Opposed to political change
  • Determined to preserve the tsarist system in its reactionary form
• It used its spiritual authority to teach the Russian people that it was their duty to be totally obedient to the tsar as God's annointed

• Ruling class
• Upper class
• Commercial class
• Working class
• Peasants

• Comparatively small commerical, professional and working classes
• Great predominance of peasants in the population
• E.g. in 1897:
  • 12% - upper class
  • 4% - working class
  • 82% - peasants

• Slow economic development:
  • Low numbers of urban workers, high numbers of peasants
• Urals did, however, produce considerable amounts of iron
• Moscow and St. Petersburg had extensive textile factories
• Most villages had a smelting works and produced wooden, flaxen or woollen goods
• NB: These were on a relatively small scale

• Sheer size of Russia and its undeveloped transport system - limited chances for industrial expansion
• Absence of an effective banking system also limited chances:
  • Hadn't mastered the art of successful borrowing and investment
• Financial slugglishness discouraged the rise of entrepreneurialism

• Although 4/5 population were peasants, a thriving agrarian economy had failed to develop.
• It had an inefficient pattern of agriculture.
• The vast size of Russia meant that a lot of its land was unusable:
  • Much of Russia lay too far north to enjoy a climate suitable for crop growing or cattle rearing
  • Arable farming restricted to the Black Earth region

• Large number of peasants in the population meant there was not enough fertile land to go round
• Serfs had been emancipated under the Emancipation Decree of 1861:
  • They were entitled to buy land but the prices were too high
    • Caused by a shortage of suitable farming territory and gov taxation of land sales
  • Peasants could therefore only buy land if they borrowed money from a gov special fun
• The ex-serfs found themselves with large mortgage repayments that would take them generations to pay

• Deep ingrained prejudice against granting rights to the mass of the people among the governing class
• Peasants were mostly illiterate and uneducated, suspicious of change and lived in great poverty:
  • Points to how socially, politically and economically backward Imperial Russia was
• The sheer size of the peasant population and their coarse ways made the governing elite scared of them
• They believed the only way they could keep these 'dark masses' in check would be through severe repression
• Attempted to educate the peasants in the past:
  • Undermined by the fear that any improvement might threaten the ruling class' privileges
• By keeping them uneducated and in squalor conditions, they were kept in 'safe ignorance'

• Lower ranks filled largely by conscription (also used as punishment for law-breakers):
  • Kept the 'dark masses' in check
• Life in the armed forces was a brutal experience for a common soldier or sailor
• Notorious for severe discipline and grim conditions
• The grimness of service life had caused over one million deaths of soldiers in peacetime during the reign of Nicholas I (1825-55)
• Russia believed it needed a large army because of its large empire
• Around 1 1/2 million men in imperial forces throughout 19th century
• Cost of maintaining army and navy took 45% of gov annual expenditure:
  • The largest item of state spending - only 4% went to education - clearly gov priorities were unbalanced

Weaknesses

• Higher ranks reserved for the aristocracy
• Commissions (offical appointments of individuals to officer ranks) were bought and sold:
  • This weakened it as a fighting force (they didn't really earn their positions)

• Beginning of 18th Century:
  • Peter I had tried to modernise Russia by establishing a full-scale civil service with the aim of maintaining central gov control throughout the empire
• By middle of 19th Century:
  • Many critics codemned the civil service as a corrupt bureaucracy where nepotism was rife and was inherently incompetent
    • Said that's why Russia was so backward
  • NB: Nepotism is where those distributing positions and offices give them to family or friends rather than to people who deserve them
• At local and national levels:
  • The law, the gov, the police and the militia were in the hands of a set of men who only thought of their own advantage

The Land

• Russia's geography
• Its great size

The Economy

• Undeveloped industry 
• Backward agriculture

The People

• The social structure
• Tiny dominant elite
• The 'dark masses'
• 80% peasant population

The Tsarist System

• Autocratic government
• Reactionary Church
• Corrupt bureaucracy
• Oppressive army