Russia and its rulers: Alex III

Background: Influences: Assassination of farther thought it was a result of him "give an inch and taking a mile". Also from highly conservative tutor Pobedonostsev.

Background: Crackdown: 5 people from peoples will executed for assassination of Alex II, 10,000 arrested by Okhrana (the new secret police).

The Safe guard system: Background: August 1881. More power given to Governor-general and Police Chiefs. Lasted through Nic II reign to 1917.

The Safe guard system: (counter) Reform: Two types of safe guard- Reinforced safe guard- Could arrest and imprison people for 3 months with no trial and close and fine local press. curved 10 district including Moscow and St Petersburg. Type 2 Extraordinary safe guard- Close Dumy and Zemstva.

The Safe guard system: Impacts: Eroded free press; reversed westernisation of judiciary; compromised authority of dumy and Zemstva.

Land Captains: 

Background: Zemstva and Dumi introduced under Alexander II

(Counter) Reform: Introduction of centrally appointed delegates of Governor Genrals= Land Captains who controlled Zemstva.

Impact: Reduced power of Zemstva but did not replace it.

Judgement: 

Changes: Land Banks introduced for peasants 1882. Further limits on working hours for woman and children 1882. Poll Tax Abolished 1886

"Amended reforms": Voting rights for Moscow city council reduced from 20,000 to 7,000

Over all Alex III makes amendments to existing reforms rather than putting them back in to emancipation.

Nationality, Industry and Agriculture 

Nationality: Background: 100 Languages and nationalities in Russia with only 44% being Russain. Pobedonostsev= "Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationality" heavily influence by what was happening in Prussia. Katkov who was anti polish and admired British sense of nationality.

Russification: Turks and Caucasus had to Russify names= sense of nationality amongst them grew. All teaching in Polish Primary schools had to be in Russian except RE and Polish. 

Anti-Semitism: Rapidly increased during the early 1880s. Jews now confined to pale of Settlement where they had previously been allowed to leave. Limits on the numbers allows to attend uni, and join the legal, military and medical professions. Pogroms "little thunder" actions against Jews became more widespread.

Industry:

Background: Agricultural slump 1879. Emancipation a slow process. Military spending was high. Moscow city population grew by 3. 

Industry Continued:

Policies: 1st minister of finance: Bunge (1881-7 controlled expenditure to attract foreign investment) 2nd minister of finance Vyshnegradsky (1887-92 raised import duties to 33% and had an export drive- during a famine??? how ever did attract investment from France.

Famine: 1891-2= 2 million dead, Government response was weak, but Zemstvo response was much stronger= more power to them.

Witte: 3rd Finance minister. "leap frog" economically resulted in growth doubling. "Save Russia by rapid and Forceful industrialisation" his book. secured another french loan in 1893 spent on railways and capital goods. Trans Siberian Railways 1893. Continued in to Nic II.

Agicultue: Background: Durnovo minister of interior Conservative believed in the Mir. Rural pop expulsion (1861= 74million 1913=164million)

Policies: Land Bank 1882 ->  gov credit for land owners. Peasant land backs 1885. 1893 Taxes through Mir =less independence for peasants.

Populism: A vague, peasant centered idea on a Utopian ideas. Activities were 1884 Vera Figner being arrested, Students at St Petersburg Uni tried to make boms to kill Alex III 1886/7 = 5 Executed including Lenin's brother. No grate out come for them as Terror and propaganda had both faild. 

Marxists: Ideas: all history is the history of class wars. 3 stages in history Feudal (serfs v Land owners) -> Industrial (workers v factory owners "Borshwarzi") -> communist people organize them selves and work together. 1883 Georgii Plekhanov starts Russian Marxist Group believed that peasants were an "inert mass". This turned in to the Russian Social Democratic Workers party under Lenin in 1898.

Social Revolutionaries: Less about theory or workers, more about peasants. little activity under Alex III, lacked a long term program become more important later, with use of terrorism.

Liberals: The urban well off middle class to rich to be Marxist. Wanted voting rights and modernisation, but not for every one. Responsible for the development of Zemstva. No use of boms just used Zemstva and purely intellectual ideas.