COMPARE AND CONTRASt RULE NICK AND ALEXI

Economic modernisation thesis

both tsars pursued state-led economic modernisation, but while Alex laid its foundation, Nick extended it without the political or social reform needed to manage its consequences

Alexanders reform on taxes (economic modernisation)

Vyshengradsky and Witte used protective tarrifs, such as the 1891 Tarrif act’s 33% duties and foreign loans, notably from France 1888 to stabilise Russian finnances

When did Vyshengradsky and Witte serve

1887-92 1892-1903

What was Alexander’s economic policy summed up as (economic modernisation)

We shall go hungry but we must export, Grain exports rose by 18% between 1881 and 1891 and the budget was in surplus by 1892

Where was alexander’s economic modernisation directed from?

Above, state capitalism, which began the real industrial revolution of the 1890’s

Why were Alexander’s economic reforms limited?

came at the cost of peasent hardship, 1891 famine killed 400000 people, exposed dangers of relying on grain exports, left peasentry impoverished and fuelled social tension

What did Nicholas continue? (economic modernisation)

Witte’s modernisation the Gold Standard 1897 boosted foreign investment, tripled foreign investment 1894-1904 with loads mainly from France

What massive project did Nicholas oversee? economic modernisation

construction of the transiberian railway 9300km which had begun in 1891

What did Nicholas do overall? economic modernisation

Nicholas inherited and extended Alexanders economic model but added no political or social reform, rapid industrialisation sharpened class division and unrest

What does Tarr argue in referance to Nicholas’s economic reforms?

growth came from a very low base, impresive grwoth rates disguised how far Russia still lagged behind the west, 4/5 of pop still peasants

Economic modernisation overall judgement

Impact diverged, Alexander constructed the foundations which Nicholas built upon, however social tensions under nicholas failed to improve. Gerschenkrone also argues that Witte’s reforms ‘failed to stimulate the internal market”, problem rooted by alexander

Tsarist repression main argument

both tsars relied on repression to defend autocracy, but under alex it was sysetmatic and effective, wheras under nick it became reactive and inconsistent

What was the Statue of State Security under alexander? TR

1881, Lenin remarked “the de facto constiution of Russia until 1917”

What was the 1881 Statue of State Secutiry rienforced by and what did it cause? Alexander TR

rienforced by Land Captains 1889 and restriction on the zemstva 1890 and city dumas 1892, tightened state control over local government

What did Alexander’s chief ideologue Pobedonostsev do? TR

revived ideology of Autocracy, orthodoxy and nationality, Russification supressed national minorities, including finns poles and jews, censorship tightened

What did tsarist repression under Alexander do to minorities by 1917

Finns, armenians and Baltic germans had been driven into oppositon, weakening imperial unity

What did Nicholas decalare in his speech about Tsarist authority?

1895 “uphold autocracy as unswervingly as did my father”

What did Nicholas rely on for Tsarist repression?

Okhrana and army to supress dissent as at Bloody sunday 1905 and Lena Goldfield massacre 1912

Why did Nicholas’s tsarist repression falter?

his leadership was weak Cummins argues that Nicholas was politically naive and that his poor understanding encouraged intrigue, he kept hs fathers machinery but applied it inconsistantly and brutality provoked revolution as opposed to containing it

Tsarist repression final judgement

showed shared autocratic ideology but alexander used it to restore order wheras under Nicholas the same methods destroyed the regime’s legitimacy

Growth of opposition thesis statement

the clearest contrast between the two reigns lies in the growth of opposition. Alexander II contained it whereas under Nicholas II it grew into revolution

How did Alex reverse his fathers reforms? GO

by reversing his father’s liberal reforms and using censorship and exile, Alexander drove radicals underground, peoples will and marxists stayed small and disorganised

Why do historians judge Alexander’s reign as one of ‘stability and peace abroad’

the industrial working class was still small, the opposition had no mass base, existed but contained, however reaction still bred intellectual dissent as Jews, minorities and students joined revolutionary movements

How did the growth of the industrial class impact opposition to Nicholas? GO

idustrialisation expanded urban proletariat to 11 million, by 1900 harsh conditions of 14-15 hour days fuelled strikes and growth of marxist, new base for socialist agitation

what did the 1905 revolution force Nicholas to do? GO

grant the limited reforms through the duma and october manifesto, but his dismissal or Witte 1906 and his reversal of these concessions destroyed faith in the regime

What did Nicholas’s economic reforms unintentionally do?

create the social classes that would overthrow him, repression without reform made revolution inevitable

what did short term stabilisation under stolypin do?

show that opposition was not yet unstoppable, but tsarist inflexibility ensured longterm collpase