Key debate 1: 1. How ‘liberal’ was Russian government from 1855-81?

Was liberal:

• Emancipation

• Zemstva

• Judicial: less corrupt/more liberal and increased free speech

• Education

• Censorship

• Nationalities

Wasn’t liberal

• Emancipation

• Tsar initially rejected ideas for a more democratic system - thought it would drive the diverse empire apart

• National power - still the tsars

• Military and ecclesiastical courts were excluded from reforms.

Tsar WAS only making concessions to win support + keep autocracy

• Political

• Control and repression

• National Minorities

• Peasants

Tsar WASN’T only making concessions to win support + keep autocracy

• Emancipation

• Zemstva

• Judicial: less corrupt/more liberal and increased free speech

• Education

• Censorship: 1865 - reduced for publications

• Nationalities

The Zemstva WAS liberal

• Elected body → peasants could vote

• Improved education, public health, local economies, roads

• Appointed doctors + teachers

• The original Zemstva were seen as so effective that from 1870 the model was copied + applied to towns and cities (duma)

The Zemstva WASN’T liberal

• Electoral system favoured nobles

• Had to own a certain amount of land before could run → nobles = represented, peasants = overlooked

• The creation of the Zemstva appeared to divert the attention of the reformist nobility away from wanting changes w/ central gov

• Gov limited the work of doctors/teachers + stopped them from evolving to become better

• They were slow to be introduced/established in many provinces

Gov WAS almost ‘too liberal’ w/ reforms → led to AII’s opposition + assassination

• Liberal members of the Zemstva started to question the 'administrative monopoly of officialdom' → critical of a regime that they perceived to be unresponsive to their demands.

• Zemstva resulted in the emergence of the Populist movement.

  • When ‘Going to the People’ failed in 1874, group split → ‘the People's Will' turned to 'revolutionary terror' to gain support from peasants → eventually assassinated the tsar (1 March 1881)

• Replaced the 3rd Section w/ Okhrana (1880) → less repressive + effective → assasination

Gov WASN’T ‘too liberal’ w/ reforms → led to AII’s opposition + assassination

Threat of opposition ebbed + flowed in face of repression used by the Tsar

• Eg: 1877 - ‘Trail of the 50’ → LT imprisonment of key Populists

Judicial reforms:

1864

• Trial by jury for criminal cases → BUT not guarunteed -bureaucracy still did intervene so trial by jury not always guaranteed

• Evidence and witnesses could be challenged - less corrupt so really good for peasants

• Defence was given a lawyer, even if it was at the expense of the state

• Independent, salaried judges - less corrupt

• Judges couldn't be dismissed, even if their decisions displeased authorities

• Remained archaic vs west

• Gov officials couldn’t be tried

Liberal/non-liberal Emancipation terms

Liberal:

• Granted freedom to:

  • Marry w/o owner’s permission

  • Leave the land → got passports

  • Trade

• Allotment of land

• Emergence of Kulaks who did well out of the allocations + produced surplus etc (BUT only ~1% became serfs)

Non-liberal:

• State serfs not liberated until 1866

• RPs → 49yrs (longer than lifetime of serf) → not fully-free until these were payed

• Temporary Obligation → 2yrs while land distribution was worked out BUT 15% still ‘temporarily obligated’ in 1881

• Landowners chose what land they kept → peasants left w/ the bad quality land

• Now under control of Mir, rather than nobles (still controlled)

Liberal/non-liberal Military reforms

Liberal:

• Service reduced from 25 to 15 years

• modernised training and provided rigorous instruction for officers

• If recruits didn't have primary education, they were required to do 6 years, including literacy classes - all must be able to read

• Better provisioning and medical care were established - improved quality of life

• Military colonies abandoned - more freedom

• Military colleges set up to provide better training to non-noble officer corps - ability to move ranks for all - fairer

Non-liberal:

• Education + literacy were dropped for ordinary soldiers

• Nobles still dominated leadership positions

Liberal/non-liberal Education reforms

Liberal:

• Unis given more freedom over intake/curriculum etc

• Removal of social discrimination of who could attend school

• Women could attend university courses

• b/w 1865-99 number of uni students increased by fourfold + was more socially diverse

Non-liberal:

• Women couldn’t get degrees, despite attending courses

• Universities didn’t have enough resources so many set up study groups, mutual aid funds, and shared libraries etc which was actually forbidden although was done discreetly

Liberal/Non-liberal nationalities changes

Liberal:

• 1863: Finish diets established

• Poland’s EE (1862) = better terms (eg: 700,000 peasant families given freehold tenure of their own lands w/o RPs)

Non-liberal:

• 1863 - proposal to conscript Polish men to R army → uprising → Russification → Systematically dismantled Poland's autonomy

• 1864 seized property of the Roman Catholic church

• 1869 - shut Warsaw university and Russian replaced Polish as the official language

• 1867 - Banned Ukrainian language in publications + performances

AII WAS only making concessions to win support/remain an autocrat

• 1865: Rejects calls from the Zemstva for a constitution - reactionary

• Women couldn’t get degrees, despite attending courses

• Universities didn’t have enough resources so many set up study groups, mutual aid funds, and shared libraries etc which was actually forbidden although was done discreetly

• Nobles still dominated leadership positions in military

• EE: nobles no longer in political positions, instead police appointed by the central gov + under the Mir’s control

• Used 3rd section to exile opponents until replaced w/ Okhrama (1880)

AII WASN’T only making concessions to win support/remain an autocrat

• Replaced the 3rd Section w/ Okhrana (1880) → less repressive

• 1865: reduced censorship for publications

• 1864: Zemstva = forum for criticising the Tsar

• 1881: signed the Loris Melikov constitution which would have increased democracy before killed