Putin's Russia Midterm

How did physical geography influence Russia's economic development and political history?

Agriculture

• Russia is covered in forests dominated by a type of nutrient poor soil that is hard to cultivate

• timing of rainfall leads to droughts during growing season or flooding during harvest time

• harsh climate of the taiga there are long cold winters, short hot summers, and short spiring and autumns, leading to short growing seasons

• soil + climate = they barely harvested enough to survive

 

Economic development:

• Because farmers were poor due to low harvests, there weren't buyers to form a large market for goods in cities so commerce was low. Instead, cities came to serve primarily military and administrative purposes

• People were tied to farming for survival, so industry didn’t develop

 

Politics:

• Because people were barely surviving off the low harvest state became not just a ruler, but a provider that people depended on for land protection, and grain reserves that helped them survive, rather than it being a government that people participated in or resisted

• In most societies, the number of political actors grows when people can specialize in different industries such as farming, governing, teaching, or building, but this didn’t happen cuz people were tied to farming for survival.

• Autocracy persisted because no group had the wealth or material resources to challenge it

Russia associated with Europe

·       Russia reflects Europe, but at an earlier point in Europe’s history. On the surface, Russia appears to be like the rest of Europe, because it has a modern bureaucracy, an army, a navy railways, factories, and banks, and commerce to some extent, much of which is apparent in large cities like St. Petersburg and Odessa

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·       monasteries in the rural countryside of Russia show he that psychologically, Russians reflect the Europe of the Middle Ages in that they were deeply religious and valued spirituality and community, whereas Western Europe is implied to value rationality, science, and individuality.  

Russia as Eurasian approach, why is this more accurate?

·       Russia is unified by the steppe system and riverways making it historically destined to comprise a single state entity

·       it has inherited both Asian and European culture because it inherited the well-organized Mongol state system and transformed it with Orthodox Christianity.

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Asian

·       systems of taxation and census-taking

·       the Yam, which was the Mongol's postal system using a network of couriers on horseback traveling between stations to carry messages, tax records, and military orders

·       organization of the military

·       practice of controlling the intersections between rivers and the steppe to centralize power

·       idea of having centralized power by later having a centralized ruler, a Tsar, rather than tribes

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Europe:

·       To have imperial power accepted by Russia's people, imperialism had to be separated from its Mongolian state system roots that they associated with paganism.

·       To do this, Russia aligned its imperial power with the Orthodox church, so Russia's Tsars had presented their power as divinely sanctioned and morally acceptable

Why is Peter the Great such a controversial figure?

·       Used authoritarianism to transform Russia by forcibly Westernizing its culture, institutions, and identity causing social division among the people of Russia

·       changed the calendar to match Europe’s

·       forced people to shave their beards and wear Western clothes,

·       introduced French words and manners into Russian society,

·       changed the language used in government and printing

·       built a new capital, St Petersburg, designed to look like European cities

 

·       military:  largest army in Europe, but poor quality

·       weakening the Church, made Tsar ultimate authority by replacing the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, w/ government official run council making Church making decisions in line with state interests.

*nobles saw cultural reforms as threat & resented working for government to keep status

·       Peasants resented being taxed heavily, forced into the army, or forced to work in factories

·       Cossack members of the military, and religious group members saw Peter as the “Antichrist”  

How was soviet communism inlfuenced by Peter the Great’s rule?

Soviet Communists were influenced by Peter’s method of not waiting for society to evolve naturally, by forcing catch-up with Europe through laws, taxes, military conscription, and cultural reforms.

Communists’ Westernization goals were in areas of: 

·       industrialism,

·       science & technology, but they followed Peter's blueprint of controlling culture, religion, economy, and military to do so. The result was

 

Goals achieved were:

·       modernization of factories built and railroads and developing education and military technology.

 

·       ***Connection between Russia’s climate and geography, and Soviet Communism, because part of the reason autocracy persisted was that no group had the wealth or material resources to challenge it since their poor harvests left them in poverty.

How did the Decembrists want to change Russia’s political system and society?

Decembrists wanted:

·       to replace the former government with a Provisional government until there was a permanent one decided upon by representatives" with "freedom of the press" abolition of poll tax, military drafting

·       religious tolerance to all faiths

·       abolition of slavery

·       equality between classes with cases going to civil courts – NOT military courts

·       all classes of people free to choose any job & enter the military of government

·       Right to "acquire all kinds of property" for all & pay taxes based on their income 

·       Everyone has right to bring someone to court for crime. Local governments, national guard, judicial branch with a jury created

What inspired the Decembrists to act and risk their lives?

    Decembrists were inspired by political books that taught people to discuss & criticize or praise activities and conduct of the Government

·       inspired by revolutions and coup d'états happening all over the world, especially France & United States

·       inspired by the fact that their less educated ancestors had civil liberty during Tsar Aleksei's reign when all class had representatives who "participated in important affairs of the State"

·       inspired by other Tsars who gave them a taste of freedom like Catherine II and Alexander I to risk their lives to earn freedom and enlightenment for all people, protect the "sacred rights of humanity"

Young people took up the peasants' cause after Emancipation. How did Breshkovskaia and fellow activists make contact with peasants and what did she advocate for?

  Catherine Breshkovskaia and her activist companions disguised themselves as peasants and took up peasant jobs like running a dyeing workshop and shoemaker to meet villagers & introduce political ideas through storytelling and leaflets

·       Advocated for fair access to land, democratically elected government representatives instead of a Tsar, peasant access to education, and better living and working conditions for factory workers, to be achieved through peasants coming together to revolt.

How did the peasants react to Breshkovskia and why?

`  Listened attentively, did not no protest against, believed in her vision, wanted her to remarking that write down her words so they spread them

 

·       Were still filled with fear because they had demanded rights to the land before & were punished by soldiers

 

·       People of Smela expressed that they were too scared to revolt until they knew that many people would rise together for the cause. Still revered Breshkovskaia when she was arrested

How repressive was Russia's criminal justice system during Breshkovskia’s time

·      government tortured those expressing opinions conflicting with the government, esp. workers' rights

·       Transferred peasants from their homes & forced into slavery

*If they revolted by refusing to work in the factory and were gravely punished by soldiers who flogged them & ate all their food

·       Strict surveillance, demonstrated by Breshkovskaia’s arrest triggered by a minor passport irregularity, making her an example of her to discourage dissent