Nationalities and minorities

What were the main nationalities?

• Poland

• Finland

• Caucasus

• Central Asia

• Baltics

• Jews

What did the Edict encourage in Poland?

Rise in Polish nationalism

What demands were made by Polish nationalists?

• Political autonomy

• Education reforms - e.g. reopening Warsaw University

• Emancipation of Polish serfs

What did Polish people want?

• Some wanted to break away from Russian control completely - also reclaim land lost to Russia

• Others wanted partial independence

Who was Wielopolski?

• Prime minister of Poland 1862-3

• Led group campaigning for partial independence

• Seen as Tsarist lapdog

• Policies only made with Russian approval

What did Wielopolski do in response to his attempted assassination?

• Introduced forced conscription into the Russian army

When was the Polish Revolt?

Jan 1863 - spring 1864

What did rebels do?

• Threatened government stability through guerilla warfare

• Caused significant disruption

Where did the rebels have support?

• Some of the Russian Land and Liberty movement

• Some sympathetic Russian military officers

How did it end?

• Russian army stepped in by 1864

• Rebel leaders captured and executed

What were the reactions of the authorities?

• Gorchakov - wanted Polish gentry to continue to rule under the Tsar

• Milyutin - wanted Polish gentry purged as they had lost support of rural areas - Poland would be part of nation-state of Russia

What did Wielopolski do after the Revolt?

Fled Poland

Who was put in charge after Wielopolski?

Milyutin

What did Milyutin do in Poland?

• Exiled hundreds of Polish nobility

• Polish estates transferred to Russian officials who were taking over ruling

• Polish peasants emancipated

• Rural district councils set up - similar to Zemstva

Polish emancipation conditions

• Better than Russian serfs

• Had freehold rights to allotted lands

• Paid for through reformed taxation system - all landowners paid for this, not just peasantry

Consequences of Milyutin

• Polish nationalism decreased

• Autonomy decreased

• Russian was now official language of administration and governance

• Russian taught in schools

• Catholic church cut off from Vatican

• Start of Russification