Alexander III - counter reform

alex III’s beliefs

• disagreed with reforms of his father

• witnessed the assassination of his father

• greatest influence was Pobedonostsev

the Emergency Powers of 1881

• Okhrana

• special courts for prosecution of suspected terrorists

• increased censorship

• removes judges, magistrates and elected officials deemed too liberal

• anyone could be imprisoned without trial for 3 months

• any district thought to be a risk could be placed under military rule

• Alex III forced the resignation of some of his father’s reforming ministers e.g. Loris Melikov, Dmitri Milyutin

EDUCATION

• 1884 - tighter control of unis; govt took more control of uni appointments and student societies were banned

• raised fees for all levels of education to discourage students from humble backgrounds from accessing education

• Parish primary schools, run by church, encouraged to expand

• zemstva schools discouraged

what % of population were literate by 1897

only 21%

ZEMSTVA

• laws of 1890-92 → revised who had the right to vote in local elections

  • StP - electorate reduced from 21,000 to 7,000

• same laws increased power of Interior Ministry over actions and decisions of assemblies

• zemstvo encouraged to be active in issues with little political significance

• meetings of zemstvo chairman severely restricted

Land Captains

• introduced in 1889

• had to be a member of nobility

• replaced the JPs

• had the authority to:

  • overrule the mir and local zemstvo if felt like it overstepped its area of responsibility

  • override zemstvo elections and reverse zemstvo decisions

  • intervene in judicial cases, imposing punishments if not happy with original outcome of a trial

• responsible directly to the minister of interior and represented a significant increase in centralized control over area

censorship

‘temporary regulations’, 1882:

• allowed newspapers to be closed down and a life ban to be placed on editors and publishers

• russification enforced on literature, art, theatre

• all literary publications had to be approved and libraries and reading rooms restricted in the books they could stock

good change by Alex III

reduced redemption payments

abolished poll tax in may 1885

1883 introduction of Peasant Land Bank