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Alexander Came Into Power
Alexander I, a czar, inherited the throne as the next king of Russia. Many czars before him were strict and did not accept any ideas different from their own. Alexander was a little different and was open to liberal ideas. -
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Alexander I
-He seemed open to liberal ideas.
-Eased censorship and promoted education.
-Talked about freeing the serfs. -
Napoleon's Invasion and Alexander's Response
Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 and Alexander I decided to draw back from creating reforms to prevent losing the support of the nobles. In the Congress of Vienna, he joined the conservatives. -
Decembrist Revolt
Russians had picked up liberal ideas from Napoleon after he invaded Russia. Because of this, many people began to revolt to get new reforms and a new constitution. They were led by the army officers that started the revolt. -
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Nicholas I
After Alexander I died, Nicholas I came into power. He suppressed the Decembrist revolts and sent out police spies to hunt down any critics that still want to revolt against him. -
Nicholas I Came Into Power
-Used police spies to hunt out any hidden critics.
-Banned books from wester Europe that might spread any liberal ideas.
-Approved textbooks only for schools and universities.
-Exiled about 150,000 liberals in total. -
NIcholas I Passes some Reforms
Nicholas I embraced the three pillars of Russian absolutism. These were: Orthodoxy, autocracy and Nationalism. Orthodoxy referred to the strong ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government. Autocracy was the absolute power of the state. Nationalism involved respect for Russian traditions and suppression of non-Russian groups within the empire. He also issued a new law code and made some economic reforms. -
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Alexander II (The Czar Emancipator)
He came into throne after Nicholas I but unlike him, Alexander actually listened to his people and tried to fulfill their requests. -
Alexander II Came Into Power
-He came into power during the Crimean War, where Russia tried to seize Ottoman lands but failed.
-After their defeat, Russia felt powerless and Alexander realized that dramatic changes were needed.
-He strengthened the military and made their railroads longer and better. -
Royal Decree of Emancipation
While Alexander II was in power, he was pressured by many people especially students and liberals. They wanted reforms and changes. In response, Alexander issued a royal decree which required emancipation, or freedom of the serfs. At first, this brought problems because the serfs had to buy the land they worked in for so long but they were too poor to do so. As a result, many peasants remained poor and discontent, but later on they moved into the cities to work in the facories to gain money. -
Alexander II Made Zemstevos and other Reforms
After issuing the decree, he also set up a new system of government where elected assemblies were made responsible for matters such as road repair, schools, and agriculture. These assemblies were called zemstevos. Along with this, he also introduced some legal reforms. These included the easing of censorship, shortening a soldier's term of service from 25 years to 15 years, and limiting brutal discipline. Eventually, he also allowed women to enter certain universitites to gain an education. -
Death of Alexander II
On a cold day in March, 1881, a group of terrorists launched two bombs at a carriage with Alexander in it. The first bomb injured and killed some guards but the second bomb hit the carriage and killed Alexander II. -
Alexander III Comes Into Power
-Coming into power, Alexander III started bringing back some reforms from Nicholas I.
-He increased the power of the secret police to wipe out any revolutionaries and liberals.
-He restored strict censorship and exiled critics to Siberia.
-He rejected anything that had to do with the Constitutional Government and democracy. -
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Alexander III
Infuriated over his father's death, Alexander III made reforms that would make people fear him. After the assassination, Alexander III brought back some changes issued from Nicholas I but this time they were even harsher. -
Russification Program
Alexander III launched a Russification program where he suppressed the cultures of non-Russian people within his empire. He insisted on one language which was Russian and he insisted on one church, the Russian Orthodox Church. Anyone who didn't follow these rules such as Poles, Ukrainians, Finns, and Aremenians suffered persecution. -
Persecuting Jews
Alexander III began to increase the persecution of the Jews after their population began to increase. He limited the amount of Jews that were allowed to study in universities and practice professions. This encouraged pogroms, which were the violent attacks performed on Jews. They were beat and killed and their houses and businesses were set on fire and looted by other people. This caused a lot of Jews to flee to America, if they had enough money that is. -
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Nicholas II
When Nicholas II came into power, Russia began to develop industrially and economically. He invested in transportation and industry. With some help from France, the Trans-Siberian railroad was built and it linked European Russia to the Pacific Ocean. -
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Revolution of 1905
After Bloody Sunday, discontent spread all across Russia. Strikes began to form all over the country, people took over local governments and peasants revolted and demanded land. Terrorists targeted officials and assassins were cheered as heroes by some Russians. -
Death of Alexander III and NIcholas II Came Into Power
-Nicholas II appointed a finance minister, Count Serge Witte, who encouraged Nicholas to focus on improving Russia economically and industrially.
-He began to industrialize the country which increased political and social problems because business owners and entrepreneurs approved of this but nobles did not because they did not like change. -
Results of Industrialization
Since many peasants were very poor, they decided to move to the city to work in factories for a better life. Instead, they worked for long hours and a low pay in very dangerous conditions. This increased slums, diseases, and poverty and discontent began to multiply. People began to hand out pamphlets to convert people into radicals and make the society better which was somewhat successful. -
Bloody Sunday
A young orthodox priest named Father George Gapon organized a march for January 22, 1905 so their King would listen to them and end their suffering of working in the factories. This was in vain because the czar had left the palace and called in some soldiers to take care of everything. When the marchers approached the palace, they saw a line of troops guarding it and suddenly, the soldiers began to shoot the protesters. They left hundreds of protesters either dead or wounded in the snow. -
Nicholas Solves Problems
After so many people joined the revolution, Nicholas had no choice but to respond to it. In the October manifesto, he promised freedom of person, conscience, speech, assembly, and union. He summoned a Duma, or national legislature to make the laws. In 1906, the first Duma met but he quickly deserted the idea because the people began to criticize his government. Nicholas appointed a new prime minister, Peter Stolypin, who introduced land reforms, strengthened zemstevos and improved education.
