Alexander II And The Russian Revolution

The instant consequences to the emancipation of the serfs left Russia crippled, ironic, when alleged that it intended to advance Russia’s status. Many historians argue that despite abolishing serfdom, the means in which it was carried out didn’t coincide with reality. Subsequently, there were many riots which caused a rise of political groups such as Narodnik movement whose existence proves that Russian society was changing. Disorder spread with calls for change within Russia like In May 1862 where a number of pamphlets were issued including the radical Young Russia. Such propaganda aimed to gain support and create challenging individuals which would pressure the Tsar to make further changes. One could argue that as a result this led to the 1905 revolution and the end of Tsardom.

The last Tsar Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894 and was faced with a country that was trying to free itself from its autocratic regime. The serfs had recently been emancipated, the industry and economy was just starting to develop and opposition to the Tsar was building up. Russia was still behind Europe in terms of the political regime, the social conditions and the economy. Nicholas II who was a weak and very influenced by his mother and his wife had to deal with Russia’s troubles during his reign. In order to ascertain how successfully Russia dealt with its problems by 1914, this essay will examine the October Manifesto and the split of the opposition, how the Tsar became more reactionary after the 1905 revolution, Stolypin’s

Nicholas II was known, not only for being the Emperor of Russia but also for his character and personality which undoubtably led him to his own downfall. Nicholas was often referred to as not being ready to become Tsar as well as being a weak leader. Firstly, Nicholas II himself, amongst a very large proportion of Russian society, believed that he was not prepared to be coronated Emperor. Nicholas himself stated “What is going to happen to me and all of Russia? I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.”. (Russian Revolution Quotations 2015). Nicholas was aware of what he was getting himself into and that he was not prepared for such a role. This is further corroborated by the

Alexander achieved more noteworthy deeds than most of the rulers who had lived before him, but additionally, the individuals who were to come later down to our time. Alexander the Great was conceived at Pella Macedonia in 356 B.C.E. He spent his adolescent years watching his dad changing Macedonia into an extraordinary military force. His Father was King Phillip and his mother was Olympias. His mom was the rule of neighboring Epirus. She was a profoundly otherworldly woman who taught her child about his predecessors, for example, Achilles and Hercules. From his most punctual age, he was molded for victory and eminence in being a lord. He then got to be centered on turning into an extraordinary ruler, which he soon would get to be.

Whilst St Petersburg was growing and thriving around him, it seemed as though the Tsar turned his back on the requirements that come with large crowds of people such as, resources, food supplies, housing, etcetera. Due to his closed mindedness the overpopulation of factories, shortages of income and lack of basic necessities became a huge issue. The people stuck in this great poverty began to lose faith in the Tsar and once again sought for a new source of power. Another factor that adds to this cause is the fact that when the Russian society came up with the idea of a government, to help guide the Tsar towards helping his people and modernizing his laws and mindset, he refused to let the people have a say. Nicholas ultimately took away all power from what little government they did set up, called a ‘duma,’ when he set the ‘Fundamental Laws.’ These laws meant that he would overrule all of the duma’s decisions or suggestions. For example, the first law stated, “To the emperor of all the Russias belongs supreme autocratic power.” Then in 1907, the Tsar changed to voting laws to make sure that revolutionaries could not be elected. This meant that all the elected candidates were politicians that were great followers of Nicholas, meaning he got what he wanted. Consequently leaving no way of communication between Nicholas and the lower class of Russia, causing the tragic conditions to continue. As the poor became progressively poorer, malnourished and uncared for the Tsars inaction and lack of sympathy caused a radical

The Russian Revolution was a series of two revolutions that consisted of the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution of March 8th, 1917 was a revolution targeted and successfully removed Czar Nicholas II from power. The February Revolution first began to take place when strikes and public protests between 1916 and early 1917 started occurring. These strikes were created to protest against and to blame Czar Nicholas II for Russia’s poor performance in WWI and severe food shortages that the country facing. Soon, violence between protesters and authorities began to escalate, and on February 24th, 1917 in the city of Petrograd, hundreds of thousands of male and female workers flooded the streets. They all had the same purpose which was to protest against the “Great War” and the monarchy. The protests began to escalate and the vastly outnumbered police were unable to control the crowds. When news of the unrest reached the czar, he ordered the military to put an end to the riots by the next day, and on February 26th, 1917, several troops of a local guard regiment fired upon the crowds, but however many soldiers felt pity and empathy for the protesters than the czar, and on the next day, more than 80,000 soldiers join the protest even directly fighting the police.

Despite all the work Alexander II did toward reforming Russia, the “Era of Great Reforms” left one crucial aspect unaltered: the power of the emperor. The intentional neglect of this was what kept the reforms from realizing their true potential. This led to dissatisfaction, which encouraged repression, terror, and most importantly: revolution. The first was the Polish Rebellion, caused by the failure of Russian authorities to suppress Polish nationalism. Although the Poles failed, other minorities sprung up for their voice

In 336 C.E., Alexander of Macedon succeeded in gaining the Macedonian Empire after his father’s (King Philip III) death. Alexander’s accession as king prompted him to pursue the conquests his father could not complete. Alexander defeated and overthrew several major empires such as; Egypt, Persia, and India; the nickname Alexander the Great. In “Arrian on the character of Alexander of Macedon,” Arrian proclaimed that Alexander manifested great physical beauty, an arrogant personality, keen intellect, and outstanding military tactics. In Conquest and Empire: The reign of Alexander the Great, A.B. Bosworth describes Alexander with the same characteristics as Arrian confirming majority of the facts Arrian stated in the “Source from the Past”. However, Bosworth disputes Arrian’s claim of Alexander’s beauty because of the vast amount of different imitations of Alexander’s physical appearance.

This humiliating defeat exemplified how far Russia was behind the industrialized world. Russia at the middle of the nineteenth century was still primarily an agricultural society, with little industry. Russia was deemed to be behind the times as they still had serfdom and there is incompetence in Russia’s style of government, military and social structure. To progress Russia economically and become a more modernize country, they have to break free from their traditional system that is impeding their progress. All these prompted Alexander II to consider reforms in education, the government, the judiciary, and the military. The first reform was the emancipation of serf as the serfs kept rising against their masters and there was numerous act of rebellion that is causing unrest in the country. Furthermore, as most of the Russian army was made up of serfs and they were often malnourished, it shows evidence of the dangers of serfdom. In order for Russia to become a strong military power, serfdom has to be abolished and other reforms have to be

Intentions of Alexander II and the Failure of the Emancipation of the Serfs In the 19th century it was estimated that about 50 per cent of the 40,000,000 peasants in Russia were serfs, who worked on the land and were owned by the Russian nobility, the Tsar and religious foundations. This had been true for centuries; in 1861, however, this was all changed when Tsar Alexander II emancipated the serfs and gave them freedom from ownership. Alexander's decision was based on many reasons, and did not have the desired consequences, for the serfs at least. Therefore, it is possible to question Alexander's motives for such large reform, which this essay will do and will also look at why the emancipation,

In fact in 1859 there were in Russia 23 millions of serfs. Alexander made up his mind to abolish it from above before that it would be done from below, through revolution. In 1861 serfdom was emancipated and this was the most important event in 19th century of Russian history. On the other way Alexander III after his father’s dead regarding the serfdom’s reforms decided to reduce the peasant representation in zemstva and the peasant representatives were appointed and no longer elected. Also the “Peasant Land Bank” was created to buy land from the lords and all the children from the lower-class were banned from secondary education. The Tsar, by a new statute in 1890, gave to the provincial governors ‘supervision over the correctness and legality of zemstvo institutions’. The reforms of the government are connected to the abolition of the serfdom. Russia was an under governed society, having many fewer civil servants than Britain. It was essential that local people, therefore, filled administrative roles. In 1864 Tsar Alexander II introduced new bodies in Russia, called zemstva. Zemstva were local governments located in outside city areas and the people who ran them were elected by the people from the village. The Tsar gave them power for make small reforms because he wanted to maintain his autocratic rule everywhere. The members were chosen by three electoral colleges,

Along with the behavior and abuse from the government, this caused people to be treated with disrespect. Both men and women were physically punished if they disobeyed. The fight for social and political change became massive problem for people in general. Russia had suffered a minor setback in government, as neighboring states saw improvement in freedom. Russia controlled its power by the forces of the army, the dumas, who held the “authority to assess taxed and to organize pubic services” (Merriman, 710). … controlled by the zemstvos wealthy landowners who elected members in where more of a value then the town people and or peasants. The caused the Russia Empire to endure the same outcome. It’s when the individuals who want to help shape their

For three centuries before the revolution, life in Russia was not peaceful. It was cold, hard, and bitter instead. “The end of serfdom was a major event in Russia; yet it just wasn 't enough.”, in 1861. Serfdom, under feudalism, is the the status of peasants in which they are bound to a lord, or master, works on their land, and can be sold like property. Despite serfs being given ‘freedom’, Russia was mostly ruled by the czar and nobles. The average person was, and stayed, poor. Therefore, World War I was not the main cause of the Russian revolution. This outdated feudal class structure, inability to modernize, lack of peace, and czars’ inept leaderships lead to the Russian Revolution.

This source is a picture of the Emperor of Russia, Alexander the Third. His full name is Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, he is the second son of Alexander the Second. He didn’t expect to have any chance at the throne, but “he became heir apparent on the death of his elder brother Nikolay in 1865” (Florinsky). Later, when his father died, Alexander the Second, on March 13, 1881. I picked this source because it shows how the idea of an authoritarian man in the story could have come from this man, Alexander the Third. An authoritarian man is someone who is in authority over something, someone, or many people. This supports my short story because it shows that the personality of the Banker could be reflective of Alexander the Third. The Banker was the

Without a doubt, before he reformed the old judicial system, Russian people did not have many rights, nor did they have a chance at defending themselves if accused of a crime. Once, the aged judicial system reformed, trial by jury, fashioned for people who committed serious crimes, and for minor civil and criminal cases justices of the peace were created. Giving preference to the wealthy and upper class substituted with what, supposed to be equal before the law. Also, in 1864 Alexander II created a law in rural areas called the zemstvo. This law allows the now free serfs and peasant to work freely together. The zemstvo was responsible for education, medical care, veterinary service, insurance, local roads and the storage of food reserves. (Smitha) With the freedom of the serfs and now all this Russia people were starting to feel some enlightenment. Further, years and years with little money, poor health care for animals and family, getting paid close to nothing for working all day, life for the Russian people started to look