Russia: Reform and Reaction

1
Russia Reform and Reaction
2
Russian Empire 1800-1900
3
The Russian Colossus

• By 1800, Russia was the largest and most
  populated country.
• Despite the vast lands and numerous people the
  country remained primitive until the late 1800s.

4
Ruling Czars

• For centuries, czars has ruled with absolute
  power.
• The Enlightenment, American and French
  Revolutions had little effect on Russian
  autocracy.

5
Czar Alexander I

• Alexander I inherited the throne in 1801.
• He eased censorship and promoted education.
• He even mentioned freeing serfs.
• When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 he drew back
  from any reforms.
• At the Congress of Vienna he called for a holy
  alliance to ensure absolute power

6
Czar Nicholas I

• Czar Nicholas I took over in 1825.
• He quickly suppressed (put down) liberal revolts
  that had been occurring.
• He banned liberal books and exiled many to
  Siberia.
• Before his death though he told his son I am
  handing you command of the country in a poor
  state.

7
Czar Alexander II

• Czar Alexander II came to the throne in 1855
  while Russia was being defeated in the Crimean
  War.
• This defeat revealed the true backwardness of the
  country.
• Demands for reforms increased.
• In 1861, he issued a royal decree emancipating
  (freeing) serfs. Many left the countryside in
  search of work in the factories.
• Alexander II set up local elected officials
  called zemstovs and he introduced legal reforms
  based on trial by jury.

8
Czar Alexander III

• Alexander II reforms failed to make the majority
  happy and revolts broke out.
• Revolutionaries threw two bombs at Alex II and
  the second one killed him in 1881.
• Alexander III reacted by harshly cracking down on
  any dissent.
• He launched a Russification campaign.

9
Russification Campaign

• Czar Alexander III launched the campaign to
  suppress all non-Russian cultures within the
  Empire.
• He insisted on one language, Russian and one
  church, the Russian Orthodox Church all others
  suffered persecution.

10
Persecution and Pogroms

• Russia at this time had a large Jewish population
  as a result of carving up Poland and expanding
  into the Ukraine.
• Alexander III limited the number of Jews allowed
  to study in Universities and practice law and
  medicine.
• He revived old laws that designated where Jews
  could live.
• There were giant mob attacks on Jews known as
  pogroms. Gangs beat and killed Jews, looted and
  burned homes and stores.
• The police did nothing to stop the violence.
• Faced with persecution many Jews became refugees.
  Large numbers went to the US.

11
Czar Nicholas II (last ruling Czar of Russia)

• Under Alexander III and his son Nicholas II
  Russia entered the industrial age.
• Loans were secured to start the Trans-Siberian
  railway.
• Industrialization, though late to arrive in
  Russia still contributed to the typical
  industrial problems low pay, long hours and
  dangerous conditions.

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The Future of Russia

• Russia by the start of WWI is heading toward a
  revolution of their own.
• Civil War will erupt within Russia.
• The Czar (Nicholas II) will be murdered and go
  down in history as the last Czar of Russia.
• A new style of leadership will emerge.