SOCIETY IN RUSSIA 1855-1914

ALEXANDER II

Peasants in 1855:

-Serfs

-Heavily dependent on Mir

-Religious & patriarchal society

-Supported Tsardom

-Illiterate an uneducated

-Lack of prosperity

-Faced farming problems like soil fertility.

-Fedual dues were up to 30-40%

Serfdom:

-Problems:

-Inefficiencies agriculture (backward methods, strip farming)

-Lack of incentive to work hard (profits went to owners)

-Developing industries were short of workers

-Factors against serfdom:

-Social: a. liberal argument b. peasant unrest.

-Economic: a. agrarian based economy with no spare labour to migrate to industry b. lack of innovation c. slave labour was less effective than payed labour.

-Political: a. Abolish serfdom from above rather than for it to do it itself from above (As said by AII) b.Influence of Milyutin (progressive liberal very involved in emancipation)

-Military: a. Defeat in Crimean War highlighted inefficiencies of conscripted serfs

Emancipation Edict:

-44 million peasants were freed, private (1861), public (1866).

-Peasants could now: own land, leave the mir with a passport, and farm for their own profit.

HOWEVER:

-Ex-serfs had to pay for their lands (ex-serfs received the worst 1/3 of land (landowners received the rest)).

-Peasants left with redemption payments of 49years.

-Mir became new land owner.

Developments:

-Annual division of land led to smaller and smaller plots.

-Their inefficient farming led to shortages.

-Many peasants abandoned farming (too poor to meet the redemption payments)

-Emergence of a kulak class.

-Local Gov reforms:

-Introduction of local government in countryside:

-Provincial zemstva : looked after public health etc. Members appointed by government.

-Zemstva: Developed infrastructure (10,000 schools built to tackle illiteracy) . District council controlled by nobles.

-Mir: Collective peasant households. Elections for leaders.

Peasants in 1881:

-Ex-serfs.

-Able to buy land.

-Emergence of Kulak class.

-Some migration from countryside.

-Strong allegiance and dependence still on the mir.

-Had to acquire passports to leave.

-Redemption payments & indirect taxation left them crippled financially.

ALEXANDER III

Peasants in 1881:

-Ex-serfs.

-Able to buy land.

-Emergence of Kulak class.

-Some migration from countryside.

-Strong allegiance and dependence still on the mir.

-Had to acquire passports to leave.

-Redemption payments & indirect taxation left them crippled financially.

Measures to improve their conditions:

-1882 redemption payments reduced by 27%

-1883 peasant land bank. Established by Bunge in an attempt to help peasants purchase their land. It advance 25-50% of the cost of new land at an interest rate of 5.5%. (This was very high relative to the Nobles' land bank.

-1885 poll tax abolished. Replaced by inheritance tax. This helped ease the burden of taxation on the peasants.

-1889 volost courts. It was a court of the peasant community.

Measures to worsen their conditions:

-1889: Land captains introduced. Like police force in the countryside. There were a way to monitor rural behaviour and impose fear and control.

-High import tariff on fertilisers etc.

-High indirect tax on basic commodities.

-Forced mass grain exports under Vyshnegradsky - led to shortages and 1891-92 famine.

-1891 Great Famine. 350,000 deaths.

-Poorest peasants could not afford to live. Constant 'land hunger'.

Peasants in 1894:

-Largely ineffective peasant land bank and indirect taxation meant their prosperity had not much increased.

-Increased consumption of consumer goods.

-Further emergence of Kulak class who: bought/rented land, employed labour, farmed more efficiently.

NICHOLAS II

Peasants in 1894:

-Largely ineffective peasant land bank and indirect taxation meant their prosperity had not much increased.

-Increased consumption of consumer goods.

-Further emergence of Kulak class who: bought/rented land, employed labour, farmed more efficiently.

The effect of the 'money economy':

-More money was put into the countryside. This led to:

-An improvement in living conditions (especially for peasants nearer towns and cities).

-An improvement in infrastructure: better access to hospitals, schools, railways etc. (especially for peasants nearer towns and cities).

Stolypin's policies:

-He abolished redemption payments in 1907.

-He reduced the power of the land captains.

-Peasants were no longer tied to the mir.

-Literacy rose up to 40% by 1914.

-By 1900, there were 9 million migrant workers.

Peasant unrest 1903-1904:

-Dubbed as the 'Years of the Red Cockerel'. This was a significant period of unrest after the 1901 famine and the Russo-Japanese War.

Peasant unrest 1905:

-1905: reaction to revolution. June-July- landlord houses were built. Refusal to pay rent/taxes.

-This lead to peasant unions and societies. In July, the all Peasant Union met near Moscow.

Peasant unrest 1906:

-Unrest after Stolypin's efforts to break up the communes. Exacerbated tensions after bad harvests

-Separators faces violence and hostility.

-Troops were sent in to ease tensions. Oct 05-Apr 06: 15,000 executed. 45,000 deported.

-In 1906, field court marshals were introduced. They sped up the process of trials and executions. Peasants were hung in their hundreds. What has been dubbed 'Stolypin's necktie'.

Peasants by 1914:

-Villages were relatively quiet.

-Several good harvests eased tensions.

-Close allegiance between Tsar and peasantry.

-Still bound by indirect taxation.

-Under Stolypin's influence, they were more prosperous.

The middle classes

Middle classes in 1855:

-Most could be found in bureaucratic roles and there were some businessmen/merchants.

-Very small part of the population.

Middle classes 1880-1914

-These men were deeply religious, though welcomed Western ideas & technology.

-Not like the bourgeois in Europe

-They formed 2m of the population

-Increasing political influence:

After 1908, many took up places in the Duma.

1906- The Association of Industry and Trade was formed and had significant political influence.

They became increasingly involved politically, many joined the zemstva

Industry business and commerce:

-Families made money from industries (railways, banking etc.) Significant in the entrepreneurial internal innovation (like the Morozovs)

-Merchant mayors ensured Moscow had a tram system by 1895 and controlled the water supply.

The professions:

-Roughly 1 million professionals by 1914. (the number of teachers, doctors, surgeons

-They formed professional associations. 1892: the first All-Russian Teachers' Congress established. These groups began to prove threatening to the regime:

-The pirogov ninth congress in 1904 ended chaotically, with demands for parliament.

-Professions often liberalists, pushing for liberal reform.

Women:

-Teachers and Doctors worked for the Zemstva.

-Significant women could be found in Marxist groups (Alexandra Kollantai)

-1905 women won the right to co-education in universities.

-1908: First all-russian congress of women held in St Petersburg (half of these delegates earned their living)

-They had literary success.

Middle class voluntary organisations and associations:

-These organisations discussed matters from industrialisation (as by the Imperial Economic society) to new technology.

-They were creating a more diverse, less homogenous society.

-The state could not control them though often imposed surveillance.

-Their circulating ideas often reciprocated those in Western societies, contributed to modernisation and posed a threat to Tsardom.

Alexander II

Workers in 1855:

-Rusia was not industrialised.

-Some spinning mills around St Petersburg

-Some iron-ore mines in the Urals (iron industry technically backward)

-Industry only took place in small-scale factories

-Conditions were appalling and hours were long.

-Very small portion of the population

Social change 1880-1905:

-1863-1914; population of St Petersburg quadrupled. By 1900, there were roughly 3 million workers (2.5% of population)

-Working conditions: grim, long hours, disciplined for minor infractions, disease was rife, wages very low.

-1890s- unemployment an issue. The labour force changed regularly.

-Living conditions: unsanitary, overcrowded, very public. 1/3 of deaths cause by disease, they were still a problem into 20th Century. Wages could not support families.

-Trade Unions were illegal until after 1905 revolution. Zubatov unions were in place, starting from 1901. They were very controlled though did fuel radicals. It spread across the south of the Empire. In 1903, an organised strike became a general strike and Zubatov was dismissed.

Militancy of workers pre-1905:

-As 1890s progressed, workers began to resent their conditions and disciplinary punishments.

-Strikes began as early as 1896 - textile workers of St Petersburg - 30,000. This forced the government to limit the working day to 11.5 hours. Menawhile, SDs were encouraging workers to strike. 1899 - major strikes of nearly 100,000 (factory police force was introduced.)

-Recession after 1890 affected workes (falling wages and unemployment led to industrial action. Workers returned to villages to exaccerbate peasant unrest.

-The economic impact of the 1904 Russo-Japanese war; fall in trade and lack of materials led to factories closing - loss of jobs. Growing discontent.

Militancy after 1905:

-By the end of January - 400,000 workers were on strike. Demonstrations increased in frequency.

-September: another general strike called. Railway workers involved brought a halt to the train service. (2 million workers involved). Explosion of criminality and strains on every public service.

-St Peterburg Soviet formed on 13 October. It met to coordinate the striking workers. Trotsky was leader. Increased militancy of the workers.

Social change after 1905:

-1912- limited sickness insurance passed by Dumas. (Though this only covered a minority of the workforce).

-Hours remained long and the pay remained less than 1/3rd than other European countries.

-Some schools were provided for the children of workers.

-Increase in workforce led to a strain on public services and deterioration in already crowded cities.

-Level of literacy amongst workers in 1914; 64%. (More intellectual proletariat).

Workers in 1914:

-More active in strikes

-Trade Unions legalised

-Cap on working day

-Conditions still grim, wages still low

-More direction from opposition groups (particularly SDs) in leading strikes etc.

-Increased literacy --> increased access to revolutionary and radical literature.

Nobility

Nobility in 1855:

-Less than 1% of the population.

-Often military officers/administrative jobs/judiciary jobs/local police jobs.

-Loyal supporters of the Tsar.

-Huge variations of wealth. The majority had a low number of sets on could not rely on the institution for a sustainable income.

-Some were already moving to towns & cities to ensure a sustainable income.

-Not necessarily conservative - various political standings.

The effects of emancipation:

-The nobility would maintain a role in policing.

-Landowners were compensated for their loss of land, but not their loss of serfs. This angered some.

-They lost power, status and influence.

-Some wanted to form a level of bureaucracy to protect their interests in government. The more liberals one wanted to form position in government as elected representatives.

-The majority were angered by emancipation.

The effects of Alexander II's reforms:

-Local gov [nobility dominated the zemstva. Many abused this right and used their position to further their own affairs.]

-Judiciary [many became judges and furthered their own interests

-Military [the nobility opposed these reforms who didnt want their kind to mix with the lower classes or who didnt want their sons to face compulsory military service].

Change:

-They lost a lot of land. In 1861 they owned 80%, in 1905 they owned 40%.

-A small proportion of them developed their estates with modern methods.

-Some moved to expanding professions. In 1880, 1/5 of university professors came from the nobility.

-Some became investors [as aided by the Nobles' land bank].

-A massive proportion became business men involved in entrepreneurship and industry.

Continuity:

-Many kept making an income from the civil service/military.

-They remained favoured by the autocracy [as evident in AII's reforms]

-They kept hold of the top jobs - 1897, of the 1400 top jobs, 1000 were nobility.

-Still played a key role in local affairs - they dominated zemstva and kept control of the peasantry through their role as land captains introduced in 1889.

	Created by Hebe Read about 5 years ago

A2 History Note on RUSSIA , created by Hebe Read on 02/04/2019.