Glossary - Russia and its Rulers

Question	Answer
Autocratic	To rule as an absolute sovereign using the power inherited from one's parents (and, in the case of the Tsars, granted by God. The Tsars believed that God had placed them on earth to rule autocratically)
Bloody Sunday	On 9th January 1905 a group of demonstrators marching on the Winter Palace, and led by Father Gapon, were shot at by soldiers. Over 200 people were killed and about 800 injured.
Bolsheviks	A breakaway RSDLP group who were the 'majority' (as labelled by Lenin).
Constituent Assembly	An assembly of politicians that would be elected by the 'people'.
Constituent Government	A government that is organised and administered according to a set of written or unwritten rules.
Duma	An elected imperial parliament but with a restricted franchise (only a narrow range of people could vote representatives on to the Duma)
Emancipation of the Serfs	An announcement in 1861 that peasants would be freed from being owned, like any other property, by wealthy landowners and the state.
Fundamental Laws	Basic laws that reinforced the ideology underpinning tsarist rule.
Gold Standard	The fixing of a country's currency to a specific quantity (and therefore value) of gold.
Land Captains	Landowners who were appointed, from 1889 onwards, mainly to supervise the work of the regional councils or Zemstva that had been introduced by Alexander II
Octobrists	Supporters of the Tsar and, in particular, his proposals made in the October Manifesto.
Old Believers	Those who believed in the most traditional form of the Russian Orthodox Church. They also thought they were more Russian than other Russians.
Orthodox and Non-Orthodox religion	Orthodox religion was the established and traditional beliefs of the Russian Orthodox Church, which had its roots in the Greek Orthodox Church. Non-Orthodox refers to any set of beliefs that differed from those of the Russian Orthodox Church.
'Orthodoxy, Autocratic and Nationality'	The slogan used by the Tsars and Pobedonostev to justify and explain the conservative nature of tsarist rule.
Peasant Land Bank	A bank especially set up by the government to allow peasants to borrow money at relatively cheap rates to allow the purchase of land.
People's Will	A terrorist group consisting of members of the educated classes who were upset by Alexander II's refusal to continue with his reform programme after the mid-1860s.
'Reaction'	Alexander III reacted to the liberal reforms put together by his father by reversing them and introducing more repressive measures.
Revolutionary defensism	Defence and protection of everything achieved by the revolution of March 1917.
Russian Orthodox Church	A branch of Christianity that was very traditional and that was independent from outside authorities such as the papacy. It was used to teach the people to obey the Tsar as he was said to be anointed by God.
Russification	A policy aimed at transforming the difficult peoples of the Russian empire into 'pure' Rus (the supposedly original inhabitants of Russia).
Totalitarianism	A centralized form of dictatorial government that controls every aspect of the behaviour of the citizens of the state

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Glossary - Russia and its Rulers

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