TSAR ALEXANDER III

Question	Answer
BACKGROUND OF ALEXANDER III	1. Second son of Alexander II and thus had not been prepared or educated to take over the throne; older brother dies in 1865--> HE BECAME HEIR TO TSARDOM 2. had appointed the conservative Konstantin Pobodonestev as his tutor and shaped CONSERVATIVE thought of Alexander III from an early age 3. FORCEFUL character, conservative and STRONGLY OPPOSED western ideas 4. • Alexander blamed his father’s death on the REFORMS he had made earlier in his life--> STRENGTHENED autocratic element of A. III’s reign
KEY AIMS OF A. III	1. "Manifesto of Unshakable Autocracy" issued in April 1881 SHOWED REJECTION OF DEMOCRACY and "TO HAVE FULL FAITH IN THE JUSTICE AND STRENGTH OF AUTOCRACY" 2. Wanted to strengthen autocracy and eliminate OPPOSITION 3. Saw URGENT need to modernize and improve economically to become a GREAT POWER
METHODS AND POLICIES TO ACHIEVE THE STRENGTHENING OF AUTOCRACY	CAUSE OF THE POLICIES--> ASSASSINATION OF HIS FATHER
CENSORSHIP	- Re-introduced and his father's plans for a constituent assembly were immediately crushed 1. education came under tighter control of the government and granted most of the independence gained under A. III’s rule 2. Tuition fees were raised to exclude lower-class children from primary and secondary education—believed it was a waste of time
Russification and anti-semitism	1. Policy of supressing national minorities- harshly put into action and the worst off were the Jews were constantly faced with progroms and oppression 2. State encouraged violence against the Jewish population as a way to divert popular discontent
Economic Policies	1. Created the Peasants Land Bank in 1882 to help the peasants purchase land and was so SUCCESSFUL that by 1904, peasants had bought 1/3 of the nobility's land 2. ABOLISHED THE POLL TAX which was paid only by peasants in 1886 3. Offered limited concessions to the workers by introducing laws in 1883 and 1885 to improve working conditions for women and children and in 1886- labour legislation payment and dismissal to protect workers
SUCCESSES OF ECONOMIC POLICIES 1. The abolishment of the POLL TAX and the introduction of the Peasants Land Bank in 1882	- Helped to relieve the financial burden of the peasantry after the Emancipation of 1861 and reduced (to some extent) OPPOSITION AND UNREST in countryside
SUCCESSES OF ECONOMIC POLICIES 2. Finance Minister	1. Determined to INDUSTRIALIZE Russia to whatever cost and by 1892, Russia had a surplus budget for the first time ever—achieved at a massive social cost (e.g. famine of 1891-92 where 1.5-2 million peasants died) - Between 1881 and 1894, coal production in Russia had almost DOUBLED and the production of pig-iron was more than DOUBLE
SUCCESSES OF SOCIAL + POLITICAL 1. Supporters of A. III	1. Argued that his reign was a period of stability which allowed the state to be strengthened and for Russian pride to be restored after turbulence of 1860s o Lack of revolutionary disturbances - Showed that his repression of opposition had been SUCCESSFUL
FAILURES- ECONOMIC 1. Laws to improve working conditions	1. Extremely ineffective—only 300 inspectors for the whole of Russia
2. FAMINE (1891-1892)	Causes of famine Climate: Russia's long, cold winters and short, hot summers made transportation difficult and limited foreign trade as a majority of Russia’s ports were often iced over. Poor soil: With the exception of the black earth belt, Russia has fairly poor soil, a short growing season, low precipitation, and large arid steppe regions unfit for agriculture except with extensive irrigation. These factors limited agricultural production and caused frequent of crop failures and famine. Backwards farming techniques: The peasants used medieval technology like wooden ploughs and sickles. They rarely had modern fertilizers or machinery (the Petrovsky academy in Moscow was Russia's only agricultural school). Russia's size: Its sheer size caused major difficulties as Russia's primitive railways were not up to redistributing grain Lack of incentive: Russian farmers did not produce to make a profit - instead they produced enough for themselves and their families to eat which gave them no incentive to improve efficiency of their land of mechanize, but every incentive to produce as many ch
3. Refusal to modernize Russia socially and politically (opposed western ideas)	1. Alexander's III's GREATEST MISTAKE--> ultimately pushed Russia into a crisis 2. Not modernizing Russia into a modern, industrialized nation-- HUGE MISTAKE
SOCIAL+ POLITICAL FAILURES	Russia had various social and political failures with regards to Alexander III's reign
1. Oppression during A. III's reign	1. Only ENCOURAGE further and MORE extreme opposition to the Tsarist regime and seen in Nicholas II’s reign
2. Execution of Lenin's brother in 1887	1. Led him towards political radicalism and revolutionary Marxism
3. Finance Minister’s focus on exporting grain to fund for industrialization	1. “We must to hungry but export”- famine and govt. failure to respond effectively to relieve suffering encouraged support for revolutionary opposition movements
4. New role played by the Zemstva	1. Managing this relief led to new liberal opposition and in turn greater pressure for democracy
OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF ALEXANDER III PART ONE	1. Failure to reform autocracy to fit the changing economy created great tension that would ultimately lead to the 1917 revolution and permanent end to Tsardom
PART TWO	• A. III’s reforms of the 1880s and 90s served to strengthen traditional social estates (ie. The nobility) and undermine his father’s reforms of the 1860s satisfied the conservatives
PART THREE	1. • Alexander’s economic policies saw Russia make important progress towards becoming a modern, industrialized nation, and in economic terms, can be argued that Alexander III as great a reformer as A. II socially and politically
GREATEST FAILURE PART ONE 1. REFUSAL TO MODERNIZE RUSSIA	1. refusal to modernize Russia socially and politically to fit the changing realities of a modern, industrializing nation - When the government should have been adjusting itself to the new economic situation, Alexander III clung to and strengthened autocracy—a system of rule developed for an illiterate nation of peasants—no longer entirely the case in the 1880s
GREATEST FAILURE- PART TWO 2. FAILURE TO REFORM AUTOCRACY	o Fatal legacy left by Alexander III that contributed to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty was the idealized vision of Tsarism, with its staunch and inflexible commitment to autocracy that he imparted to his son Nicholas II who would inherit the throne upon Alexander’s death in 1894 and rule as the last Tsar
COMPARE/CONTRAST B/W ALEXANDER II AND ALEXANDER III SIMILARITIES	1. o Despite the fact that A. II emancipated the serfs, he could be seen as just as much of a reactionary as A. III: limitations with his reforms were aimed to strengthen the autocracy and was not much of a liberal at all! - Overall: both had aims to strengthen and hold on to autocracy 2. However (contrast) since both Tsars refused to limit their own authority and position—CAN BE ARGUED that NEITHER of them were much of a reformer due to their REFUSAL to change the political structure of Russia- Tsardom
COMPARE/CONTRAST B/W ALEXANDER II AND ALEXANDER III CONTRASTS	1. Alexander III’s policies in 1880s and in 1890s made important steps towards economic modernization and industrialization  Following his father’s earlier reforms, even though reactionary in social and political terms—reformer in economic terms
What was Tsar Alexander III known as?	"The Great Reactionary"
How long was the reign of Tsar Alexander III for?	Years 1881-1894

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