In the early 18th century Peter I had brought in a civil service in the aim of maintaining Tsarist control throughout Russia. However in 1900 this system was slated for being corrupt and incompetent and a main reason for Russia’s backwardness. All parts of Russian society were run by the civil service, such as the militia, police and government who made decisions to benefit them which often was severely unfair on the Russian people who had no chance to complain because they had to object through the bureaucracy who would ignore the complaint.
In Tsarist Russia it was an offence to criticise the Tsar. Along with government censorship on books and the press this was supposed to prevent the spread of anti-Tsarist ideas or opposition to the Tsar. However liberal ideas had inevitably emerged in Russia. Due to the restrictions in place these ideas had to be expressed underground in secret societies who wanted political and social reform. These societies were however commonly infiltrated by the secret police (the Okhrana) who frequently arrested and restricted these societies. Due to the inability to express ideas in the open many groups were driven towards extremism and so obviously a weakness of Russia at this time. This was because this was the only way to convey their views because of the lack of opportunity or right to express their ideas. Extremism was a problem in Russia, as shown by the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by the terrorist group ‘the People’s Will’.
The Church
The Tsar claimed that they were chosen by God due to their Divine Hereditary Right. This meant that the Orthodox Church, a branch of Christianity that was independent from foreign influences, unlike for example the Roman Catholic Church claimed that the Tsar was chosen by God and so have absolute authority. The Church had played a great influence on the peoples of Russia and its art and music had defined Russian culture. This connection of the Church with the people had been an advantage as it offered a way of controlling people. However in the 19th century it had become very detached from the Russian way of life. It was very conservative and wouldn’t support any political change. This therefore lost the Church support since they gave no support to political activists. Also it was detached from ordinary Russian people, with one suburb with 40,000 people having one church and one priest. This therefore was a weakness because without input from the church to the people then the message that the Tsar was Gods anointed did not across meaning the Tsars position was weakened. There were some priests who sympathised with the liberal ideas of Russians however they couldn’t show them support for fear of disobeying the Church of which they were a part.
Russia’s economy
A large proportion (82%) of the Russian people were peasants, who were agricultural workers and land workers. With only 4% of the population being urban workers, such as factory workers, it shows how the economy of Russia was agricultural based. It also shows that Russia was extremely slow to modernise and industrialise. Other large states such as the USA, Britain and France had industrialised much quicker and a larger proportion of their population were industrial workers. Despite the Urals being a centre for iron production and cities such as Moscow having textile factories the sheer size of Russia and the lack of infrastructure and transport across it made industrial production very difficult because it was very hard to transport the raw materials to the places of production. Russia had also failed to raise vast amounts of money since they hadn’t mastered successful borrowing. This meant it found it difficult to raise the capital to begin production. This meant that without industrial production the economy of Russia suffered because more money was available for countries with industrial production.
Russian agriculture was backwards as well. Despite such a large proportion of the population being agricultural workers, farming was a weakness in Russia. This was because despite having lots of land which seemed ideal for farming, the land was in fact not suitable to support crops. Most of Russia was too far north and so the climate was too cold for intense cattle rearing or the growing of crops. Therefore arable farming was restricted to the are known as the ‘Black Earth’ region between Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Therefore due to the lack of fertile land, and the huge amounts of peasants there wasn’t enough land for the peasants. The peasants were allowed to buy land following the Emancipation Degree of 1861 but due to government taxes and the high demand for land the prices were often too high. A special fund was available from the government to buy land, however this simply led to large mortgages which took generations to pay.
The Peasants
Peasants were resented by the upper class. They were mainly illiterate and uneducated and due to this lack of education and the sheer number of them they were feared by the higher classes who felt repression was the only way to deal with them. Past attempts to educate peasants had been ruined by the fear among the higher classes that any improvement in their condition may threaten the higher classes’ position. They feared the peasants may realise their potential power and therefore threaten the privileges that the higher classes enjoyed. This lack of education was a weakness as it prevented advancements in things such as agricultural techniques.
Peasants were kept in check by conscription into the army, and was also a punishment for criminals. The conditions in the army were horrific, with extremely tough discipline and grim conditions in which the armed forces had to live. These conditions had led to the deaths of 1 million soldiers in peacetime in the reign of Nicholas I. The belief that Russia needed a large full-time army rather than having a large reserve like in other European countries was a drain on the Russian economy and cost the government 45% of its annual expenditure. The army was weakened because the higher ranks of the army were made up from the aristocracy. This meant that there was no promotion on merit, and rank was gained by the buying and selling of commissions. This weakened the army as a fighting force and so was clearly a negative factor.
