How did governments in pre - revolutionary Russia deal with social and political unrest?

Elise Matthews Stage Two Modern History

Social, political and economical unrest was not unheard of in pre - revolutionary Russia. The Tsarist government being as stubborn as they were chose to take a series of measures which they thought would control the masses of revolutionaries. These measures were often carried out in extreme ways, which in-turn created a greater hatred for the Tsar and his ruling class. The following passages will explain the Tsarist government’s motives and reasons for their ways of dealing with the social and political unrest in pre - revolutionary Russia, and how it was carried out.

It was known by the Russian ruling class, that reforms in Russian society were needed, although doing this was not as easy as it sounds. Severe reforms would result in minimising the Tsar’s power. No Tsar was prepared to do this, no matter how enlightened they were. Therefore, reforms tended to be infrequent and uncommon and usually only the result of national crisis or humiliation. The reign of Alexander II is an example of this. With the loss of the Crimean War against France and Great Britain, reforms by the Tsarits government began to take place. The Liberation of Serfs was the beginning of the reforms, followed by the establishment of a group of rural councils called the Zemstva. A number of legal reforms were introduced and greater freedom of expression inspired the development of a cross – section of the educated and the more enlightened members of the Russian society, also known as the Intelligentsia. Alexander II put these reforms in place to minimise revolutionary activity and opposition to the Tsarist system. At first he succeeded, but by the 1870’s Alexander II had practically discarded the reforms he had put in place and the majority of the old policies were reappearing. The Intelligentsia felt betrayed and turned to contemplation of revolution.

In 1881, Alexander II was assassinated by ‘The People’s Will’, a group of members of the Intelligentsia. His son, Alexander III, took reign and immediately cancelled his father's plans to introduce a representative assembly. When announcing his accession to the throne, he let it be very clearly understood that he had no intention of limiting or weakening the autocratic power that he had inherited from his ancestors. Nor did he afterwards show any inclination to change his mind. He had five of the assassins executed and introduced a series of repressive actions that came to be known as

‘The Reaction’.

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‘The Reaction’.

These measures began with The Statute of State Security in 1881. Special government-controlled courts were set up which operated outside the standing legal system. Any judges, magistrates and officials who sided with any liberal ideas were removed from office. The censorship of the press was tightened and the powers of the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police, were extended. Okhrana agents worked under cover and their main task was to expose political crimes before they were committed. Some of the agents eventually became converted to the cause, they then became double agents who provided information to the Okhrana and the revolutionaries. 1 At first the Statute of State security was introduced as a temporary measure to deal with emergencies only, but it ended up lasting until 1917. In 1887 the University Statute was introduced. This brought the Universities under strict government control. The Zemstva Act was then introduced in 1890; this decreased the independence of the local councils and empowered government officials to interfere in their decision-making.

These measures were accompanied by the Russification. This was an attempt to restrict the influence of the national minorities within the Russian Empire. Russian was made the official first language and was to be the form in which Russian law was directed throughout the Empire. This gave officials everywhere an interest in keeping Russian values and eradicating any other national cultures. Racial discrimination rose and state interference in national forms of administration, education and religion became methodical. The Jews, the Baltic Germans, the Poles, the Finns, the Armenians and the Ukrainians became victims of the discrimination. The Jews were the major victims as over six hundred measures were introduced that imposed uncompromising social, political and economical restrictions on them. Majorities of Jewish people were forced to live in Ghetto’s and were blamed for most of Russia’s problems. Destruction of Jewish homes, killing and wounding of Jews was not uncommon. As a result of the Persecutions, the Jews either fled the country or formed communities within the country. The Jews who left the country took with them a strong hatred for the Tsarist system and the ones that stayed became a part of the various revolutionary movements. In this instance, the Russian ruling class could be seen as extremely foolish. At a time when solidarity and unity were essential for the development of the Tsarist system, they opted to carry out cruel and inhumane procedures against half of its population.

“At no previous time have the religious persecutions been so frequent and so cruel as they are today. In all the cities and industrial centres, soldiers are employed and equipped with live ammunition to be sent out against the people.” – Nicolai Tolstoy’s ‘Open address to Nicholas II’, 1902. 2

As Russia experienced major demographic increase, poverty levels became high and therefore productivity of the land went down. This poverty also rose as a result of the peasants being driven off their own land. A huge decline in agricultural prices meant that fewer people were able to work on the land and as a result also joined the poverty line. The high taxes on peasantry in Russia were similar to the taxes on peasantry in pre- revolutionary France. these people were the worst off, yet they were they people made to pay the taxes. Many groups decided that they would migrate to surrounding countries due to the bad conditions. The commune, who were the wealthier people, owned all the land and decided who would pay tax and what would happen with the land. Anyone who disobeyed the commune would automatically be sent to exile in Siberia. There was also no schooling for peasants. In the cities, children were forced to push coal when strong enough or work with textiles in factories. The workers had no compensation and no workers right. Revolutionary parties convinced the working class to revolt against the bad conditions, so the government banned trade unions. But as a result, massive strikes took place.

On the 22nd of January 1905, a peaceful march took place that was led by Farther Gapon, an Orthodox priest and Okhrana double agent. Members of the march were unarmed workers and their families with the aim of presenting a loyal petition to the Tsar asking for his authority to ease their frantic conditions. At a time when the government had an opportunity to revamp it’s power, the police authorities in the capital took the complete opposite approach and shot at the marchers. The deaths amounted to hundreds. Although the Tsar was absent from St Petersburg at the time, his image was severely damaged and he was no longer seen as the guardian to the Russian people. Bloody Sunday, as it was named, came to be the beginning of the 1905 Revolution.

When the summer of 1905 brought the end of the Russo-Japanese war, the Tsarist governments had great fears that the returning soldiers would join the revolutionaries. The Tsar knew that this would have been the end of the Tsarist reign, he also knew that if he did not give any ground to the pressuring liberals that had been formed then his collapse would also be inevitable. The liberals stood for modernising Russia rather than reforming it, so the first action the Tsar took was to grant the liberals’ wish of establishing a legislative, law making Duma. He included this in his October Manifesto which also introduced a range of civil rights, including freedom of speech, assembly and worship, and the legalising of trade unions. The Tsarist government then won over the peasants by announcing that mortgage repayments would be completely abolished. The government then turned to the only remaining group, the industrial workers. Confident that the troops who returned from the far east at the end of the war sided with the Tsarist government, they were used against the strikers. The headquarters of the St Petersburg soviet were stormed and the ringleaders were arrested. By the time the Bolshevik leader, Lenin, arrived in Moscow, his precious soviet buildings were nothing but flames and rubble.

The more force the opposition of the Tsarist system gave, the more force the Tsarist government gave back. No member of the ruling class was prepared to lose any of it’s power, therefore sly acts were used to fool the revolutionaries that their issues were being answered and solved. No Tsar had any intention of making reforms that would threaten their power. At times when the Tsarist government could have been saved, they merely pushed themselves down further.

“ Autocracy is a superannuated form of government that may suit the needs of a Central African tribe, but not those of the rest of the world. That is why it is impossible to maintain this form of government except by violence.” – Nicolai Tolstoy’s ‘Open address to Nicholas II’, 1902. 3

The eventual fall of Nicholas II in 1917, could be seen as a result of poor leadership rather than savage oppression. Events such as Nicholas II’s decision to take over personal command of the Russian armed forces, court scandals or his wife’s German nationality were major factors in the fall of the Dynasty but were not sufficient enough to bring it down on their own. The short sightedness of the Russian Ruling class proved to be the main reason for the downfall of the Tsarist reign. Fear of the Tsar’s power being decreased, measures were taken to stop any kind of revolutionary activity occurring. The dissatisfaction amongst the members of the middle and lower classes was the cause of the social and political unrest. But, the dissatisfaction was caused by the measures taken by the Tsarist government in order to obtain traditional Tsarist policies. Hence, the ongoing circle began that the Russians then found themselves entrapped in for years to come. Even after the fall of the Romanov Dynasty, Russia could still not find a balance within the classes, a problem that they would face for many years.

Bibliography

Reaction & Revolutions: Russia 1881 – 1924, Michael Lynch

Modern Revolutions, H. R. Cowie

Key Features of Modern History, Bruce Dennett and Stephen Dixon

Notes taken in class, Mr Blencowe

1 (Accessed Online 13/04/2004)

2 Reaction & Revolutions: Russia 1881 – 1924, Michael Lynch

3 Reaction & Revolutions: Russia 1881 – 1924, Michael Lynch