The Individual in Russia
In judging the accuracy of a place
description, it is necessary to take into
account the background of the person making
it. In fact, a place description often tells as
much about the describer as the place they
are describing. Catherine Wilmot's
description of Russian serfs reveals her belief
that material things - food, shelter and fuel are enough to keep people happy. It also
suggests the she feels lower social classes
should be content with less than she probably
has. Alexander Herzen does not mention
material happiness. For him, the only true
measure of a society is freedom it grants its
members, wether peasants or aristocrats.
1) What should you take into account when hearing someone’s description of a
place?
2) Why did Wilmot’s opinion on the lives of serfs in Russia, differ from that of
Herzen’s?
3) What type of social ranking does each of the writers probably have in Russia?
Russian Reforms and Reactions
During the years of the Greek revolution, another rebellion was under way, this one in Russia. The
Russian czarist government of Alexander I [1801–1825] was highly repressive. In Russia the Peasant class
made up the majority, but were very poor and had very little rights. Most of Russia’s economics was based
on the work these feudal peasants did in the fields for their noble masters. Alexander talked about reforms,
but Napoleon invaded Russia and Alexander withdrew from his reform ideas. Secret societies opposed to
Russian power began to form to overthrow the Russian government. Some of their
Alexander I
members were army officers. Many Russian officers served in France in the early
1800’s and they brought back to Russia many Western ideas about people’s right to
freedom and democracy In December 1825, when Alexander died (caught a cold
which developed into typhus), questions developed over which of his brothers—
Constantine or Nicholas—should succeed him. The army sided with Constantine.
They carried signs that read, “Constantine and Constitution.” This December Revolt
ultimately failed because it was unorganized and did not have the backing of the
peasants. Also, it did not even have the complete support of Constantine. This
Decembrist Revolt, as it was called, was the first step in a long process leading to
the Russian Revolution of 1917.
In the mid-1800s, Russia’s czars, or emperors with almost total power over the people, began to carry out
reforms. In other words, they gave the people some rights, in an effort to satisfy them. The Russians had
lost the Crimean War in 1856 due to their lack of development as an industrial modern nation. The new
Czar Alexander II decides to modernize Russia, so to compete with the rest of the world. 1861, the Edict
of Emancipation freed 20 million peasants – half the farmland was Loaned to the peasant community for
49 years. They still felt like slaves because many were too poor to pay for the land or the land they got was
too small to support their families. In 1881, student revolutionaries unhappy with the slow pace of political
change assassinated Czar Alexander II. The Socialists group, “People’s Will” assassinated the Czar by
throwing two bombs at his carriage. They demanded free land with their freedom and a Constitution.
Czar Alexander III succeeded his father to the throne in 1881. He
stopped all reforms and returned Russia to its old ways. Alexander III
tried to wipe out all Liberals and revolutionaries. The people once again
found themselves having few or no rights. He also launched a program
of “Russification” aimed at suppressing cultures of non-Russians and
promoting Russian culture. The new campaign released a litany of
persecution against the Poles, Ukrainians and Finns, Armenians,
Muslims and Jews living in the Russian Empire. Russia was heading
towards a full scale revolution.
In 1894, Czar Nicholas II succeeded his father, Alexander III. The people’s desire for freedom did not
die. In January of 1905, about 200,000 workers and their families carried petitions to the czar’s Winter
Palace asking for better working conditions and personal freedoms. They wanted Czar Nicholas II to permit
a constitution to be written. The czar’s soldiers opened fire on these unarmed people, killing between 500
to 1,000 of them. This slaughter of the innocent civilians came to be known as Bloody Sunday. Waves
of violence and strikes spread throughout the country. In October of 1905, Czar Nicholas II reluctantly
approved the creation of a Duma, the Russian Parliament (or elected national legislative or lawmaking
body). However, when the newly elected Duma’s leaders wanted the Russian czar to share his power, he
refused. Instead, he dissolved the Duma.
Directions: Answer questions completely.
4) Why didn’t Alexander put forth reforms for the Russian people?
5) Why didn’t the 1861Edict of Emancipation do much for the peasants?
6) What happened to Czar Alexander II?
7) What was Russification and how did it affect minorities?
The Dreyfus Affair
Anti-Semites are persons who hate Jews. Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer, was
charged with spying for the Germans. He was convicted and imprisoned on Devil’s Island. Slowly,
the public was made aware that the evidence on which Dreyfus was convicted was not true. The
public learned that some of the highest ranking members of the French government, army, and
Church knew all along that Dreyfus was innocent. In fact, many of these high-ranking officials had
lied about Dreyfus. These people falsely charged Dreyfus because he was Jewish.
A famous writer named Emile Zola wrote an open letter entitled “I Accuse.” In this letter, Zola
told the story of the Dreyfus case and accused the French government of anti-Semitism. A very
talented and respected man named Georges Clemenceau (Kle-mon-so) argued in defense of
Dreyfus. Clemenceau convinced the government to free Dreyfus. In 1906 his conviction was
overturned. He was reinstated in the army and awarded the Legion of Honor.
The Dreyfus Affair had three important results.
1. It showed the amount of anti-Semitism in France and throughout Europe.
2. It strengthened the Third Republic by making the French people aware of the dangers of the Royalists.
3. It led to the separation of Church & State in France; the Church no longer controlled the public school.
The following is from Dreyfus’s Diary:
Directions: Answer all questions completely.
8) What are Anti-Semites?
9) Why was Captain Dreyfus Convicted of
spying?
10)
What happened to Dreyfus during the
degradation ceremony?