Reassertion of autocracy
- Both Alexander III and Nicholas II were advised to reassert the principal of autocracy and uphold Orthodoxy and 'Nationalism' which effectively meant Russification - the enforcing of Russian language on the culture of the other ethnic peoples of the Empire.
- Alexander III arrested 150 members of the People's Will oppostion group (Lenin's brother was a member), publicly hanging those responsible for his father's assination and increased the power of the police. Wide spread use of spies and counterspies with the creation of the Department of Police, including the Okhrana (secret police).
- From 1881 the government encouraged anti-Jewish pogroms. Other ethnic groups were also victimised.
- From 1882, any area of the Empire could be deemd an 'area of subversion' with police agents able to arrest, imprison or exile on suspicision.
- In 1885, closed court sessions (where trials were held in secret) without juries were reintroduced.
- In 1889, Alexander III introduced Land Captains who could overturn Zemstva decisons and order the flogging of peasants.
Nicholas II
Tsar Nicholas II (1894 - 1917) had been brought up to fearand respect his powerful autocratic father, and was ill-suited to become Tsar. He was naturally reserved and, despite being a hard-working, cultured individual who could speak several languages, he had little interest in politics. He readily admitted that he had little idea of how to rule when he first came to the throne. Nevertheless, he felt he had a God-given duty to fulfil and the weight of this responsibility affected him greatly. He was determined to rule 'as his father had done', yet he proved incapable of making firm decisions and providing any sense of direction.
He tried to deal with disquiet by stepping up surveillance and relying on the army and martial law. He maintaied his father's policy of extending Church influence over education, discriminating against those of lowly background, barring women from universities and making university appointments dependent on the political reliability of the candidate. Student demonstrations were brutally crushed and, in 1901, 13 young people were killed by a Cossack charge in St Petersburg and 1500 more were imprisoned.
He tried to deal with disquiet by stepping up surveillance and relying on the army and martial law. He maintaied his father's policy of extending Church influence over education, discriminating against those of lowly background, barring women from universities and making university appointments dependent on the political reliability of the candidate. Student demonstrations were brutally crushed and, in 1901, 13 young people were killed by a Cossack charge in St Petersburg and 1500 more were imprisoned.
The situation in 1904
There was widespread unrest in both towns and the countryside as the Tsarist government appeared to offer no prospect of change and the Tsar, who was easily influenced, had dismissed his most competet advisor, Segei Witte in 1903, leaving himself surrounded by reactionary miisters.
There were many incidents of arso in the countryside during the turbulet 'years of the red cockerel' (1903-1904), named after the formation of the flames (resembling a rooster's comb). While peasants suffering from land-hunger destroyed landlords' barns and seized woodland and pature, industrial workers formed illegal trade unions and became involved in strikes. Legalised trade unions, set up under the head of the Okhrana, for the most part failed.
There were many incidents of arso in the countryside during the turbulet 'years of the red cockerel' (1903-1904), named after the formation of the flames (resembling a rooster's comb). While peasants suffering from land-hunger destroyed landlords' barns and seized woodland and pature, industrial workers formed illegal trade unions and became involved in strikes. Legalised trade unions, set up under the head of the Okhrana, for the most part failed.