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MR. WHITE’S WORLD HISTORY
Russian and Austrian Tensions
Russia
The Romanov dynasty had ruled Russia for many hundreds of years into the 1800s
Some czars had worked hard to modernize Russia, while others were distrustful of outside, western ideas – latinstvo
This struggle would finally start to come to a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Western Ideas
The Russian officers who fought Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars were exposed to the ideas and technology of western Europe
They formed secret societies with the goals of making Russia more modern by adopting these ideas
This eventually results in the Decembrist Revolt, an attempt to modernize Russia through a military revolt
Decembrist Revolt
The Decembrist Revolt took place when Alexander I died, and his son Nicholas I took the throne
The revolt was defeated, but had two results: Leaders of the revolt were seen as martyrs to a cause,
and inspiration to others The czars also constantly ruled with the threat of an
uprising
Defeat and Resolve
Russia’s defeat by France and the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War showed to many Russians how technologically backwards Russia was
Czar Alexander II believed that Russia needed to industrialize to become a major power and compete with other nations
The Serfs
Russia still relied on peasant labor for its agriculture
Serfs were peasants who were tied to the land that they worked – basically a more restrictive form of feudalism
For Russia to industrialize, it needed available labor
To get this labor, Alexander II freed the serfs in 1861
The Plight of the Serfs
The serfs obtained legal freedom, and were given land, but had to pay back the landholders for the land they were given
This kept many of them tied to the land stillSome peasants gave up farming and moved
to the cities to become unskilled urban workers
Some Modernization
Alexander did other things to modernize and liberalize Russia: Limited the use of Russian secret police Eased restrictions on the press Modernized the judicial system Shortened mandatory military service, from 25 years
to 6
Still, these reforms would not satisfy the people – encouraged them
Radical Movements
Radical reformers, many who were upper or middle class intellectuals, continued to criticize the czar and the government
Many advocated the ending of the currently political, economic, and or social structure, for a complete re-making of society in some other form
Some groups turned to violence, assassinations, etc., to get their point across
Alexander II tries to crush these radicals – was assassinated in 1881
Alexander III
Alexander III takes back many of his father’s reforms – if you can’t appease them, crush them Restored censorship of the press Extended powers of the secret police
Alexander also encouraged the Russification of the country Used nationalism to impose a Russian identity on
people Repressed many non-Russian ethnic, language, and
religious groups
Nicholas II
When Nicholas II took over in 1894, many problems continued, and he wasn’t strong willed enough to stop them Peasants still unhappy Middle-class reformers pushed for a constitutional
monarchy
Most importantly, the Russian working class had increased in size dramatically, and were working and living in poor conditions
Revolutionary Groups
Several revolutionary groups had developed in Russia – most followed the teachings of Karl Marx Mensheviks – Russia should develop into an
industrialized nation and then a socialist revolution could occur
Bolsheviks – Professional revolutionaries could use force to bring about a revolution
Russian Tension
Russia’s poor showing in the Russo-Japanese war reinforced that Russia was not a modern nation
Many people began to oppose the czarist government
Bloody Sunday – a peaceful demonstration of about 200,000 workers resulted in Russian soldiers firing on the demonstrators
The Russian Situation
Soviets, or workers’ councils began to form to voice workers’ grievances
All revolutionary groups called for representative government and universal suffrage
General strikes resulted in Nicholas allowing the formation of a duma to give the people representation – he later dissolves it
These events will combine with Russia’s experience in World War I to bring revolution
Austria-Hungary
Klemens von Metternich, in Austria, had worked to keep liberal and nationalist forces from threatening Austria
In 1848, the revolutions that swept through France and other places in Europe came to Austria
After a revolution, the Austrian monarchy was able to re-establish itself and put down the liberal rebellion
The Dual Monarch
To keep the empire from being destabilized by Hungarian Magyars, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph split Austria-Hungary into a dual monarchy Both Austria and Hungary would operate basically
independently, for internal matters The Emperor of Austria would politically rule both
monarchies
Nationalism
Nationalist tensions in the Balkans began to create divisive pressures in the Austro-Hungarian empire
The decline of the Ottoman empire in this area allowed many nationalist groups to speak out for independence Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania – revolts, which the
Ottomans suppressed
Bulgaria
Russia had controlled Bulgaria as an expansion of its empire
At the Congress of Berlin, the European powers stripped Russia of Bulgaria and divided the parts of it into independent nations, or holdings of other nations
These divisions created small nations and other divisive tensions within the larger empires, like the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary
Balkan League
The Balkan League was a political alliance of many of the now-free Balkan states
These nations helped many other Balkan independence movements separate from the Ottoman Empire
But as these wars went on, the Balkan nations began to have conflicts with each other, as well
End Results
Serbia, a Slavic nation, gained more power and would exert its influence on other independence movements
Russia supported these Slavic movements to gain power in the region
French, British, and German governments worked to maintain a balance of power in that region
With these increased tensions, writers called the Balkans the “powder keg of Europe”