Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 8 views

    Document

    Uploaded by

    Poppy Thurston
    The security of the Tsarist state prior to 1905 relied heavily on the autocratic authority of the Tsar. As the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and descendant of a dynasty that had ruled Russia for centuries, the Tsar's power was seen as absolute and ordained by God. However, Tsar Nicholas II was a weak ruler more focused on his family than problems in Russia like famine and poverty. While the secret police helped maintain control through surveillance and punishment of opposition groups, policies like Russification that imposed Russian language and culture antagonized non-Russian populations and created new opposition. The Russian Orthodox Church also preached messages of loyalty to the autocracy and helped control the predominantly Orthodox population, further propping up the T

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Document

    Uploaded by

    Poppy Thurston
    8 views2 pages
    The security of the Tsarist state prior to 1905 relied heavily on the autocratic authority of the Tsar. As the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and descendant of a dynasty that had ruled Russia for centuries, the Tsar's power was seen as absolute and ordained by God. However, Tsar Nicholas II was a weak ruler more focused on his family than problems in Russia like famine and poverty. While the secret police helped maintain control through surveillance and punishment of opposition groups, policies like Russification that imposed Russian language and culture antagonized non-Russian populations and created new opposition. The Russian Orthodox Church also preached messages of loyalty to the autocracy and helped control the predominantly Orthodox population, further propping up the T

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The security of the Tsarist state prior to 1905 relied heavily on the autocratic authority of the Tsar. As the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and descendant of a dynasty that had ruled Russia for centuries, the Tsar's power was seen as absolute and ordained by God. However, Tsar Nicholas II was a weak ruler more focused on his family than problems in Russia like famine and poverty. While the secret police helped maintain control through surveillance and punishment of opposition groups, policies like Russification that imposed Russian language and culture antagonized non-Russian populations and created new opposition. The Russian Orthodox Church also preached messages of loyalty to the autocracy and helped control the predominantly Orthodox population, further propping up the T

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    8 views2 pages

    Document

    Uploaded by

    Poppy Thurston
    The security of the Tsarist state prior to 1905 relied heavily on the autocratic authority of the Tsar. As the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and descendant of a dynasty that had ruled Russia for centuries, the Tsar's power was seen as absolute and ordained by God. However, Tsar Nicholas II was a weak ruler more focused on his family than problems in Russia like famine and poverty. While the secret police helped maintain control through surveillance and punishment of opposition groups, policies like Russification that imposed Russian language and culture antagonized non-Russian populations and created new opposition. The Russian Orthodox Church also preached messages of loyalty to the autocracy and helped control the predominantly Orthodox population, further propping up the T

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    The security of the Tsarist state up to 1905 was largely down to the authority of the Tsar, the

    Romanov dynasty had ruled in Russia for centuries as an autocratic regime Nicholas II like his
    predecessors and acted fundamental law whereby his power seemed to come from God which
    means he could not be questioned this demonstrates the fact that he was essentially unassailable
    even his closest confidence with the nobility had the bow to his position. It seems therefore the Tsar
    up to 1905 he was never held accountable for his actions however ruling a nation the size of Russia
    was not without its problems Nicholas was a fairly weak character who cared more for his family
    than the state of the nation. consequently it could be argued that the overall security of the Tsar was
    threatened by his ignorance of the problems of his country and the people in it like land hunger,
    extreme poverty and famine which were commonplace Nicholas did nothing in this respect.

    The Tsars secret police infiltrated opposition groups, gathered info and punished opposers, they also
    failed political opponents and acted as bodyguards, they were an internal agent and struck people
    with fear because of their powerful reputations, the crowd were among the first in Europe to utilise
    new tradecraft technology such as fingerprinting, photographic identification, code breaking and
    bugs. once opponents had been identified they were able to inflict a number of punishments, it can
    be argued that the okhrana were crucial in maintaining the size position. on one level they
    prevented opposition by striking fear into those who are tempted to rebel,
    The brutal punishment served it as a deterrent.

    One method which the Tsar’s government used to try maintain authority was Russification.
    this was a deliberate attempt to make the empire more Russian and to limit the influence of non
    Russians, this policy involved making non Russians use the Russian language and adopt Russian
    habits and customs. the Russian language was used in schools, law courts and regional government.
    for instance in Poland it was forbidden to teach children in the Polish language. almost all historians
    agree that Russification was a disastrous policy in terms of protecting autocracy the policy had been
    introduced with the attention of intention of creating a more united empire and cohesive Russia
    which spoke the same language and followed the same laws, which would be easier to control. the
    policy was also very popular with ethnic Russians, however instead of winning support it can be
    argued the policy created an environment where huge swaths of the empire were antagonised by
    the Tsars policies, thus creating greater opposition to the tsardom. even areas which had previously
    been loyal such as Finland Armenia became opponents.

    The Russian Orthodox Church was a vital part of the tsarist empire. Russia was religiously different
    from the rest of Europe as by the 11th century Russia no longer accepted the authority of the Pope in
    Rome, this meant that Russia’s Orthodox Church became a national church controlled from within
    Russia in 1881. The Orthodox Church in Russia had at its head the Tsar or are the subjects of the
    Tsar who were who were committed orthodox Christians. They believed that the Tsar was indeed a
    spiritual leader and protector given by God who ruled Russia as a servant. the Tsar was believed to
    be a holy man and it was the duty of God fearing subjects to respect his rules. one of the churches
    roles was to teach to respect the autocracy through bishops, priests and in schools. Most peasants
    saw the Tsar as the little father sent by God to protect them. The orthodox church ran over 41,000
    schools in Russia where they preached a message of loyalty obedience to the church. They also
    actively denounced all opposition to the Tsar, they called on their congregations to inform the police
    that anyone who held the anti tsarist beliefs would be punished. the church had captive
    membership of the Russian subjects because it was made a criminal offence to abandon Russian
    orthodoxy. this holdover the Russian subjects was a source of great strength to the Tsar, Roman
    Catholics, lutherans, Buddhists, Muslims and Jews were persecuted severely since over 80% of the
    population were followers of that faith this enabled the Tsar to use the church effectively to control
    the vast majority of the Russian population.
    Overall in valuation the autocratic power of Tsar meant that their regime was fairly secure up to
    1905. Nicolas II as empire of Russia was responsible for all forms of governance, however he was
    also upheld by the pillars of autocracy including a corrupt and disorganised civil service. This meant
    that while he may of survived before 1905 his role was precarious. while the security of the Tsarist
    state depended on the autocracy of the Tsar himself, the army in the secret police played a major
    part in maintaining it

    You might also like