Week IX: 26 Oct. Nicholas I
Assignment: R&S, pp. 301-316; Linc. pp. 3-35; Dmyt. pp. 199-201, 234-245, 261-267, 286-288, 334-335
R&S, pp. 301-316 (Ch. 26):
What does the quotation at the top of p. 301 tell you about Nicholas I's personality, and how does it fit into the concepts of "order" and "service" that we have discussed for the 1700s?
What do the authors tell us about Nicholas I's youth and personality?
The concept of "Official Nationality" is sometimes called the "three pillars" of Nicholas I's reign. What were the core ideas of "Official Nationality"?
How had the Decembrist rebellion shaped Nicholas I's approach to government? And what role in governance did Nicholas give to the state administrative structures designed by Speranskii/Alexander I?
What was "His Majesty's Own Chancery," and what in particular was its "Third Department" (usually called the Third Section)? Why might we see these as representative of Nicholas I's approach to governance in general?
What do the authors mean by the "limitations of Nicholas's approach to reform" (p. 305), and how is this exemplified by the issue of serfdom?
According to the authors, were there any successful reforms under Nicholas I? Explain.
How do the authors characterize Nicholas I's response to the Revolutions of 1848?
Why was Nicholas known as the "gendarme of Europe"? What were his main foreign policy goals?
Why did Nicholas exercise "moderation" towards Turkey in 1829 and why did he actually aid the Turks in the 1830s?
How and why did Nicholas respond to revolution in Western Europe in 1830, and how did he respond to the 1830-31 Polish insurrection?
What is meant by Russification, and towards whom was it directed under Nicholas I?
With whom and why did Nicholas seek diplomatic alliances in the 1830s-1840s?
What was Nicholas I's diplomatic and military reaction to the 1848 revolutions?
In basic terms, what were the main causes of the Crimean War? How do the authors explain Nicholas' policy and goals regarding towards Turkey, and how might we relate these to his domestic policies?
Who "won" the Crimean war?
What do the authors consider Nicholas I's main "accomplishment"?
Lincoln, pp. 3-35:
NOTE!!! You should read the preface (pp. xi-xvii), as it will tell you a great deal about why Lincoln wrote this book, how he understands the main currents in historiography on the book's topic, and what he thinks the book accomplishes.
According to Lincoln, what was the difference between Peter I's use of autocracy and the approach of tsars before him?
How does Lincoln describe Peter I's understanding of "reform"? Did Peter always exercise zakonnost' in his approach to change? Explain.
How does Lincoln explain Catherine II's approach to reform? And what does Lincoln mean when he says that Catherine made use of "limited" glasnost' to promote change?
When glasnost' turned into criticism of the regime, how did Catherine respond? And what does Lincoln see as the implications of her response for the role of the Tsar and "westernizer" and "reformer"?
How does Lincoln explain the "three pillars of Russian conservativism"?
How does Lincoln describe Nicholas I's view of the "West"?
Does Lincoln consider Nicholas I a complete reactionary? How does he describe Nicholas I's attitude towards change?
According to Lincoln, what did 'reform' mean to Russian statesmen in the last years of the reign of Alexander I and under Nicholas I? Did it mean "transformation" or "preservation"? Explain.
What picture does Lincoln paint of the Russian state bureaucracy in the early 1800s? Why was there a need to train "new" bureaucrats, and what problems would the Tsarist state face in creating a more efficient, effective ("workable") bureaucracy?
What impact did the concentration of bureaucratic talent in St. Petersburg have on the quality of governance in the provinces?
Lincoln depicts the Russian state administration as facing a national crisis by the mid 1800s that threatened governance of the entire country--what was the basis of this crisis?
Does Lincoln think that Nicholas I's approach to government (the "Nicholas system") eliminated or contributed to the problem of proizvol (arbitrariness)? Explain.
What impact does Lincoln say the "mountain" of paperwork generated by Nicholas' system of surveillance (nadzor) had on the effectiveness of government?
What does Lincoln mean when he describes government clerks as exercising "passive resistance"?
According to Lincoln was reform (however conceived) possible under these conditions? Explain.
Who does Lincoln credit with working to create a better trained "enlightened" bureaucracy? And did people like Count Kislev want these new bureaucrats to be agents for the transformation of Russia's political and social systems? Explain.
According to Lincoln, how did Russia differ from Western Europe by the mid 1800s? And how did these differences affect Russia's relations with the West?
According to Lincoln, did most educated Russians consider Russia "backwards" in 1850? Explain.
Lincoln says that in reality, by 1850 Russia faced a number of looming crises to which its "old" bureaucrats could not find solutions. What were these looming critical matters?
Lincoln argues that proposals for solutions to Russia's huge structural problems would come from new "enlightened" bureaucrats who been trained under the guidance of ministers like Kiselev. How did these enlightened bureaucrats differ from their predecessors?
According to Lincoln, was it possible for Nikitenko and the cohort of enlightened bureaucrats to "make change" under Nicholas I? Explain.
Dmyt. pp. 199-201, 234-245, 261-267, 286-288, 334-335:
These will be slightly out of order, so that they make sense topically/chronologically.
***Nicholas I's Manifesto on Peasant Unrest, 1826 (pp. 234-235)
What does this document tell us about Nicholas I's view of society and his approach to governance? Explain.
*** Memorandum to Nicholas I on Censorship, 1826 (pp. 235-237)
On what does Shishkov blame the French Revolution of 1789-99?
What great danger does Shishkov see facing Russia?
What solution to social discontent does Shishkov propose, and why is this characteristic of the Nicholas System?
***A Restriction on Educational Opportunities, 1827 (pp. 237-238)
Why, according to Nicholas I, was it harmful for serfs to receive more than an elementary education?
What does this decree tell us about Nicholas I's conceptions of Russian society and order?
***Polish dethronement of Nicholas I, 1831 (pp. 199-200)
How did Polish nationalists explain their decision to reject Russian rule and Nicholas' monarchy?
***A Statement by Nicholas I to Polish Representatives, 1835 (pp. 200-201)
Having crushed the Polish revolution and revoked the rights promised the Polish constitution of 1815, how did Nicholas treat even the suggestion of Polish national independence?
***Treaty of Adrianople, 1829 (pp. 239-243)
What advantages did Russia gain through this treaty (which ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1828)?
***Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, 1833 (pp. 243-245)
Think about Riasanovsky's interpretation of Nicholas I's goals re. Turkey in the 1830s (R&S Ch. 26): What in this document might support that interpretation?
***Russo-Ukrainian Relations in the Nineteenth Century (sections on pp. 261-267)
Focus on the documents re. the Cyril-Methodius Society, Orlov's report on the Society, and the 1842 appeal for a rebellion in Kiev.
Ok, based on those documents
What arguments were Ukrainian intellectuals making in favor of independence?
How did Nicholas I's government interpret the nationalists' views?
What does the government response tell us about the state's policy of Russification?
What does Orlov's report tell us about Nicholas I's methods of rule?
Did Russification seem to have quashed the desire for Ukrainian independence?
***The Crimean War, 1853-1856 (pp. 286-287)
Look at these statistics. What do they tell you about Russia's preparedness for war in 1853?
***View of Muravev on the Amur River, 1849-1850
What does this document tell us about the pressures that industrial England was putting on the Russian Empire?