russification

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  • Russification
    • tsarist Russia was multi-national empire
      • inhabited by over 100 different ethnic groups
        • Slavs (in Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia) made up 2/3 of population
        • remaining peoples were mixture of different nationalities, languages, religions and cultural traditions
        • posed a continual challenge for tsarist autocracy
          • various ethnic groups asserted distinctive identities
    • Alex II and ethnic minorities
      • used a mixture of repression and concessions to maintain Russian control over empire states
      • example of repression
        • firmly suppressed Polish rebellion of 1863-1864
      • examples of concessions
        • decrees of 1864 and 1875 allowed Latvians and Estonians to readopt Lutheranism instead of Orthodoxy
        • allowed Finns to have their own diet
      • no systematic persecution of racial minorities
      • national difference intolerance increased during period of increased reaction towards the end of Alex's reign
        • use of Ukrainian in publications or performances banned in 1876
    • Russification under Alex III
      • extended intolerance
        • adopted a systematic policy of cultural Russification
          • sought to merge tsar's subjects into a single nation with a feeling of shared identity
            • controlled by autocracy and orthodox church
        • destruction of non-Russian cultures in the empire
          • Finland
            • weakened diet
            • increased demand of Russian use
            • abolished Finnish postal service
            • Russian coinage replaced local currency
          • Poland
            • changed administration
            • closed national bank
            • schools and unis had to teach almost all subjects in Russian
            • literature studied in Russian
          • Baltic
            • Russian enforced
              • state offices
              • school and uni
              • police force and judicial system
          • Ukraine
            • use of Ukrainian limited
            • closed all theatres
      • conscription extended to previously exempt areas
        • conscripts dispersed to prevent national groupings developing in army
      • ethnic uprisings crushed
      • adherence to orthodox church encouraged
        • laws benefited orthodox faith whereas freedom of non-orthodox believers restricted
    • results of Russification
      • unrest and disturbances broke out in many provinces and districts
        • quickly suppressed
      • resentment grew among educated and wealthy non-Russian countries in west
        • national groups constantly petitioned tsars for more liberties
        • local language books secretly published
        • some thnic schools survived
      • Russification supporters believed it was necessary
        • united country
        • improved administration
        • allowed for modernisation
        • failures
          • long-term objectives
          • increased national feeling among ethnic minorities
          • fuelled political opposition

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