A strict class system imposed upon the people marked Russian society during the 18th century. The upper nobility represented only about one percent of the total population. The remaining population, approximately ninety percent of Russian society were considered to be peasants. In this peasant class, fifty-five percent of them were classified as serfs. The growing practice of serfdom bound individuals to the land due to the debt owed to the landowner from taxes. Strict adherence to these societal roles led to restrictions on an individual's freedom to make choices and decisions. Alexander Pushkin in The Captain's Daughter created a story that illuminated limitations and conflicts that stemmed from the class system in 18th century Russia. …show more content…
Pugachev attempted to exploit Catherine the Great's weak claim to the throne by assuming the identity of her dead husband Peter III. Peter unknowingly first encountered Pugachev in the middle of a dangerous blizzard. Pugachev assisted Peter and Savelitch in securing lodging. In this first encounter, Peter detailed the gruff and poor look of the Cossack. Peter saw that Pugchev needed a coat for the cold weather and gave him one of his as a token of gratitude. When they next meet, Pugachev was surrounded by an army of followers and claimed the title and position of the tsar. Pugachev gained a diverse group of followers by promising reforms that would combat the Russian class system. He promised an end to serfdom, abolishment of the mandatory draft, removal of all taxes, and an open war on landowners. These promises appealed to groups of individuals that had been disenfranchised by Russian society. By removing serfdom, Pugachev had the potential to free a large portion of the Russian population. He molded his band of followers into an effective fighting force that captured some key towns in the countryside. The fear that Pugachev's force inflicted on the Russian military can be seen in Peters interaction with the officers stationed at Orenburg. In the early stages of his rebellion, the Russian military suffered a series of defeats that …show more content…
The Cossacks at the time were a cultural group that lived near and protected the country's borders. The Russian government in exchange for this service gave them more autonomy and freedom from the extension of serfdom. Over time, these rights eroded and caused the resentment of the government by the Cossacks. The Cossacks would become embroiled in multiple rebellions over the years. They supported all of the supposed false Dmitri's and in 1667, Stenka Razin, a fellow Cossack, initiated his own rebellion against the social class system. In the book The Captain's Daughter, the Cossacks were an important ally to another pretender to the throne, Yemelyan Pugachev. Many Cossacks lived at the base in Belogorsk and in the surrounding area. In the novel, the Yaikian Cossacks were responsible for helping maintain security for the Belogorsk district. Peter felt a suspicion towards these Cossacks because shortly before he arrived at the base, insurrection had broken out and a Russian General had been murdered. He stated that the local authorities were extremely wary and that the Cossacks pretended to repent after the insurrection. These fears proved to be true because on the night before Pugachev arrived, the Cossacks vacated the fortress and joined the enemy ranks. Given their eroded rights and sinking social standing, the grievances of the Cossacks caused them to join Pugachev to
In 1900, Russia was an autocracy led by a Tsar who had a total control over the country. The Tsar was Nicholas II. Along with his family and all other nobles, he was very wealthy and lived in luxury. Other wealthy groups of people were: Ÿ Upper class- Church leaders and lesser nobles. Ÿ Commercial class- Bankers, factory workers all known as capitalists.
After the assassination of Alexander the Great in 1881 by Russian socialist revolutionaries, Alexander III ascended to the throne and began to develop a reactionary policy that would be used to suppress the power of anti-tsarist rivals (Kort 23). In the late 1800s, Tsar Alexander III was faced with growing insurrection from the populist peasants, who were demanding more freedoms and land under the Tsarist regime. However, he was unwilling to give up his traditional centralized authority for a more democratic system of ruling. Instead, he sought political guidance from his advisor, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, an Orthodox religious conservative and loyal member of the Russian autocracy. Pobedonostsev was quick to hound revolutionaries by means
On the other hand there were other problems that effected the Romanov dynasty. After Russia’s removal from Poland the Tsar took it upon himself to become the new commander-in-chief, even th...
...looked at as he is the literate outsider who knows how to write and read , yet this presupposed privilege later on makes Liutov as minor instead of being superior . During the story , Liutov gives up gradually his academic superiority and in other words gives up his ‘individual’ identity in order to be part of this solidarity and collectivism that shape the Cossacks society.
Peter the Great had many goals during the time he ruled. One of his biggest goals was to modernize and westernize Russia. The main reason Peter the Great modernized Russia was because he did not want the country he ruled to be left vulnerable to expansionist powers in Europe. The powers were constantly at war, fighting to take over each other’...
The need to abolish serfdom was a persistent and, according to Mosse writing in 1958, biggest problem in Russian society since the reign of Peter the Great. All the problems of Russian Empire stemmed from serfdom and would automatically be solved with its removal .
Botkin. Fleming chose to focus on these people during the duration of the book due to the impact they had on the story. Rasputin, a man who was thought to be a starets, a man of God, mooched his way into the family’s lives by convincing them he could heal Alexei. He controlled the family and convinced Nicholas to fire many trained and certified officials simply because they did not like Rasputin. This caused the start of the rebellion against the Tsar and the people of Russia: “And Rasputin had lots of advice - especially about Nicholas’s ministers. The starets felt threatened by these powerful men, most of whom hated him” (Fleming 148). Gilliard and Gibbes were tutors of the children. They were mentors and saw the daily lives of the children. Gilliard and Gibbes followed the family to every house until they were forced to leave by the rebellion leaders. Dr. Botkin, the family doctor, helped Alexei with his illness and died with the family. He was persistent about staying with the family through the end, and he did. Botkin helped ease Alexei’s and Alexandra’s pain as much as he could. The seven members of the royal family are the main focal point in the story. Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, the rulers of Imperial Russia, went through hardship after
Peter the Great was trying ultimately to make the Russian Empire more Europeanized or Westernized. He wanted to protect and enhance the vulnerable Russian Empire. Peter the Great saw that other European countries are colonizing in other regions like the New World, Asia, and Africa. Peter saw this as a threat and didn’t want for the Europeans to conquer Russia. Through decrees to shave and provisions on dress, he was trying to make them European. He also wanted to make military and economic reforms that could help the empire itself. If they built factories, they didn’t need to get supplies from Europe.
After their “peasant economy [had] come to a full collapse and ruin, from which it will not recover in several years”, the peasants started getting furious (Document 5). They became frustrated as their living situation continued to decline rather than improve. Anton Chekhov, a physician, and short story writer, depicted in his short story “Peasants” the life of peasants. He wrote that “they lived in discord, quarreling constantly [...] Who keeps a tavern and makes people drunkards? A peasant.” (Document 7). Peasants were seen by many as the root of the problem and trouble makers. They were blamed for many of the problems in the society. After Nicholas II became Tsar and Russia started to industrialize, the peasants were believed to create more tension. Police Report 4894 to the Ministry of the Interior, claimed that “there has recently emerged a series of peasant disorders in the form of systematic damage to the noble’s fields and meadows” (Document 9). The Nobles were significantly favored over the peasants as the new image of them being the cause of the problems engraved the minds of the public. This was the case until Tsar Nicholas II created the Duma in
Observing that European technological superiority allowed it to enjoy extraordinary benefits, he adopted many European practices to assert his own dominance and increase Russia’s protection against its adversaries. In doing this, Peter the Great formed himself a lasting legacy. Although Peter the Great originally mimicked Louis XIV in his staunch practice of absolutism, he ultimately surpassed Louis XIV in his goal of supremacy. Peter replaced the previous head of the Orthodox Church, and had both religious and earthly supremacy. Thus, Peter achieved something that Louis could never manage: a control of both church and state. Outside of Russia’s borders, Peter succeeded in his endeavors to a much greater extent than Louis XIV. The Great Northern War against Sweden effectively gave Russia access to a warm water port: Saint Petersburg, where Peter created his own Versailles, the Winter Palace, that fulfilled goals similar to those of Louis. Thus, where Louis fell, Peter
Peter the Great, the Russian Czar, inherited his absolutist power from his brother, Ivan V. Born in aristocracy, Peter’s dad was the Czar, and later his brother, and after his brother’s death, him. He was a firm believer in the possible benefits from the control of a single leader to make decisions for the people, and he exercised this divine right to create many renouned institutions. At the beginning of Peter’s reign, Russia was in a poor condition: many rejected modernization from the Renaissance, and large spending from his brother’s reign caused economic droughts. He took advantage of his absolutist power to help ameliorate Russia’s situation and first decided to minimalize power from the other aristocrats. The subduction of the rich allowed
In the years leading up to the revolution, Russia had been involved in a series of wars. The Crimean war, The Russo-Turkish war, The Russo-Japanese war and the First World War. Russia had been defeated in all except the war with Turkey and its government and economy had the scars to prove it. A severe lack of food and poor living conditions amongst the peasant population led firstly to strikes and quickly escalated to violent riots. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia with an iron hand while much of Europe was moving away from the monarchical system of rule. All lands were owned by the Tsar’s family and Nobel land lords while the factories and industrial complexes were owned by the capitalists’. There were no unions or labour laws and the justice system had made almost all other laws in favour of the ruling elite. Rents and taxes were often unaffordable, while the gulf between workers and the ruling elite grew ever wider.
Karl Marx once stated, “The workers have nothing to lose but their chains.” Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich focuses on the middle class struggles in Russia during the 1800s and how materialism has negative impacts on people in society. Tolstoy uses the novella to demonstrate how Russian society was imperfect in the 1800s and Tolstoy portrayed ideals similar to Marxism in the book. Marxism is the ideology that everyone should be equal in regards to class, education, economics and politics. Marxism was created by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels during the 1840s. Their ideology was to establish a classless society where property and resources are owned by the community and not the individuals themselves. Tolstoy used the novella to contrast his ideals of a classless society and anti-materialism to show how negative the caste system and the materialistic lifestyle of the Russian middle class was.
Alongside with these historical events, Tolstoy describes the different classes of Russian society in terms of their participation in the war and what kind of an impact war had on their lives. In the beginning of the novel, the Russian aristocratic class, which was in the czar’s circle, wanted Russia to participate in the war. They wanted a quick victory and pride for the Russian nobility. They did not anticipate that the war would destroy homes, agriculture, and take many Russian lives. This class is shown in Anna Pavlova Sharer’s salon, with it’s upper class aristocracy, who talk only in French, viewing the Russian language as uncivilized and useful only for peasants. They adopted French culture and wear French style clothing, and at the same time they want to fight Napoleon. However, the majority of this class doesn’t want to participate themselves in the war, but want to win the war with the hands of the peasants. These aristocrats, despite their high education and power, will do nothing to help win the war. They live like parasites on the body of Russia’s society. This is how Tolstoy describes this class in general, but he also depicts two representatives of this upper class, Andrew Bolkonsky and Pierre Bisuhov, who were the more intellectual ones, and whose lives and views of war and life changed as the result of the war.
Russia culture is very different from any other culture that I have ever read about. This is a country that is dominated by males. Males actually run the county of Russia. The men are so dominated that every Russian women dream is to be married and have a family with these men. Russia is known for its poor society. In the book Sakharov he mentions how he moved from one place to another. He first was in Moscow’s larger apartments with his family. In this apartment there were six families. With thin the six families they had to share the kitchen and the bathroom. Then he states that he moved into a very old house and in this old house there was a leaking ceiling. With in this house there were still six families that shared everything. (Sakharov 24-25)