Counter-reforms (Russian Empire)
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Counter-reforms is a designation accepted in Soviet and post-Soviet historiography for the reactionary measures of the government of Alexander III, aimed at stabilizing social and political life in the Russian Empire following the wide-scale reforms of Alexander II. The main executor of these measures was the Ministry of Internal Affairs led by Count D. A. Tolstoy.
Background
[edit]Emperor Alexander II died on 13 March [O.S. 1 March] 1881 as a result of his assassination organized by Narodnaya Volya. The political mentor to the heir to the throne, Ober-Procurator of the Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev, saw this as a logical consequence of the liberal reforms of the preceding reign. He wrote to his pupil:[1]
“The hour is fearful, and time waits for no one. Either save Russia and yourself now, or never. If you are sung the former siren songs that it is necessary to calm down, that it is necessary to continue in a liberal direction, that it is necessary to yield to so-called public opinion — oh, for God’s sake, do not believe it, Your Majesty, do not listen. That will be ruin, the ruin of Russia and of yourself: this is as clear to me as day. <…> The insane villains who destroyed Your Father will not be satisfied with any concession and will only grow enraged. They can be subdued, the evil seed can be uprooted, only by a life-and-death struggle against them, by iron and blood. The new policy must be declared immediately and decisively. An end must be put at once, right now, to all talk about freedom of the press, about the self-will of meetings, about a representative assembly.”
Under the influence of Pobedonostsev and the leader of the conservative-protectionist party M. N. Katkov, Emperor Alexander III dismissed the liberal “dictator” M. T. Loris-Melikov and rejected the plan of political transformations he had proposed (the so-called Loris-Melikov constitution). The ideological program of the new reign was set forth on 29 April in the manifesto "On the Unshakability of Autocracy", which was drafted by Pobedonostsev.
Counter-reforms
[edit]Revision of agrarian reforms
[edit]In the 1880s, the tsarist power, just as under Nicholas I, viewed its support in the nobility class and considered it necessary to strengthen its position, which had been shaken during the years of reforms. This explains the full-scale support for landlord estates, which had begun to "dwindle" as a result of the abolition of serfdom. To subsidize the latter, the Gentry Land Bank was created in 1885. Measures were taken to strengthen the power of the landed nobility at the expense of the peasantry, reinforcing the patriarchal system in the countryside. Land redistributions and family divisions were made more complex, which blocked the exit of peasants from the commune.
Through these measures, the government wished to slow down the breakdown of the patriarchal family, but the laws only increased social tension in the countryside: henceforth "it was difficult for a peasant to show economic initiative in order to disentangle himself from growing poverty."[2]
Revision of judicial reform
[edit]The revision of the judicial reform of 1864 consisted in making the court system more complex and bureaucratic, abolishing the institution of justices of the peace in districts, and reducing the competence of the jury trial. In rural areas, the magistrate court was replaced by the arbitrariness of land captains. Rejection appeals were henceforth submitted to the provincial board, composed mainly of officials. The requirements placed on candidates for judgeships were increased.
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The magistrate court in the countryside was abolished by the Statute on Land Captains (1889). These officials, chosen from among the landed nobility, exercised full administrative and judicial power, overturned decisions of village and volost assemblies, fined their participants, and could arrest the village elder. They were directly subordinate to the marshals of nobility.
Revision of educational reform
[edit]The educational reform of Alexander II was countered by increased control over secondary schools by the state and church authorities. The Circular on "cooks' children" closed the path to gymnasiums for children of small shopkeepers, footmen, washerwomen, and the like. Primary schools were transferred directly under the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod. The University Statute of 1884 put an end to university autonomy and the development of higher education for women. A quota system was introduced for Jews; restrictions were also established for graduates of seminaries on admission to universities. Tuition fees increased.
The strengthening of censorship was formalized by the issuance of the "Temporary Rules on the Press" in 1882. Any undesirable publication could henceforth be closed down either by decision of the Minister of Internal Affairs or by the Ober-Procurator of the Synod.
Revision of zemstvo reform
[edit]The Zemstvo counter-reform of 1890 was aimed at strengthening governmental control over the zemstvo. The property qualification for townspeople was raised, while for landlords it was lowered. As a result, artisans and small traders were deprived of voting rights.[3] The confirmation of peasant delegates was handed over to the governors. These measures did not achieve their goal, for they failed to undermine the positions of the "third element" as the main force of the zemstvo movement.
In 1892, a new Municipal Statute was adopted. The division of voters into curias was abolished, and instead of a tax qualification, a property qualification was introduced, which caused a sharp reduction in the already small number of urban voters. Administrative supervision over the economic activity of city dumas increased.[4]
Police measures
[edit]The increase of administrative-police pressure was also facilitated by the issuance in August 1881 of the "Statute on Reinforced and Extraordinary Security", which gave regional and provincial authorities the right to introduce an indefinite regime of extraordinary administration. During the period of the regime's operation, there existed the possibility of expelling undesirable persons, closing educational institutions and mass media, and transferring civil legal proceedings to military courts. Under the Minister of Internal Affairs, a Special Conference was organized, which could extrajudicially exile suspicious individuals or hold them under arrest for up to 5 years (subsequently, the period of extrajudicial detention was reduced to 6 months).
In 1892, "Rules on Localities Subject to Martial Law" were issued, regulating the regime of martial law, which provided for the transfer of power from civil to military authorities and the widespread use of military justice. Normative acts aimed at oppressing national minorities were also issued, the most famous of which were the so-called "May Laws" of 1882.
Results
[edit]The counter-reforms of Alexander III, although they slowed down the revolutionary movement in Russia, at the same time "froze" the accumulated social contradictions and made the situation in the country, especially in the countryside, even more explosive. The wave of protest performances subsided. Historian M. N. Pokrovsky pointed to an "indubitable decline in the revolutionary labor movement in the mid-1880s," which, in his opinion, was the result of the measures of Alexander III's government.[5]
Terrorism also went into decline. After the assassination of Alexander II, there was only one successful attempt by members of Narodnaya Volya in 1882 against the Odessa prosecutor Strelnikov, and one unsuccessful one in 1887 against Alexander III. After that, there were no terrorist acts in the country until the beginning of the 20th century.
References
[edit]- ↑ Letters of Pobedonostsev to Alexander III. Moscow, 1925. Vol. I. pp. 315–317.
- ↑ History of Russia from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 19th century (ed. A. N. Sakharov). Institute of Russian History RAS, 1997. pp. 437–440.
- ↑ L. G. Zakharova. Zemstvo counter-reform of 1890. Moscow State University Press, 1968.
- ↑ "City self-government in post-reform Russia: design and implementation". Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ↑ Pokrovsky, M. N. Russian history from ancient times. Moscow, 1911. Vol. 5. p. 259.
Literature
[edit]- Lukina, D. N. (2019). "The role of the prosecutor's office in the policy of counter-reforms of Alexander III". Glossa: Bulletin of Student Science (in Russian) (3): 28–32.
- Kamenetsky, E. L. (2022). "Judicial counter-reform of Alexander III as a historiographical problem". Gusev Readings — 2022 (in Russian). Moscow: Knigodel. pp. 133–143.
- Shcherbakova, I. K. (2022). "Reforms of Alexander II and counter-reforms of Alexander III: an interrupted thread". Issues of National and Federal Relations (in Russian). **12** (5): 1577–1584. DOI:10.35775/PSI.2022.86.5.004.
- Solovyov, K. A. (2023). "Ideological searches during the counter-revolution". Russia XXI (in Russian) (2): 60–71.
- Alexushin, G. V. (2024). "On the question of the invalidity of the concept of 'counter-reforms of Alexander III'". Fifth Karamzin Readings (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Aurora. pp. 12–18.