History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett
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History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett |
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Updated as of 2 October 05 Today in History: On October 2, 1780, Major John Andrι, a British spy associated with Benedict Arnold, was executed on this day in history. Quote of the Day: "In my view we are much worse off now than when we went into Iraq. This is not a partisan position. I voted for these guys." A senior figure at a military-sponsored think tank as told to James Fallows in "Bush's Lost Year" in The Atlantic Monthly (Oct. 2004) Take the Ann Coulter Quiz Where are you politically? Take the Neocon Quiz and find out. "History is Far too Important to be left to History Professors" Teaching isn't such a novel idea
Bibliography:
History of Disease Contemporary Terrorist Organizations Map of Islamic Terrorist Cells in the U.S.A.
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Alexander II and the Russian TerrorismImperial RussiaFall 2003Background The reforms made it impossible for the regime to return to the past. That is exactly what the regime tried to do. During the second half of Alexander IIs reign. The reaction continued well into the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II. All the way to the outbreak of the Revolution of 1905.Enemies of Reform and Special Circumstances Elements of the Russian gentry. Peasant uprisings. Unexplained fires of 1862. The Polish Rebellion of 1863. And the attempt on the life of Alexander II by Dmitrii Karakozov in 1866. The government did not have a plan for when to stop.Revolution of Despair Emerged from the Young Russia movement as well as Land and Freedom. Assassination became the key when all other attempts at change failed. From this developed a small cell of students, often poor and linked to the peasantry. They numbered about ten students. Who took the name the Organization.The Peasant Riots Despite the reforms of the Alexander, the peasantry were not satisfied. Similar uprisings took place at Russian universities between 1861-1862. The student protests were the result of the Minister of Education, Evfimii Putiatin. What did he do? He tried to instill new authoritarian measures. Which the students took exception.The Assembly of Tver Gentry In 1862, the Tver Gentry, led by Alexis Unkovsky, renounced their special privileges. They demanded a convocation of a constituent assembly. Representing all Russians. In order to establish a new order in Russia. But other things were happening too?Unexplained Fires Unexplained fires started in St. Petersburg in 1862. Likewise, similar events were occurring along the Volga. Between 1861-62, leaflets began to appear in St. Petersburg and other Russian cities. All urging Revolution.The Polish Revolt of 1863 In 1862, Alexander II introduced reform to Poland. Much of their former rights were restored. Polish moderates willingly accepted those changes. But not the nationalists. The nationalists wanted independence and nothing less. But not just independence, but independence which included greater Poland.What Motivated the Poles? The success of the Italians in their quest for unification. The sympathy of Napoleon III. The support from influential French circles. Plus the spirit of the age that supported the nationalistic ambitions.The Russian Response Following a series of disturbances, the Russian government took the step to draft the unruly elements into the army. Mostly students.The Polish Response A rebellion broke out in January 1863. The difference was that now the Poles had no regular army unlike in 1831. So they Poles took to guerrilla operations. Soon the rebellion spread to Lithuania and White Russia. And was not crushed until 1864.The International Response Great Britain, France, and Austria sought to help the Poles by diplomatic measures. The Russians would not accept this.Impact on the Polish Revolt Poland lost their autonomy. Fell completely under Russian domination. N. Miliutin was dispatched to Poland to make recommendations. The principal change was land distribution to help the Polish peasantry.Russification Centralization Police control Russification With mandatory Russian language in Polish schools. Polish influenced in border regions was to be eradicated. Use of Polish was forbidden. 10 percent tax was imposed on Polish estates. Property of the Catholic Church was confiscated. The Uniates were forced to return to Orthodoxy.Background The radicals were far different than those who came from the 1830s and 1840s. Especially the Slavophiles, who looked to the richness of Russias past and were skeptical of the West. Alexander Herzen, a Westernizer who fled to the West and edited the Kolokol (the Bell), always kept his feet linked to reality. But the radicals of the 1860s and 1870s belonged to the raznochintsy. Who were of mixed background and were below the gentry. Sons of priests and minor officials.The Appeal to Russian Women Russian women were now emancipated in larger numbers. Even than in Western Europe. Russian women were attracted to the radical thought and revolutionary groups.The Origins of Russian Revolutionary Movements The origins started in with the events of the 1860s. But became evident in the 1870s. Nihilism the stress of total individual emancipation combined with the new faith. Narodnichestvo or populism. This appealed to the critical realists. Who had their own economic and political program.The Followers of Populism Could come from either the right or the left. Some of the followers included: Herzen. Dostoevsky. Tolstoy. Nicholas Chernyshevsky. Peter Lavrov.Nihilists and Populists Nihilists glorified in their emancipation from the corruption found in the world around them. The Populists felt the need to go to the people. The masses, which were the peasants. They felt that they owed this to the Muzhik, the peasant that made this all possible. The Populists hoped to find the moral purity in the peasantry that was denied them in their own class.The Start The climax came came in 1873-74. And the years that followed when the government called all Russian students home. Most of the students, many of them women, were studying in Switzerland. What they decided to do was to go to the people. Some 2,500 hundred went to the villages. Becoming doctors, teachers, scribes, etc.Populist Goals Some wanted to help the people and way they could. Others harbored vast radical and revolutionary views. Peter Lavrov believed in gradualism. While Mikhail Bakunin advocated spontaneous revolutionary upheaval. But it failed the peasants turned them in.The Populist Agenda The existing order is doomed and must be overthrown by a socialist revolution. The historical development of Russia is different from other countries. So it is possible to have a direct transition to socialism without the intermediate state of capitalism. Communal land tenure (obshchina) and the associations of workingmen and craftsmen (artel) are compatible with socialism. The peasants are communist by instinct and tradition. This makes them the real force behind the revolution.Chigirin Revolt In the Chigirin destrict, the 3,000 peasants revolted believing that they were fighting for the Tsar. This was a typical disinformation campaign by the Land and Liberty.Sergei Gennadievich Nechaev ( 1847-82)
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