RUSSIAN ARISTOCRACY



Russian Aristocracy

Introduction

Throughout the course of the European history, Russia has been ruled by a strict aristocratic and tsarist regime. The Romanov family ruled the country for more than 300 years, and during this time the borders of the country saw a volatile rate of growth and shrinkage. Russia was the only big power in 1789, which largely remained unaffected by the French Revolution, which brought democratic and liberal ideals to the fore. The country was ruthless in its administration, and did not tolerate any free speech or revolutionary thought by the population. The tsars usually made policies which suppressed the peasants of the country, and made the nobles and aristocrats wealthy. In Europe Russia was the last of the 5 big powers to abolish slavery in the form of serfdom, and this action itself wasn't humanitarian in nature. The concept of serfdom had become too costly for the rich landowners, as they were responsible for taking care of the serfs as a part of their personal property. In 1861 Tsar Alexander II in order to please the Russian intelligentsia and the rich landowners, abolished the concept of serfdom in the country. The act of freeing the serfs did not however improve the lives of the peasants in the country, as the tsar proceeded to introduce biased policies against the poorest class. The taxes were primarily collected from the peasants and they were prohibited from forming any trade or union associations. The tsars of Russia viewed the concept of unions as a defiance of the monarchy, and any attempt by the peasantry or the labor force to form a group was violently crushed by the tsar.

After the abolishment of serfdom, the government paid dues to the wealthy landowners who last their property. This resulted in an economic difficulties for the government and the resorted to raising the taxes, which were primarily collected from the lower middle class or the peasants. The lack of liberal forces and parliamentary forces in the country led the people of the country to become hostile against the monarchy. The country which possessed a large share of the Eastern European land and was considered as one of the big powers of Europe was in fact an unstable country. The civilians in the country, most of which were the lowly peasants were living under adverse conditions and had hostile views regarding the tsar. The country never had the support of its people, who had to bear the biased and cruel rule of the tsars. This is the primary reason why Russia became so weak in the early twentieth century; its people did not support the leadership, and wanted revolution to make drastic changes.

Discussion

Suppression of the Masses

Countries which have a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism are better able to cope with catastrophes of war and show resilience in such adversities. However nations which consist of an unhappy people are bound to seek an overhaul of the administration, after the aftermath of such great ...