The Intelligentsia and Liberals CAITLIN, TRACY, ADRIAN & JARVIN PAGES 64-66
Aims -To reform the autocracy so that the tsar would listen directly to his people -To promote welfare, education, liberty and the rule of law -They opposed tsarist oppression and the injustice of the legal system -Wanted individuals to live pure and simple lives in order to bring about the moral regeneration of the country -Rejected violence They wanted the tsar to rule in conjunction with his people
Supporters -Public figures -Town leaders -Members of the legal and teaching professions -Industrialists -Liberal thinkers -Educated middle/upper class Count Leo Tolstoy was a liberal thinker
Methods of Opposition -Tolstoy wrote a book called ‘What I believe’. He was a well respected novelist so this contributed to the assault on authority of the autocratic government. -Used petitions, but Nicholas II said they had a ‘senseless dream’. -Tried to set up an ‘All-Zemstvo Organisation’, but it was immediately banned. -Radical members met in secret to discuss matters of liberal interest e.g. judicial reform and universal education. -Founded the Union of Liberation in 1903 in which representatives of the zemstva and other professional societies were invited for discussions.
Were they successful? -Limited political influence before Unnoticed by the police as the police were busy coping with the activities of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats -At most, they contributed to the momentum that was building up within the country for political change -Not very successful as they didn’t make significant changes or have a big impact