1. MR. WHITE’S WORLD HISTORY Russian and Austrian Tensions

2. Russia The Romanov dynasty had ruled Russia for many hundreds of years into the 1800s Some czars had worked hard to modernize Russia, while others were distrustful of outside, western ideas – latinstvo This struggle would finally start to come to a climax in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries

3. Western Ideas The Russian officers who fought Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars were exposed to the ideas and technology of western Europe They formed secret societies with the goals of making Russia more modern by adopting these ideas This eventually results in the Decembrist Revolt, an attempt to modernize Russia through a military revolt

4. Decembrist Revolt The Decembrist Revolt took place when Alexander I died, and his son Nicholas I took the throne The revolt was defeated, but had two results:  Leaders of the revolt were seen as martyrs to a cause, and inspiration to others  The czars also constantly ruled with the threat of an uprising

5. Defeat and Resolve Russia’s defeat by France and the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War showed to many Russians how technologically backwards Russia was Czar Alexander II believed that Russia needed to industrialize to become a major power and compete with other nations

6. The Serfs Russia still relied on peasant labor for its agriculture Serfs were peasants who were tied to the land that they worked – basically a more restrictive form of feudalism For Russia to industrialize, it needed available labor To get this labor, Alexander II freed the serfs in 1861

7. The Plight of the Serfs The serfs obtained legal freedom, and were given land, but had to pay back the landholders for the land they were given This kept many of them tied to the land still Some peasants gave up farming and moved to the cities to become unskilled urban workers

8. Some Modernization Alexander did other things to modernize and liberalize Russia:  Limited the use of Russian secret police  Eased restrictions on the press  Modernized the judicial system  Shortened mandatory military service, from 25 years to 6 Still, these reforms would not satisfy the people – encouraged them

9. Radical Movements Radical reformers, many who were upper or middle class intellectuals, continued to criticize the czar and the government Many advocated the ending of the currently political, economic, and or social structure, for a complete re- making of society in some other form Some groups turned to violence, assassinations, etc., to get their point across Alexander II tries to crush these radicals – was assassinated in 1881

10. Alexander III Alexander III takes back many of his father’s reforms – if you can’t appease them, crush them  Restored censorship of the press  Extended powers of the secret police Alexander also encouraged the Russification of the country  Used nationalism to impose a Russian identity on people  Repressed many non-Russian ethnic, language, and religious groups

11. Nicholas II When Nicholas II took over in 1894, many problems continued, and he wasn’t strong willed enough to stop them  Peasants still unhappy  Middle-class reformers pushed for a constitutional monarchy Most importantly, the Russian working class had increased in size dramatically, and were working and living in poor conditions

12. Revolutionary Groups Several revolutionary groups had developed in Russia – most followed the teachings of Karl Marx  Mensheviks – Russia should develop into an industrialized nation and then a socialist revolution could occur  Bolsheviks – Professional revolutionaries could use force to bring about a revolution

13. Russian Tension Russia’s poor showing in the Russo-Japanese war reinforced that Russia was not a modern nation Many people began to oppose the czarist government Bloody Sunday – a peaceful demonstration of about 200,000 workers resulted in Russian soldiers firing on the demonstrators

14. The Russian Situation Soviets, or workers’ councils began to form to voice workers’ grievances All revolutionary groups called for representative government and universal suffrage General strikes resulted in Nicholas allowing the formation of a duma to give the people representation – he later dissolves it These events will combine with Russia’s experience in World War I to bring revolution

15. Austria-Hungary Klemens von Metternich, in Austria, had worked to keep liberal and nationalist forces from threatening Austria In 1848, the revolutions that swept through France and other places in Europe came to Austria After a revolution, the Austrian monarchy was able to re-establish itself and put down the liberal rebellion

16. The Dual Monarch To keep the empire from being destabilized by Hungarian Magyars, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph split Austria-Hungary into a dual monarchy  Both Austria and Hungary would operate basically independently, for internal matters  The Emperor of Austria would politically rule both monarchies

17. Nationalism Nationalist tensions in the Balkans began to create divisive pressures in the Austro-Hungarian empire The decline of the Ottoman empire in this area allowed many nationalist groups to speak out for independence  Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania – revolts, which the Ottomans suppressed

18. Bulgaria Russia had controlled Bulgaria as an expansion of its empire At the Congress of Berlin, the European powers stripped Russia of Bulgaria and divided the parts of it into independent nations, or holdings of other nations These divisions created small nations and other divisive tensions within the larger empires, like the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary

19. Balkan League The Balkan League was a political alliance of many of the now-free Balkan states These nations helped many other Balkan independence movements separate from the Ottoman Empire But as these wars went on, the Balkan nations began to have conflicts with each other, as well

20. End Results Serbia, a Slavic nation, gained more power and would exert its influence on other independence movements Russia supported these Slavic movements to gain power in the region French, British, and German governments worked to maintain a balance of power in that region With these increased tensions, writers called the Balkans the “powder keg of Europe”