The Nature and Structure of Tsarism
Firstly, Tsarism had an oppressive nature, it was an autocratic system where the origin of sovereignty laid with a single person. This drastically affected the freedom and political landscape of Russia in comparison to the majority of the world towards the close of the 19th century and the commencement of the 20th. This despotism and arbitrariness was claimed to have “suffocated” industrial workers of St Petersburg by 1905 as they wrote a petition titled ‘sovereign’ to the tsar with a list of demands and complaints about the tsarist regime. Secondly the use of the bureaucracy as the local face of the government led to an underlying loathing of the tsarist regime. This accompanied with food shortages and bureaucrats officiousness led to a revolutionary situation as many peasants and industrial workers became more inclined to accept and support left wing extremist propaganda. Thirdly the hereditary and elitist aspects of tsarism made no room for the concept of merit and achievement frustrating the driving force behind Russia, mainly the proletariat and peasants who lived in a cycle of poverty as a result of the backward system of promotion prior to 1905.
MACK
MACK
Russia’s political system at the turn of the 20th century was one of the most backward in Europe. It was one of the few remaining autocracies: all political power and sovereignty was vested in a hereditary monarch, the tsar. The tsar was bound by only two restrictions: adherence to the Russian Orthodox Church and the laws of succession. In all other matters, the tsar and his will were considered supreme. Unlike most other nations, Russia had no constitution, no elected representative assembly, no democratic processes within the national government, no high court or court of appeal that could examine or restrain the tsar’s laws. Tsarist government was essentially government by decree: the tsar issued declarations or proclamations and his ministers, governors and bureaucrats implemented them. The old tsarist structure had contributed to revolutionary situation as it had revealed Russia’s shortcomings to the developing world.
ALEX P
ALEX P