Preliminary
Lesson plan
Week 1
Overview
Introduction
About Russia
Government
of the Tsars
Background
Alexander 1
Decembrist Revolt
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Web Wiz
Introduction
Before you begin your study of the topic, you need to be familiar with the terms below.
Glossary of terms
At the start of the 19th Century Russian society and politics had remained virtually unchanged since the Middle Ages. By the middle of the 19th century most countries of Western Europe (Britain, Germany and France) had made great changes to their economic, social and political structure. Important scientific discoveries had brought about the Industrial Revolution and these changes in their economic structure led to the introduction of more democratic forms of government. Russia was isolated from these developments and was therefore economically and intellectually backward in comparison with Western Europe. The story of Russia in the 19th Century is a story of demand for reform and Tsarist reaction to these demands.
Social
The different groups of people who make up a society
Economy
The basic commodities from which a country makes its wealth
Political
The process of government in a country
Slavic
A race of people spread over central and eastern Europe. Many Russians belonged to this racial group
The Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th Century
The Russian Empire was the biggest country in the world. It was three times bigger than the United States and it would take a week to travel by train, day and night, to get from Murmansk in the north to the borders of Afghanistan in the south, or from Moscow to the Pacific Ocean. The climate and vegetation varied dramatically. The far north is a desert region called Tundra which is frozen all year round. The sea ports in the north around Archangel are frozen over for six months every year. The Asian parts of Russia are hot desert regions whereas the European heartland of the empire has some of the most fertile soil in Europe.
In the 19th century most of the people in Russia worked and lived in the countryside. Eighty-five per cent of the people were illiterate serfs, owned and controlled by the nobility. The economy was based upon agriculture, but farming techniques were primitive relying on outdated methods of strip farming and simple farming equipment.
The most important social class was the nobility. Some nobles had huge estates and lived there. Others lived mainly in the major cities of St Petersburg and Moscow.