Guidelines:

• Read the source carefully. Think about what the writer says about Russia.
  
  
• Note the author, date, audience, to gain an insight into the perspective of the writer.
  
  
• Look at the caption and label to see what information they provide.
  
  
• Read the questions carefully. Some questions require only information from the source while others ask you to use the source and your own knowledge.

Source 1: An account of life in Russia written by a visiting Frenchman in 1839

"One does not die, one does not breathe here except by permission or by imperial order; . . . Silence presides over life and paralyses it. Officers, coachmen. Cossacks, serfs and courtiers [Nobility] are all servants, of differing rank, of the same master, and blindly obeying orders they do not understand. . . . The Tsar speaks and everything is done; the life, the fortune of the laity [ordinary people] and of the clergy, of the nobility and of the citizens, all depends on his supreme will. The more I see of Russia, the more I understand why the Emperor forbids Russians to travel, and makes access to his country difficult for foreigners. The political system of Russia could not withstand twenty years of free communication with Western Europe."

Written by Marquis de Custine in 1839. Quoted in R Cowie, 'Obedience or Choice', Qld. 1987

"Nicholas lost no time in turning his vast Empire into a barracks. To him sovereignty was merely an extension of army discipline. . . . the Russian people saw him as a merciless drill sergeant . . . "I cannot permit that one single person should dare to defy my wishes', he wrote on a report in 1826

His wishes were eccentric, to say the least. He imposed the wearing of uniforms on professors, students, engineers, members of the civil service, and finally . . . on all nobles. Only the army had the right to wear moustaches, and all moustaches had to be black, . . .

Although... the Austrian Ambassador reported that Nicholas spent three quarters of his day drilling his troops and organizing mass cavalry charges, he managed to interfere in every branch of life.

One of the most alarming features of the Emperor's character was his tendency to declare people insane if he did not agree with them . . . He despatched a young student, . . . to a lunatic asylum for organizing opposition inside the university and he sent a professor of French . . . to the same institution for remaining seated during Divine Service in the Orthodox Church".

Taken from 'The Romanovs', by Virginia Cowles, published London 1971

1. What information does Custine provide about the political system in Russia?
2. What does Custine mean when he says, "Russia could not withstand twenty years of free communications with Western Europe?
3. Which Tsar ruled Russia when Custine wrote his account?
4. How much of the source above is factual information and how much is opinion? Do you believe this account? Give reasons for your answer.
5. In your own words, what criticism does Custine make of the Tsarist system?

1. What does the writer say Nicholas I turned his Empire into?
2. What information does Cowles give to show that Nicholas was eccentric?
3. List the groups made to wear uniforms by Nicholas I.
4. Find a sentence in this source which supports what Custine says in the second paragraph of Source 1.
5. Do you believe the information in this source? Give reasons for your answer.

Type up your answers on your own paper and email them to your teacher or print your answers and send them by post.