Date Details

1855  (2nd Alexander II became Tsar. He took the traditional title of Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia
March)
1863   (January) January Uprising began. This conflict began when a number of Poles refused to be conscripted into
the Soviet army.  Many Poles were also dissatisfied because they had not been granted
Emancipation.
1863 Universities were allowed to become self-governing bodies
1863  The novel 'What Is to Be Done?' written by Nikolai Chernyshevsky, a revolutionary who was
imprisoned, was smuggled out. The novel was a big influence on Lenin.
1864 Zemstva (form of local government) formed with responsibility for providing local services
including health and education.
1864 Judicial system reformed with local courts dealing with minor offences and district courts dealing
with more serious crimes.
1865 Censorship reforms were introduced with new more relaxed guidelines being introduced
1865 Alexander II's son and heir, Nicholas, died from meningitis. His second son, Alexander became
heir.
1866   (April) Assassination attempt in St Petersburg failed
1866  (July) Alexander took a mistress, Catherine Dolgorukov
1866  (after Many nobles, ministers and Alexander's son and heir, the future Alexander III, felt that the reforms
July) had gone too far, destroying the old order and allowing an influx of Western ideas. They
persuaded Alexander to replace liberal ministers with more conservative ones.
1866 Alexander's son and heir, Alexander, married Princess Dagmar of Denmark. She had converted to
Russian Orthodoxy and taken the name Maria Feodorovna. She was an imposing, charismatic
woman who was highly influential on her husband and children.
1869 Trial by jury removed for political crimes
1869 Catechism of a Revolutionary by Mikhail Bakunin and Sergei Nechaev was published. It argued for
opponents of autocracy to keep up the struggle and press for revolution
1869 The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx was translated into Russian
1870 Elected town councils (Dumas) were introduced to urban areas.
1870 - 1873 Railway mania years saw substantial government investment in Railway construction
1871 Dimitri Tolstoy, minister for education, insisted on a return to a classical curriculum. Universities
were forbidden from including any subjects that encouraged critical thinking
1871 Oil was pumped from the sea port of Baku
1872 The Donetsk iron works was established
1872 Karl Marx's Das Kapital was published
1874 As part of a major reform of the armed services, military service was extended to all classes,
inhumane punishments were abolished, military colleges were set up and modern weapons were
introduced.
1874 Populist 'Go to the People' campaign spread by nihilists and narodniks. Their aim was to persuade
peasants to rise up against the regime by stirring up resentment at their lack of land and the taxes
they had to pay.
1874  More than 1,500 exponents of the Populist Movement had been arrested.
(Autumn)
1876 Another Populist 'Go to the People' campaign failed.
1877 Trial of the 193  - populists were put on trial as populist revolutionaries who spread propaganda
against the Russian government
1877 A number of Populists that had evaded capture set up 'Land and Liberty' but it soon became clear
that the peasants were not interested in joining a full scale revolution.
1877   (April) Russo-Turkish War began. Russia declared war on Turkey in support of the Balkan States who were
fighting against Turkish rule.
1878 General Mezemtsev, head of the Third Section and Prince Kropotkin were assassinated by
members of the 'Land and Liberty' group. The assassins escaped amid a wave of popular support.
1878   (March) The war with Turkey ended with the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano. The Russians had
secured autonomy for the Balkan States and created Bulgaria under Russian protection. However,
Britain and Austro-Hungary protested against this and Bulgaria was split under the Treaty of
Berlin.
1879 'Land and Liberty' split into two groups - Black Partition and The People's Will
1879 The People's Will declared that the Tsar had to be removed.
1879 -1880 A poor harvest in 1879 led to famine in 1880
1880 Alexander married his mistress Caterina Dolgoruki just 40 days after the death of his wife.
1880 A spate of arrests severely weakened the Black Partition group.
1881   (13th Alexander II assassinated by the 'People's Will' group.
March)

1881 Alexander II was succeeded by his son, Alexander III who was much more conservative than his
father. Almost immediately he ordered the rounding up and arrest of the assassins and put a ban
on secret meetings.
1881 Von Plehve was appointed to investigate the assassination of Alexander II. He was made Director
of the Police which gave him full control of the entire police force and Okhrana.
1881 Alexander III pursued a policy of Russification enforcing the use of the Russian language
throughout the provinces and persecuting non-Russians especially the Jews. A number of anti-
Jewish pogroms took place.
1882 The Okhrana (security police) were given new powers to search, question, detain and even exile
anyone who was likely to commit a crime.
1883 First Russian Marxist group formed in Geneva by former members of the Black Partition group.
1883 The novelist Leo Tolstoy, famous for his War and Peace and Anna Karenina novels was fiercely
critical of the Tsarist regime but wanted a bloodless revolution brought about by a moralistic
reformed society. He wrote a tract entitled 'What I believe' which was banned a year later but was
hugely influential nevertheless.
1885 Peasant Land Banks established
1885 Government increased spending on the military
1885 A law was passed banning women and children from working at night.
1885 'Closed' court sessions without juries were re-iintroduced for a number of crimes.
1886 Ivan Vyshnegradsky became Minister of Finance. He wanted to improve Russian finances and build
up the gold reserve
1888 Ivan Vyshnegradsky negotiated a loan from France which was used to grow the economy.
1889 Alexander III set up the new office of Land Captains. Recruited from the nobility these Land
Captains had the power to over-ride decisions made by local Zemstva, overturn local court
decisions and impose their own punishments.
1890 An act was passed that reduced the peasant's vote in elections.
1891 Ivan Vyshnegradsky introduced a Tariff Act which reduced imports of foreign raw materials. Over
the last years he had increased exports of grain by 18%
1891 Work began on the Trans Siberian Railway
1891 - 92 Russian famine - 2 million peasants died of starvation. Russia continued to export grain a move
which was seen as controversial in the light of the famine and led to the dismissal of
Vyshnegradsky.
1891 - 1892 No relief for famine victims was forthcoming from the Tsar or government and it was left to
middle class philanthropists to provide aid for those feeling the worst effects of the famine. These
middle classes became more opposed to the Tsar and wanted a voice in government.
1892 Children under the age of 12 and women were not allowed to work in the mines
1892 Sergei Witte became Minister of Finance - he also believed in economic modernisation and
believed that Russian growth was hampered by - insufficient capital, Lack of technical expertise,
insufficient manpower in industry.
1892 An act was passed that made it difficult for poor people living in towns to qualify for a vote.
1894 Alexander III died of kidney failure. He was succeeded by his eldest son Nicholas II who, like his
father was a committed autocrat. However, unlike his father, Nicholas had no interest in politics
and would have preferred not to be Tsar.