Sample Final Examination Short Identifications
Please write a sentence or two about 5 of the following 8 terms (20% of the grade).
service estate
assigned serfs
mir
souls
article 87
populists
Pale of Settlement
Russification
Essay Questions
Please answer two of the following questions (40% each).
Peter the Great brought a great deal of coercion into the Russian Empire in quite a wide range of his policies. Consider some of these policies and their long-range effects over the coming centuries.
In 1762 Peter III emancipated the Russian nobility. Discuss what this event was and what were some of its long-term consequences.
In 1799 one of Tsar Paul I's advisers wrote to him: "Russia is an autocratic state. Its size, the variety of its inhabitants and customs and many other considerations make it the only natural form of government for Russia. All arguments to the contrary are futile, and the least weakening of the autocratic power would result in the loss of many provinces, the weakening of the state, and countless misfortunes for the people." Do you agree or disagree? Please refer to specific historical evidence that can help you in your answer.
In 1915 Prince Georgii Lvov who was head of the All-Russian Union of Zemstvos commented "We must mobilize our forces [in the zemstvos], and all Russia must be welded into one military organization." What do you think he might have meant by this?
One historian has referred to what he calls "the dilemmas of emancipation." What do you think were some of the dilemmas of the emancipation of the serfs in 1861?
You've been asked to write a memorandum advising President George W. Bush on internal Russian affairs. You explain that you have no expertise on issues in today's Russia, but you would be happy to help him understand the tsarist autocratic order if he likes. What would you say were the principle challenges in ruling Russia in, say, 1855, 1904 and 1915?