- •I . Scan the text and explain the words and word combinations in bold:
- •II. Study the text and discuss the following questions:
- •III. Present the report about the Decembrist Revolt of the 26th of December. Text 2 Foreign policy
- •I . Scan the text and explain the words and word combinations in bold, use them in your own sentences.
- •II. Insert the prepositions where necessary:
- •III. Single out the main directions of Nikolay’s foreign policy and give details on each direction. Text 3 Legacy
- •I. Read the text and make up ten True/False statements for your group mates.
- •Text 4 Culture
- •II. Sum up the information given in the text following the points from Task I.
- •III. Choose one of the books mentioned in the text and give a summary of it.
- •I. Insert the missing prepositions:
- •II. Render the following text into English.
- •III. Write an essay on one of the following topics:
Unit 9
Nikolay’s Russia
Text 1
Early life and road to power
I . Scan the text and explain the words and word combinations in bold:
Nikolay was not brought up to be the Emperor of Russia, as he had two elder brothers before him. As such, in 1825, when Alexander I suddenly died of typhus, Nikolay was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother Constantine Pavlovich and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine Pavlovich, who was in Warsaw at that time, confirmed his refusal. Additionally, on 25 December (13 Old Style) Nikolay issued the manifesto claiming his accession to the throne. That manifesto named 1 December (19 November Old Style), the date of Alexander I’s death, as the beginning of his reign. During this confusion a plot was hatched by the military to overthrow Nikolay and to usurp power. This led to the Decembrist Revolt on 26 December (14 Old Style) 1825, an uprising Nikolay was successful in suppressing.
Nikolay completely lacked his brothers’ spiritual and intellectual breadth; he saw his role simply as one paternal autocrat ruling his people by whatever means were necessary. Having experienced the trauma of the Decembrist Revolt, Nikolay I was determined to restrain Russian society. The Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery ran a huge network of spies and informers with the help of Gendarmes. The government exercised censorship and other controls over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life.
In 1833 the minister of education, Sergey Uvarov, devised a program of “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality” as the guiding principle of the regime. The people were to show loyalty to the unlimited authority of the tsar, to the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, and, in a vague way, to the Russian nation. These principles led, broadly speaking, to repression in general and to suppression of non-Russian nationalities and religions in particular. For example, the government suppressed the Greek-Catholic Churches in Ukraine and Belarus in 1839.
Nikolay disliked serfdom and toyed with the idea of abolishing it in Russia, but did not do so for practical reasons of state. He feared the landowners and believed they might turn against him, if he abolished serfdom. However, he did make some efforts to improve the lot of the state peasants (serfs owned by the government) with the help of the minister Pavel Kiselev. During most of his reign he tried to increase his control over the landowners and other influential groups in Russia.
II. Study the text and discuss the following questions:
Why wasn’t Nikolay brought up to be the Emperor of Russia?
What was done by the military to overthrow Nikolay and to usurp power?
How did Nikolay see his role as an emperor?
Why was Nikolay I determined to restrain Russian society and what steps were taken to achieve this goal?
What guiding principle of the regime was manifested in 1833? What did this principle lead to?
What was Nikolay’s attitude towards serfdom? Were any measures taken to abolish it?