Research On Russification Of The Three Baltic Provinces(1855-1894)

The three provinces along the east coast of the Baltic Sea——Livland,Estland and Courland——were conquered by Russia in the 18th century,but they had been governed autonomously by local Germans.In the 19th century,the autonomous privileges of the three Baltic provinces were widely questioned by the Russian public and government.The Russian Empire began to implement Russification policy,trying to integrate the three Baltic provinces into Russia's political,legal,and cultural structures,and strengthen Russian Empire's rule over the borderlands.The thesis majorly studies Russification which the Russian Empire implemented in the three Baltic provinces during the the second half of the 19th century,including the administrative,judicial and cultural measures,the main factors affecting Russian government's implementation of Russification policy in the three Baltic provinces,the local people's resistance to Russification,and the evaluation of Russification in the three Baltic provinces.The text is divided into five parts.The first part expounds the origin of Russification in the three Baltic provinces(1700-1854).In the three Baltic provinces,the Baltic Germans were the ruling class,and the Latvians and Estonians were the governed.During the 18th century,Russian Empire established its rule over the three Baltic provinces through the Northern War with Sweden and the third partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.Meanwhile,Russian Tsar granted the three Baltic provinces political and cultural autonomy,which was confirmed by successive Tsars until Alexander III.Russian Empire also carried out several important reform attempts in the three Baltic provinces before the middle of the 19th century,which could be regarded as a prelude to Russification of the three Baltic provinces in the second half of the 19th century.The second part emphatically discusses the administrative and judicial Russification in the three Baltic provinces.The factors prompting Russian government to implement Russification policy in the three Baltic provinces mainly included three points.Firstly,the Polish uprising that broke out in 1863 made Russian government try to consolidate its rule by Russification reform;Secondly,there was a fierce debate between Russians and Baltic Germans over the "Baltic provinces' autonomy",promoting the change of Russian policy;Thirdly,the ordinary people of the Baltic provinces initiated a petition to the Tsar for reform,which provided an opportunity for Russia to strengthen its centralized rule.Administrative Russification in the three Baltic provinces majorly included peasants'management,municipal and police institutions.In addition,Russian Empire also reformed the judicial system of the three Baltic provinces in accordance with the Judicial Statute of 1864.The third part focuses on the cultural Russification of the three Baltic provinces.The main factors influencing Alexander ?'s vigorous implementation of cultural Russification was as follows.The first was that threat of Germanization in the three Baltic provinces was increasing.The second was that key officials such as Konstantin Pobedonostsev actively promoted.The third was that frequent turmoils in the three Baltic provinces attracted the special concerns of Russia.In terms of cultural Russification,Alexander III vigorously implemented the Russification policy in three areas:language,education and religion.The fourth part discusses the resistance of the residents in the three Baltic provinces to Russification.The Baltic Germans hoped to alleviate the negative effects of Russification and defend the German culture through closing schools,establishing home-teaching circles,fleeing the Baltic region,and rising Baltic German nationalism.In the face of the forced cultural Russification,the reactions of Latvian and Estonian people were slightly different.The Latvians generally had a stronger confidence in the future of the nation than Estonians,and actively developed their national culture to reduce the damage caused by cultural Russification.The Estonians experienced a development process from national pessimism to national confidence.On the contrary,in the beginning Estonian intellectuals and public lost confidence in their national culture.In the beginning of the 20th century,the Estonians renewed their expectations for national future and took actions to resist Russification.The fifth part chiefly evaluates the Russification of the three Baltic provinces.The Russification policy was unsuccessful,and didn't meet the expected goals of the Russian government,which was caused by the follow reasons:first of all,Russification policy during Alexander II was quite moderate,providing more possibilities for the cultural development of the various ethnic groups in the three Baltic provinces;secondly,by Alexander III,the development level of the Baltic provinces already had been so high that they would not be easily assimilated by Russian culture;moreover,Russian bureaucracy was large and miscellaneous,and its efficiency was so low,resulting in the slow promulgation of various bills;besides,Russification policy was neither systematic nor thorough,which affected its effectiveness.Finally,Russification of the three Baltic provinces had some profound impacts.On the one hand,the policy changed the social structures of the three Baltic provinces,weakened the privileges and dominant position of Baltic Germans,and improved the social status and living conditions of the Latvians and Estonians.On the other hand,Russification sharpened the social conflicts of Russian Empire,and gradually developed the three Baltic provinces into a hotbed of radical nationalism and resistance to tsarist autocracy.