The Power...

Nineteenth Century Russian Government

When "The Seagull" begins, Sorin, has retired from his position in the Department of Justice. My goal in this research is to understand the governments structure during his lifetime. Sorin lived in a very exciting time in Russia's history. His professional career paralleled the governmental reform under Alexander II

The Seagull was published in 1895, and in the fourth act, Sorin is sixty-two years old.
Sorin - Born in 1833.

Alexander II was the Czar of Russia from March 3, 1855, until his assassination (by radical anarchists) on March 13, 1881. "A2" was responsible for an incredible amount of reform in Russia during his reign. Most notably he abolished serfdom in 1861.

1864 - "A2" begins to reform local government. He establishes the zemstva (singular - zemstvo). Zemstva were governments at the provincial and district level. They had the power to tax their residents and use to money in an effective manner. Zemstva's were responsible for mandating a majority of local government issues. Those included:
- Local Schools
- Public Health
- Road Conditions
- Prisons
- Food Supply
The Zemstva was made up of a Representative Council and an Executive Council. The Executive Council was elected by a vote in the Representative Council. The Rep. Coun. consisted was made up of people from all different classes:
- Large landowners (over 590 acres). These people sat on the council themselves.
- Delegates of small landowners. This also included any clergy in the region.
- Delegates of wealthier townsmen.
- Delegates of middle class townsmen.
- Delegates of peasants.
Although the overwhelming majority of the council was usually made up nobles (sometimes as much as 70%). In the general Russian population, nobles made up 1.3%. Despite the numbers, the lower class had a strong voice when it came to the issues that directly affected their lives.

1860 - Dumy (singular - Duma) are formed in cities. They are structured like of the zemstva only on the city level. The dumy were subordinate to the zemstva (kind of like the city and state governments here in the good 'ol U.S of A.... anyone?). Everything changed however after the assassination of A2 in 1881.

1890 - Russia was now under under the rule of A2's son, Alexander III. A3 severely limited the powers of the zemstva, and subsequently the dumy. Although they weren't shut down, the zemstva was now under complete oversight by the governor of the province or district. This governor carried out the philosophy of A3's regime. This didn't mean that the zemstva and dumy were not still affective in getting things done, rather they just had to make sure that all of their policies were approved by the governor (or mayor for the dumy).

More to come on the Judicial System of Russia under the rule of A2 and A3...

- Peter