History essay Authoritarianism in Russia(雅思阅读+词汇记忆).doc

Why was authoritarian government such a strong feature of Russia between 1855 and 1953? In this undergraduate essay, general academic words, from the Academic Word List, are highlighted in bold. It is important that you understand these words and can use them. Study the words in bold carefully. Learn them. Russias patrimonial monarchy was securely in place long before 1855. The peculiar geopolitical situation of the nation: a hotch-potch of different races, languages and religions, coupled with the sheer vastness of the territory, demanded the imposition of authoritarian rule. In no other way could the empire be held together, and the backward economy be prevented from collapse. Once arrived at this position, attempts at modernisation often reinforced archaism, whilst the burden of tradition compelled the ruler to be harsh and overbearing rather than pragmatic and therefore weak. As the 19th century wore on, tsarism, faced with ever more potent external threats and repeated military failure, increasingly adopted the mentality of a police state. It was this style of governance that the Bolsheviks revived, not destroyed. Driven by elitist ideology (the professional revolutionaries) and shaped by the realities of Russian rule, they governed in a way to which the people had become accustomed. Russia had always been a nation under attack from without and from within. It had lacked the security that ethnic homogeneity affords, and, under the banner of autocracy, orthodoxy, nationality, tsarism thus attempted to impose conformity from above. Hence political, religious and social diversity was suffocated by Russification. However, far from uniting, this policy drove minorities from timid national assertion to vigorous defiance of the regime. It is in this kind of action that Russian tsarism failed again and again. Crucially, it never took account of the fact that while there were strong, cohesive structures at the base and apex of Russian society, between them were weak an