Role of the Church in 19th Century Russia

Im just doing some background work before i Start my AS history on Russia.

But the role of the church has really confused me

Thanks

Im also doing AS History on Russia 19th and 20th century. Havent started my work tho are you on AQA?

yep im AQA, this is the notes i've written thus far

State of social conditions across the Russian empire
Nineteenth centrum Russia had a strict hierarchy, which consisted of an established class system which meant that it was very difficult if not impossible to ‘rise’ up the class system especially if you where a peasant who acted as a virtual slave to the wealthy estate owners Military service which was only open to Russian men was represented as one of the only ways for peasants to rise in class, They where called ‘serfs’ and they didn't have many rights, shelter and nourishment was all up to the wealthy estate owners.
There where 4 main and district divisions between the population of Russia, the Russian czars who where top of the social standings, they where enormously wealthy and owned estates
The middle class, they are growing in influence, be careful. Due to the industrialisation of factories this gave them a chance to grow wealthier through factory ownership.
The working class, the working class only count for a small percentage of the population and where made up of factory workers and artisans( a worker in a skilled trade)
Russian peasantry, Russian peasants to my recent findings make up a huge number of the population- 82% they have very little rights.
15% of Russian population lived in towns and cities compared with 80% in Britain and 40% in USA, my finding show that there is greater ruralisation across Russia comparatively
The majority of the population (85%) lived in the countryside earning their income from agriculture and farming, the rest working in metal factories under inhumane conditions 10-11 hours a day.It was a hard life for the majority of the population, who were starving peasants, even if they were employed!
Education was few and far between with only 3500 students in 6 universities, university education was only for the rich!
Politics in 19th century Russia
At the start the nineteenth century, Russia was an imperial nation ruled by Tsar Alexander I (1801-1825). By this time, the Russian Tsars had achieved virtually autocratic rule over their nobles, who, in turn, enjoyed great power over the peasants ‘serfs’ who farmed their land, these nobles had complete control. Alexander I made several advancements in Russia but focused most heavily on foreign affairs, joining the fight against France's invading Napoleon in 1805 and helping to defeat him in 1814.
Unlike in most other European countries, power had not passed from the monarchy to the people. The Tsars of Russia did not take advice from an elected parliament. Instead, the country was run by a ten man ministerial council. Each minister was both appointed and dismissed by the Tsar.
Now that Alexander has ascended to the throne he is an autocratic monarch will he use his uncontrolled and unlimited power like Nicholas who was a strong conservative in his beliefs about serfdom, and did not tolerate the 500 peasant revolts following his ascension to the throne. He tried to conserve his power by restricting education so that revolutionary ideas would not spread. However, a new educated group, the Intelligentsia, rose to fight for democracy. Also, in his struggle for more power, Nicholas's actions led to the beginning of the Crimean War which has early run its course.
The state at the crimean war looks bleak, my battlefield sources are suggesting a defeat. there will be low moral throughout the population. Alexander will have a hard job to raise the moral
The Economy
The czars of Russia where extremely wealthy in comparison with other members of the population many owned huge number of serf who worked on the land earning them money.
During the 19th century Russia gained better relationships between other european countries which allowed for trading, however most of the income earned just lined the pockets of wealthy aristocrats and wasn't reinvested in Russian infrastructure or services. There was some heavy industry – mining, steel production, oil and so on – but this was small when compared to other countries considering the size of Russia.
Harsh winters effected farming, one of Russia’s main exports was grain. There where slow farming methods in use coupled with a an underdeveloped banking system, this lead to little economic advancement.
Environmental factors also effected the economic situation in Russia, one of them is the sheer size of the country, which made it very difficult to have good communications, also the climate- frozen lakes made it harder for imports.
Role of the church in imperial Russia
A large majority of people living in Russia in the 19th century where members of the Russian orthodox church, the Church was completely controlled by the Government, the church played a large part in the Russification is a form of cultural assimilation process during which non-Russian communities, voluntarily or not, give up their culture and language in favour of the Russian one.
The Eastern Orthodox faith is the second-largest Christian church in the world, with nearly 300 million adherents. It is a faith diverse in its geography, spanning Eastern Europe, Russia and parts of the Middle East. While the church as a whole retains an identity and theology, the self-governing bodies of which it is comprised often take on a national flavour. Russian Orthodoxy reflects both its Orthodox heritage and the culture of its native land.
Orthodox christianity has a widespread use of icons while protestants have few, Orthodoxy also commits their sins in the same way has Catholics
While a self-governing (or autocephalous) body, the Russian Orthodox Church does follow the fundamentals of Orthodox theology, the word orthodox means following and conforming to the generally accepted beliefs
Military Situation
The military situation in Russia in 1855 was complicated as the Russian army was embroiled in the Crimean war, which they ended up loosing in 1856. The war started because Russia was expanding into the Danube region (Romania today) The danube region was under Turkish control at the timeTherefore, Turkey and Russia went to war in 1853, and the following year Britain and France – fearful of Russian expansion – became involved.
Britain and France did not like to see Russia pushing down into the Danube region. They feared Russia would continue pushing down, and eventually come into British India through Afghanistan.
Religious tensions also played a part. Russia made an issue of the fact that the holiest sites in Christianity – Jerusalem, Bethlehem etc – were under Turkish control.
The final treaty was signed on the 30th March 1856, as part of the treaty the Russian naval base was meant to be shut down to reduce their power in the black sea, to add to this the crimean war was considered as the first ‘modern war’ because of the use of alliances.
Military service was seen as a popular choice for peasants to go down because there was a small chance that they would rise up there social standing, considering that 82% of the population where in poverty it made sense. Although the term of the military service was very long, 25 years, which they had to commit.