The Tver Address was an address (a written proposal) presented to
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
on his accession to the throne in 1894, by the most liberal
zemstvo
A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...
leaders.
[Figes, p. 165]
The address was inspired by increased wishes for an "all-class zemstvo at the volost level", something the liberal nobles, like
Prince Lvov
Lvov (russian: Львов) is the name of a princely Russian family of Rurikid stock. The family is descended from the princes of Yaroslavl where early members of the family are buried.
Notable members
*Knyaz Matvey Danilovich (?–1603), Voivod ...
, believed would integrate the peasantry into the local government.
In a subsequent speech the Tsar denounced the ideas as "senseless dreams", while emphasizing his "firm and unflinching" devotion to the "principle of
autocracy
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except per ...
". The speech infuriated public opinion, and within days the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
resumed its persecution of the zemstvos.
References
Bibliography
*
Russian Empire
Liberalism in Russia
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