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158 students. Nevertheless, in 1888, a university was founded at Tomsk in Siberia.

The middle schools were closely supervised. During the reign of Alexander II the reaction had already begun to work its will in this domain. Count Tolstoi, in 1865 chief procurator of the holy synod, and minister for education from 1866 to 1880, carried out his celebrated classicist reform, which was enforced from 1871 to 1893. He declared war on the modern schools, and the old endeavour to play off classicism against the spirit of revolt was renewed. Schools for girls likewise suffered, for Count Pahlen, a reactionary, had discovered as early as 1874 that revolutionary propaganda was carried on mainly by women. A forcible argument had been furnished to the reactionaries by Sophie Perovskaja's participation in the assassination of the tsar. A few commercial and industrial schools were founded for practical instruction.

Struggle furnished the philosophical foundations for progressive and liberal efforts and for conservatives and reactionaries nihilism ever remained the enfant terrible. To give the government a freer hand in this contest, a few concessions were made in other fields. It was characteristic that during the era of Pobědonoscev the raskolniki were treated with more toleration, and from 1884 onwards their cult was officially sanctioned. On the other hand, extreme intolerance was displayed towards Jews and Catholics.

Russification continued in the frontier territories, whilst army and civil administration were energetically nationalised. At the close of the reign of Alexander II, the percentage of Germans in the various departments was as follows:—

At this time the percentage of Germans among the general population was 1·1.