Alexander II was the Tsar Liberator who, despite unflattering characterization by his contemporaries, undertook one of the biggest reforms in Russian history: the liberation of the serfs. Yet despite such a necessary and seemingly humanitarian reform, his life was abruptly finished by a successful terrorist attack following no fewer than ten unsuccessful ones. The main challenge Alexander II faced in his projects towards modernization of Russia was a compromise between advancing his state thorough improving the lives of his subjects, without falling prey to the demand for further reforms he would be unable to satisfy. Westwood, revisiting Russian History in 1981 phrased the problem as follows: “how to advance the education of the state by educating the people, without educating the people to questions the state? ”. After the crippling defeat in the Crimean War, Alexander II knew that Russia could not be allowed to lag behind the Western world any longer if it was to maintain its independence. The reform of the state had been advisable for a long time, but for Alexander III it was necessary. He knew that before any real changes could be achieved, the main problem had to be solved: the problem of serfdom. However many limits and imperfections his edict of Emancipation carried with it, most importantly it allowed for further modernizing reforms in the legal, government, education and military spheres. The need to abolish serfdom was a persistent and, according to Mosse writing in 1958, biggest problem in Russian society since the reign of Peter the Great. All the problems of Russian Empire stemmed from serfdom and would automatically be solved with its removal . To begin with, it was a natural step the development of Russian soci... ... middle of paper ... ...- An Alternative View”. History Review. 1999. Graham, Stephen. “Tsar of freedom: the life and reign of Alexander II”. New Haven, Yale University press, 1935. Lynch, Michael. “The Emancipation of the Russian Serfs, 1861: A Charter of Freedom or an Act of Betrayal?” History Review. 2003. Mazour, Anatole G. “Russia, Tsarist and Communist”. Princeton, N.J., Van Nostrand. 1962. Mosse, Werner E., “Alexander II and the modernization of Russia”. London, English Universities Press ltd. 1958. Radzinsky, Edward. “Alexander II : the last great tsar”. New York: Free Press, 2005. Sack, Arkady J., “The Birth of the Russian Democracy”. New York city, Russian information bureau. 1918. Wallace, Donald M., “Russia”. London, New York [etc.] Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Westwood, J. N., “Endurance and Endeavour: Russian history, 1812-1980”. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 1981.
Tucker, Robert C. "The Mortal Danger". Course Reader for World Culture: Russia Since 1917. New York University, Spring 2001.
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
When recognised as being an ageing superpower by Alexander II it was inevitable that some sort of change would take place in Russia in the hope of modernisation. We can see that the changes were mostly political and economical. During Alexander III’s reign we can see that the changes were suppressive although it ultimately led to further change in the form of revolution in the future.
While most of Europe had develop strong central governments and weakened the power of the nobles, Russia had lagged behind the times and still had serfs as late as 1861. The economic development that followed the emancipation of peasants in the rest of Europe created strong industrial and tax bases in those nations. Russian monarchs had attempted some level of reforms to address this inequality for almost a century before, and were indeed on their way to “economic maturity” (32) on par with the rest of Europe. But they overextended themselves and the crushing defeats of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War in 1917 lost them the necessary support from their subjects and created “high prices and scarcity” which were by far “the most obvious factors in the general tension”
Even though the political system was shadowed by Nicholas' unwillingness to fully democratise, through the fundamental laws (1906) Nicholas had begun to transform Russia into a modernised industrial power. When compared with Alexander's political inactivity, it can be deduced that Alexander was more autocratic than Nicholas. When examining which Tsar was more autocratic, the role of opposition and how it was dealt with should not be overlooked.
Alexander II was aware of this, and in a letter to Moscow gentry marshals said that a “hostile sentiment between the peasants and their landowners unfortunately exists…it is much better if this [reform] happens from above then from below”. He believed he should reform before the serfs carried out a full-blown rebellion. Alexander II did take action could before this could happen, however the serfs still did not have full freedom as they had to pay for land. Part of the reason for the emancipation was also to ensure that military reforms were able to go ahead without a landowner outcry. Russia’s military status had suffered greatly when they were defeated in the Crimean war in 1856.
During the year of 1861, Alexander II official issued the Edict of Emancipation, this freed over 20 million serfs. Looking back to the times of 1820, many of the Russians believed in abolishing serfdom. Despite this, the czars and nobles were reluctantly against it. You can imagine going back to the current time in 1861, after having serfdom for countless years, some Russians would be unwilling to change the system now. Unfortunately, his reform regarding serfdom only went halfway. Instead, peasant communities received about half of the farmland in the country, and the nobles were to keep the other half. The government then paid the nobles for their farmland. On the other side, the peasant communities had 49 years to pay the government for their land. Although, the reform had made the serfs free, the debt still remained which tied them to the land.
Kann, Andrew. "Was There a Russian Enlightenment?." Podcast lecture, University of Oxford Conference from University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, November 10, 2012.
As early as 1649, Russian landowners were granted complete control over the peasant serfs living in their land. Overtime serfdom had become a rising controversy in Russia, taking the blame for many of her problems. This led to Tsar Alexander II’s establishment of the Emancipation Reform of 1861. Although we see benefits since the Emancipation Reform of 1861, these benefits are connected to oppression, proven by many sources containing evidence of peasant land being mistreated, as well as evidence that they were still fighting for freedom from oppression.
Lawrence, John. A History of Russia: A Brilliant Chronicles of Russian History from its Ancient Beginning to the Present Day. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
However, she felt that serfs were an asset to the country, and with a modernized approach Catherine attempted to gain equality for serfs. When Catherine took the throne copious amounts of serfs (state peasants) were owned, they were mistreated and undervalued and their price was similar to a dog. As part of her initiative to change Russia for the better Catherine believed Russia would benefit from the freedom of the serfs .Catherine also believed that changing how serfs were treated would benefit Russia's reputation. She began promoting a law freeing serfs and on August 8, of 1762 asserted that the labor rights of the serfs were unfair and was ultimately attempting to reform the labor conditions and equalize serfsShe believed that by assisting the lowest class of society she could identify as an enlightened and modern ruler. Catherine planed to grant the serfs freedom and believed that through this the western world would view Russia as productive and modern. By recognizing the lowest members of society she was acting with enlightened values, and she was bringing awareness to the unnoticed but hardest working part of society. Catherine was determined to change what she saw as injust; When she saw the injustice of the serfs she sought to change
Wood, A. (1986). The Russian Revolution. Seminar Studies in History. (2) Longman, p 1-98. ISBSN 0582355591, 9780582355590
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.
After their defeat in the Crimean war (1853-1856), Russia’s leaders realized they were falling behind much of Europe in terms of modernisation and industrialisation. Alexander II took control of the empire and made the first steps towards radically improving the country’s infrastructure. Transcontinental railways were built and the government strengthened Russia’s economy by promoting industrialisation with the construction of factory complexes throughout...