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As an autocrat, Alexander II recognized it as his duty to rectify a system that had manifestly failed Russia (in the Crimea as well as at home), yet he was uncertain how best to go about the task. Following the war political prisoners were released, censorship was relaxed, tax arrears were cancelled, serfdom was abolished and some of the liberties of Poland and of the Catholic Church were restored. The Crimean war had also illustrated faults in the social and governmental system of Russia which Alexander tried to correct by instigating a number of reforms which were motivated by a desire to strengthen the autocracy. Alexander II marked the opening of a period of reform in Russian politics and social issues, in which such reforms were to have implications for the future of Russia. Existing order of serfdom cannot remain unchanged. It is better to abolish it from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below This speech was given by Alexander to the nobility of Moscow in April 1856, and was to be the introduction of arguably the grandest social reform of the 19 th century in Russia.
The Emancipation of Serfs was introduced five years after the speech above and ultimately granted the serfs their personal freedom over a period of two years, and the land which they had previously worked. However domestic serfs who did not work the land were not entitled to land which created further hostility. For state peasants the period of transition to freedom was five years. The landowners were not expected to surrender land freely, in compensation for the land that they transferred to the peasants they received payment in the form of government bonds.
To recoup their losses the government charged peasants redemption dues in the form of regular repayments over a period of 49 years. This had considerable impacts on the population, firstly the process was slow, dictated by the needs of the individual landowner, secondly, the land settlement made upon the ex-serfs was usually un-satisfactory. The areas granted to them were often too small, and they were charged sometimes nearly three times the value of the land obtained with added pressure of redemption payments foreshadowing an unhappy freedom. Further administrative reform was needed as a consequence to the emancipation of serfs, this was combated by the establishment of the zemstvos. These were rural district and provisional assemblies whose functions included the administration of primary education, public health, poor relief, local industry and the maintenance of the highways. Alexander saw these zemstvos as props for the autocracy.
Both the system of voting and their established local reputations made it easy for the conservative nobility to dominate these assemblies and at provincial level they occupied 74 % of all zemstvos seats in 1865 - 67. The emancipation of the serfs also necessitated substantial reform of the Russian legal system, now that the summary justice of the landlord could no longer be so easily applied in the localities. From 1865 onwards measures were introduced to ensure that legal proceedings were conducted in public, that they were uniform for all classes of society, that the jury system prevailed for the trial of all charges and that judges were independent of the government. Further reforms were made especially in the military section and were conducted by the minister of war Dmitri Milyutin.
He reduced the term of service in the army from 25 years to a period of six years. Milyutin also introduced universal military service in 1874 to which all males were now liable at 20 years of age, without the loopholes that had frequently allowed the nobility and the richer classes to escape the obligation to serve their country. The abolition of more brutal forms of punishment and of military service as a form of punishment for criminal offences went far to humanize conditions in the Russian army. The minister of education A.
S. North, reversed most of the repressive measures of the previous reign. The number of university students were allowed to rise again (1855) and lectures were permitted once again on philosophy and on European government. A new University Statute (1863) gave the universities more autonomy in the conduct of their affairs than at any previous point in their history.
These reforms did not (arguably) strengthen the Tsarist regime as hoped but still managed to acclaim Alexander II the title of Tsar Liberator. The reforms imposed on Russia were met with resentment and criticism from conservatives as they had lost their influence and privilege while the liberals became frustrated as the Tsar wouldnt take his reforms to their logical conclusions. These two sectors of the political spectrum fuelled with dislike for the Tsarist regime were encouraged and benefited by Alexander's reforms as they enabled freer political ideas and atmosphere to be created.
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Research essay sample on Tsarist Regime Alexander Ii
