Alexander II, the Tsar Reformer

• • his decision to emancipate 51 million serfs in 1861 which was thought to come from his own liberal and humanitarian ideas.
  • He was praised for his bold move and changing the path that Russian society is on a new wave.

  Why was Alexander II known as the liberator
• • Terence Emmons' interpreted it as 'Emancipation as a piece of 'state-directed' manipulation of society that aimed to 'strengthen social and political stability', rather than a product of 'liberal' thinking from the enlightened tsar who is only concerned for the welfare of his subjects.
  • The emancipation was designed to maintain tsarist autocracy
  • In actuality, it created a gap between the tsarist government and the landed gentry. 


  What the emancipation of the serfs actually liberal?
• • Romantic poet tutor, Vasily Zhukovsky
  • His travels around the province in 1937 around Russia
  • Political circle of progressive nobles known as the 'Party of St Petersburg Progress' 


  Factors that may have affect Alexander II's views on serfdom
• Influential voice in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, favouring reform within the Slavophile tradition. In 1859-61, he was largely responsible for drafting the terms of the Emancipation edict and was also supported by the establishment of the zemstva.

  Nikolai Milyutin:
• Trained in a military academic and earned a reputation as a military scholar. He analysed reasons behind the reason for the defeat of Russia in the CW and was the Minister of War between 1861-1881. He introduced the military reforms

  Dimitry Milyutin
• Between 1840-44, there had been fewer than 30 outbreaks of disorder per year on privately owned estates, but this doubled in the next 15 years. Due to:

  • landowners pushing peasants to produce more or pay higher rents in order to maintain their own incomes.
  • protests against the military conscription due to the delay of Alex II to announce the freedom of the conscripted serfs to fight at the end of the war.

  Outbreaks
• • Alexander II set off on a tour to the country side in 1858-9 to give emancipation speeches to win noble support.
  • It initially only applied to privately owned serfs but state serfs received their freedom in 1866.
  • freed serfs were required to pay redemption payments over 49 years with a 6% interest rate. 


  Emancipation edict 1861
• • peasants had to stay in their mirs until their redemption payments were paid off
  • responsible for distributing allotments, controlled farming and collecting taxes. 


  How were the mirs involved in the emanicaption edict
• • 2 year period of 'temporary obligation' which was responsible of allocations of land
  • Landowners kept meadows, woodland and fields were given to the mirs.

  The land-owning elite in the emancipation edict
• • peasant community consisting of several villages
  • areas of 200-300 people and a few mirs
  • they had their own courts in 1863, managed under ex-serfs under the control of government officials and a noble -peace officer-


  Volosts
• • Kulaks: bought up extra land so they could create surplus grain and sell it through exports
  • Others sold up allocations and obtained passports to leave the mir which raised their living standards as they lived in industrialising cities. 


  How did some people benefit from the allocations of the land
• • land allocations were unfair
  • small allotments (little opportunity to adopt a new farming method) were increasingly divided as sons inherited this land and it was shared between them
  • farming backwardness persisted so in 1878, only 50% of the peasantry produced a surplus. 


  How did the emancipation effect peasants
• • continued after the edict as there was disputes over land-holding and redemption payments.
  • There were 647 incidents of riot in 4 months that followed the decree and a peasant riot in Bezdna which was brutally crushed with 70 peasant deaths.
  • Noble bankruptcies continued as landowners had to sell or mortgage their allocated land.

  Unrest in the countryside:
• Zemstva (or Zemstvo) is an elective council responsible for the local administration of a provincial district in tsarist Russia. It was established during the emancipation reform of the serfs in 1864 by Tsar Alexander II and it lasted till the October Revolution of 1917 by Vladimir Lenin. ​

  The Zemstva had general responsibilities for health, education, road maintenance and local economic affairs​

  what is the zemstva
• With the emancipation of the serfs, millions of Russian people were freed from the chains that had forcibly been put on them to serve on the land but that came with many problems. These former serfs were completely lacking in education, proper farming tools and organisation. Due to this, crop yields began to decline. ​

  why was reform needed of the zemstva
• So in 1864, Tsar Alexander II decided to create an apparatus to provide the infrastructure that the peasants needed but he would need funding so to do this, he introduced a new tax on all property owners. In turn, the property owners would elect a representative among themselves to serve in the zemstvo. ​


  what was the reform of the zemstav
• The zemstvo consisted of mostly feudal lords as they were in the majority of who had property ownership. ​

  The minority had priests, merchants, industrialists and some former serfs who had been able to own property during the emancipation. ​

  Since there was no apparatus that required the government to direct or co-ordinate the work, the zemstvo was left entirely independent and they primarily focused on local needs. ​

  Intelligentsia – valuable opportunity for them to serve in a professional capacity – developing understanding of peasant life and local issues.​


  who is in the zemstva
• • The Zemstva was dominated by the nobles (compensating for their losss of authority). Most nobles took advantage of their power as a part of the Zemstva.​
  • This system was only introduce in a select number of provinces and therefore what they could do was restricted.​
  • Peasants didn’t take the opportunity to participate as they were put off because the electoral system favoured the nobility.​

  weaknesses in the zemstva
• Nobles took up:​

  • 40% of Zemstva​
  • 70% of provincial councils​
  • The system for voting the councillors in the Zemstva was also criticised as it was based on property qualifications- led to noble dominating.​


  nobles and the zemstva
• • Military reform was a priority for Alexander’s government, it was one of the main reasons for the emancipation of the serfs. Military reform was needed as the country had quite recently been involved in the Crimean war which had some negative impacts on Russia's image as aa country.​
  • The military took up over a third of Russian government spending yet it still did not manage to defeat armies of much smaller numbers.​

  why were military reforms needed
• • In the Crimean war, Russia had a very unorganised and uneducated military that was arguably the reason they lost the war. The reforms were needed to combat this and prove to other countries that Russia was as big of a power as they were a country.​
  • Naval reforms were also introduced, however the focus was mainly on the ground army and the planning of the navy was disorganised due to Alexander IIs mistake of putting his brother in charge of the operations.​


  why were the military reforms needed
• • Conscription (at age 21) was made compulsory for all classes, including nobles, and the length of service was reduced from 25 years to 15 years.​
  • Punishments were made less severe and military colonies (where conscripts had lived) was abandoned.​
  • Better medical care and provisions were provided.​
  • Modern weaponry was introduced and a new command structure was added.​


  improvements to the army
• • Military colleges were set up to provide better training for the non-noble officer corps.​
  • Literacy within the army was improved, with mass army-education campaigns in the 1870s-90s.​
  • Conditions were improved for ordinary soldiers, including barracks to live in being provided.​
  • This resulted in a smaller and more professional army that was less class-driven and brutal.​


  improvements within the military
• • Significant government saving due to the smaller, more well equipped army.​
  • Officers still consisted mainly of nobility and there was a tendency to appoint people to roles they were unequipped for due to their family status in the royal family.​
  • The reforms were opposed by the nobility who did not want their family to mix with people of lower classes to them. Merchants also objected to the new system because they did not want their sons to be conscripted​
  • The army still relied on uneducated and illiterate peasant conscripts.


  problems with the military
• The reason for reform in general: the emancipation left unresolved issues and there was disappointment at the emancipation predominantly in the countryside which resulted in 647 peasant revolts in 4 months.


  general reason for judicial reforms
• • The administration of law was inefficient, slow and socially discriminatory.
  • Most of these judges were uneducated, illiterate and offered no training. They relied on briberies to maintain their lifestyles. ​
  • Trials themselves took place in secret which meant that judges were rarely challenged as the defendant never actually sees them so any written evidence cannot be used to challenge the judge on the case.​


  deeper problems within the judical system
• PROBLEM WITH THE JUDICIARY: There was rules such as: the word of a noble is to be taken over the word of a peasant, the same applied for a man's word over a womans. In the case of a peasant, they were considered guilty until they were proven innocent. ​
• • Equality is now before the law and a single system of local, provincial and national courts (volost courts dealt with peasant cases specifically). ​
  • Criminal cases were heard before juries and barristers & judges were appointed by the tsar, with better training and pay (less open to corruption).Courts open to public and proceeding were reported. ​
  • JPs worked quickly and were often respected by workers and peasants as they protected small men against local officials. 

  changes to courts
• • You were assumed innocent until proven guilty and had a right to employ a lawyer (both defence and prosecute but they were most likely to be wealthy people)​
  • Trials were recorded in the national newspaper called the Courier. ​
  • They also cannot be removed from office along with not being able to be dismissed if the verdict displeased the government.​
  • Testimonies of witnesses had to be given orally. ​

  changes to trials
• • It took a while to start up and spread across Russia due to a shortage of lawyers – the first courts were in St Petersburg and Moscow in 1866 which were never fully introduced throughout the Russian empire and there was none in Poland. :(​
  • Due to limited government funding some courts like the military court and peasant volost would follow their own procedures and punishment
  • Arbitrary police action continued Third Section (which allowed them to stop, search and arrest you whenever they pleased) was only abolished in 1880. ​


  weaknesses of the judicial reforms
• • The bureaucracy still intervened with trials so trial by jury was not always guaranteed. ​
  • The newfound freedom for lawyers meant that the courtroom could start to challenge the government as this was the one place in Russia where there was a genuine freedom of speech. ​
  • New juries were independent and sometimes would people on trial that they wanted to give a long sentence to. However, this failed which was be seen through the case of Vera Zasulich in 1878. ​


  problems that continued after the judicial reforms
• • In 1858, Ivan Belliustin highlighted the poverty and lack of skill of the rural clergy ​
  • They were too poor to be able to carry out rituals and many were illiterate​
  • Many bishops' only interests were political​
  • Government relied on church for control


  problems wit orthodox church
• • Commission in 1868 by Pyotr Valuev examined practises and organisation of Orthodox church​
  • More capable priests would be able to move up in the church more easily​
  • Little done about clerical poverty or the inability of rural priests​

  changes to the church
• • positive: Better priests would be able to move up in the church easier, therefore making the higher ups more capable at doing their jobs
  • negative: There were still many issues surrounding the priests in rural areas, as many of them were still unable to perform their jobs either due to financial or education issues


  positives and negatives of the church reforms
• • Alexander was more tolerant of Jews than previous Tsars had been​
  • Allowed Jews to go to University and become professors​
  • Allowed them to live in towns​
  • However, Jews still were unable to own land​

  Jewish communities
• Alexander relaxed restrictions on the practice of Catholicism

  Polish communities
• for basic literacy and numeracy amongst peasants who were tyring to run their own private smallholdings and the establishment of the zemstva meant that there would be an opportunity for change in the control and funding of education.

  What was there a need for after the emancipation
• • universities could govern themselves and appoint their own staff
  • responsibility for schooling was transferred from the church to the zemstva
  • primary and secondary education was extended offered a more modern approach for those who did not want to learn the traditional ways that was offered in the gimnaizum.
  • schools were declared open to all regardless of class and sex

  Golovnin education reforms: 1862-67
• • number of them rose from 8,000 in 1856 and 23,000 in 1880 and the number of children in primary education went from 400,000 to over 1 million.
  • However, it's aim was to strengthen religious and moral notions and spreading basic knowledge. 


  Primary schools
• • a choice of study in classics, modern subjects, maths, divinity but they still aimed to preserve professional and upper classes.

  secondary schools