Alex II

• Key Opponents include:

  • The Narodniks in the early 1870s
  • Land and Liberty
  • The People’s Will
• Alexander was unwilling to give up his own autocratic power;

  re-considering this when assassinated in March 1881
• Introduced ‘reform from above’, to modernise Russia

  Key Reform - The Emancipation of the Serfs 1861

  Several other reforms including the introduction of some local

  government (zemstva) and trial by jury

  Most of these reforms had significant flaws and were met by

  mounting opposition - the intelligentsia (‘westernisers’ and

  ‘slavophiles’)
• who was the Russian Minister of Finances

  Mikhail Reutern
• who was Ludwig Loop

  from Manchester helped to develop Russian textile industry
• who were the Nobel brothers

  responsible for the growth of the Russian modern oil industry
• Serfs had been legally 'fixed' to land owned by nobles or the state
• education reforms went against conservation of the church which used to be the key force of it
• who was the education minister

  Liberal Alexander Golorin
• in 1964 responsibility for schooling moved from the Church to the Zemstvas
• number of primary schools increased from 8,000 in 1856 to 23,000 in 1880
• modernising Russias army was seen as crucial
• emancipation removed means for conscription
• who was the minister for war

  Dmitrii Milyutin
• conscription was made compulsory for all classes from aged 20
• what years was Alex in power

  1855-1881
• Nationalities in Russia:

  • Russian Jews
  • 'Great', 'Little' and 'White' Russians
  • polish
  • finns
  • caucasians
• The introduction of the Zemstva was also a slow process and by 1914 only 43 out of 70 provinces had them. This reform appeared to be happening at an alarmingly slow rate BUT it was happening. This slow and rate of reform was mainly down to Alexander's wariness and precaution in handing over too much power to the Russian people.
• The serfs had to buy their land in order to complete their freedom and could repay (with government assistance) up to 80% of the total value of their land over 49 years.
• It can also be argued that by creating an independent legal bar a new professional class was born, one that became a new intelligentsia and that could challenge the Tsar's power. However, this was just a by product, and if anything it points more to how much of liberator and reformer Alexander was, as he must have known that this would be the case, that a new intelligentsia would challenge him. But he went ahead with the reforms at the risk of being challenged by new schools of thought that would arise from it, as he deemed it the best thing for Russia.
• The reason behind tying the serfs to their land after being freed was Alexander's fear that freed serfs would descend on the cities of Russia in their masses and threaten to alter to the balance of Russian society, and in a worst-case scenario, upset the autocracy of the Tsar. This suggests desperation of Alexander to remain all powerful, whilst retaining the aura of being a liberal reformer.
• The economy was also in need of reform, and Alexander II decided to do it. There were vast reforms in financial control, taxation and new sources of income were exploited. Annual budgets were also published and the economy was definitely starting to get back on its feet. Alexander II did not have much to gain in terms of strengthening his power over Russia, it was clear that Alexander had to reform the economy in order for this many other reforms to function fully. Despite the reform of the economy, inflation worsened and national debt rose due to the Russo-Turkish War
• Alexander Il's local government reform was to keep the radicals who demanded an increase in local government at bay. By offering local government, Alexander could successfully distract radicals from the fact that he was still an absolute monarch, and therefore still retain a strong grasp on power. 
• By creating elected district and provincial assemblies in the Zemstva in villages and the Duma in towns, he granted a certain level of autonomy to local government. The Zemstva and Duma had control over various aspects of Russian life in their area, their control spanned from polices on health, land management, education, economic growth, roads and utilities.
• Redemption payments effectively tied serfs to the same piece of land that they had been tied to before they were "free", for many this meant the serfs were only technically free and not truly free. Also subject to a passport system of movement.
• The judges were made independent and neutral and paid well from the public purse to avoid bribery and corruption. This newly introduced independent bar encouraged the growth of the legal profession in Russia and was a step forward in modernising the country. The reforms were also a genuine move to improve the poor reputation of Russia in terms of human rights and to dispel the image of unjust courts in Russia. Alexander Il also chose to meddle very little with the new legal system; once the Tsar appointed new judges it was incredibly difficult to remove them.
• Reforms to local government were very impressive from Alexander and suggested that the Tsar was prepared to give up more power in a bid to modernise Russia. However, Alexander's focus was still on holding on tight to complete power in Russia eg although the Zemstva were elected, the voting system was weighted heavily towards the landowning classes. Individual Zemstvo were strictly prohibited from meeting other Zemstvo, as this could be the informal gathering of a Russian pseudo-Parliament.
• Censorship was also reformed by Alexander, between 1855 and 1863 the strict censorship of Nicholas l's reign were relaxed. The number of books published per year doubled between 1855-1864. This shows that Alexander did not want to have a stranglehold on the press and his minister in charge of censorship, Valuev, only sought to isolate radical writers. Alexander and Valuev managed to strike a balance between publisher, writer and the censor. There was definitely a mood of cooperation rather than repression, the latter was the case with Nicholas' policy on censorship.
• Primary education brought to

  1. Mir villages and towns

  2. Implemented by the Zemstva and Duma respectively
• Number of children receiving primary education increased 4x

  1861-1881
• Secondary schools

  Under control of Zemstva and Duma in 1864
• Secularisation of education from the church

  Implemented by Golvonin in 1863
• The freedom given to serfs was not immediate and it was called "qualified freedom". This meant that private serfs had to wait 2 years for their freedom and state serfs had to work 5 for theirs. It was when this freedom was granted that the serfs could begin to pay back their landowners for their land. This was made especially hard, as the burden of taxation on serfs wasn't eased which meant that many redemption payments from' serfs could not be made.
• Reform of the universities

  Increased the freedom of most aspects of the system in 1863
• Tolstoy continued to reform education

  1. Technical schools set up in 1871

  2. Women allowed in university in 1872
• These reforms were all extraordinary as they show Alexander willingly allowing a new intelligentsia to be formed
• Alexander was perfectly aware of this possibility but still he persisted and implemented all these reforms
• The education reforms show Alexander opening himself up to criticism from a new forged class of educated Russians
• If Alexander had wanted to strengthen to grip on power that much he would not have made such revolutionary reforms that paved the way for new groups of intelligentsia that would criticise the Tsar's rule