Alex reforms due to Crimean war

• Reasons behind emancipation

  • war revealed weaknesses of Nick I rule, serfdom didn’t seem fit for modern warfare
• Reason behind emancipation:

  Russia lost 450,000 men in Crimean war, far more than other European nations.

  Mainly serfs so reflected negatively on Russia due to their complete military failure
• Reason for emancipation:

  serfs inclined to revolt, and given their other responsibilities will probably not as committed as they might have been
• Reason for emancipation:

  Soldiers have been poorly supplied. The production of armaments and uniforms was an adequate and this was a reflection on the way that economy was organised and how Russia has been slowing industrialise
• pressure to abolish serfdom, seen as form of slavery
• Growing peasant unrest
• Demands from some politicians for more labour to work on projects such as railway routes
• Population growth which put pressure on farming system that was geared up to provide subsistence not surplus
• Military:

  Weaknesses such as training regimes were compromised by the poor level of education of recruits
• Military:

  The Russian army struggled to defeat ‘weak Turkish troops‘ and later in 1904 to 1905 Russia was beaten by Japan
• The reforms were slow to come about and some nobles were only convinced of the need for far reaching reforms when they witnessed the success of modern Prussian army in 1866 to 71