Alexander II Depth Study

What was AII’s nickname?

Tsar Liberator

AII’s changes to central government

Replaced Personal Chancellery of his Imperial Majesty with a Council of Ministers in 1861

All’s changes to local govt

Zemstva Act 1864

Zemstva genuine reform

• Effective enough to be implemented in urban areas after 1870

• Local government had to change after Emancipation Edict

Zemstva not genuine reform

• Seemed to be regretted immediately

• Liberal Zemstva members were critical of a regime that was unresponsive to demands

• Dominated by nobility - extent of democracy questionable

• Distracted nobility from reforming central government

What was opposition a result of?

AII’s liberal climate

Was opposition due to AII’s reforms?

• Creation of Zemstva led to Populist movement

• Failure of Populists led to attempts to gain support from peasants through ‘revolutionary terror’

• Splinter group - People’s Will

• Aimed to assassinate govt officials

• Populists shared ideas on ‘egalitarianism in landholding’ with peasants

When was the Emancipation Edict?

1861

What did the Emancipation Edict lead to?

Other economic, social and political reform

What were the Edict’s conditions?

• All privately owned serfs were freed

• State owned serfs were freed in 1866

• Peasants could now own property, run commercial enterprises and get married to whoever they wanted

• Nobles had to give up some land to peasants

  • They were overcompensated for this

• Peasants had to pay for compensation through Redemption Payments

What were Redemption Payments?

• Paid by peasants

• Paid over a 49-year period at 6% interest

• Peasants only had legal rights to land after they paid off RP

• Alternatively, they could work for the noble for a set amount of days a year

• The Mir were responsible for RP admin - also ensured land couldn’t be sold on before RP fully paid

Opposition to Edict from landowners

• Nobility struggling to maintain estates before Emancipation

  • Many had big loans

• RP revenue was often used to pay off debts

• If this failed, estates were broken up and sold

  • Nobility-owned land reduced by 40% by 1905

Edict didn’t improve peasant lives

• Given poor quality land + less land on average

• Struggled to earn enough for RP

  • Made worse by rural Poll Tax

• Not totally free - answered to the Mir

Poll Tax

Tax based on the number of people in a household

Role of the Mir

• Responsible for RP admin

• Decided what crops to plant and how to cultivate them

• Ensured subsistence farming was followed

  • Produced just enough food for the community

Effect of Mir control on peasantry

Removed peasants’ incentive to produce a surplus

Peasants were reluctant to invest to improve land

Crimean war was the main reason for reform

• Revealed weaknesses from Nicholas I’s rule

  • Serfdom under strict autocratic rule didn’t fit with modern warfare

• Army recruited from serfs - not trained to Western standards

  • Not committed to army

• Soldiers poorly supplied

  • Uniform and armament production inadequate

  • Reflected on economy’s organisation and slow industrialisation

Other reasons for Edict

• Pressure to abolish serfdom - seen as slavery and immoral

• Growing peasant unrest from 1700s

• Demands for more labour for projects e.g. railway

• Population growth - pressure on farming system no set up to provide surplus

  • Led to more frequent famine

Military reform

• Conscription and reduced period of service - seen as radical

• Military schools

Was military reform effective? Yes

• Exposed weaknesses e.g. poor levels of education in recruits

  • addressed by military schools

• Reduced economic cost of supporting an inefficient army

• Agricultural efficiency improved

  • Peasants had more freedom/time to work on the land

• Soldiers better trained

• Long term literacy improvements

Was military reform effective? No

• Russian army still struggled to defeat Turkey in 1877 and lost to Japan in 1905

• Reforms very slow

How did AII’s domestic reforms affect the Empire?

Affected different areas differently

When was the Polish Rebellion?

1863

What were the longer term causes of the Polish Rebellion?

• Complex linking of factors

  • Access to land

  • Proposed policies of Polish leaders

    • Wielopolski and Gorchakov

  • Role of Catholic church in Polish society

What were the shorter term causes of the Polish Rebellion?

• AII tried to compromise with Polish govt

  • Allowed them to outline their own land-reform programmes

Who opposed Wielopolski’s proposals?

Polish extremists and some peasants

What did Polish extremists oppose?

• Land-reforms programme proposals

• Conscription proposals

Who did peasantry support?

• Some backed rebels

• SOme backed Tsar

What was a result of the rebellion being surpressed?

• Tsar imposed reforms

  • they benefitted peasantry at the expense of nobility

• Start of Russification

What idea does the Polish rebellion support?

AII was more concerned with maintaining order across Empore