Alexander II and Alexander III's reforms and reactions

Alexander II and Alexander III's reforms and reactions

Education Reforms

What: Reform of education, the university statute, secondary education statute and primary education statute.
When: 1863 - 1865
Who: Nikolai Pirogov, Konstantin Ushinsky and Alexander Golovin (minister for education)
Why: To bring more widespread, effective, and less class-driven education to Russia. Favoring an education system that would create 'whole men', rather than rote-learners.

Cultural Reforms

What: Reforms on censorship laws
When: 1863 - 1865
Who: Alexander II & Ministry of the interior
Why: Russian newspaper were able to discuss both international and domestic politics

Local government reforms

What: New local government structure, introducing zemstva and dumas councils
When: 1860 - 1864 (+1870)
Who: Alexander II appointed a commission
Why: Nobles had lost legal and judicial control over serfs and so reforms of local government were needed.

Legal Reforms

What: Reform of the judiciary system
When: 1862 - 1864
Who: Alexander II
Why: Prior to the Emancipation Edict, the justice system in Russia was inefficient, slow, socially discriminatory, and incredibly corrupt.

Military Reforms

What: Military reforms and The Conscription Act of 1 January 1874
When: 1863 - 1875
Who: Dmitry Milyutin
Why: Wanted to close the gap between Russia's inadequate army and the highly efficient, successful Prussian armed forces & over a million russian conscript peasants died from reasons other than combat

Financial and Economic Developments

What: Financial and Economic reforms and policies, and developments of the railways.
When: 1862 - 1878
Who: Mikhail Von Reutern
Why: Economic growth was essential for Russia's future, lacking a strong economy would make it impossible for future successes.

Church Reforms

What: Church reforms in the hierarchy and rural clergy
When: 1862 - 1868
Who: Pyotr Valuev (minister for internal affairs) set up a commission to examine the practices and organisation of the Orthodox Church.
Why: In 1858, priest Ivan Belliustin wrote a report; 'on the poverty and lack of skill in the rural clergy', highlighting the fundamental problems. The report alarmed the government since they relied on the Orthodox Church as an essential ally in maintaining control and upholding the autocracy.

Alexander's treatment of the Jews, Finns and Poles

What: Reforms on the treatment of jews, finns, and poles and reaction (The destruction of the Polish kingdom in 1866)
When: 1861 - 1866
Who: Alexander II
Why: (reforms) in order to win them over. (reaction) anti-semitism/uprisings/revolutionaries

Education reaction

What: Reduced power of zemstva, increased power of church, educational and censorship laws.
When: 1871 - 1873
Who: Dmitri Tolstoy
Why: The tide of reform in education was blamed for creating student radicalism also Tolstoy's means of consolidating his own power and repressioning any revolutionary attitudes in students.

The police and the law courts reaction

What: The police and the law courts, increased activity of 'The Third Section'
When: 1866-1878
Who: Shuvalev and Phalen
Why: The progressive reforms faced increasing resistance after an assassination attempt on Alexander II in 1866. This led to a "general reaction" that rolled back some of the changes.

Reaction to Opposition

What: Alexander ordered an implementation of a final 'reactionary' measure in 1879, He declared a state of emergency
When: 1866 - 1881
Who: Alexander II
Why: In 1866, Dmitry Karakozov, a radical nihilist, attempted to assassinate Alexander II, after the failed attempt the Tsar's confidence in his reforms was undermined and it made him more willing to listen to the conservatives ad churchman who had been urging him to greater caution.

Reversal of Alexander II's reforms

What: He adopted a policy of autocratic repression that overturned most of his father's reforms.
When: 1881 - 1894
Who: Alexander III
Why: The assasination of his father, also his tutor, Pobedonostev, an extreme right-wing conservative, ensured that he remained true to the principals of 'Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationality'.

The re-establishment of noble influence

What: Alexander III created a new noble position, a 'land captain', responsible to enforce government orders in their areas.
When: 1889 - 1892
Who: Alexander III
Why: In order to control the countryside

Judicial Changes

What: Reforms made during Alexander II's reign to encourage the move towards fairer trails and use of the jury system were at the least partially reversed during Alexander III's reign.
When: 1885 - 1889
Who: Alexander III
Why: The state could pass unfair verdicts and conduct mis-trials for its own benefit when needed.

Education, Orthodoxy, and intellectual life

What: A close supervision and censorship over intellectual life was implemented, and became much more restricted
When: 1882 - 1892
Who: Ivan Delyanov
Why: In order to keep 'lower orders' out of the education system. It was thought that 'lower orders' of people needed less education, only enough to ensure religious observance

Repression and the Police

What: The Statute on Measures for the Preservation of Political Order and Social tranquility (sometimes referred to as 'exceptional measures'), the Statute on Police Surveillance, and the Okhrana.
When: 1881 - 1884 (+1917)
Who: Vyacheslav Konstantiovich von Plehve and Ivan Durnovo
Why: To eradicate the 'vile sedition disgracing the Russian land'.

Russification

What: Russification involved trying to turn a multinational empire into a single country
When: 1881- 1917
Who: Alexander III and Nicholas II
Why: Believed that the removal of separate languages and culture of the 40 million or so non-Russians would strengthen the Tsar's autocracy and encourage stability.

Treatment of the Jews under Alexander III and Nicholas II

What: The jews suffered the most from Russification, anti-semitism and anti-jewish pogroms were encouraged by the government.
When: 1881 - 1917
Who: The government
Why: The anti-semetic sentiment in Russia was never far below the surface.