Russia and its rulers - Alexander II

The crimean war

• Russia raised a force of 700,000 in Crimea but couldn’t remove the French and British

• War revealed weak army - made up of 1mil peasants through forced conscription - this and harsh punishment meant that peasants were reluctant to fight - led to army reform and emancipation

• also revealed economic weakness - after war Russia spent 2bil roubles on railways - Russia had a lack of advanced weapons, money etc

• (200,000 KM of track from

  1861 to 1878)

• led to the emancipation edict as it revealed Russia’s weakness compared to the west

• autocracy remained but became more liberal through the reforms caused by th

The reforms were NOT due to the crimean war

• pressure to equal with western powers

• pressure as it was a form of slavery and seen as immoral

• pressure from increasing uprisings

• pressure from some liberal nobles, e.g Milyutin

Emancipation of the Serfs 1861 - did Alexander improve the lives of Russian Peasants

agree

• over 2mil serfs freed, and they could also own their own land

disagree

• peasants controlled by the mir - needed their permission to move, get married etc

• had to pay a compensation of redemption dues for 49 years

• only for 1/3 poor quality land even though they made up most of society

• 625 peasant revolts - shows they still aren’t happy

• arguably he kept these restrictions to retain autocracy

To what extent did Alexander reform local structures of government

• 1864 zemstva decree - creation of local elected councils that dealt with things like healthcare - shows steps towards democracy as it was elected and peasants could participate

• significant as it led to the 1870 creation of town Dumas

• However - arguably only created because it was necessary after the emancipation - rather than him trying to be less autocratic

• also unfair - dominated by nobility (45%) - meant it was easy for Alexander to control - autocracy

Alexander II as a reformer

military reform

• 1863 abolished harsh punishment

• conscription time also reduced from 25years to 16

• put liberal milyutin in charge

• slightly effective as peasants were more motivated to fight, however - Russia still struggled to win the 1877 war against Turkey

Legal reform

• 1864 - salaries set high to avoid bribery

• trials public and judges appointed by the Tsar

• more fair for peasants

nature of Alexander II’s gov

• committee of ministers that each had responsibilities for a separate Russian affair, e.g education, war, finance

• however - they rarely consulted each other so their policies conflicted - abolished in 1906 by the PG

• the third section = Alexander II’s secret police - used to investigate and imprison opponents - 150,000 were exiled to Siberia

national minorities

• 1863 polish rebellion - desire for freedom and rebelling against Wielopolski who campaigned for partial independence

• crushed by Russian army - polish nobility exiled to Siberia

• Tsar imposed reforms - Russian taught in schools etc - showed start of Russification process

• strict on Jews - mainly outcasted to the pale of settlement - but some were allowed to live outside it if they were a doctor etc

• Finns originally allowed a Finnish parliament but then it was fully integrated in to Russian empire

opposition

• intelligentsia - believed Russia was backwards compared to the West

• disagreed with autocratic values

• land and liberty formed but split into two:

• non violent black partition

• violent people’s will - they go on to assassinate the tsar