Comprehensive Study Guide: The Reign of Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881)

Motives Behind Alexander II's Reforms (1855-1881)

• Alexander II ($1855-1881$) ascended the throne during the Crimean War and faced the immediate task of preserving the Tsarist autocracy ($1855-1894$).

• The Impact of the Crimean War: The loss in the Crimean War acted as a primary catalyst for reform, exposing Russia's military and administrative weaknesses.

• Alexander II’s Personal Views and Role:

  • He was fundamentally committed to Tsarist autocracy and the preservation of his 'God-given rights' of absolute power.

  • He aimed to enhance the power and prestige of Russia on the world stage.

  • He believed in granting limited freedoms to stimulate a more dynamic, modernized economy.

  • He sought to modernize Russia by moving away from serfdom to restore the country's dignity.

  • His experience included working for over $10\,\text{years}$ on the Council of State and traveling throughout the Empire to gain first-hand knowledge of the need for reform.

  • Key support for his reforms came from his brother, the Grand Duke Constantine; his aunt, the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna; and specific progressive ministers.

• Economic Considerations:

  • The Russian economy was failing and needed to 'catch up' with the West to reassert national power.

  • Serfdom was identified as the primary handicap to economic and industrial progression.

  • Industrialization: Serfdom prevented workers from moving into factories, hindering industrial growth.

  • Agricultural Advancement: The reliance on serfs as manual labor discouraged landowners from investing in new agricultural technology or methods.

  • Food Supply: The serf-based system struggled to produce enough food for Russia's growing population.

  • Landowner Debt: Landowners suffered from a reduced income while trying to maintain traditional lifestyles. Competitive European agricultural markets made it harder for Russian nobles to sell grain profitably.

• Moral and Intellectual Considerations:

  • Pressure mounted from intellectuals, such as Herzen and Turgenev, who argued that serfdom was immoral—likening it to 'owning people like cattle'—and claimed it made the upper classes apathetic and insolent.

  • The Intelligentsia Groups:

    • Slavophiles: Believed Russia possessed a unique culture centered on the peasant society and the Orthodox Church, which should be preserved during modernization.

    • Westerners: Argued Russia should abandon some traditions and absorb Western values, including military and economic reforms, representative assemblies, civil liberties, and reducing the influence of the Orthodox Church.

  • Part of St. Petersburg Progress: This political circle of progressive nobles, linked to the Tsar's brother and aunt, significantly influenced Alexander.

• Risk of Revolt:

  • Significant peasant revolts had been increasing since the $1840s$.

  • Alexander famously told the nobility that it was 'better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for it to abolish itself from below.'

  • The Tsar was unsettled by the $1848$ revolutions in Europe and feared the reliability of an army composed mainly of peasants during an uprising.

  • Weekly reports on peasantry mood were ordered from December $1857$ following a spike in disturbances between $1857$ and $1859$.

  • Historical Debate: Some historians argue peasant unrest was exaggerated by unreliable Tsarist police records, while some nobles feared that reform itself might provoke unrest by appearing as a sign of weakness.

The Emancipation of the Serfs and the Road to Reform

• Definition and Status of Serfs:

  • A serf was a bonded laborer working for a landowner in exchange for food and housing.

  • Restrictions included: inability to marry without permission, being subject to purchase/sale, corporal punishment without consequence for the owner, and forced military conscription.

  • Privately Owned Serfs: Owned by landowners; conditions varied by owner.

  • State Owned Serfs: Lived on the Tsar's land; generally enjoyed more freedom and a better standard of living.

• The Case for Abolition:

  • For the Serfs: Productivity could not match population growth, leading to intolerable poverty.

  • For the Nobility: Many were falling into debt as the system failed to provide adequate income.

  • For the State: Serfdom prevented progress in both industry and agriculture.

  • Risks of Abolition: Landowners feared revenge/uprisings, loss of status (serfs were status symbols), and the loss of money. There were concerns that freeing serfs would shrink the military and weaken the Tsar's autocratic rule.

• Process of Emancipation:

  • Alexander used the defeat in the Crimean War and the perceived 'growing unrest' (though peasants likely did not grasp the concept of revolution) to justify reform.

  • Progress was slow for the first $18\,\text{months}$ due to noble resistance.

  • Local committees were established to discuss and draft proposals.

• The Emancipation Ukase ($1861$):

  • Serfs were released from bondage to become free men (allowed to marry, own property, travel, and start businesses).

  • Peasants were entitled to keep their cottage and an allotment of land.

  • Redemption Payments: Landlords were compensated by the government in bonds; the government reclaimed this from peasants through tax (redemption payments).

  • Peasants had to remain in their 'commune' (mir) until all tax was paid.

  • A further $2\,\text{years}$ of labour service or 'obrok' was required before achieving full freeman status.

  • Volosts were established to supervise multiple mirs.

Impact and Evaluation of the Emancipation Ukase

• Positive Outcomes:

  • Personal Legality: Freedom to marry, own property, and migrate to cities for industrial work.

  • Kulaks: A class of prosperous peasants emerged who bought land from neighbors and produced a surplus for profit.

  • Industrialization: Compensation payments allowed some landowners to pay off debt or invest in industry. The number of factories grew from $1,425$ in $1865$ to $16,564$ by $1880$.

  • Grain Exports: Facilitated a mobile labor force and increased exports to finance development.

• Negative Outcomes:

  • Resentment: Many peasants resented the 'crippling' redemption payments.

  • Unfair Land Allocation: The nobility supervised the mirs and often kept the best land for themselves, over-valuing what was given to peasants. Average land size was $9\,\text{acres}$ (roughly $\frac{3}{4}$ of a football field).

  • Landless Peasants: Former domestic serfs often ended up as wage laborers in the countryside or cities, where jobs were not always available.

  • Conservative Mir System: Land was regularly redistributed among sons, removing the incentive for improvements like drainage. Mirs also restricted travel through internal passport requirements.

  • Violence: In the $4\,\text{months}$ following the Ukase, there were $647$ peasant riots. In the village of Bezdna, $70$ peasants were killed during the suppression of a rebellion.

  • Noble Decline: By $1905$, the nobility owned $\frac{1}{3}$ less land than in $1861$. Many nobles went bankrupt or moved to cities.

• Historical Verdict: While a momentous step forward, it failed to achieve all its aims. Alexander remained an autocrat, which hindered total success, but the reform paved the way for subsequent changes.

Military, Local Government, and Judicial Reforms

• Military Reforms ($1861-1875$):

  • Rationale: Defeat in Crimea showed the command structure was inflexible and inefficient. Punishment was barbaric, and emancipation removed the old serf-conscription model.

  • Key Figure: Miliutin (Minister of War), a liberal-leaning administrator.

  • Terms:

    • $1864$: Established $10$ regional commands to decentralize supply and administration.

    • Revised the Military Code and ended extreme corporal punishment ($1863$).

    • Military service was no longer a court punishment; duration reduced from $25\,\text{years}$ to $15\,\text{years}$.

    • Investment in modern weaponry (ironclad steamships) and railways for troop transport.

    • Military colleges for officer training were established; military colonies were abandoned.

    • $1874-1875$: Manifesto on Universal Military Service extended conscription liability to all classes.

  • Success: Viewed as the most 'democratic' reform for treating Russians equally. Improved performance was seen in the Russo-Turkish War of $1878$. However, bribery (to avoid service) and leadership quality remained issues.

• Local Government Reforms:

  • Rationale: The end of serfdom required new authorities to manage roads, bridges, and poor relief previously handled by serf owners.

  • Terms: Established Zemstva (elected councils) through electoral colleges. They were responsible for public health, education, local roads, and economic development.

  • Success: Established representative government at a local level. However, the nobility retained authority and the Tsar limited their power (e.g., no control over police). Taxation often favored the nobility.

• Judicial Reforms ($1864$):

  • Rationale: Old courts were corrupt, judges were often illiterate or bribed, and new laws were needed for property rights and contracts post-emancipation.

  • Terms: Established equality before the law, open courts, and trial by jury (criminal cases). Judges were given better training, high salaries (to prevent bribery), and were nominated by the Tsar.

  • Volost Courts: Minor courts specifically for peasants, with judges chosen by peasants every $3\,\text{years}$.

  • Success: Courts became respected and fairer. However, the Tsar's independent bar became a breeding ground for future revolutionaries, and reforms were not applied in Poland or the Caucasus. Military and church courts remained separate.

Education, Censorship, and Economic Reforms

• Education Reforms:

  • Rationale: Literacy and numeracy were essential for modernization.

  • Key Figure: Golvonin (Minister of Education), a liberal reformer.

  • Terms: $1863$ University Regulations granted autonomy to universities and Council of Professors. Primary/secondary schools were 'open to all,' and responsibility shifted from the Church to the Zemstva.

  • Success: Primary schools increased from $8,000$ to $23,000$, and pupil numbers reached $4\,\text{million}$. Women gained access to university. However, radical ideas spread, leading to a reactionary shift in $1866$ under Dmitri Tolstoy.

• Censorship Reforms:

  • Terms: Permission still required from the Minister of Internal Affairs, but $1865$ rules allowed comments on government policy. Foreign books were permitted.

  • Growth: Annual book publications doubled between $1855-1864$ and trebled by $1881$.

  • Reaction: Laws were tightened in the $1870s$ due to government criticism.

• Economic reforms:

  • Key Figure: Mikhail von Reutern (Minister of Finance).

  • Terms: Treasury reform, abolition of tax farming, and establishment of a state bank ($1860$). Promoted foreign investment and lower tariffs.

  • Railways: Expanded from under $700\,\text{miles}$ (start of reign) to over $14,000\,\text{miles}$ ($1881$). Grain exports rose from $26\,\text{million tons}$ ($1864$) to $86\,\text{million tons}$ ($1880$).

  • Jewish Rights: Lifted some trade and residence restrictions on Jews to benefit the economy.

• Church Reform: The Ecclesiastical Commission was formed to improve the role of the Orthodox Church in looking after the poor, though it largely failed to change conditions for peasants or rural priests.

The Period of Reaction and Alexander II’s Turn

• Reasons for Reaction:

  • Opposition: Some felt reforms did not go far enough (e.g., Herzen calling emancipation 'phoney'). The Zemstva and press became platforms for radical change.

  • Threats to Life: Two assassination attempts—one by 'Hell' ($1866$) and one in Paris ($1867$)—shook the Tsar.

  • Conservative Influence: After family tragedies, Alexander withdrew and came under the influence of his son (future Alexander III) and conservatives like Dmitri Tolstoy and Shuvalov.

  • Innate Conservatism: Alexander ultimately believed in the righteousness of absolutism and his holy oath to maintain autocracy.

• The Nature of Reactionary Policy:

  • Education: Tolstoy reinstated Church control in rural areas, reduced Zemstva control, and prohibited subjects encouraging critical thinking. Government vetoed university appointments.

  • Police and Law: Shuvalov strengthened the 3rd Section (Secret Police). Pahlen held open 'show trials,' but these backfired in the 'Trial of $193$' and the 'Trial of $50$,' where juries were sympathetic to revolutionaries. From $1878$, political crimes moved to secret military courts.

  • Russification: Following a $1863$ Polish rebellion, a hostile attitude was adopted toward Finns, Jews, and other 'non-Russians.'

• The Loris Melikov Constitution:

  • Following attempts in $1879-1880$, the Tsar set up a commission under General Loris-Melikov.

  • Concessions: Released political prisoners, relaxed censorship, removed salt tax, and proposed including elected representatives in debating state decrees ('Loris Melikov Constitution').

  • Alexander II signed this report on March $13$, $1881$, the same day he was assassinated.

Revolutionary Opposition Groups

• The Intelligentsia: Small but growing. Divided into Westernisers (e.g., Ivan Turgenev) and Slavophiles (e.g., Leo Tolstoy).

• Radical Figures:

  • Nikolai Chernyshevsky: Author of What is to be Done?; believed peasants should lead the revolution.

  • Aleksandr Herzen: Editor of The Bell; advocated for a peasant-based society.

  • Mikhail Bakunin: Anarchist/Socialist; translated Marx's Communist Manifesto ($1869$); advocated collective ownership.

• The Tchaikovsky Circle ($1868-1869$): Literary society that distributed scientific/revolutionary literature (Marx's Das Kapital).

• The Populists (Narodniks):

  • Influenced by Western revolutionary tactics (conspiracy, infiltration) and Marx/Engels.

  • Movement: 'Going to the people' ($1873-1874$) involved $3,000-4,000$ students trying to educate/stir peasants. It was a failure resulting in the 'Trial of the $193$.'

  • Land and Liberty: Formed after the failure of 'going to the people'; later split into:

    • The Black Partition: Non-violent; sought to partition soil among peasants; weakened by arrests by $1880-1881$.

    • The People’s Will (Narodnaya Volya): Led by Mikhailov; used terrorism and infiltrated the 3rd Section. Responsible for the assassination of Alexander II in $1881$.

• Reasons for Populism’s Failure:

  • Peasant Apathy: Peasants were often loyal to the Tsar as 'little father' and preferred private ownership over socialist collective ideas.

  • Movement Splits: Divisions between violent (Bakunin) and educational (Lavrov) approaches.

  • Repression: Okhrana infiltration, harsh jail conditions, and internal exile to Siberia.

• Summary of Opposition Management:

  • Successes: The autocratic regime survived under Alexander III; secret police were effective against the Black Partition.

  • Failures: Open trials provided publicity for revolutionaries; the Tsar's transition to reaction angered those with raised expectations, and his assassination proved the ultimate failure of internal security.