How Did Alexander II Change Russian Society
Alexander II Nikolayevich became emperor of Russia in March 1855 after the death of his father Nicholas I. Regarded to many historians as the ‘Great Reformer’, Alexander II was believed to have transformed Russia and to because one of the greatest reformers in Russian history. He managed to emancipate the serfs and bring about reforms in education, military, justice, censorship and the economy. Despite all of this Russian society was unsatisfied, ultimately leading to the assassination attempts that ended his reign. In this essay I will be highlighting some of the main changes to the Russian society, then I will be talking about what remained and finally I will conclude.
One of the most impactful changes to Russian society during Alexander
II reign was the emancipation of the Russian serfs, in 1861. The ukase said that the Russian peasants were no longer tied to their landlord and gained the right of a free citizen, this meant they were allowed to marry, purchase property or land and create businesses. This manifesto mean that 23 million people across the Russian empire where now free, this created a new lower class which was a opportunity to a improvement in the economy. However, this created a lot of problems in the country as serfs were given less land then they needed to survive and loans on the land that they bought that they could never pay off as they never made enough even for themselves. This created hate towards the autocracy amongst the nobles and for many serfs this ukase meant no change as they could not afford anything else but to keep working for the same landlords which created civil unrest. Despite quite a few negative outcomes Alexander II still succeeded in stopping serfdom and managed to create building blocks to the modernisation of Russian society.
Following this reform Alexander II when on to creating local governments, called the ‘zemstvo’. These local governments were set up to improve the lives of people in the individual areas, as they helped with education, food, roads and healthcare. Each town was also represented by ‘Dumas’, into which the town voted members and these members would discuss the towns issues. In zemstva they where even able to discuss the running of the country which before was imposible. Alexander II also relaxed the laws of censorship, which allowed the spread of foreign books over the country and the spread of western ideas through newly published newspapers. This opened the country to a better level of education as more material could be discussed. However, reforms in education needed to be made as many more people had to be educated due to the emancipation of serfs. Thus Alexander II appointed Alexnader Golovnin as the new minister of Education in 1962
One of the most impactful changes to Russian society during Alexander
II reign was the emancipation of the Russian serfs, in 1861. The ukase said that the Russian peasants were no longer tied to their landlord and gained the right of a free citizen, this meant they were allowed to marry, purchase property or land and create businesses. This manifesto mean that 23 million people across the Russian empire where now free, this created a new lower class which was a opportunity to a improvement in the economy. However, this created a lot of problems in the country as serfs were given less land then they needed to survive and loans on the land that they bought that they could never pay off as they never made enough even for themselves. This created hate towards the autocracy amongst the nobles and for many serfs this ukase meant no change as they could not afford anything else but to keep working for the same landlords which created civil unrest. Despite quite a few negative outcomes Alexander II still succeeded in stopping serfdom and managed to create building blocks to the modernisation of Russian society.
Following this reform Alexander II when on to creating local governments, called the ‘zemstvo’. These local governments were set up to improve the lives of people in the individual areas, as they helped with education, food, roads and healthcare. Each town was also represented by ‘Dumas’, into which the town voted members and these members would discuss the towns issues. In zemstva they where even able to discuss the running of the country which before was imposible. Alexander II also relaxed the laws of censorship, which allowed the spread of foreign books over the country and the spread of western ideas through newly published newspapers. This opened the country to a better level of education as more material could be discussed. However, reforms in education needed to be made as many more people had to be educated due to the emancipation of serfs. Thus Alexander II appointed Alexnader Golovnin as the new minister of Education in 1962