How Did Alexander II Create Social Changes In Russia

Alexander II was the first to create social reforms after he ascended into power in 1855 during the Crimean War. Russia at the time was resistant to any form of change and the defeat of the War proved that they were completely backwards in society; with this fear Alexander II created a series of reforms in order to have a revolutionary change in Russia. The first reform was the Emancipation in 1861 which entailed of freeing the serfs. The serfs were released from bondage and became free men who were free to marry, have their own property, set up businesses and travel. In addition they were each entitled to keep their cottages and land and the previous landlords would receive compensation. The abolishment of serfdom was a massive step in improving
social conditions for the peasants of the USSR who made up 80% of the population at Stalin’s time. However although this change looked like the beginning of a revolution there was many flaws during the actual practice of emancipation. Theoretically, the emancipation of the 21 million landlords’ serfs was initially supposed to happen over a course of two years but it actually took over 20 years. Furthermore, it was only until 1881 that it became compulsory, before then 15% of peasants still remained temporarily ‘obligated’ to their landlords. The change was happening a lot slower than promised, peasants felt cheated and landlords resented their loss of influence. However this reform helped show the fundamental weaknesses of Russia and so became an excuse to ensure modernisation. The feudal system was no longer used in other westernised countries and so by trying to free serfs it proved that Russia was socially and economically backwards