Failure_of_Alexander_Ii

Failure of Alexander II's Emancipation Edict Rocky Wagner, World History 4A 3/2/2010 Though reluctant to ascend to the throne, Alexander II quickly saw his duty to rectify the social system that had failed Russia economically and in the Crimean War. Political prisoners were freed, censorship was mitigated, taxes made universal, some freedoms granted to Poland and the Catholic Church, and most importantly, serfdom was abolished. Russia’s humiliating defeat in the Crimean War had brought attention to the faults of the social, economical, and governmental system of Russia. The Pugachev and Decemberist revolts, although unsuccessful, demonstrated the desperate need for reform. Alexander II launched a huge number of reforms to modernize and rebuild his empire. This was only the beginning of an era of Russian reforms, which would greatly affect the rest of the Western world over time indirectly (and blamelessly) leading to such events as the Russian Revolution and World War I. “Existing order of serfdom cannot remain unchanged. It is better to abolish it from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below,” was the message Alexander tried to press upon the nobility of Moscow in a speech in April of 1856. The Emancipation of Serfs was officialized five years later and granted serfs their personal freedom, implemented over the course of two years. The land on which they had previously worked for meager wages while living under wretched conditions had been made their property. Domestic serfs, however, who did not work the land were not entitled to any after their liberation. This led to simmering and often fierce hostility. Landowners were compensated for the land that they surrendered to peasants, receiving payment through government bonds. For state peasants transition to freedom lasted five years and to recover its losses the government forced peasants to pay annual “redemption dues” over the course of 49 years. This had several negative effects on the Russian population, firstly the process was drawn out and bureaucratic, adjusted to the needs of each individual landowner. Secondly, the land granted to ex-serfs was usually not enough to survive on and comprised of the least valuable areas and terrain. They were usually charged up to three times the value of the new properties withstanding the “redemption payments.” The serfs were extremely poor, out of work, and still very low in the social structure. Administrative reform was necessitated as a result of the precipitate emancipation of the serfs. The establishment was not in favor of this, leaving Alexander II without allies in either the peasantry or nobility. He allowed the formation of Zemstvos, local councils with small amounts of authority within their towns. The right to elect members was still restricted to the wealthy however. They were rural district and provincial assemblies charged with the administration of education, public health, poverty relief, local industry, and maintenance of the highways. Alexander saw these as tools or puppets for the autocracy. The system of voting and the local reputations of the members allowed the conservative nobility to control these assemblies with ease. They occupied 74% of all Zemstvo seats from 1865-67. The reforms failed hugely as a result of poor diplomacy and a lack of planning. and the Tsarist regime wasn’t strengthened as had been hoped. The reforms imposed upon Russia were met with almost universal resentment and criticism. The conservatives had lost their “influence and privilege,” while the liberals were angered by his refusal to take his reforms to what they saw to be their logical conclusions. These two factions of the political structure were quick to undo his actions after his assassination in 1881. Bibliography: Watts, Carl P. "Alexander II's reforms CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES." Highbeam Research. 1 Dec. 1998. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. . "Alexander II." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. . "Edict of Emancipation Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Edict of Emancipation." Web. 25 Feb. 2010. . "Russian Life: Emancipation Edict of Alexander II." Russian Life magazine. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .