The Reforms in Lincoln’s view therefore was to primarily preserve autocracy, but also reform the system. The tsar had the moral authority and it was his prerogative to maintain the country. This meant that although the reformers were worried about giving freedom to peasants all at once, they were dedicated to emancipation just the same. According to Lincoln the debate thus centered on how much land and freedom to give the peasants. Lincoln paints the years leading up to the reforms as a battle over the ear of Alexander II among the enlightened bureaucrats, the gentry, and conservatives in the government apparatus all with different ideas of how the reforms should take place. It was this mix of opinions that caused the reforms to take the shape
