How Successful Was Alexander II

Alexander II is known today as the “Tsar Liberator. He held a vision of Russia as a major world power, a Russia that was westernized, industrialized, and educated. However, his reforms did not go so smoothly. With many attempts to take his life were made throughout his reign, he was finally assassinated before the completion of his reforms in March 1881. Was the reforms he made deemed a success? The humiliation of the Crimean War had greatly exposed Russia's main problems, involving its lack of communication; problems within industry; the useless military; and a corrupt, ineffective administration. The defeat acted as proof of Russia's backwardness compared to other western powers. Alexander II needed to act effectively. The first reform made was the emancipation of the serfs. Little had been done by previous Tsars to tackle the evil that is serfdom, for the nobles and landowners would turn hostile, as well as Russia's entire social systems stability, which was dependent on the institution of serfdom, would lead to chaos. Trying to resolve these complex issues as well as agreeing …show more content…
In 1864 local government assemblies called zemstva were set up. Alexander intended the zemstva to support the traditional system of government, trying to appeal the local nobility with giving them local political power after the loss in the serfs emancipation. This could be seen as positive for the locals had the chance to engage in Russia's real social problems and provided new opportunities for participation, being able to fix the public's health and education problems as well as roads and agriculture. Yet there was clear limitations of this new form of "local power" for the provisional governor could overrule all zemstva decisions. Also, the zemstva were permanently short of money, which also limited their practical