Alexander II of Russia

Under Tsar Alexander II, Russia experienced a few changes. One of the most radical changes to have occurred was the liberation of serfs; fifty million serfs were freed. Emancipated peasants formed new communities, and as part of these new groups were allowed to own land through grants given by the government. Unfortunately, being part of a commune in which decisions and landowning was a shared event, individual peasants could not put up their portion of land for sale and leave their community to work in factories. In exchange for the land they farmed, peasants were forced to pay off long-term government loans which lined the pockets of the original landowners. Even with these hefty financial burdens and strict communal parameters in place that peasants had to deal with, the end of serfdom helped to make life much more bearable for them.…

Alexander II’s reforms changed Russia more than any other events from 1855-1905. The most significant of these reforms The Emancipation of the Serf’s freed the people from the land. Serfdom had long been seen as the symbol of the superannuated Russian system holding Russia back from real progress. The emancipation had some significant advantages for Russia: it created a movable industrial workforce, a better military it changed the structure of Society and it abolished it without Civil War or…

Why did Alexander II emancipate the serfs? Alexander II, the Tsar of Russia from 1855-1881, formally emancipated, or set free, the serfs in the Emancipation Reform of 1861 despite that it was only applied to privately owned serfs and was a measured three stage process beginning with personal freedom. Ultimately, Alexander II emancipated the serfs as it held back Russia’s economy from progressing and improving. However, the combination of various military, social and political factors also…

On March 3, 1861, Tsar Alexander II granted new rights to the peasants by passing his emancipation edict. These rights allowed for peasants to own property, marry as they chose, and file suits in the court of law. As there were pro’s to the emancipation, there were also cons. One of the limitations of this emancipation was that peasants had to purchase land from their landowners, however the landowners got to keep the good pieces of property. Even though this may seem like a great idea for the…

Catherine II and the Serf Question According to the historian Aleksandr Lappo-Danilevskii, along with Catherine II's self-proclaimed, Enlightened reason, it would seem likely that the political coup that placed her on the throne would improve conditions for the lower classes of society. This is because in her writings prior to accession she had stated multiple times her dissapproval of the oppression of the nobilty over the serfs and a desire for emancipation, and after her accession she had…

The opposition in Russia opposed to Tsar Nicholas II autocratic style of before 1905 can be categorised into two main groups: Revolutionaries and Reformers (liberals). In turn the revolutionaries can be further divided into three distinct groups: Populists, Social Democrats and Social Revolutionaries. It has long been debated how much of a danger they posed to the tsardom, before 1905, which is what I shall be discussing. The Populists, who dated back to the 1870s, regarded that Russia’s future…

finale is anticipated by a virtuosic rising cadenza, leading into the already familiar finale, but this time in E flat major, a typically ‘heroic’ key (Galeazzi, 1796). The final movement metrically resolves the asymmetrical time signature of the previous Promenade themes by using 4/4 and harmonically resolves the tension created by the highly frantic and dissonant The Hut on Hen’s Legs. In the middle of the finale, a scalic accompaniment highly reminiscent of church bells is played over the…

As Imperial Russia continued to expand, Serfdom took its place as a commonality in Russian culture. While social classes grew more and more apart, peasants were hit with the harsh reality of this class separation. As Kizhanich mentions in the source book; Medieval Russia, “in the middle of the fifteenth century, conditions of Russian peasants deteriorated rapidly. By the early seventeenth century the majority had become serfs of one kind to another.” Serfs did not live the best life, this can…

piece of land which they could farm to provide for their own needs. There were several peasant rebellions that led to numerous revolutions. In 1861, a law was issued by Tsar Alexander II finally eliminating serfdom; however, it did not improve the quality of life for the serf community. Between the 13-15th centuries, the number of serf’s dependents grow significantly in number. They were not considered slaves, but they had very little rights and could not own any property or land. From mid-15th…

The Reformation period of Tsar Alexander II’s reign stapled him in Russian history as the “Tsar-Liberator”. The Emancipation of Serfs, and the Zemstvo reform had a major positive impact on Russia in both economic and political ways. Through the scope of historical perspective, Alexander II is deserving of the title “Tsar-Liberator” for making great advancements in Russia even when it opposed prior Russian culture and norms. The Emancipation of Serfs was the boldest of all of Alexander II’s…