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The Emancipation of the Serfs
The Russian defeat in the Crimean War was a wake-up call to the autocracy. While Russia could boast that it commanded the largest army in Europe, poor roads, antiquated weapons, and low morale prohibited the effective use of that potential power. The defeat proved to the autocracy in charge that Russia had fallen dangerously behind its Western neighbors, making it vulnerable to future attack and invasion.
A key difference between Russia and its western neighbors was the continued existence of Russian serfdom. Whether out of genuine progressive belief or merely a need for an effective conscript army when the next war developed, Alexander II initiated a period of reform in Russia with the emancipation of the serfs on February 19, 1861. This “emancipation,” however, was barely related to what the peasants themselves were expecting. The peasants were still subject to considerable taxes and a passport system to restrict movement throughout the country. In addition, their freedom from land obligations would only come into effect in 1863, but even that was not a guarantee; these “temporary obligations” could continue until both the peasants and their local landlords came to a mutually agreeable settlement. When (and if) that moment ever came, the peasants would receive a small portion of the land through government-financed redemption payments to the landlord—a sum the former serfs would have to repay over a 49-year period.
Further Russian Reforms
Nevertheless, for autocratic Russia under the Romanov dynasty, this was unprecedented reform. Even more striking were the additional reforms that continued until Alexander’s death—the so-called Great Reforms. They can be divided into the following five categories:
Local government reform: Since vast numbers of new citizens, the former serfs, now populated the countryside, a system of elected local governments, or zemstvos, arose to replace the old institutions of landlord rule. These assemblies, with separate seats for peasants, townspeople, and private landowners, were responsible for maintaining the local infrastructure and industrial development through taxation. The zemstvos built bridges, roads, hospitals, and prisons and provided essential services such as healthcare and poverty relief.
Education reform: With the Elementary School Statute of 1864, elementary schools, funded by local governments, sprang up across the country to solve the high illiteracy rate among former serfs. The 1863 University Statute reorganized colleges and universities into effective self-governing corporations, with considerable freedom for both faculty and students.
Judicial reform: The Judiciary Statute of 1864 overhauled the Russian court system based on the liberal principles of equality of all before the law, an independent judiciary, jury trial by propertied peers, public legal proceedings, and the establishment of an educated legal profession.
Military reform: The Universal Military Training Act of 1874 established all-class conscription and called for technological improvement, elite reorganization, and new military schools.
Expression reform: Alexander’s Temporary Regulations of 1865 abandoned pre-censorship, or censorship of journals or groups before publication, in favor of punitive measures after the fact.
Results of Russian Reform
Despite these reforms, dissatisfied peasants, intellectuals, professionals, and even some liberal gentry still sought greater freedom through violent revolutionary movements that attempted to overthrow the Tsarist government. Widely labeled as populist movements aiming to give all Russian land back to the peasants, these groups used clandestine terrorism in the late 1870s to kill Alexander II, finally succeeding on March 1, 1881. With his death, an era of modest reform in Russia was over.
Regardless of Alexander II’s true feelings, he set out to reform Russian society along somewhat liberal lines. Still the most conservative country in Europe, Russia was only slightly different than before, and it became apparent that these changes were too little, too late. Their greatest achievement was, ironically, the radicalization of liberal Russian reformers—mostly professionals, intellectuals, and students—who were frustrated with the slow, limited change. This resentment would eventually boil over into outright revolution at the beginning of the 20th century.
