History of Russia: Alexander II

Considered the most attractive figure in the Romanov dynasty. Son of a Prussian princess, he had in him more Hohenzollern than Romanov traits, and found it hard to adopt the Russian way of life.

1. THE AGE OF ALEXANDER II
(1855-1881)
Prepared by:
John Carlo Castillo-Cabalit
AB History Student
National Youth Commission
& Pilipinas Natin Volunteer
Office of the President

2. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS

3. (born April 29, 1818, Moscow, Russia died March 13,
1881, St. Petersburg) Tsar of Russia (185581). He
succeeded to the throne at the height of the Crimean
War, which revealed Russia's backwardness on the
world stage. In response, he undertook drastic reform,
improving communications, government, and education,
and most importantly, emancipating the serfs (1861). His
reforms reduced class privilege and fostered
humanitarian progress and economic development.
Though sometimes described as a liberal, Alexander was
in reality a firm upholder of autocratic principles, and an
assassination attempt in 1866 strengthened his
commitment to conservatism. A period of repression
after 1866 led to a resurgence of revolutionary terrorism,
and in 1881 he was killed in a plot sponsored by the
terrorist organization People's Will.

4. ALEXANDER II
He succeeded at a bankrupt regime.
Considered the most attractive figure in the
Romanov dynasty. Son of a Prussian princess,
he had in him more Hohenzollern than
Romanov traits, and found it hard to adopt the
Russian way of life.
He was by nature soft and tractable, but even so
he was no weakling. He had also the ability to
resist external influences.
Ruthlessness, cruelty and willfulness were alien
to his nature. He was a good man.

5. On his accession to the throne it was clear to him that the
state, tottering and exhausted as it was, would need
thorough overhaul and reform if he and the dynasty were
to survive. He kept an open mind regarding the reforming
movements. But he wanted reform to be initiated from
traditional seat of authority, to come from above and be
offered to the people as a gift.
After Sevastopol fell, the regions south of the Danube
which Russia had acquired earlier were given up. The
black sea neutralized. Russia was not permitted to
maintain a fleet there nor erect fortifications. The straits
were closed to warships of all nations. Russia had to
surrender the protectorate it claimed over Balkan
Christians, who were now placed under the protectorate of
all the great powers. Russia’s activities were severely
circumscribed.

6.  The ending of the Crimean war cleared the way for the
age of Reforms. The reforms carried out under Alexander
made a far deeper impression on Russia than did the
process of Westernization under Peter the Great and
Catherine II. The age of Reform struck at the very heart of
the established order. It altered the whole social structure
and re-shaped the political system on Western lines. Both
Alexander himself and the more intelligent of his advisers
were aware of the possibility of revolution. He se out the
combat of threat of revolution by reforms which he
himself initiated.
Considering its fear of revolution, its is not surprising that
the government mistrusted this forces—liberalism. But
after 1855, they were allowed to develop somewhat more
freely. This could be seen in journalism, in literature and
in the first stirrings of political parties.

7. On the other hand, it is striking how quickly the liberal
government became radical. These were circumstances in
which a widespread radical and revolutionary oppositions
came to a head, of which a N.G. Chernyshevskly (1828-
89), a man of radical and vaguely socialist views was the
leader. Associated with him were Dobrolyubov (1836-81)
and Pisarev (1840-1908) who were persecuted by the
government and honoured as martyrs by their supporters.
A Sportsman’s Sketches- describe the miserable conditions of
the peasants.
Oblomov- (I.A. Goncharov) portrays the true Russian in
contrast to Westernalized Russian of German extraction.
Who can be happy and free Russia?- (N.A. Nekrassov) a
poetry
The House of the Dead and Crime and Punishment-
Dostoyevsky

8. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
THE DETERMINED REFORMER
 Undertook program of vast & far-reaching
reform (most significant = emancipation)
 Crimean War pointed out weaknesses,
inferiority, & backwardness of Russia
 Determined to ensure greatness of Russia
 But never went too far with liberalism &
consistently upheld autocracy

9. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
THE BIG ISSUE: SERFDOM
 Motivations for abolition:
 Contributed to military
backwardness
 Economically inefficient
 Fear of revolt from below
 Morally wrong
 Tsar said so

10. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
THE BIG ISSUE: SERFDOM
 Process of emancipation:
 Creation of SECRET
COMMITTEE
• Made up of large
landholders
• No consensus about
land redistribution
 Secret Committee made
MAIN COMMITTEE
 Finally agree on terms,
approved by Tsar in 1861

11. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
THE BIG ISSUE: SERFDOM
 Emancipation Settlement:
 Freed serfs from bondage
 But had to buy land
• Govt. would loan money
• Redemption payment plan
over 49 years at 6% interest
 Land given to obshchina
 State peasants also freed

12. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
THE BIG ISSUE: SERFDOM
 Reactions:
 Nobles sullen over loss of
income
 Intelligentsia wanted more
for peasants
 Peasants dazed & confused
• insufficient land for
survival

13. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
THE BIG ISSUE: SERFDOM
 Emancipation?
 Peasants bound to
commune
 Commune perpetuated
backwardness & inefficiency
 Peasants not given legal or
political rights
 Did not lead to serious
improvement of lives

14. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
OTHER REFORMS
 Administrative reforms
 ZEMSTVO system (1864)
• Attempt to make local
govt. more effective
• Engaged in civic projects
• Gave nobles bigger say in
local govt.
• But had many problems
 Commune perpetuated
backwardness & inefficiency

15. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
OTHER REFORMS
 Administrative reforms
 Village commune govt.
• Controlled lives of
peasants
 Town govt.
• Ensured law & order in
villages

16. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
OTHER REFORMS
 Judicial reforms (1864)
 Clean up of legal system
 Established equality before
law (except for peasants)
 Judiciary made separate
branch of govt.
 Made system equal to most
advanced Western systems

17. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
OTHER REFORMS
 Military reforms (1874)
 Object = create better
trained, more effective, social
just army
• Changed terms &
conditions of service
• Introduced education into
army

18. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
OTHER REFORMS
 Economic reforms
 Creates state treasury &
state bank
 Educational reforms
 Allows students to go
abroad
 Some higher ed. for women
 Reduces censorship in law
 But remains in practice

19. ALEXANDER II & THE GREAT REFORMS
ASSESSMENTS
 Reforms did help transform Russia
 Sweeping social, economic, legal
change
 Russia moves further toward
modernization
 Led to pressure for more reform
 But Alexander would only go so far
 Much opposition to reform

20. In the second half of his reign, reactionary tendencies
had not got the upper hand. From then until 1905 there
was a return to a rigid conservative absolutism which
was hostile to all reform. Despite the concessions
which had been wrung from them, the Tsar himself,
the aristocracy and the bureaucracy were determined
to maintain their position, and in this way they were
successful.
From the middle of the 60s, reaction was again in the
saddle. The reforms could not be undone; Russia after
the 1865, was and remained completely different from
the Russia of Nicholas I. but their effects were greatly
weakened and the hope of further harmonious
development was dashed.

21. Alexander II was no advocate of aggression and
expansion. He wanted peace and indeed he kept it for a
considerable period.
Under Alexander II, territorial expansion greatly
increased Russia’s power in Asia, and from the
beginning of the 70s there was increasing tension with
England. The two countries, however, avoided coming
blows. Russia’s colonial possessions in Asia were
rounded off without war, and they became the most
tightly knit colonial empire in the world.
Not that is was bought by Alexander II was personally
responsible for this; it was bought about, rather by the
impetus of commercial and industrial capitalism, which
began to press markets, new sources of raw materials
and a field from which other powers were excluded.

22. There were two main phases of Russian expansion in Asia.
The completion of the conquest
And the pacification of the Caucasus, from Black Sea(1859)
to the Caspian (1864); the other was marked by the Far
Eastern treaties (1858 and 1860), by which Russia acquired
the regions of the Amur and Ussuri. It absorbed the who of
Siberia and reached there Pacific ocean.
It was a movement of world wide importance. It meant the
extension of European influence in Asia.
In the context of international politics, it increased the danger
of a clash that Russia and England were brought into close
contact in Asia, resulting in a rivalry which was for decades
one of the focal points of the international tension during the
reign of Alexander II.

23. Alexander II only desired was to maintain the “League of the three
Emperors” with Germany and Austria established in 1872. but the
growth of nationalism and pan-Slavism drove him against his will
into a new conflict with Turkey (April 1877).
In January 1878, Russian troops advanced across Balkans and laid
siege to Andrianople. Russian forces had never before penetrated so
far. Constantinople and the Dardanelles lay close at hand. But at
this point England and Austria intervened with a threat of war and
Russia exhausted and distracted by troubles at home, was forced to
give way.
Alexander II had also to struggle with an internal situation which
becoming more and more critical. The failure to follow through his
early reforms, increasing the power of the opposition, and he
exhaustion brought about by war, all contributed. On the other
hand, aggressive nationalism drove him into a dangerous war. The
opposition was to become increasingly radical, revolutionary and
terroristic.

24. For the time being, the peaceful populist movement—
the so—called narodnichestvo—was in the ascendant.
But it failed. This failure provided the incentive for
another party which wanted revolution, and sought to
bring it about assassination and terror. This movement,
Zemlya I Volya or ‘ land and Freedom’ , sought to bring
about revolution by propaganda. It regarded
assassination as one form of this propaganda.
Revolutionaries split into 2 groups:
Black Partition (Cherny Peredel)-with a programme of
somewhat ill defined agrarian socialism.
People’s Will (Narodnaya Volya)- which convinced of the
impossibility of a mass uprising, relied entirely on the
elimination of leading personality by assassination.
In the end, its activities were directed exclusively
against the Tsar on whom the executive committee of
the Narodnaya Volya passed sentence of death.

25. The last decade of Alexander II’s reign saw Marxism make
it first inroads into Russia. If Alexander II did not attain the
same level of personal greatness as Peter I and Catherine II,
the years covered by his reign had more profound effects
than theirs on the course of his country’s development.
In the midst of these changes, and the unrest arising from
the revolutionary movement, Alexander once again made a
genuine attempt at reform. On March 13 1881, Alexander
sign a decree which seemed to point the way to a
constitutional system by associating elected representatives
with the business of legislation.
On the same day he was assassinated. The assassination did
not lead into revolution. And thus the political and social
order stood firm.

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