Why did Alexander emancipate the serfs in 1861?

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Why did Alexander emancipate the serfs in 1861?

The emancipation of the serfs was a result mainly due to the changing attitudes towards liberalism in Russia during the reign of Alexander II, along with the realisation that the economic needs of the country and serfdom were incompatible. This change was motivated by the constant fear that without reform the autocratic state would collapse from below. The defeat in the Crimean War also became a major cause for change, as defeat “laid bare Russia’s weakness, so well conceived reforms were set in train and permitted the birth of politics”.

Although Alexander came into power at a noticeably difficult time, his new reign opened up a new hope. Many were optimistic about the new power in Russia. Alexander’s decision to liberate the serfs, whom many saw as a move towards western liberalism, originated from his childhood tutor Zhukovsky, whose teachings were said to have “exercised a liberal influence” over Alexander. Zhukovsky played a vital role in influencing Alexander’s decisions regarding the state. This came as a result of his tutors’ influence and the education he had been given as a child.

The ideas of liberalism spread quickly through Russia during the mid-19th century led to the creation of groups such as the Decembrists. Alexander had many liberal friends, several of whom where supporters of these western liberal ideals. His connections in and around the Decembrists meant that he had a clear and precise understanding of their situation and knew exactly what it was they were protesting about. Koshelyova, and influential landowner, told Alexander that “The abolition of the right to dispose of people like objects or like cattle is as much our revolution as theirs”. The influence of these friends must have played a vital role in Alexander’s views on emancipation, which, combined with Zhukovsky’s teaching, must have inclined him in favour of emancipation.

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Even though Alexander was a sympathiser towards the condition of the serfs, he strongly believed in maintaining the autocratic system at all costs. His famous statement “it would therefore be better if the transformation took place from above rather, than from below” shows that Alexander knew serfdom posed a threat to his regime and feared a revolution. Instead of emancipating from the position of “tsar liberator”, he did it from the decisively conservative stance, not wanting anything to interfere with or even overthrow the autocracy, or jeopardise his position and the divine rights of the tsar. This was a political ruse ...

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