Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Alexander IIs reforms.

by sarahvdpost (student)

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Alexander II’s reforms[a].

Alexander II made reforms from early 1855 to the 1860’s in aim of maintaining Russian power, yet each proved to be either beneficial or detrimental, with their own individual strengths and weaknesses. Previous to Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War (1854-1856), Russia was the leading power in Europe. When Tsar Alexander II came to the throne in 1855 as Russia was being defeated, he recognised the need for change in the Russian society based on serfdom, and resistant to economic, social and political change. He was afraid that if he did not reform, there would be a revolutionary change from below, destroying the centuries old institution of tsardom. Historian Hugh Seton-Watson wrote: “the reign of Alexander II, which began with bright promise, and changed to dreary stagnation, ended in tragedy,” which is a common, yet over simplified view of Alexander II’s reforms. The political, economic, educational and military reforms, and the emancipation of serfs each had strengths and weaknesses which together achieved Alexander’s original intentions, yet also reduced the power of the autocracy.

The emancipation of serfs was carefully thought out, taking three years to discuss, and taking several years to complete in stages. For the serfs, who were now peasants, there was a sense of confusion and resentment, as the reforms meant now paying for the land they farmed. The land redistribution was unequal, and sometimes peasants had less land to work than before, for example the 1.5 million serfs that received no land at all. By 1881 over 60% of peasants had less than the minimum amount of land needed to sustain life. The landlords were displeased with the loss of control over peasants. This lead to a rise in population in Russia with an increasing pressure on land, and productivity was slowing down greatly in comparison to the rest of Europe. However, there was some good out of the reform, as the initial peasant unrest died down within two years, increasing the country’s economic gain. In the long term this reform initiated further reforms between serf-noble relationships, and the conservative regime could be persuaded to make major reforms. Alexander II was also the first Tsar to attempt and solve the problems of peasantry and agricultural production. The emancipation of serfs was a weakness to Alexander’s reforms, as material wise it sent Russia backwards, but it did have some strengths within it, including the initiation of further reforms, short term and long term.

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Alexander made a few political reforms in his time of power, most of which were successful. For example his 1884 introduction to the judicial system which was a ‘rule of law’, giving many things including equality before the law, trial by jury and public reporting of trials. The reform was successful in the sense that corruption and delay were reduced. Also the zemstvo reform of 1864 provided for elective assemblies. The zemstvo provided an area of public service, and was highly successful given their limited resources and the government control over them .This allowed for the upkeep of roads, fire insurance, education and public health. It was a definite improvement on the inequitable procedures which it replaced, but the police still enjoyed their extensive powers of arrest and punishment. The censorship reforms of 1865, however were a weakness of Alexander’s reforms for the Russian people. Under the previous system every word of books, magazines and newspapers were censored, and changed accordingly. The censorship reforms eliminated the censorship of these books and most journals but editors and publishes were responsible for everything published, and subject to heavy fines and criminal penalties. Alexander wanted knowledge to advance, but he was suspicious of intellectuals and hence it could be thought of as self-censorship rather than precensorship. The judicial system and zemstvo introduction were detrimental to the autocracy of Alexander’s rule, as the people were given an increasingly liberated society.

Economic growth was a great aim of Alex’s, and Russia’s economy did grow in this period of reform so it was a success, however the reforms had many strengths and weaknesses within. A strength was Alex’s invitation of Foreign experts into Russia to advise the production, which meant that railway doubled and the prestigious Trans-Siberian Railway was started in 1891 and completed in 1904. By 1913 Russia had the 2nd largest railway in the world - being 62, 000 km. This stimulated demand for industrial goods. Another strength was his decision to put the Rouble on the Gold Standard in 1987, which established the currency and improved Russia’s reputation amongst the rest of Europe. Alex’s emancipation of serfs provided more people to work for the government (to earn money and give it to government) and the payments, taxes and redemption taxes were communally collected and paid, and no peasants were free to leave the commune without permission of the Mir. Because commune was in power to banish its wayward members to exile in Siberia there was pressure to pay taxes, and so Alex still had a good flow of income. These strengths however are also contrary to multiple weaknesses. Although Alexander grew the economy, growth was artificial and hard to sustain. It was based not upon the growth in demand for a product but on the internal market. Large Loans from abroad were negotiated to pay for government investment, and Alex paid these using indirect taxes on the peasants, making their already awful situation worse. High tariffs were imposed on foreign goods to protect Russian industry which affected grain prices and impacted the peasants yet again. Also, Russia was affected by the European economic slump of 1900-1903 and its growth was limited to heavy industry (iron, coal etc.) and he ignored the needs of agriculture (which was the base of Russia’s economy). Despite these few limitations, it is obvious that Alexander significantly developed Russia’s industries, so the strengths outweighed the weaknesses.

Alexander’s educational reforms were beneficial for Russia’s people, but not necessarily for Alexander himself. Prior to this reform only those who were rich and could afford would receive education, but Alexander changed this to allow primary education access to everyone. Between 1861 and 1881 the number of primary and secondary schools increased by four times, and was open to all genders, classes and religion. By the early 1880s about 14% of boys between 8 and 12 attended school. Universities were given the right to run their own affairs, faculties had the authority to control their administrations and scholarships were set up for a growing number of students. By 1881 there were 2, 000 women in university. Nicholas’s reforms were repealed and literacy increased among peasants and the lower classes of society. For Alexander, the increase in education and knowledge was dangerous, as people were introduced to new ways of thinking, and as new ideas spread, there was a beginning to the questioning of the adequacy of the Autocratic system Russia had in place. These educational reforms changed and freed a section of Russia, which helped to equalise the classes and allowed students to gather and express views without fear of being persecuted, so for the people was very beneficial.

The Military Service Reform of 1874 was introduced by Minister of War, Count Dmitry Milyutin, after Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War. The old system was replaced by conscription by lottery for all classes, and was compulsory for all males of age 20. Military districts were created across the country, and the Russian Army now had permanent barracks instead of dugouts and shacks, and the military education was improved and available to all draftees. Alexander made the necessary change to regain the power in Russia’s army. To prove the strength in this reform of Alexander’s, the new army performed well in the difficult conditions of the war against the Turks in 1877.

Unfortunately, although as this essay has discussed many of Alexander’s reforms were successful, they did not satisfy many Russians due to the growing opposition, and as Historian Geoffrey Hosking concluded, “the reforms of Alexander II went a long way towards erecting the framework for a civil society however, the government, realizing the danger in what it was doing, then held back.” The reforms were successful in achieving the growth of new ideas, and something ‘new’ that Russia had never experienced – knowledge and opposition that Alexander didn’t want.

[a]Too positive, do emancipation 1st paragraph, and acknowledge the overall negatives of his reforms.

IS Department