Despite his apparently liberal policies, Alexander II was just as conservative as Alexander III. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

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“Despite his apparently liberal policies, Alexander II was just as conservative as Alexander III.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Alexander II and Alexander III had very different approaches in the way they ruled Russia. Alexander II attempted to put a number of reforms in place, some of which were very successful. His ruling style highly contrasted that of Alexander III who was very repressive. I would therefore argue that Alexander II was much less conservative than his son, Alexander III, and that he was therefore a fairly liberal leader.

On of Alexander II’s major reforms was that of the serf emancipation. This reform sought to free the peasants in Russia in order to improve the economy through the hypothetical improvement in farming, to end peasant revolts and most importantly, to create an efficient and effective army after the humiliating defeat in the Crimean War. At the time it was seen to be hugely reformist because in theory it gave the serfs freedom. Alexander II was thus seen to be highly liberal as a consequence. However, it could be argued that this was a very conservative movement because of its lack of success. The redemption taxes made it very difficult for peasants to leave their land and they received too little for their farming to be successful. These consequences mean that this particular aspect of Alexander II’s rule was highly conservative like the counter reforms put in place by his son. This is because the emancipation made it very difficult for any change to occur because the peasants were still effectively owned, just by different people due to the huge redemption taxes which prevented movement throughout Germany, and did not have the facilities to be able to create a surplus of crop to improve the German economy. It can therefore be argued that although the emancipation of the serfs was supposedly reformist, it was actually one of Alexander II’s most conservative policies although this was not necessarily his intention.

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After the first attempt on Alexander II’s life, he chose to return to a more conservative government that put in place a policy of repression that opposed many of his previous reforms, particularly those in education. For example, he eliminated subjects such as History which encouraged people to think for themselves, in fear of another attempt on his life being made. He did this because his Education Minister blamed the western education children were receiving for spread of revolutionary ideas, These new policies paved the way for Alexander III’s educational counter-reforms and it could therefore be said based on this ...

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