To what extent did Alexander II's reforms cause more problems than they solved?

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To what extent did Alexander II’s reforms cause more problems than they solved?

        When Alexander II came to throne in 1956 Russia just emerged as the defeated power from the Crimean War. The country was falling behind its European competitors who were in the beginning of the Industrial Age. Alexander II had a difficult task to do: to reform the whole Russia towards a modernised country and risk his authority or to wait behind -as his father did- and risk both his authority and Russia’s influence in the international affairs. It is easy to see that whatever way he would go, he would risk further problems. The question is whether he managed to outweigh in numbers and difficulty the ones that arose by solving the old ones.

        The first reform of Alexander II was the relaxation of censorship. He freed the Russian press by 1858, allowing the Russians to read about more liberal views. However, after the assassination attempt on the Tsar in 1866, censorship was re-introduced once again - even though it wasn’t as restrictive as it had been under Nicholas I.

        In the beginning, this exposed conservatives to arguments for a more liberal form of emancipation, and many nobles - who were formerly against the freedom of the serfs - began to see the need for a change. This meant that the Tsar had less opposition from the gentry. Also, Alexander II was able think about the solutions presented in the press that could have helped him in making the right decision. This action can also be considered to have improved Russia’s image in the West, as it increased the human rights of the Russians.

        However, this seemingly positive (initial) reform encouraged the rise of hostility towards the Tsar right from the beginning as Russia experienced a growth of liberalism among the educated, who began questioning the Tsar‘s authority. The new ideas spread by the press fuelled the expectations of the Russians, especially of the peasants, who wanted complete freedom and to own the land that they work on. However, as Alexander II wasn’t prepared to give in completely to the people’s wishes, many Russians became frustrated and upset with the Tsar. This gave rise to radical groups, and when censorship was re-introduced it fuelled even more people’s aggression towards authority.

        Probably the most important reform of Alexander II was the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. The peasants were given personal freedom, but until the landlord agreed to begin the process of transferring any land the serfs remained ‘temporarily obliged’. Also, the peasants had to pay for the transferred land via redemption payments to the state for 49 years, but overall they lost 20-40% as ‘cut-offs‘. The state gave lords 80% of value lost land in interest bearing bonds, and collected repayment from the Mir. The Mir collectively owned peasant land and was responsible for: collecting redemption payments, taxation, recruitment and order.

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        Overall Alexander II managed to go through this revolutionary transition without upsetting the nobles too much, who were actually advantaged economically by this reform. Moreover the Tsar was now able to reform other critical parts of the system, such as the army, finance and education, which without the emancipation of the serfs couldn’t have been possible. In other words, it opened the door to the modernisation of the country. And just as with the freedom of the press, the reform improved Russia’s image in the world.

        Unfortunately, the emancipation caused at least as many problems as it solved. This is ...

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