Why did Alexander emancipate the serfs in 1861?

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 which allowed the liberal idea of emancipation to happen, while still keeping with the conservative ideals a tsar should have.

A revolution would have meant giving up the tsar’s autonomous control of the country, which was not something Alexander was prepared to do. He often toured Russia, and his education as a child had taught him how conditions were like for the serfs and was prepared to do anything to appease the masses to avoid revolution.

        By the 1860’s it was apparent to many that the autocratic state of ruling, and the current social system of employing serfs as slave labour, was creating a stagnant economy. A plausible reason that Alexander emancipated the serfs was to modernise Russia, and once again make it a world power. “Raising the productivity of the Russian economy was one of the main motives for embarking on the emancipation of the serfs.” The absence of free labour was hindering the development of industry and agriculture. Serfdom was therefore seen as a force of instability, and so by emancipating the serfs Alexander would be seen as improving public order.

        Soon after the emancipation decree came into effect in 1861, Alexander introduced several more reforms that were seen as liberal, which put the emancipation into a seemingly liberal context. The reforms introduced tried to revolutionise the economic system of Russia. Russia’s backward economic system was something Alexander knew he had to change, and this would need reform: “Russia was undeniably economically backward in comparison with every other great power”. However he wanted to modernise without losing his autonomous position, and therefore knew he had to handle emancipation with care and balance.

        In contrast to Alexander’s’ supposed liberal views, the economic revolution brought on by these reforms strengthened the autocratic system, making them fundamentally conservative. This suggests that Alexander never really planned to change anything to any reforming extent, but just wanted to appease all members of society, and at the same time, keep his position of power.

        This could be a possible reason as to why Alexander emancipated the serfs, he had realised that the serf system had outlived its effectiveness in society, and wanted to prevent any further changes which could arise if left ignored. Alexander felt that “any further delay could be disastrous to the state”. A revolution, Alexander feared, would almost certainly collect support and collectively have the power to remove the autocracy.

        Alexander came to the realisation that Russia’s economic system, if it was to be modernised as it needed to be to catch up with the rest of Europe, would not be compatible with serfdom. However he wanted to avoid any other major changes across the country to do with his autocratic rule or the state of the nobility, things which all would have been jeopardised by continuing the system of serfdom, as a revolution would have been inevitable.

        Alexander knew that the possibility of a revolution was real, and needed to be challenged. Liberalism within Russia was at its peak during Alexander’s reign, with censorship regulations lifted considerably. Nicholas I also had spoken about emancipating the serfs some years earlier. It had been proposed for a while, so the fact that Alexander emancipated the serfs can be seen as a political necessity.

        Another angle to look at would be why emancipation came in 1861 and not earlier. Nicholas I said that although “there is no question that serfdom in its present state in our country is an evil….to attack it now would be, of course, an even more disastrous evil”. The main factors for the delayed emancipation decree are a fear of change, along with the vested interest of the nobility, and the attitude of the peasants. Any real change would have involved loss of land for the nobility. It appeared that the serfs “had little stake in society and therefore acted as a block to progress on many fronts” .

        In conclusion, the reason Alexander emancipated the serfs in 1861 was due to a mixture of the increasing liberalism in Russia rising to its peak, the defeat in the Crimean war, the need for economic reform, and the fear of revolution. The main reason that it didn’t happen earlier was due to an overwhelming fear of change. It can also be concluded that despite his liberal influences, emancipation in the final analysis was a conservative act on Alexander’s part.