...Intro: The Russian peasantry had long been oppressed under the title of serf. Being at the bottom of the social ladder, they had marginal rights and privileges under their oppressive landlords. However, as the rest of industrial Europe sped forward, Russia fell behind. From 1861 to 1866, the government began to emancipate these serfs, in hopes of creating an entrepreneurial class to industrialize and regain their former glory. Even so, the various classes perceived this momentous change for the peasants differently. The peasants thought the recent changes were not enough, and wanted more, while the upper class believed that the reforms were doing more damage than assistance, and each side proposed solutions that tried to compromise each opinion. 1st Paragraph: The peasants believed that the recent reforms in their favor were not enough, and wanted more. * Document 1 * Data shows how activities in Russia affected rebellions * During and after 1861 (when Alex II freed the serfs), the rebellions decrease * From 1891 (start of famines) to 1907 (which contained Russo-Japanese war and Bloody Sunday), rebellion drastically increases * Although serfs were emancipated and human bondage was abolished, the peasants wanted more and weren’t afraid to take action during hard times for Russia * Document 2 * Peasants communicating to Tsar Alex II * Blaming land owners for giving peasants the worst land, and standing by as the peasants starve ...
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...The emancipation of the serfs serves as a large part towards liberalist changes throughout Russia in t he 19th century. The beginning step towards a liberalized society, there were many reasons behind the emancipation and the progression of Russia, largely among these is war. The loss of the Russo Japanese war was a considerable loss for Russia, a country typically seen as powerful. The loss of the war challenged the old Russia, therefor change had to occur. The loss of the war demonstrated how far behind Russia was in comparison to the rest of Europe. As most war supplies came from the work of the Serfs, it made sense to free them and further increase the effectiveness of Russia’s army. Soldiers were allocated to suppress protesting Serfs,...
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...Alexander II was pronounced Tsar in 1855 after his father died. On his Nicholas I death bed he said the following to his son: “I hand over to you my command, unfortunately not as in good order as I would have wished” Although Alexander II was not a natural reformer he had recognised the need to reform. He was certainly more receptive to new ideas and understood the need for change. The need for reform was evident a long time before Alexander II became Tsar of Russia. Alexander II believed that part of his responsibility involved developing and improving the power and prestige of Russia. This was done to restore the country’s dignity and assisting Russia to become a leading power of Europe. Furthermore Alexander II knows that any reforms he made had to modernise and strengthen Russia as well as maintain autocracy. Alexander II embarked on the reform programme for the following reasons: * Russia was at a crossroads. * It had suffered defeat in the Crimean War. * There had been peasant unrest caused by his father’s decision to recruit a militia in January 1855. * The Crimean war had caused the government a large financial problem. This resulted in a debt burden of one billion roubles. The defeat in the Crimean War concentrated the minds of Alexander II and his advisors. This defeat also discredited the entire regime and forced Alexander II to acknowledge that there were military deficiencies that were a deeper refection of the problem faced within Russian...
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... historians began to identify their excellence in economy, wealth, and prosperity throughout this era. With their vast migration of slaves from one part of the world to another, the beginning of a new culture was created. Under their free-will, Africans were widely spread out through the western hemisphere of the world. With the Mongols in power, peasants in Russia were considered as free farmers that had legal positions that were high than serfs in the Medieval era. But, it all changed once the peasants soon gained debt after the fall of the Tatar, thus leaving them no choice but to accept a submissive status under the lords ruling. The beginning of the serfdom class was than created as a way to formally help the peasants with their large debt to the government. An individual can find themself comparing and contrasting the different forms of slavery throughout the world due to the many forms of slavery that were being continued during this time of history. Russia in itself also had a different form of slavery which became known as Serfs; Russian Serfdom. Although Russian Serfdom and Caribbean slavery both became popular during this time period, they still had...
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...Alexander was shown to be a keen reformer and managed to effectively tackle these problems, with his emancipation of the serfs, followed by his overseeing of successful economic and military reforms. Arguably the greatest problem that faced Russia in 1855 was the outdated and feudal – like system of serfdom which lagged far behind the social infrastructures of other major European nations. This system, in which over 23 million serfs were forced to work for their food and keep under private landowners, Nobles, and the state, was both economically inefficient (as Russia required a free labour force for industry and internal markets to grow) and attracted rising opposition to the Tsarist autocratic rule. For these reasons, Alexander decided to emancipate the serfs in an attempt to quell unrest and bring Russia “up to date”, famously stating: “It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to await the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below”. This shows that Alexander II saw the threat of grievances among the serfs with the ruling administration and wished to protect his own position from threatening opposition. This desire for self-preservation limited the success of the serfdom reform, as Alexander’s “Emancipation of the Serfs” sought to maintain the favour of the wealthy private land owners and Nobles, and so failed to fully appease the serfs, with millions burdened with a crippling redemption tax through buying land from landlords, as well as the cost of holdings...
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...Alexander II emancipated the serfs in 1861 to improve Russia’s military performance. Discuss There are many different reasons why Alexander emancipated the serfs. Such as moral, economic, social-political and military. Alexander II comes to power in 1855, in 1856 he loses the Crimean war, because of this he decides to create reforms and investigations are made. The main reason Alexander emancipates the serfs is because he is trying to secure his reign against any opponents he may occur. By emancipating the serfs he thinks that this will gain him popularity and support. Economic reasons on why the Tsar emancipated the serfs was that there was a very unproductive labour force as people didn’t want to work hard if they didn’t get anything out of it. The majority of Russia relied on agriculture for a stable economy. Alexander thought that if the serfs worked for themselves then they would produce more harvest and therefore the economy would benefit not just the common serf. This also meant that if the common serf is benefitting then they would be much healthier and much more willing and effective when it came to their military role. Russia had a very small tax base and a high reliance on foreign imports, which meant that if he emancipated the serfs then maybe that might diversify the Russian economy and give it a strong domestic industrial sector based on private property. With Britain and France booming with the industrial revolution, Russia was still agriculture so alexander...
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...return for certain legal or customary rights. He wanted to abolish it but did not because he feared the aristocracy and believed they might turn against him if he abolished serfdom. When Alexander II came to power, he completely abolished serfdom granting freedom to 12 million serfs and land to peasant communes. In 1864 most local government in the European part of Russia was organized into provincial and district zemstva. Zemstvo was a form of local government which were made up of representatives for each district that were responsible for local schools, public health, roads, prisons, and food supply. The district zemstvos elected executive committees and delegates to the provincial assemblies. Resources were scarce due to the defeat in the Crimean war. There were insufficient rail lines in the railway system and the production rate of weapons and machinery decreased by a lot. The standard of living in Russia was very bad. There were millions and millions of serfs and a lot were very poor. Almost 50% of Russia was made up of serfs until Alexander II issued the Emancipation reform of 1861. This made serfs free from their landlords. Surprisingly, this reform wasn’t too beneficial for the landlords or the serfs. They gained their freedom but the landowners got the decision to decide which part of land they would give up and they...
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...The article, “Drawing the Color Line,” claims that slavery in AMerica was a result of a historical force, and not nature. This historical force included various factors: colonist’s starvation, jealousy of the Indian’s success, need to feel superior, the African’s displacement, profit from plantations, and the separation of serfs and slaves. Early on, colonists went through the “starvation time”(Zinn 1) where many died, and after that winter they still struggled to harvest enough food to survive as they needed a larger work force. They could not use Indians because they were too defiant and they better understood the land, so they turned to African slaves who were removed from their homeland, and people. “ The blacks had been torn from their land and culture, forced into a situation where the heritage of language, dress, custom, and family relations was bit by bit obliterated except for the remnants that blacks could hold on to by sheer, extraordinary persistence.”(Zinn 2) Colonists could better control a group of lone slaves than a tribe of Indians....
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...leading to the introduction of the Zemstva in 1864 could be seen to be of a significant extent. This is due to the fact that the Crimean War (1853-56) in which Russia had lost had had a major impact as it meant that Russia had now lost its international prestige, it showed the Russians some of the weaknesses of their political and economic organisation and were now made aware of the gulf between itself and the rest of Europe as it saw the contrast between its own life and of the Russian people. This is shown by the serfs in who fought badly in the war due to not being trained properly so as a result of this the Russian Army had no efficiency hence losing their superiority over the French and English Armies. Military advisers warned Alexander that reform of the army was impossible whilst serfdom survived. The Russians were also behind in terms of communications as they had no railways to supply machinery and troops and their technology was lagging behind their enemies. The serfs were also unwilling to fight and were conscripted therefore the loyalty to the Tsar had now become compromised and their attitude towards him was now more critical. This shows the war being the most significant factor to a significant extent as...
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...implement a successful reform. During the mid nineteenth century, the implications of Russia losing the Crimean War were that Russia lacks mobility and technology. The loss of the war was a great shock to the system. It also was a window for the rest of the European powers to look and see how Russia’s influence was losing traction. At the time the disillusioned Tsar, Nicholas I, believed that “Russia’s greatness was founded on its Military forces”.1 After losing the Crimean War, it became obvious to Russia, and the rest of the world, that in order for Russia to keep growing and maintaining power, reform had to occur. After Nicholas I came Alexander II’s reign. Alexander II looked for change in Russia, and his first plan was to liberate the serfs. Peasants in Russia have always been the majority of the population. Getting rid of serfdom was seen as a call for revolution from above. There were many unanswered questions in the preliminary years of Alexander II’s reign, and Oblomov was David G. Rowley, Exploring Russia’s Past: Narrative, Sources, Images: Volume I to 1865 (Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2006) 222. 1 Winkley 2 one response...
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...materialized during Alexander II’s wearing of the crown. First notion to mimic western cultures first came to pass during Peter the Great reign. Already established as a great land empire, Peter I did not changed ruling policies of past emperors. He did add changes in economy and culture by benchmarking western innovations. Peter’s first major change was in his military structure. Peter recruited bureaucrats from outside of the aristocracy. This led to the creation of his secret police force which kept the aristocracy in check. Peter the Great also created the Imperial navy; the council of nobles was disbanded and replaced by provincial governors that Peter was able to control. The tax system was reformed to place more burdens on the serfs. Serfs began to work in the manufacturing industries and operations. Peter decreed that nobles had to have shave beards and dress in western style. Finally, Peter attempted to invest in his countries future by promoting mathematics and technical subjects. After Catherine the Great took control, she centralized government authority by using the Pugachev peasant rebellion. Although she was...
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...A Plea for Change Being a man of honor is an interesting thing. For nearly 30 years I have been a loyal servant to the throne. I am the second son to my father, Zhang Xiajie, Zhang Fu. My father was a teacher that was diligent and through generosity and good fortune able to amass a respectable sized property. I now own that property and make my living as a farmer and manager of land. As a young man, my father always taught me to follow a righteous path. In order to stay on this path, I was urged to maintain a standard of activity that is moral, legal, and ethical in all ways. To this end your highness; I have lived my life in every way that would bring honor to my family and glory to the empire. Now that I am a father, I intend to train my children up in the same way. The land that I currently hold is prosperous. The grain is easily harvested; the vegetables grow large and full. Our livestock never grows hungry and as a result we are content. Each morning I arise with my five sons and we work the land with the hired laborers. We do manage the property, however, we are not afraid to plow and sow as any man can. I have what can be considered quality tenants that are hard workers and are willing to help support and protect the estate. There is however a man in the region who is growing in both power and influence (surely you are well aware that his prowess could never grow to the level of yours). While neither he nor his men have directly attacked my land or my family, his devious...
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...would give land to serfs. Land was limited so it was very valuable, especially when it was well located. As a result, the higher class and wealthy people were landowners. Owning land was the key to obtaining power. The arable land was used to produce food, clothing, provide shelter, and crops for domestic trade and exports. Also, crops were harvested and minerals were mined from beneath them. Serfs would provide the labor in exchange for protection and loyalty from lords. The feudal system introduced a social hierarchy. First, the lower class included peasants and serfs. They made up a majority of the population, in fact, "About 90 percent of men and women fell into this group" (Abbott). Next, he middle class consisted of knights. "Knight's tenure traded military service for land rights" (Cosman, Jones). Of...
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...more convincing interpretation of the main contributors to Russia’s economic modernisation?’ Firstly, Extract A provides the interpretation that the emancipation of the serfs was the primary contributor Russia’s economic modernisation. This is evident when Falkus states ‘the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 removed a considerable barrier to industrial growth’. The extract states this as it goes on to say ‘serfdom was clearly incompatible with the requirements of an industrialising society’. This is supported by the facts that before emancipation, serfs were not allowed to leave their land and had to work for their Mir. Largely uneducated, there was no sense of prosperity within the serf’s population thus industrial modernisation could not occur. However, after emancipation, serfs were allowed to leave their land and go to prosperous environments such as cities (Moscow and St Petersburg), therefore industrialisation could thrive as now serfs believe there is opportunity for their lives to improve and not stay stagnant. On the other hand, although serfs could move from their land, redemption payments had to be paid. Thus any money earned from moving to cities and working in factories were largely deducted via these payments. This would imply that there was in fact no prosperous attitude as the emancipated serfs were just working to pay off debts and not to move up the classes. In Extract B, Bradley Woodworth provides the interpretation that Russia’s economic modernisation is...
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