Alexander II - reforms

1
Alexander II - reforms

• 1855 - 1871

2
Defeat in Crimean war

• Defeat proved Russia was backward and had to
  change
• Treaty of Paris Black sea closed to
  
• Russian navy
• - land lost to
  the West of
• Black sea
• - the
  Straights closed to
• warships

3
Emancipation of the serfs

• Peasants became free with small amounts of land
• Nobles received 80 compensation from state and
  kept most land
• Peasants had to pay for freedom
• All land administered by the MIR
• MIR controlled peasants

4
emancipation

• Peasants not pleased
• Still under landlords control
• Alexander lost the opportunity to win the support
  of the peasants

5
Other reforms

• Aim keep control of Russia by making some
  changes

6
Reforms

• District government ZEMSTVA councils
• 1870 town councils set up
• Law courts reformed
• 1874 army reformed
• Education
• Censorship relaxed
• National minorities some relaxation

7
Power still lay in the hands of the Tsar

• ..and he could change his mind!

8
Alexander II stops reforms

• 1866 assassination attempt
• Feels no more need for reform
• Stops reforms

9
Alexander II later in the reign

• He became more interested in Pan Slavism
  especially helping Bulgaria
• Russian expansion in Asia towards India and the
  Pacific coast
• Becomes worried about the threat from
  revolutionaries uses the Okhrana

10
The growth of discontent

• Reforms left people wanting for more! The new
  openness aroused expectations that the Tsar would
  not satisfy.
• It made people criticise the autocracy
• Growth of opposition groups students and
  intellectuals eg Karakosov!

11
Alexander assassinated 1881
12
Alexander III - reaction

• Reforms reversed
• Russification
• Slavism was more popular keep the autocracy
  strong!