Political authority and attempts at reform

📌 Alexander II

The Emancipation of the Serfs – 1861

The moral case

• Members of the royal family dating from 1762 (Catherine the Great) considered serfdom to be morally and ethically wrong.
• Nicholas I also believed and admitted serfdom was 'an evil, palpable and obvious to all'
• Enlightened Nobles and liberal state officials had come to accept that it was wrong to own someone like a possession or an object
• The condition of peasants needed to be improved
• A radical intelligentsia was growing – they opposed serfdom

Alexander II

Risk of Revolt

• There had been serious peasant revolts in the past and disturbances were increasing (since the 1840s)
  • There was a significant spike in disturbances between 1857 and 1859
• Alexander believed it was better to abolish serfdom from the higher powers instead of waiting for it to abolish itself from below
• He had been unsettled by the 1848 revolutions in Europe
• The army was made up mainly of peasants, meaning it could be very difficult for the government to contain a major uprising
• The Tsar ordered weekly reports on the mood of the peasantry from December 1857
• However the main sources of data are unreliable Tsarist police records, therefore some historians believe the scale of peasant unrest had been exaggerated
• Some nobles feared major reform might provoke a revolt as the peasants may see it as a sign of weakness or might be disappointed by the reform

The Crimean War

• The Crimean War drew attention to the state of the army, which was comprised of mainly peasants (many were serfs)
• They were compulsorily enlisted for periods of up to 25 years, and at the end of that (if they survived) they were given freedom
• Military reformers believed Russia needed a smaller, better trained army with a reserve, like in other European countries
• This meant a shorter conscription sentence for peasants before being sent on to the reserve
• This would mean thousands of freed serfs with military training would be released back home
• Officials became convinced that military reform could only be carried out once serfdom was abolished
• There was also the question of how long serfs would remain loyal if their living conditions did not improve

Economic reasons

• If the Russian economy were to advance, many officials believed serfdom should be abolished
• Some officials accepted the argument that free labour was more productive than forced labour
• Furthermore, they believed forced labour impoverished the population and stopped domestic demand growth, which was essential for economic growth
• They believed a free labour market was needed, where peasants could move around to where they could be most productive in agriculture or industry Features and the impact of the emancipation on:

Former Serfs:

• Now legally free
• Could marry who they liked, travel, vote in local elections and trade freely
• Could not be sold or sent to other estates
• Only applied to privately owned serfs – state serfs would receive freedom in 1866
• They would have land to go with their freedom
• They were allowed to keep their houses and the land immediately around it but had to buy the other land they worked on at the time of the emancipation
• The Mir was responsible for the collection of redemption payments, their power was strengthened.

The Nobility:

• Would continue to play a role in policing
• They felt they had not been compensated for the loss of their rights over the serfs - They lost power, status, and influence
• Much of the money paid to the nobles went to pay off existing debts and mortgages
• Nobles who could not afford or did not want to make the adaptation to hired labour moved to towns and rented out their land, or went to live in the cities and became absentee landlords - Some sold up over the years

Features and the impact of the emancipation on:

The Nobility:

• Would continue to play a role in policing
• They felt they had not been compensated for the loss of their rights over the serfs - They lost power, status, and influence
• Much of the money paid to the nobles went to pay off existing debts and mortgages
• Nobles who could not afford or did not want to make the adaptation to hired labour moved to towns and rented out their land, or went to live in the cities and became absentee landlord and some sold up over the years
• From 1862 to 1905 their landholdings fell from 87 million to 50 million desyatiny (Russian measurement of land, equivalent to 2.7 acres)
• Some wanted gentry representatives to form a national commission to prevent bureaucrats riding roughshod over their interests again, and some wanted elected representatives from all over Russia Peasants (the former Serfs):

The Serfs:

• Most peasants as a result had to work for much of the year as hired labourers on the Noble's remaining land - They felt they had been cheated as they still didn't outright own the land and had to pay for it over 49 years- This caused deep resentment
• There were over 1,000 disturbances during 1861, one of which involved 10,000 peasants
• The army had to be brought in to restore order in over 30 estates
• This diminished quickly and most got on with the emancipation process
• However resentment did not diminish, and peasants remained a segregated class

Local Government reform – 1864

• Introduced self-governed councils at provincial and district levels
• Councils were to be elected by nobles, town dwellers and peasants
• Nobles made up 40% of district councils and 70% of Provincial councils (to make up for the losses they suffered due to the emancipation)
• Had general responsibilities for health, education, road & bridge maintenance, and local economic affairs - Had to raise small taxes for these improvements
• Elected for three years

Judicial reforms – 1864

• Established a new system of civil and criminal courts based on concepts of Western courts
• Provided justice at lower levels and courts were set up for more serious offences
• The system was simplified with fewer courts and each province had a court
• Judges were paid good salaries and could not be removed from office
• Civil and criminal courts were open to the public and the proceedings were reported
• Jury trials were introduced to more serious cases
• A system of Justices of the Peace was set up (elected by the district council)
• Where offences only concerned peasants, separate village courts were used

Military reforms – 1861 – 81

• Universal conscription was introduced
• All social classes were liable to sign up for the army at the age of 21
• This caused deep resentment amongst the nobility who did not want their children mixing with lower classes.
• The standard length of military service was decreased to 15 years – six in active service and nine in reserve -administration was reorganised into 25 districts
• Military colleges were established and promotion was made more open to other classes
• Broader education was provided
• Modern rifles and artillery were introduced but this was a slow process
• Reduction in the number of offences that required corporal punishment
• Flogging was abolished, and remaining soldiers were now housed in barracks

Education reforms – 1863 – 64

• During the first decade of Alexander's reign, the number of pupils doubled
• New primary schools were built and were open to all classes
• Between 1856 and 1878 the number of primary schools increased from 8000 to nearly 25000 with 1 million pupils in attendance
• Secondary schools also opened to all classes
• The curriculum was extended and now included a wider range of subjects
• Universities governed themselves
• Women could attend courses but not take degrees
• Enlightened, liberal-thinking professors were appointed
• Students were drawn from wider social groups

Censorship

• newspapers and books no longer had to submit to prior censorship
• newspapers could discuss government policy
• editors were given more freedom

📌 Alexander III

Alexander III of Russia

Counter Reforms

Emergency measures: 1881, Statute of State Security was passed

• Prohibited gatherings of more than 12 people
• Prosecuted any individual for political crimes
• Introduced emergency police rule where public order was threatened
• Set up special courts outside the legal system
• Allowed the government to close schools, universities, and newspapers
• The minister of the interior, provincial governors and police chiefs could do what they wanted
• These 'temporary' measures stayed in place until 1917
• Initiated a period of repression

Control

• 1881 Okhrana Secret Police established
• The decree of 1882 allowed police to declare any citizen subject to surveillance
• Minister of the Interior, Tolstoy, decided he wanted government-appointed officials to directly control peasant and village communes
• Members of the gentry were chosen as land captains or commandants to control rural areas
• These land captains could overrule district courts and were deeply resented by peasants
• Censorship was tightened even further
• Publications criticising the regime could be suspended
• Editors could be banned from publishing anything else

Education

• In 1884 University statute brought in strict controls on the universities
• Reduced their autonomy and student freedom
• Uni staff were appointed by the Minister of Education
• Uni courses for women were closed
• Church was given more control over primary education
• Fees in secondary schools raised to exclude students from lower classes - The percentage of children of nobles and officials rose considerably

Local Government

• 1890 Zemstva Act reduced independence of local governments and their control became more centralised
• Put under the Minister of Interior to provincial governors could amend their decisions
• Central gov interfered with local initiatives
• The system to elect members was changed in favour of landowners
• Peasant representation was reduced
• However, the Zemstva continued their improvement programme. This included building hospitals and roads
• They played a key role in alleviating the effects of the 1891-92 famine
• In 1892 the Municipal Government Act did the same to Municipal councils
• The number of eligible voters was reduced drastically, favoured richer property owners, E.g. in Moscow and St Petersburg only 0.7% of the population could vote

Legal

• wanted to regain power passed to the judicial system
• Reduced scope of offences subject to the full rigours of the system
• Court martials were used to try sensitive cases to avoid publicity
• The Minister of justice could order a trial to be held in private
• Crimes against the state could be heard in special courts without a jury
• Judges lost their security of tenure
• Many judges were appointed directly from the Ministry of Justice
• The Justices of the Peace was abolished
• Their judicial functions were passed onto the land captains

Repression

• Following Alexander II's assassination, a nationwide police offensive arrested 10,000 people
• There was a crackdown on anybody connected with terrorist or revolutionary activities
• The Okhrana was a sinister and effective organisation, thousands of informers and agents were recruited, most post offices had a room where mail was read, and many innocent people suspected of being a danger to the state were arrested and exiled
• The tightened censorship laws made it difficult to voice a dissident opinion
• Despite this, revolutionary parties still sprung up, but most were short lived
• The People's Will was greatly weakened and never really recovered
• Every terrorist act was followed by a wave of arrests
• Violence was kept under control, but gov. officials became more convinced terrorists were everywhere
• One plot to assassinate Alexander III involved a young man named Alexander Ulyanov
• He and four others were hanged. After that, his younger brother, Vladimir, later became known as Lenin

📌 More progressive policies

Economic development

• Alexander supported successful finance ministers (Bunge, Vyshnegradsky, Witte)
• Lay down the basis for future development
• Created the industrial spurt of the 1890s
• Railway building
• Encouraging foreign investment
• Tariff protection for fledgling industries
• Building up gold reserves
• Exporting grain to pay for foreign imports and to pay interest on foreign loans
• Bunge introduced measures between 1882 and 1897
• He improved living and working conditions for peasants and the increasing number of workers
• Vyshnegradsky ramped up taxes and tariffs to force the peasants to sell more grain
• Grain exports increased but the peasants suffered
• In 1891 harvest failures in the Volga region caused a massive famine
• The government kept exporting grain

Financial and Social measures

• Bunge abolished poll tax and lowered redemption payments 1883 – 1887
• Vyshnegradsky later increased indirect taxes so the overall tax burden on peasants didn't change much
• 1883: The Peasants Land Bank set up to help peasants buy land
• 1885: The Nobles' land bank was established, lending money at low interest rates to nobles so they could pay off debts or invest in land
• Measures taken to improve workers' lives had limited impact
• Laws were passed that reduced child labour, working hours for women at night, fines for workers
• Compulsory education was provided to younger factory children
• A factory inspectorate was established to monitor living and working conditions