Liberalization in Tsarist Russia

Nicholas I Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War and its humiliation of the Treaty of Paris compelled the government to reconsider its domestic policies. Nicholas I had died in 1855 during the conflict.

Alexander II Because of extensive travel in Russia and an early introduction to government, Alexander II was familiar with the chief difficulties facing the nation. The debacle of the war had made reform both necessary and possible. Alexander II was no liberal, but he took advantage of this turn of events to institute the most extensive restructuring of Russian society and administration since Peter the Great.

Russia and Autocracy Russia was completely different from Europe. The leading institution in Russia was the autocracy of the tsar. It differed from absolutism found in the West. The tsardom did not rule by law; it ran the country by ukase, police action, and the army. Any westernization brought into Russia in terms of technology were forced upon the people. But as contacts with Europe became more plentiful, many Russians acquired European ideas in which the autocracy was not interested – ideas of liberty and fraternity, of a just and classless society, of individual personality enriched by humane culture and moral freedom. The government was afraid of these people. The press and universities were severely censored.

Educated Russians were estranged from the government, from the Orthodox Church, and from the common people of their own country. The intelligentsia thought it so exciting to be educated, to have ideas, to engage in critical conversation – that they felt themselves a class apart. They believed that intellectuals should play a large role in society and that they should have a direct influence on the course of historical change. Their attitude was one of opposition and they turned to revolutionary philosophies. This only made the government more anxious and fearful and in turn more repressive.

Alexander’s Thoughts on Serfdom In every area of economic and public life, a profound cultural gap separated Russia from the rest of Europe. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the survival of serfdom. In Russia, the institution had changed very little since the 18 th century, though every other nation on the continent had abandoned it. Russian landowners still had a free hand with their serfs, and the serfs had little recourse against them.

In March of 1856, at the conclusion of the Crimean War, Alexander II announced his intention to abolish serfdom. He had decided that only its abolition would permit Russia to organize its human and natural resources to maintain its status as a great power. By mid-19 th century both conservative and liberal Russians were agreeing that serfdom must someday end.

Problems with Serfdom Serfdom had become economically inefficient. There was always the threat of revolt, the serfs forced into the army had performed poorly in the Crimean conflict. Moreover, 19 th century moral opinion condemned serfdom. Only Russia, Brazil, and certain portions of the U.S. among the western nations still retained such forms of involuntary servitude.

Emancipation For 5 years, government commissions wrestled over how to implement the tsar’s desire. Finally, in February 1861, against much opposition from the nobility and the landlords, Alexander II promulgated the long statute ending serfdom in Russia. The actual emancipation statute proved to be a disappointment, however, because freedom was not accompanied by land.

Serfs immediately received the personal right to marry without their landlord’s permission as well as the rights to purchase and sell property freely, to engage in court actions, and to pursue trades. What they did not receive was free title to their land. They had to pay the landlords over a period of 49 years for allotments of land that were frequently too small to support them – this was known as redemption money. They were also charged interest during this period. They serfs made the payments to the government, which had already reimbursed the landlords for their losses. The serfs would not receive title to the land until their debts were paid.

The Mir The peasant land, when redeemed, became the collective property of the ancient peasant village assembly, or mir. The village was responsible to the government for payment of the redemption and for collection of the necessary sums from its individual members. The village assembly, in default of collection, might require forced labor from the defaulter or a member of his family; and it could prevent peasants from moving away from the village. It could assign and reassign certain lands to its members for tillage and supervise cultivation. The government forbid the selling of land to persons outside the village. This tended to preserve the peasant society but also to discourage the investment of outside capital that could aid in improvements and the growth of wealth.

Peasant Inequality Not all peasants within the village were equal. Some had the right to work more land than others. Some were only day laborers. Others had the right of inheritance in the soil or rented additional parcels belonging to the gentry. But no Russian peasant, even after emancipation, possessed full individual freedom of action. They were restricted by their villages as they had once been restricted by their lords.

Alexander II and the Intelligentsia Upon becoming tsar in 1855, Alexander attempted to enlist the support of the liberal intelligentsia. He gave permission for travel outside Russia, he eased control of the universities, and allowed censorship to go relatively unenforced. Papers and journals written by Russian revolutionaries abroad, like the Polar Star of Alexander Herzen, found their way into Russia. The result was a great outburst of public opinion.

Alexander and the Legal System Alexander II also overhauled and westernized the legal system. The abolition of serfdom presented the opportunity to reform the courts from the bottom up. In the edict of 1864, trials were made public, and private persons received the right to be represented in court by lawyers of their own choosing. All class distinctions in judicial matters were abolished – although in practice, peasants still continued to be subject to harsh disadvantages. Judges were subject to professional training. A system of juries along the English model was introduced.

The Zemstvos The tsar also allowed a movement toward self-government. In this he hoped to win over the liberals and to give the upper and middle classes some degree of public responsibility. In the edict of 1864, he created a system of provincial and district councils, called zemstvos. They took up matters of education, public welfare, food supply, and road maintenance. Even though they had little authority, they did seem to develop a sense of civic responsibility. But many liberals called for a representative body for all of Russia, a Zemsky Sobor or Duma. Alexander would not concede on this issue.

Assassination Attempts Alexander II escaped an assassination in Five shots were fired at him in In 1880 he barely missed death when his dining room was dynamited. The intelligentsia who had not been pleased with the reforms began to call themselves “nihilists”. They believed in “nothing” – except science – and took a cynical view of the reforming tsar and his token zemstvos. People like Herzen, and the more radical anarchist Bakunin and Nechaiev began to call for the use of terrorism. One such society was the People’s Will and they were determined to assassinate the tsar.

Alexander, fearful of these new developments, again turned to the liberals who themselves felt threatened by the revolutionaries. He relaxed the autocratic system and abolished the secret police set up by his father. He encouraged the press and zemstvos to discuss matters freely. He signed an edict creating two nationally elected commissions that were to sit with the council of state. He signed the edict on March 13, He was assassinated the same day by members of the People’s Will.

Alexander III Ruled from Reverted to a program of brutal repression.