(2) How far did Alexander deserve his reputation as Tsar liberator?
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A level Russia History ((2) Alexander II) Mapa Mental sobre (2) How far did Alexander deserve his reputation as Tsar liberator?, criado por Marcus Danvers em 26-06-2014.
(2) How far did Alexander deserve
his reputation as Tsar liberator?
Alexander Character
"Good nature"
"emotional sensibility"
compassionate about the poor
"Vagueness and hesitation"
"Aggogance, disobience and quarrelsome"
"extremely vindictive"
Advantage of a more enlightened
and humanitarian upbringing
His approach to ruling Russia would
be "not effective" - "lack of application"
Why did Alexander become a reformer
Serfs
There were two types of peasants: state
owned (who were not serfs) and
proprietary (serfs owned by landowners)
Serfs accounted for approximately 40% of
the empire's population: 23 million people
Further south, east or north.
serfdom was not as prevalent
Most serfs lived in the central
and western provinces
Peasants' lives were regulated by the Mir
or Commune. It was a village organisation
run by heads of households
The mir controlled the distribution of land in the village. Periodically
the land was redistributed amougst the village households
"we are yours, but the land is ours"
The reasons for
emancipation of the Serfs
Political
Defeat in the Crimean showed Russia's military backwardness
compared with the West. The army was shown to be inadequate but
could not be reorganised as long as recruitment was based on serfdom
Defeat in the Crimean war led to a general questioning of
traditional Russian institutions and traditions, which
seemed backwards compared to Western Europe.
Russia was keen to compete with Western powers, particularly
Britian and France. To do this it needed to modernize
Moral
The accession of a new Tsar Alexander II created an
opportunity for change. Alexander was considered
humane and had stuided the serf problem
There was growing criticism of the immorality of a
system based on degradation and ownership of people. It
was seen as a blot on Russia's international reputation.
The works of a growing number of liberal
writers, Philosophers, historians publicised
the moral case against serfdom.
Pragmatic
There was growing peasant unrest
There was increasing famines as heavy
state and landowners' extractions of grain
left the peasants with little foos reserves
There was growing criticism of harmful economic
effects of serfdom, which dissuaded landowners and
serfs from innovation and enterprise
What were the real
aims of emancipation
"The existing system of serf-owing cannot remain unchanged. It is
better to begin abolishing serfdom from above than to wait for it to begin
to abolish itself from below" Tsar Alexander II on 30th March 1856
Alexander motives were as much
Self preservation as Moral
Alexander wanted to
emanipation of the serf to
have the following principle:
Serf must be
releasted with land
The whole opperation must
be achieved peacefully
The former serfd must be enjoy full
personal freedom from the day their
emancipation was proclaimed