(2) How far did Alexander deserve his reputation as Tsar liberator?

(2) How far did Alexander deserve his reputation as Tsar liberator?

1. 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"

2. 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

3. 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