Intentions of Alexander II and the Failure of the Emancipation of the S

Intentions of Alexander II and the mishap of the Emancipation of the Serfs In the 19th century it was estimated that about 50 per cent of the 40,000,000 peasants in Russia were serfs, who worked on the land and were owned by the Russian nobility, the tsar and religious foundations. This had been true for centuries in 1861, however, this was all changed when Tsar Alexander II emancipated the serfs and gave them license from ownership. Alexanders decision was based on many reasons, and did non have the desired consequences, for the serfs at least. Therefore, it is possible to question Alexanders motives for such sizable reform, which this essay will do and will also look at why the emancipation, which had been anticipated for so long, was such a failure. In the mid(prenominal) and late nineteenth century the whole of western Europe underwent gigantic change, both economically and socially, due to the industrial revolution. Factories, railways and indu strial cities were built at an astonishing rate, and trade between countries became even more important as agriculture became less important. In order to survive as a strong power in this new economic and social climate, Russia unavoidable to be able to compete in industrial terms with the residual of the world, particularly as its agriculture was under threat already. Even though four-fifths of the population were peasants, a prosperous and thriving faming economy had never full developed, party because of the land itself - much of Russia lay too far normality to have soil good enough for either crop-growing or cattle-rearing. From 1840 onwards, the hold for serious reform became apparent to the Tsar ... ...of the Emancipation Act register that the real needs and wants of the serfs were not properly considered, and, although he probably believed that what he was doing was right for Russia, Alexanders reforms were based more on his fear of uprisin g and his muckle of an industrialised Russia. Emancipation failed, therefore, because Alexander II forced a freedom onto the serfs that they were neither prepared for nor welcoming of. Bibliography www.spartacus.schoolsnet.co.uk www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us Access to History, Reaction and Revolutions Russia 1881-1924 Michael Lynch (2000) contend History Europe 1890-1990 1 Michael Lynch, Russian 1881-1924 (2000) p. 10 2 E Acton, Russia, p.75 (1986) 3 Russell Sherman, Russia 1815-81 (1992) p. 58 4 Jake Axel, www.webserver.rcds.rye.ny.us