What impact did Alexander’s reform have on the peasants?

What impact did Alexander’s reform have on the peasants?



As Tsar Nicholas II lay dying he passed on command of his country to his son Alexander, describing it as a ‘country in a very poor state’. The Russia Alexander was about to empower, was one that had been abused by autocratic rule over the first half of the nineteenth century. The new Tsar acted instinctively on what was probably on a Russia that was probably in a worse situation than he had envisaged. His aims were firstly, to modernise the autocracy whilst at the same time maintaining its hold on power, without suggestion for an alternative. Therefore, Alexander’s reforms often appeared ambitious; they were often limited in practice. The most important reform in terms of the peasants was the abolition of serfdom (Emancipation). Of the 60 million people living within Russia at the time 50 million of...