The Burden of Serfdom: Russia on the Eve of Reform

When Alexander II ascended the throne in 1855, he inherited an empire buckling under the weight of its own contradictions. The humiliating defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) had exposed Russia’s technological and administrative backwardness, while the institution of serfdom—binding 44.5% of the population to the land—had become both morally indefensible and economically untenable. Eyewitness accounts like that of anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin captured the surreal duality of imperial Russia: educated elites discussing Hegel in St. Petersburg salons while millions toiled under conditions scarcely changed since the Middle Ages.

The economic case against serfdom had grown overwhelming. Unlike Western Europe’s transition to wage labor, Russia’s nobility relied on compulsory serf labor that discouraged innovation. Historian Jerome Blum’s research reveals serfdom’s declining viability—from 58% of the population in 1811 to 44.5% by 1858—as urbanization and proto-industrialization advanced. Meanwhile, peasant uprisings escalated dramatically, with Soviet archives documenting 1,467 revolts between 1801-1861, including 474 in the six years preceding emancipation. The system’s inhumanity was immortalized in Ivan Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852), whose depiction of serfs as exhausted, dignified humans shocked readers.

The Emancipation Manifesto: A Revolutionary Compromise

Facing this crisis, Alexander II made his historic address to Moscow nobles in March 1856: “It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until it begins to abolish itself from below.” What followed was five years of unprecedented public debate—a Russian glasnost before the term existed. Provincial committees of nobles, a central drafting commission, and heated press discussions shaped the final legislation.

The Emancipation Edict of February 19, 1861 (Old Style) was a masterpiece of compromise. Some 52 million serfs gained personal freedom, while 20.8 million privately owned serfs received land allotments—albeit 18% smaller than their previous plots. The state advanced redemption payments to landlords, which peasants repaid over 49 years. Kropotkin observed how former serfs, though burdened by heavy taxes, carried themselves with new dignity: “They talked to their former masters as equals, as if no master-and-servant relationship had ever existed between them.”

The Great Reforms Cascade: Remaking Russian Society

Emancipation triggered Russia’s most consequential reform period since Peter the Great:

1. Local Government (1864): The zemstvo system created provincial and district assemblies with elected representatives from nobles, townspeople, and peasants. Though limited to 43 provinces and fiscally constrained, these bodies revolutionized rural healthcare and education—pioneering free medical care decades before Western Europe.

2. Judicial Reform (1864): Overnight, Russia replaced its corrupt, class-based courts with Western-style institutions featuring public trials, jury systems, and professional attorneys. Legal scholar Samuel Kucherov called it “the best judicial system in the civilized world,” though political cases remained exempt.

3. Military Modernization (1874): War Minister Dmitry Milyutin introduced universal conscription, reducing service from 25 years to 6, abolishing corporal punishment, and establishing military schools—creating a more professional, literate army.

The Unintended Consequences: Radicalism and Reaction

The reforms’ limitations bred discontent. Peasants resented redemption payments and land shortages, while intellectuals demanded constitutional government. The 1860s-70s saw the rise of narodnichestvo (populism), as thousands of idealistic youth “went to the people” in 1873-74, only to be betrayed by the very peasants they sought to liberate.

This disillusionment birthed Russia’s revolutionary tradition. By 1879, the Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) faction turned to terrorism, assassinating officials and ultimately Alexander himself on March 13, 1881—ironically, hours after he approved consultative reforms proposed by his liberal minister Loris-Melikov.

Asia’s Conquest: Empire on the March

While reforming at home, Alexander expanded Russia’s Asian frontiers:
– Caucasus: After decades of war, General Baryatinsky captured resistance leader Imam Shamil in 1859, completing Russia’s hold.
– Central Asia: Between 1865-1881, generals like Mikhail Skobelev subdued the khanates of Kokand, Bukhara, and Khiva, creating colonial administrations that preserved local customs while extracting cotton wealth.
– Far East: The Treaties of Aigun (1858) and Beijing (1860) secured the Amur and Ussuri regions, founding Vladivostok (“Ruler of the East”) in 1860.

Legacy: The Broken Promise of Reform

Alexander’s reforms transformed Russia while failing to satisfy anyone. The nobility lost economic power without gaining political influence; peasants remained tied to communes; radicals saw half-measures where conservatives saw dangerous change. Yet the era birthed modern Russian civil society—from zemstvo professionals to a independent legal bar—while demonstrating how top-down reform could unleash forces beyond the reformers’ control.

As Dostoevsky observed in 1881, Russia now stood at a crossroads between European constitutionalism and Asiatic despotism. The unresolved tensions of Alexander’s reign would explode in 1905 and 1917, making his reforms both the last gasp of imperial Russia and the first stirrings of its revolutionary future.