Alexander II Reforms

Question 1

In what years were the military reforms and who were they led by?

Answer 1

1874-1875 and was led by Dmitry Milyutin

Question 2

What were the problems with the military?

Answer 2

• poorly trained serfs
• high ranks could be bought and sold without experience
• Crimean war saw loss of 400,000
• low moral
• largest army in the world (1.5 million)

Question 3

How did Milyutin plan to improve the military?

Answer 3

• smaller
• more efficient
• less expensive
• more professional

Question 4

What were the changes made?

Answer 4

• Conscription compulsory for all from the age of 21 and length of service reduced from 25 years to 15 (6 yrs in army and 9 in reserves)
• Punishments less severe and military colonies are abolished
• Better medical care and weaponry (iron-clad steamships)
• Develop railways and Military colleges set up train officers (not only nobles) so had mass army education campaign in 1870s and 1890s

Question 5

What were the impacts?

Answer 5

• Opposition from nobility
• Army was cheaper and well trained
• Majority of officers still aristocrats
• Struggled to beat Turkey in 1877-78
• Problems with supply continued
• Defeated by Japan 1904-05

Question 6

When were the education reforms and who were they led by?

Answer 6

1863-1864 and Alexander Golovnin (Minister of education 1862-1867). Emancipation saw a need for this as they needed basic literacy to run business

Question 7

What were the reforms?

Answer 7

• Primary and secondary extended with ‘modern school’ established at secondary level for those who didn’t want traditional education offered in gimnaziya
• Open to all class, sex (allow women to attend non-vocational education in 1870)
• Non-fee paying could go to uni
• 1856=8000 primary schools compared to 1880=23000
• Unis could govern themselves and appoint staff
• Children in primary from 400,000 to 1 million and by 1870s 10000 were at university compared to 3600

Question 8

What were the problems with the education reforms?

Answer 8

• Gov controlled by gov
• Led to more radical thinkers who challenged the regime
• People could read the radical publications

Question 9

When were the censorship forms and what was censorship like before the reforms?

Answer 9

1858 - 1870 and under Nicholas II censorship was very very strict on all books, newspapers had to be approved and many (as more educated) people were extremely unhappy

Question 10

What were the reforms?

Answer 10

1863 - rules started to relax with ‘liberalisation’
1865 - books no approval and newspapers could include editorials and comment of government policies
- Foreign publications could be sold
- newspapers could be fined but only after publishing

Question 11

What were the impacts of censorship reforms?

Answer 11

• books published in 1864= 1836 and 1894 = 10691 but still a degree of censorship
• rise in critical writings - retighten government control in 1870s
• new ideas from abroad circulated in Russia

Question 12

What were the problems with the local government?

Answer 12

• emancipation abolished the rights of landowners over the local population leaving a void
• landowners had been responsible for law and order as well as building roads, building bridges etc
• this meant that a new form of government was needed to take these responsibilities

Question 13

What were the local government reforms?

Answer 13

• from 1864-1870
• elected local councils in the countryside called the zemstva which were then set up in towns and called dumas in 1870
• zemstva had power over public services like roads, schools, jails and public health but also helped the poor in hard times
• however, they had no control over local taxes
• chosen by electoral colleges (individual vote for others who then cats votes on behalf)

Question 14

What was the impact of the local government reforms?

Answer 14

• many hoped it would be a huge step towards a National Assembly (didn’t happen)
• provincial governors were chosen by the Tsar and could overrule the zemstva
• didn’t represent the population - nobility votes dominated
• some became critical or tsarist regime
• controlled by people who understood their area/way of life

Question 15

What was the legal system like before the reforms?

Answer 15

• judiciary was antiquated, secretive and corrupt with justice usually residing in the hands of a local judge who made decisions in private
• no jury, no lawyers, no cross-examination
• the accused (usually serfs who had not access to representation were presumed guilty on unsubstantiated police evidence
• punishments were severe public flogging
• many believed that the whole system was backwards and they needed to follow the West

Question 16

What were the legal reforms of 1864?

Answer 16

• all seen as equals before the law
• 1864 saw trial by jury introduced which resembled British judicial system
• accused had defence lawyers who argued case in an open court in front of an appointed jury and trained judge (less bribery)
• local magistrates (JPS) were appointed by zemstvas to deal with minor offenses
• court cases open to public and were reported on by the press
• volost courts were run by peasants for peasants

Question 17

What was the impact of the legal reforms?

Answer 17

• much fairer and less corrupt
• large numbers could watch cases, making some lawyers ‘celebrities’
• lack of trained lawyers meant it took a long time to introduce
• poor had a fair hearing for the first time
• trial by jury never set up in Poland and other areas
• public debate increased about other unfair aspects of tsarist regime and some said it was undermining Tsar authority
• Vera Zasulich case - Zasulich shot an official but was let off by the new system

Question 18

What were the economic reforms?

Answer 18

• Russia economy needed a huge boost to develop the way Alexander wanted it to
• Introduced by finance minister Mikhail von Reutern (1862-1878) introduced reforms to increase national income and increase spending on industry
• Treasury reformed and a next tax collection system brought in - accounts of government departments had to be audited (inspected)
• Tax farming was banned
• Banking was extended - state bank set up in 1860, local banks in 1862 and a savings bank in 1869
• 1863 - import tariffs cut to encourage trade
• government offered support to develop coal mining, railways, cotton farming

Question 19

What were the impacts of the economic reforms?

Answer 19

• foreign investment helped industry and railway network to expand
• on average the economy grew by 6% per years under von Reutern
• textiles became the main industry and oil began to be developed in Baku in 1871
• coal and iron were also exploited more
• 1/3 of all government spending was repaying debts
• peasants stayed poor and unable to buy consumer goods - limited demand for produce
• lower tarifs meant less income for government so rose again from 1878