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Who was Alexander II of Russia?
Alexander II of Russia was the Emperor of Russia, as well as the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland, who reigned from March 1855 to March 1881, before being assassinated by members of the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) movement. He is remembered in history for his numerous reforms that ushered the modern age for the Russian Empire, and is revered as 'Alexander the Liberator' for the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. While he grew up in the autocratic system governing Russia at the time, his liberal education under Vasily Zhukovsky created a clear conflict in him which is easily noticeable through his actions during his reign. While he did bring in a number of reforms, they emerged more out of necessity than from true humanitarian outlook. Even for his most memorable reform, the emancipation of the serfs, he believed that it would eventually be necessary and wanted the change to happen "from above than from below". However, irrespective of his intentions, he did modernize the Russian Empire by reforming the military, the judicial system, education system, and by eradicating noble privileges.
Reforms During His Reign
Alexander II of Russia inherited the throne after his father's death, on February 19, 1855, at a time when the country was on the verge of a disastrous defeat in the Crimean War. After the fall of the fortified city of Sevastopol on September 9, 1855, he began peace negotiations, signing the Treaty of Paris on March 30, 1856, which cost Russia naval rights in the Black Sea.
He was formally crowned the Russian Emperor on August 26, 1856 in Moscow. Following the first major defeat of the Russian army since 1812, he was forced to modernize the military and the entire political system in order to be on par with more advanced Western countries.
One of the first endeavors he undertook was the improvement of communications by extending the coverage of railway tracks throughout Russia. It resulted in faster movement of economic goods, especially grain, Russia's major export product, as well faster response in defense and attack.
He followed this reform with another more significant one, the emancipation of the serfs, for which he is still remembered as 'Alexander the Liberator'. While the actual implementation of this reform was slow and unsatisfactory to some extent, it still had an immense psychological impact at the time.
In the following years, he enlisted the service of a number of enlightened bureaucrats who performed reforms in their respective fields. He appointed Dmitry Milyutin as the Minister of War who carried out sweeping military reforms including compulsory 6-year military service for all males aged 21, including nobles. Introduced on January 1, 1874, the reform changed the face of the Russian army permanently.
Milyutin was also responsible for creating the military district system, splitting the Russian states into 15 military districts, and extending the reserve forces. The military education system also received an overhaul, with all the draftees being offered elementary education, and corporal punishment was banned in the military.
Alexander II of Russia proclaimed the zemstvo system which introduced local self-governance for the rural districts in 1864 and later extended that to large towns in 1870. Elective assemblies were given limited rights of taxation and the Minister of the Interior supervised the formation of municipal police.
The judiciary system was reorganized as well, allowing judges to be appointed for life, and, for the first time, allowing trial in open court by jury members who dealt with minor offences. The new administration, modeled after the French system, introduced security of tenure, a new penal code and simplified proceedings for civil and criminal laws.
