What Were the Short Term Impacts of the Emancipation

What were the short term impacts of the emancipation of the peasants 1857-1861 on Russian government and society.

Emancipation of the serfs was fundamental to allowing Russia to move forward as a super power. This was highlighted in many ways of Russian society. One being Russia’s defeat in the Crimean war, another was that the nobility of Russia were getting in increasing amounts of debt due to serfdom being an unproductive form of agriculture. Also serfdom wsn’t a great life to lead they were practically slaves who weren’t even allowed to marry who they wanted. There lives where terrible. This is what Tsar Alexander II saw and that it may cause the serfs to revolt that’s why he said in his speech taken from Source 9, ‘it’s better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it begins to abolish itself from below’. This can also be backed up with Source 12 as Benckendorff who was head of the sectret police said ‘it is better to begin gradually, cautiously, than to wait until the process is started from below by the people themselves’. He and the Tsar was right in thinking this as the Pugachev revolt was perfect evidence in showing just what serfs were capable of when they weren’t happy.

Tsar Alexander II was also worried that if the serfs revolted he would lose his position as head of Russia and Russia would no longer be an autocracy. Really the Tsar did this to save the autocracy, the only problem was he jumped to it too quickly and his approach to bringing them into place weren’t well thought through. E. Crankshaw’s source makes the same point ‘these remarkable achievements he brought a seriously negative approach’ he also says how Tsar Alexander II ‘gave it no colour’ making it out that the whole thing wasa bit grey and didn’t really do anything.

Russia’s defeat in the Crimean war was really what drove the emancipation edict to be implemented in 1861 as it showed the countries status as a great power was in jeopardy. The Tsar knew...