Alexander's accession to the throne on February 19, 1855 took place under very difficult circumstances for Russia. The failures of the Russian troops in the Crimea were depressing, the atmosphere in the country was painful.

The year 1855 and the first months of the following year are not marked by any reformist undertakings of Alexander. However, something happened without which any reform remains in history only a series of failures that have sunk into oblivion of attempts-laws, decrees, and the ruler who issues them looks in the eyes of descendants only a "loner on the throne." The social atmosphere began to change in the country. After the death of Nikolai, it became possible to think, speak, and most importantly, act more freely. The difficult situation of the state gave this opportunity the character of a demand. It was about the future of Russia, and everyone wanted to work for it, to participate in it - the Nikolaev silence had sunk into oblivion.

Everyone wanted to speak out: a stream of reformist notes, articles and proposals rushed to St. Petersburg, which were completely impossible in the old days.

At first, Alexander did not react in any way to the notes received by him, reports about the depth of the crisis and the decomposition of the state system - about the bribery of senior officials, theft in the army.

However, a trip to the Crimea in the autumn of 1855 and acquaintance with the real state of affairs in the power that lost the war became a real shock for Alexander. "Addresses" with proposals for reforms continued to arrive in numerous St. Petersburg offices. The king was waiting for an answer. Alexander gave it a few months later - in March 1856.

By this time, a lot of objective prerequisites for a radical agrarian reform had accumulated.

Firstly, the landowner economy, based on non-economic coercion of the peasants to work, was going through a crisis state more and more noticeably, the efficiency of farms was declining, and the question of the transition from subsistence to market economy was acute.

Secondly, fast development industry was in conflict with feudal relations in agriculture. Industry clearly lacked a market for its goods due to the low purchasing power of the vast majority of the peasant population. Industry experienced an acute shortage of free labor, since the serfs, who made up most population, did not have the right to free movement from the countryside to the city, to industrial enterprises.

Thirdly, the country was painfully experiencing the defeat in the Crimean War, which was the result of a military and technical lag behind the advanced countries of the world. At the end of the Crimean War, many internal shortcomings of the Russian state were revealed. Changes were needed.

Fourthly, an increasing number of peasant anti-feudal uprisings were recorded in the country, which could not but worry. March 30, 1856, speaking to the Moscow provincial and district marshals of the nobility, Alexander uttered the famous words: “... it is much better to cancel serfdom from above, rather than wait for the time when it will of itself begin to be canceled from below ... ". It is this day that is considered to be the day of the beginning of the Great Reforms.

The peasant reform entailed the transformation of all aspects of the state and public life. A number of measures were envisaged to restructure local government, the judiciary, education and, later, the army. These were really major changes, comparable only to the reforms of Peter I.

Beginning in 1857, commissions and committees began to be created in the government to develop measures "to organize the life of the landowning peasants." Governors and representatives of the landowners were included in this work. The drafting commission for the preparation of the law on the emancipation of the peasants, created in 1859, included scientists, economists, public figures, high-ranking officials and other persons holding liberal views.

The attitude of the landowners themselves to the impending changes was ambiguous. Most of them were negative about the upcoming reform, believing that the peasants were not ready to live independently.

Some landlords put forward as indispensable condition the liberation of peasants without land allotments and for the ransom of personal freedom. And only a small part of the landlords, who had already managed to get involved in market relations, advocated more liberal conditions for the release of the peasants with land and with a moderate ransom.

In August - September 1858, Alexander II made a trip to the provinces of Russia. The emperor made speeches in the spirit of patriarchal trust in the upper class; even the reproaches addressed to the Moscow nobility were accompanied by heartfelt assurances of love and sympathy. With regard to the reform itself, around the projects of which battles in the committees were in full swing, Alexander limited himself to vague phrases about the possibility and necessity of harmonizing the interests of landowners and peasants on the basis of the beginnings of the rescript. During the trip, Alexander II finally matures the decision to call to St. Petersburg two representatives of the nobility from each province. At the same time, the emperor and his supporters understood that the opinion of the entire nobility, if the survey was conducted in the provinces, would hardly be comforting to the government. It was more logical to try to deal with representatives from the provinces in the capital, if necessary, by putting pressure on them.

By the end of 1858, reform projects from provincial committees began to arrive in the capital. With all the difference in opinions, the discussion of reform projects in the provinces was perhaps the first experience in Russia of discussing in elected bodies a question of national importance.

At the same time, great patience and determination, clarity of goals and flexibility of methods leading to the achievement of goals were required from the government and the emperor.

In addition, at the end of 1858, it became absolutely clear that neither the efforts of the Ministry of the Interior, nor the trip of the sovereign around the country forced the bulk of the landowners to change their minds in favor of emancipating the serfs.

On February 19, 1861, Alexander signed the “Regulations on peasants who have emerged from serfdom. On the same day, the tsar also signed the Manifesto on the Liberation of the Peasants.

The manifesto briefly outlined the main conditions for the liberation of the peasants from serfdom. The general situation determined in general terms the personal and property rights and obligations of the peasants who emerged from serfdom, the formation and functions of rural and volost bodies of peasant self-government, the nature of the “guardianship” of the peasants by their former landowners for the period of a temporarily liable state, as well as the procedure for serving state, zemstvo and worldly duties.

In accordance with General provision peasants received personal freedom and property rights from the moment the Manifesto was signed. According to the 10th revision (1858) in Russia there were more than 23 million people of both sexes serfs (together with their families), there were about 05 million people.

Peasants were declared legally free people. However, the ties between the peasants and the landlords were by no means cut off: the adoption of the law on emancipation marked only the beginning of the transition of the peasantry from serfdom to the state of free rural inhabitants and landowners. During this period, the peasants were obliged to "serve in favor of the landowners the duties determined in local regulations by work or money," since their former owners provided them with indefinite use of estate land, as well as field and pasture allotments. One fundamental difference between the new state and the serf was that the duties of the peasants were clearly regulated by law and limited in time. During the transitional period, former serfs were called temporarily liable.

The transitional period was introduced in order not to ruin the landowners and to give them the opportunity to reorganize their estates for their further processing, already with the help of hired workers instead of serfs. The psychological aspect was also taken into account here: the instant loss of gratuitous labor would be too painful for landowners accustomed to the serf way of life.

After the expiration of the term of the temporarily obligated state, the peasants could redeem the estate and allotment land. The reformers were unshakably confident that the reforms would succeed in this direction.

Firstly, the creators of the reform did not believe that the peasants would begin to give up land allotments: they could not imagine themselves outside the land, outside their own estate. The number of cities with their more attractive way of life was then not very large - the country remained predominantly peasant.

Secondly, the peasant received only formal freedom: he belonged to the community, and the state decided all issues related to the provision of land plots with it, and not with the individual owner. Leaving the community meant the loss of land.

Thirdly, the peasant could not refuse the field allotment, since the estate land did not provide for the needs of his family. Under such conditions, the peasant did not see any other possibility than to buy out the field allotment. But the landowner also found himself in no less harsh conditions. He had the right not to sell the land to the peasants. But it was not profitable for him to use this right. The land allocated to the peasants was assigned to them forever, their duties towards the landowner were strictly regulated by law and could not satisfy his needs for money. Therefore, the landowner had no choice but to sell his land, and not remain forever its incomplete owner. Thus, both the landlords and the peasants could basically act as the Editorial Commissions planned: the former were forced to sell the land, and the latter to buy it.

The calculations of the reformers justified themselves: 20 years after the entry into force of the Manifesto of 1861, most of the peasants of the inner provinces switched to redemption or already bought out the estate and allotment land. By 1881, only 15 percent of the landlord peasants were in the position of temporarily liable.

The reform of 1861 led to the disastrous dispossession of Russian peasants from land. When granting land to them, the law proceeded from the fact that the areas of allotments allotted had to be the same as the peasants used before the reform. Determining the size of these areas was entrusted to the landowners. Preference was given to "amicable agreement" between landowners and peasants. If such an agreement could not be reached, strict norms of allotments calculated for each region of Russia came into effect. With the size of the pre-reform allotment exceeding this norm, the landowner had the right to cut off the "surplus" of land in his favor. And, conversely, land should have been added to the allotment less than the norm. However, the landowners submitted to the Editorial Commissions underestimated data on the size of the allotments used by the peasants. An attempt by the Commission to increase the norms did not lead to success. As a result, peasant land use (i.e., the area cultivated by peasants) in 27 out of 36 provinces decreased by an average of 20 percent. For a subsistence minimum, a peasant needed from five to eight acres of land, depending on its fertility. Most of the peasants received allotments from two to four acres. Moreover, the landlords were given the right to decide for themselves which lands to allocate to the peasants. It is clear that the best plots, as well as pastures and watering places, without which the peasants could not do, remained with the former owners. Thus, the reformers failed to turn the liberated peasants into full-fledged and independent landowners.

Post-reform relations between peasants and landlords were not equal. When deciding on the size of the field allotment, only the landowner acted as a private owner of the land. For the peasants, there was not even the concept of "ownership of the land." They said that the land of no one's - "God's", that the land can only be cultivated, but not owned. The peasants sincerely wondered why so much land was left to the landowners. The landowners and peasants, when solving the land question, spoke different languages. Two mutually exclusive understandings of the problem - official-legal and traditional-peasant - became the main flaw of the reform, which could not be eliminated.

Before the landowner would sell and the peasant would buy the land, it was necessary to determine its value. It was proposed to establish a ransom at the average market value of the land. However, the landowner lost not only land, but also the labor of the peasant, and therefore wanted to compensate for the loss of workers, i.e. to receive a ransom for the land, and for the peasant who received his freedom.

The government found a way to force the landowner not to withdraw the money due to him for the land from the State Bank. After all, it was the state, helping the peasant, who paid for the land with the landowner. For the ransom that he left with the state, it undertook to pay him annually the same amount of money as he received from the peasant before the reform in the form of an annual quitrent for the use of landlords' land. Based on this amount, the size of the ransom for the land was paid.

For example, a peasant before the reform, i.e. Before his release, he annually paid the landowner a quitrent of 10 rubles. When buying land, the landowner must receive such an amount of money that, if deposited in the bank, would bring him an annual income of the same 10 rubles. This money was issued to the landowner from the State Bank. The bank rate at that time did not exceed, as parvilo, 6 percent of the total amount of the deposit. Thus, 10 rubles is 6 percent of the estimated amount of the landlord's contribution, or from 166 rubles. This means that the amount that the landowner would have left in the State Bank, and which would provide him with an annual income of 10 rubles, was equal to 166 rubles. This is the cost of the land, the amount of the ransom. A higher interest rate would be unprofitable for the State Bank, a lower one would force the landlords to withdraw their money, spend it thoughtlessly or invest it in other banks.

The state acted here as a usurer: the peasants had to pay 49 years at 6 percent of the loan granted to them annually. Thus, the state paid off the landlords at their expense and, moreover, received a considerable income, since in half a century the peasants would have to deposit three loans granted to them into the bank, and the state would take all the interest in excess of what was given to the landowner.

The abolition of serfdom and the emancipation of the serfs were the most striking achievements of the peasant reform. The priority in solving state problems in the course of the reform was quite obvious. Only the state received an unconditional and undeniable benefit from the reform. It became stronger, having received a colossal reserve of cheap labor from impoverished peasants, and hence the possibility of rapid industrial development, a powerful army, and subsequently stable finances. The international prestige of Russia has increased not only due to its victory in the Balkan war of 1877-1878, but also due to getting rid of medieval vestiges. The most important thing was the following: the state increased its authority by the very beginning and carried out the Great Reforms.

The defeat of Russia in the Crimean company and the fall of its international prestige are one of the main reasons that pushed the government to reform. The Russian government faced an urgent task - to modernize the armed forces to the level of combat capability of the advanced European armies. This required money, and very big money: not only the armed forces needed to be updated, but also the country's economy as a whole. A task of this scale could be solved only if the construction of railways was accelerated, a capitalist credit system was created, and new branches of industry were developed.

However, the government did not have the funds to finance such enterprises. State Russian finance in the second half of the 50s it was deplorable. In 1856, state expenses exceeded income by 307 million rubles, the value of banknotes decreased to 50 percent, and the state received half of its income from the sale of vodka. “Now I am extremely concerned about the situation of our finances,” Alexander wrote in March 1857 to his brother Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, “it is such that we need to get out of it by all means.”

At the end of 1858 and at the beginning of 1859, all the signs of a banking crisis were already revealed, putting forward the question of a radical reorganization of the then existing banking system. There was a catastrophic decrease in cash in state credit institutions - from 150 million to 13 million rubles. This could completely paralyze the financial system of the empire. The crisis of the banks was a consequence of the vicious financial policy of previous governments, which created favorable conditions for the unproductive costs of the landlords: banks lent money to the latter on the security of "serf souls". In 1858, the landlords, sensing something was wrong, rushed to withdraw their money from banks, which significantly undermined their creditworthiness. The government took urgent measures: the issuance of cash loans to landowners was suspended, and in order to return the money already withdrawn from banks, they began to sell specially issued securities to landowners, which provided 5 percent of annual income for 40 subsequent years. The banking crisis has been eased.

The reform of the banking system, the change in the principles of financial policy are associated with the names of M.Kh. Reitern - Minister of Finance, E.I. Lamansky, V.A. Tatarinov - State Financial Controller and N.A. Milyutin, who joined the commission on banking reform. In carrying out the new financial course, they were all guided by common sense and accurate calculation. main feature this course - the active intervention of the state in the country's economy. From the 60s of the nineteenth century. the government began to inform the public about the state of the state budget, such information was previously considered almost a state secret. Some government spending was reduced, special joint-stock companies were created to subsidize the construction of railways and ease the financial obligations of the state.

Thus, the intervention of foreign capitalists in the Russian economy was not allowed. New heavy industry enterprises - machine-building, metallurgical (in particular, steel rail), military - were provided with state orders for many years to come. The products of these enterprises were bought at inflated prices, they received high premiums. In other words, the state supported plants and factories in every possible way during the period when they mastered advanced technologies and new products. In addition, during crises and economic difficulties, banks and enterprises that were on the verge of collapse were provided with financial aid states. It often bought them out and resold them on preferential terms to new capitalist owners. Thanks to the economic and financial policy pursued by the government during the years of the Great Reforms, state capitalism began to take shape in Russia.

But there was another side to the internal political course taken by the government: the financial crisis of 1858-1859 became a real scourge of the peasant reform. The bank profited from payments received from peasants for field plots. The redemption operation very quickly returned the debts of the landlords to the State Bank.

All financial costs of the government were covered by peasant payments. In the Russian Empire, they quickly found a source of compensation for state expenses - the long-suffering Russian peasantry. The government did not spend a dime on the Great Reforms.

Following the agrarian and financial reforms, other transformations were carried out in Russia, primarily in the field of local self-government, the need for which was obvious to everyone. Self-government bodies in Russia had a class character. The development of market relations prompted the government to carry out reforms to create all-estate administrative structures in order to turn the feudal monarchy into a bourgeois one, in order to adapt the political system of Russia to the new economic conditions. One of the most important was the Zemstvo reform.

The initiative of the authorities in the reorganization of county and provincial institutions largely met the requirements of the time: on the one hand, society preferred to solve its problems on its own, without the sovereign's guardianship. On the other hand, the state could now relieve the administrative apparatus by shifting a significant part of the affairs to self-government bodies.

There were different opinions about how local governments should be reorganized. And this could not but affect the work of the commission. The most difficult thing was to determine how much power to entrust the Zemstvo. Serious difficulties arose when opposing points of view clashed, and the members of the commission could not reach a compromise. And only the personal intervention of the emperor forced the commission to take one more step forward.

A similar situation arose when the Milyutin commission could not for two years develop a common opinion on the status of zemstvo institutions: whether it would depend on state bodies or not. The answer to this question was given by Vaduev's commission. Zemstvos enjoyed a certain independence, but the state reserved the right to control their activities.

Disagreements also arose when they touched upon the question of the representation of various estates in zemstvo institutions, and, consequently, the electoral system. Although the government announced that the zemstvo institutions would be all-class, the Valuev Commission sought to preserve for the nobility the importance that actually belongs to it. The reform was based on a property qualification, when, in essence, not a person, but his property receives an electoral vote. Anyone who owns property that is worth less than the amount established by law cannot participate in elections. In the early 60s, the nobles remained the owners of the most valuable property - land, and the reform ensured their priority in zemstvo institutions. Korf proposed to abandon the use of property qualification among the peasants and to choose one vowel from 4 thousand rural residents. Milyutin made an attempt to create a truly all-class representation. He insisted that the number of vowels should be determined not on the basis of property qualification, but on the basis of population. At the same time, he introduced restrictions that did not allow the total number of vowels from the cities to exceed the total number of elected from the countryside, and the number of vowels from the landowners - to exceed the number of the rest of the rural population. Clash so various points vision brought the reform to the brink of failure. And only under strong pressure from Alexander, the State Council adopted a number of amendments that softened Valuev's project. In this form, the documents were approved by the emperor.

Zemstvo institutions - provincial and district assemblies and councils were created on the basis of free elections held every three years. All voters were divided into three groups. The first group was exclusively estate, peasant. About this group general rule property qualification did not work. The second and third united voters with different property status: the second - owners of at least 200 acres of land each, the third - real estate worth from 500 to 3 thousand rubles. As a rule, the second group included noble landowners who did not have real estate in the city, and the third group included wealthy citizens, primarily merchants.

Initially, the zemstvo assembly of the county was elected. Elections in the peasant group were multistage. Each rural society elected representatives to the volost meeting. Electors were elected at the gathering, and only the latter elected vowels to the county zemstvo assembly. It, in turn, elected members of the provincial zemstvo assembly. Both county and provincial assemblies held meetings once a year. At the first meetings, the county and provincial councils and their chairmen were elected respectively. Councils met constantly and considered current affairs in the breaks between zemstvo meetings.

After the first elections to the county zemstvo assemblies, the nobility accounted for 42 percent of the voters, the peasants - 39 percent, the merchants - 11 percent, the clergy - 6.5 percent.

The competence of the zemstvo bodies included exclusively economic issues, or rather economic ones. Zemstvos were in charge of local monetary and in-kind duties, property, roads, hospitals, issues public education, zemstvo mail, charitable institutions, providing the population with food, insurance, economic support for prisons.

Zemstvos enjoyed considerable independence, but their activities were controlled by the state. For example, the governor could suspend the execution of the decision of the zemstvo assembly. In this case, the case was returned for retrial. The latter was entitled to re-adopt the same resolution. If the governor suspended the action of this resolution again, then the dispute was transferred to the Senate, which had the final word.

The activities of the zemstvos were complicated due to their lack of coercive power: the police did not obey them. This did not allow the zemstvos to effectively control the implementation of their decisions, the reform was conceived as exclusively public institutions, the zemstvos were not allowed to public administration. They were forbidden to take joint action even during epidemics and famines, when such action was necessary. Zemstvos did not have complete financial independence. Nor could they create any bodies uniting them like a public congress.

The creation of zemstvo institutions and their activities have changed the way of life of the Russian provinces. Zemstvo schools, hospitals, orphanages have become familiar. Zemstvo teachers in schools taught literacy to adults and children. Doctors for charitable reasons left a profitable city practice and headed zemstvo hospitals in remote villages. Zemstvo lawyers defended the rights of peasants in court. The concept of a zemstvo way of life arose with special features and rules, its own figures - zemstvo doctors, teachers, agronomists. For the first time in Russia, a census of the peasant population was conducted, which was done by Zemstvo statistics. The provision of small cash loans allowed the zemstvos to speed up the achievement of economic independence by peasant farms.

Following the Zemstvo reform, the city reform was also carried out in the country. In accordance with the "City Regulations" (1870), a system of city elective self-government was established in 509 cities. Instead of the previously existing estate city administrations, the city council began to be selected for four years, headed by the city government.

Not all citizens had the right to vote, but only those who corresponded to a fairly high property qualification: wealthy homeowners, merchants, industrialists, bankers, officials. The competence of the city duma and council included economic issues: landscaping, law enforcement, local trade, health care, education, sanitary and fire protection of the population.

Beginning in 1864, a judicial reform was carried out in the country, according to which a classless, open court with the participation of jurors, advocacy and competitiveness of the parties were approved. A unified system of judicial institutions was created, based on the formal equality before the law of all social groups of the population.

Within the limits of the province constituting the judicial district, a district court was created. The Judicial Chamber united several judicial districts. As a rule, the decision of the district court and judicial chambers with the participation of jurors was considered final and could be appealed only if the order of legal proceedings was violated. The highest court of cassation was the Senate, which accepted appeals against court decisions. For the analysis of minor offenses and civil claims up to 500 rubles in counties and cities, there was a world court. Magistrates' courts were elected at county zemstvo assemblies.

Representatives and members of district courts and judicial chambers were approved by the emperor, and justices of the peace - by the Senate, after which they could not be dismissed and even temporarily removed from office, that is, the principle of irremovability of judges was introduced. Judicial reform went on for several years and was basically completed by 1870, when new courts were created in almost 70 provinces.

Education reform took place in the 1860s. Primary public schools were created in the cities, along with classical gymnasiums real schools began to function, in which more attention was paid to the study of mathematics, natural sciences, obtaining practical skills in technology. They prepared students for technical schools and did not give them the right to enter universities.

In 1863, the university charter of 1803 was recreated, which again secured the partial autonomy of universities, the election of rectors and deans, etc. In 1869, the first women's educational establishments- Higher women's courses with university programs. In this respect, Russia was ahead of many European countries.

In the 1860s-1870s, a military reform was carried out in Russia, the need for which was primarily due to the defeat in the Crimean War. First, the term of military service was reduced to 12 years, and later corporal punishment in the army was abolished. 15 military districts were created with their own administration, subordinate only to the minister. In accordance with the process of reforming military educational institutions, cadet schools were created, in which junior officers were trained, as well as military academics for the training of middle and high command personnel.

In 1874, recruitment was abolished and universal military service was established, which applied to the entire male population who had reached the age of 20, without class distinctions. Active military service in ground forces was established for 6 years, and 9 years - stay in the reserve, in the fleet - 7 and 3 years, respectively. Moreover, the higher was the level of education, the shorter was the period of active service. For those who completed primary school, it was equal to 4 years, gymnasium - 1.5 years, for those who had higher education- six months. The only son of the parents, the only breadwinner in the family, as well as the youngest son, if the eldest is on military service or have served their time. Recruits from the peasants were taught not only military affairs, but also literacy, which made up for the lack school education in the village. Benefits were preserved for the nobles, who served mainly in the officer corps.

In 1863 and 1865, the government passed laws that gave the right to “trade and other crafts to persons of all classes without distinction of sex, both Russian and foreign.

New commercial and industrial legislation gave impetus to rapid development economic activity in the country. Those who took the risk of investing in the development of new industrial regions, such as the South of Russia, and branches of the economy (for example, the construction of railways) succeeded.

The business of those who engaged in the production of sugar quickly went uphill.

In the Urals, where before the reform the labor of serfs was mainly used - bonded workers, the owners of enterprises did not easily get used to the new times.

The oldest industrial class, the merchant class, also changed dramatically, gradually turning into a commercial and industrial bourgeoisie.

Moscow entrepreneurs from merchants owned, as a rule, textile factories and factories. In heavy industry, as well as new branches of the economy, they did not invest their capital. They participated in serious trading operations, acquired tenement houses and land in the city.

Merchants created family and joint-stock partnerships, firms, trading houses, expanded markets for wholesale trade. They also participated in railway and locomotive construction, owned large machine-building and repair plants.

Many large and small industrialists came from the peasantry. The wealthy "capitalists-muzhiks" eventually signed up as merchants, became honorary citizens.

In post-reform Russia, there was a huge number of crafts. They were made by handicraftsmen. The centers of folk crafts were, as it were, small “states within a state” with their own amazing traditions and habits.

Analyzing the reforms of Alexander, it should be noted that not everything that was conceived in the early 1860s was brought to life. Many reforms have been limited, inconsistent, or left unfinished. And yet they should be called the Great Reforms, which were of great importance for the subsequent development of all aspects of Russian life. In the history of Russia, it turned out that none of the reforms that were conceived and carried out in the country was brought comprehensively and consistently to its logical conclusion.

reform agrarian serf banking

List of used literature

• 1. Klyuchevsky V. O. "Russian History". - M.: "Thought", 1993.
• 2. Great reforms of the 1860-1870s in Russia / A.P. Shestopalov // Fundamentals of State and Law. - 1998. - No. 6. - p. 57 - 63.
• 3. Platonov S.F. "Lectures on Russian History". -M.: " high school", 1993
• 4. "History of Russia from antiquity to the present day", edited by M.N. Zuev, M., "Higher School", 1998
• 5. V. V. Kargalov, Yu. S. Saveliev, and V. A. Fedorov, Russ. History of Russia from ancient times to 1917. ? M., " Russian word", 1998

The fall of serfdom is the most important turning point in the history of Russia, which opened a new path for economic and social development country. The entire subsequent history of the country, up to the revolution of 1917, was influenced by the reforms of the 60s - early 70s of the XIX century. The incompleteness of the reforms begun and the inability of the existing regime to continue the path of reform were the main reasons for the revolutionary explosions of 1905 and 1917.

Conservative-monarchist historians exaggerated the role of Alexander II and criticized him for making too many concessions to liberal public opinion, which undermined the foundations of autocracy and strengthened the positions of his opponents. Liberal-minded historians G.A. Janshiev, I.I. Ivankov, A.A. Kornilov sought to find out the economic, political and moral and ethical reasons for the transformations, the legal and social aspects of the fall of the serfdom. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the abolition of serfdom, a multi-volume book " Great Reform". Liberal opposition currents saw in these events an example of a compromise between the autocracy and public opinion and the fruitfulness of the reformist path for the country. The leaders of revolutionary parties and trends (V.I. Lenin, G.V. Plekhanov) exaggerated Negative consequences reforms to justify the inevitability and regularity of the revolutionary upheaval.

The purpose of my work is to consider the essence of the reforms of Emperor Alexander II in the middle of the 19th century in Russia and determine their significance and consequences for the further development of Russia. In the course of the study, the monographs of Platonov S.F., Kargalov V.V., Zakharova L.G., Kornilov A.A. were studied.

1. Upbringing, education, the beginning of the reign

Alexander II - Emperor of All Russia, the eldest son of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, was born in Moscow on April 17, 1818.

Naturally, great importance was given to the upbringing and education of the future monarch. His educators were General Merder (company commander at the school of guards ensigns, who had remarkable pedagogical abilities, "a meek disposition and a rare mind"), M. M. Speransky, E. F. Kankrin. No less significant was the influence of another mentor - the famous poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, the head of his class studies. I would like to dwell in more detail on the education system of Zhukovsky, which provided not only general knowledge of the then accepted extensive set of subjects and four foreign languages, but also purely specialized knowledge: about the state, its laws, finances, foreign policy and formed a system of worldview. The basic principles of the upbringing of the Tsarevich looked like this:

WHERE I AM? Nature, its laws. In this part of the program, natural science subjects are connected with the idea of ​​"God in nature".

WHO AM I? The doctrine of man, united by Christian doctrine.

WHAT WAS I? History, sacred history.

WHAT SHOULD I BE? Private and public morality.

WHAT AM I DESIGNATED FOR? Revelation religion, metaphysics, the concept of God and the immortality of the soul.

And at the end (not at the beginning) arising from everything right, public history, state economy, statistics.

The acquired knowledge was reinforced by numerous trips. He was the first of the royal family to visit (in 1837) Siberia, and the result of this visit was to mitigate the fate of political exiles. Later, while in the Caucasus, the Tsarevich distinguished himself during the attack of the highlanders, for which he was awarded the order St. George 4th degree. In 1837, at the request of Nicholas I, he undertook a trip to Europe for educational purposes. He traveled to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and stayed for a long time in Berlin, Weimar, Munich, Vienna, Turin, Florence, Rome and Naples.

An important role in the life of Alexander II was played by a visit to Darmstadt, where he met Princess Maximiliana-Wilhelmina-Augusta-Sophia-Maria (born July 27, 1824), the adopted daughter of Louis II, Duke of Hesse, who soon became the wife of the Tsarevich, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.

From the age of 16, Alexander successfully took part in management affairs, first sporadically, and then systematically. At the age of 26, he became a "full general" and had a fairly professional military training. In the last years of the reign of Emperor Nicholas and during his travels, he repeatedly replaced his father.

Alexander II ascended the throne on February 19, 1855 at the age of 36. He was to go down in history under the name of the Liberator. Already on the day of the coronation, August 26, the new manifesto of the sovereign was marked by a number of favors. Recruitment was suspended for three years, all state arrears, miscalculations, etc., were forgiven; various criminals were released, or at least the punishment was mitigated, including an amnesty for political prisoners - the surviving Decembrists, Petrashevists, participants in the Polish uprising of 1831; Recruitment of minor Jews was canceled, and recruitment between the latter was ordered to be carried out on a general basis; free travel abroad was allowed, etc. But all these measures were only the threshold of those global reforms that marked the reign of Alexander II.

During this period, the Crimean War was in full swing and took an unfavorable turn, where Russia had to deal with the combined forces of almost all the major European powers. Despite his peacefulness, which was also known in Europe, Alexander expressed his firm determination to continue the struggle and achieve peace, which was soon achieved. Representatives of seven states (Russia, France, Austria, England, Prussia, Sardinia and Turkey) gathered in Paris, and on March 18, 1856, a peace treaty was concluded. The Paris peace, although not beneficial for Russia, was nevertheless honorable for her in view of such numerous and powerful opponents. However, its disadvantage is the limitation naval forces Russia on the Black Sea - was eliminated during the life of Alexander II.

2. Alexander P: the tragedy of a reformer

2.1 The need for reform

At the end of the Crimean War, many internal shortcomings of the Russian state were revealed. Changes were needed, and the country was looking forward to them. Then the emperor uttered the words that became for a long time the slogan of Russia: "Let her internal improvement be affirmed and improved; let truth and mercy reign in her courts; let the desire for enlightenment and all useful activity develop everywhere and with renewed vigor ..."

In the first place, of course, was the idea of ​​liberating the serfs. In his speech to representatives of the Moscow nobility, Alexander II said: "It is better to cancel it from above than to wait until it is itself canceled from below." There was no other way out, as the peasants expressed their dissatisfaction more and more every year. existing system. The corvée form of exploitation of the peasant expanded, which caused crisis situations. First of all, the labor productivity of the serfs began to decline, as the landlords wanted to produce more products and thereby undermined the strength of the peasant economy. The most far-sighted landlords realized that forced labor was much inferior in productivity to hired labor (For example, a large landowner A.I. Koshelev wrote about this in his article “Hunting more than captivity” in 1847). But hiring workers required considerable expenses from the landowner at a time when serf labor was free. Many landowners tried to introduce new farming systems, apply the latest technology, purchase improved varieties of thoroughbred cattle, etc. Unfortunately, such measures led them to ruin and, accordingly, to increased exploitation of the peasants. The debts of landowners' estates to credit institutions grew. Further developmenteconomy on the serf system was impossible. In addition, having existed in Russia much longer than in European countries, it has taken very harsh forms.

However, there is another point of view regarding this reform, according to which, by the middle of the 19th century, serfdom was still far from exhausting its capabilities and the opposition to the government was very weak. Neither economic nor social catastrophe threatened Russia, but by retaining serfdom, it could drop out of the ranks of the great powers.

The peasant reform entailed the transformation of all aspects of state and public life. A number of measures were envisaged to restructure local government, the judiciary, education and, later, the army. These were really major changes, comparable only to the reforms of Peter I.

2.2 Abolition of serfdom

On January 3, 1857, the first significant step was taken, which served as the beginning of the reform: the creation of the Secret Committee under the direct supervision and chairmanship of the emperor himself. It included: Prince Orlov, Count Lanskoy, Count Bludov, Minister of Finance Brock, Count V.F. Adlerberg, Prince V.A. Dolgorukov, Minister of State Property M.N. Muravyov, Prince P.P. Gagarin, Baron M.A. Korf and Ya.I. Rostovtsev. The purpose of the committee was designated as "discussion of measures to organize the life of the landlord peasants." Thus, the government tried to get initiative from the nobility in resolving this issue. The word "liberation" has not yet been spoken. But the committee acted very sluggishly. More precise actions began to be carried out later.

February 1858. The secret committee was renamed the “Main Committee on the Landlord Peasants Retiring from Serfdom”, and a year later (March 4, 1859), Editorial Commissions were established under the committee, which reviewed the materials prepared by the provincial committees and drafted a law on the emancipation of the peasants. . There were two opinions here: the majority of the landlords proposed to free the peasants without land at all or with small allotments, while the liberal minority proposed to release them with land for redemption. At first, Alexander II shared the majority's point of view, but then he came to the conclusion that it was necessary to allocate land to the peasants. Historians usually associate such a decision with the strengthening of the peasant movement: the Tsar was afraid of a repetition of the “Pugachevism”. But no less important role was played by the presence in the government of an influential grouping, called the "liberal bureaucracy".

The draft "Regulations on the Peasants" was practically prepared at the end of August 1859, but for some time it was subject to minor corrections and clarifications. In October 1860, the Editorial Commissions, having completed their work, handed over the draft to the Main Committee, where it was discussed again and underwent further changes, but this time in favor of the landowners. On January 28, 1861, the project was submitted for consideration by the last instance - the State Council, which adopted them with some changes, in the sense of reducing the size of the peasant allotment.

Finally, on February 19, 1861, the "Regulations on the peasants who emerged from serfdom", which included 17 legislative acts, were signed by Alexander II. On the same day, the manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants” followed, in which it was proclaimed the release of 22.6 million peasants from serfdom.

The "Regulations" applied to 45 provinces of European Russia, in which there were 112,000 landowners' estates. First of all, it was declared obligatory for the landlord to allocate his former peasants, in addition to the estate land, arable and haymaking in a certain amount. Secondly, it was declared obligatory for the peasants to accept the allotment and keep in their use, for the duties established in favor of the landowner, the secular land allotted to them during the first nine years (until February 19, 1870). After nine years, individual members of the community were given the right both to leave it and to refuse to use field lands and lands if they bought their estate; the society itself also receives the right not to accept for its use such plots that individual peasants refuse. Thirdly, with regard to the size of the peasant allotment and the payments associated with it, according to general rules, it is customary to base on voluntary agreements between landowners and peasants, for which purpose to conclude a charter charter through mediators established by the situation, their congresses and provincial peasant affairs, and in the western provinces - and special verification commissions.

The “Regulation”, however, was not limited to the rules for allocating land to the peasants for permanent use, but made it easier for them to buy the allotted plots into their property with the help of a state redemption operation, and the government gave the peasants a loan against the land they acquired a certain amount with payment by installments for 49 years and , issuing this amount to the landowner in state interest-bearing papers, took all further settlements with the peasants on itself. Upon approval by the government of the redemption transaction, all obligatory relations between the peasants and the landowner were terminated, and the latter entered the category of peasant proprietors.

"Regulations" were gradually extended to the peasants of the palace, appanage, ascribed and state.

But as a result of this, the peasantry remained bound by the community, and the land allocated to it turned out to be clearly insufficient to meet the needs of an ever-growing population. The peasant remained completely dependent on the rural community (the former “world”), which, in turn, was completely controlled by the authorities; personal allotments were transferred to the ownership of peasant societies, which periodically redistributed them “equalizing”.

In the spring and summer of 1861, the peasants, who did not receive, as expected, "full freedom", organized many uprisings. Outrage was caused by such facts as, for example: for two years the peasants remained subordinate to the landowner, were obliged to pay dues and perform corvée, were deprived of a significant part of the land, and those allotments that were given to them as property had to be redeemed from the landowner. During 1861 there were 1860 peasant uprisings. Peasant performances in the village of Bezdna, Kazan province, are considered one of the largest. Subsequently, disappointment with the inconsistency of the reform was growing not only among former serfs: articles by A. Herzen and N. Ogarev in Kolokol, N. Chernyshevsky in Sovremennik.

2.3 Zemstvo reform

After the peasant "Regulations" in a number of administrative reforms, one of the most important places is undoubtedly occupied by the "Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions", which was published on January 1, 1864.

According to the regulation, non-estate elected bodies of local self-government - zemstvos - were introduced. They were elected by all estates for a three-year term and consisted of administrative bodies (county and provincial zemstvo assemblies) and executive bodies (county and provincial zemstvo councils). Elections to zemstvo administrative bodies - meetings of vowels (deputies) - were held on the basis of a property qualification, by curia. The first curia (landowners) consisted of owners of land from 200 to 800 acres or real estate worth from 15,000 rubles. The second curia (city) united the owners of urban industrial and commercial establishments with an annual turnover of at least 6,000 rubles and owners of real estate for at least 2,000 rubles. The elections for the third curia (rural peasant societies) were multistage. Zemstvo assemblies elected executive bodies - zemstvo councils - consisting of a chairman and several members.

Zemstvos were deprived of any political functions, their activities were limited mainly to solving local issues. They were responsible for public education, for public health, for the timely supply of food, for the quality of roads, for insurance, veterinary care, and much more.

All this required a lot of money, so the zemstvos were allowed to introduce new taxes, impose duties on the population, and form zemstvo capitals. With its full development, zemstvo activity was supposed to cover all aspects of local life. New forms of local self-government not only made it all-class, but also expanded the range of its powers. Self-government was so widespread that many were understood as a transition to a representative form of government, so the government soon became noticeable desire to keep the activities of zemstvos at the local level, and not allow zemstvo corporations to communicate with each other.

In the late 1970s, zemstvos were introduced into 35 out of 59 Russian provinces.

2.4 City reform (in continuation of the Zemstvo)

On June 16, 1870, the "City Regulations" were published, according to which elective self-government was introduced in 509 out of 1130 cities - city dumas elected for four years. The city duma (administrative body) elected its permanent executive body - the city government, which consisted of the mayor (also elected for four years) and several members. The mayor was simultaneously the chairman of both the city duma and the city government. City councils were under the control of government officials.

The right to elect and be elected to the city duma had the right only to residents with a property qualification (mainly owners of houses, commercial and industrial establishments, banks). The first electoral assembly included large taxpayers who contributed a third of city taxes, the second - smaller ones, paying another third of taxes, the third - all the rest. In the most major cities the number of vowels (elected) averaged 5.6% of the inhabitants. Thus, the bulk of the urban population was excluded from participation in urban self-government.

The competence of city self-government was limited to solving purely economic issues (improvement of cities, construction of hospitals, schools, care for the development of trade, fire prevention measures, city taxation).

2.5 Judicial reform

Among the reforms, one of the leading places undoubtedly belongs to the judicial reform. This deeply thought-out reform had a strong and direct influence on the entire system of state and public life. She introduced into it completely new, long-awaited principles - the complete separation of the judiciary from the administrative and accusatory, the publicity and openness of the court, the independence of judges, the advocacy and the adversarial procedure of legal proceedings.

The country was divided into 108 judicial districts.

The essence of judicial reform is as follows:

judgment is made oral and public;

judicial power is separated from accusatory power and belongs to the courts without any participation of administrative power;

the main form of legal proceedings is the adversarial process;

the case on the merits can be dealt with no more than in two instances. Two types of courts were introduced: world and general. The magistrate's courts, represented by a magistrate, tried criminal and civil cases, the damage in which did not exceed 500 rubles. Justices of the peace were elected by district zemstvo assemblies, approved by the Senate, and could only be dismissed own will or by court. The general court consisted of three instances: the district court, the judicial chamber, the Senate. The district courts heard serious civil suits and criminal (juror) cases. The Trial Chambers heard appeals and were the court of first instance for political and state affairs. The Senate was the highest judicial instance and could cancel the decisions of the courts submitted for cassation.

in cases of crimes involving punishments, connected with the deprivation of all or some of the rights and advantages of the state, the determination of guilt is provided to jurors elected from local residents of all classes;

clerical secrecy is eliminated;

both for pleading cases and for the defense of defendants, there are sworn attorneys at the courts, who are under the supervision of special councils composed of the same corporation.

Judicial statutes extended to 44 provinces and were introduced into them for more than thirty years.

In 1863, a law was passed that abolished corporal punishment with gauntlets, whips, whips and brands on the verdicts of civil and military courts. Women were completely exempted from corporal punishment. But the rods were kept for the peasants (according to the verdicts of the volost courts), for the exiled, hard labor and penal soldiers.

2.6 Military reform

The military administration has also undergone transformations.

Already at the beginning of the reign, military settlements were destroyed. Degrading corporal punishment was abolished.

Was drawn Special attention to level up general education army officers through the reform of military educational institutions. Military gymnasiums and cadet schools with a two-year term of study were created. They included persons of all classes.

In January 1874, all-class military service was proclaimed. The Supreme Manifesto on this occasion said: "Protection of the throne and the Fatherland is the sacred duty of every Russian subject ...". Under the new law, all young people who have reached the age of 21 are called up, but the government determines the required number of recruits every year, and draws only this number from the recruits (usually no more than 20-25% of recruits were called up for service). The call was not subject to the only son of the parents, the only breadwinner in the family, and also if the older brother of the recruit is serving or has served his service. Those enlisted in the service are listed in it: in the ground forces 15 years: 6 years in the ranks and 9 years in the reserve, in the navy - 7 years of active service and 3 years in the reserve. For those who received primary education the term of active service is reduced to 4 years, those who graduated from a city school - up to 3 years, a gymnasium - up to one and a half years, and those who had higher education - up to six months.

Thus, the result of the reform was the creation of a small peacetime army with a significant trained reserve in case of war.

The system of military command and control has undergone fundamental changes in order to strengthen control over the locations of troops. The result of this revision was approved on August 6, 1864 "Regulations on the military district administrations." Based on this "Regulations", nine military districts were initially organized, and then (August 6, 1865) four more. In each district, a chief commander was appointed, appointed at the direct highest discretion, bearing the title of commander of the military district. This position may also be assigned to the local governor-general. In some districts, an assistant to the commander of the troops is also appointed.

TO late XIX century, the number of the Russian army was (per 130 million population): officers, doctors and officials - 47 thousand, lower ranks - 1 million 100 thousand. Then these figures declined and reached 742,000 people, while the military potential was maintained.

In the 60s, at the insistence of the Ministry of War, railways were built to the western and southern borders of Russia, and in 1870 railway troops appeared. During the 70s, the technical re-equipment of the army was basically completed.

Caring for the defenders of the Motherland was manifested in everything, even in small things. For example, for more than a hundred years (until the 80s of the XIX century), boots were sewn without distinction between the right and left legs. It was believed that during a combat alarm, a soldier had no time to think about which boot to wear, on which leg.

Special treatment was given to the prisoners. Soldiers who were taken prisoner and were not in the service of the enemy, upon returning home, received a salary from the state for the entire time they were in captivity. The prisoner was considered a victim. And those who distinguished themselves in battles were waiting for military awards. Orders of Russia were especially highly valued. They gave such privileges that they even changed the position of a person in society.

2.7. Reforms in the field of education.

Public education also attracted the attention of the king. Of particular importance in this respect was the issuance of a new and general statute Russian universities July 18, 1863, in the development of which, on the initiative of the Minister of Education A.V. Golovkin, participated in a special commission at the main board of schools, composed mainly of professors from St. Petersburg University. The charter granted the universities a fairly broad autonomy: the election of the rector, deans, professors was introduced, the University Council received the right to independently resolve all scientific, educational, administrative and financial issues. And in connection with the development of universities, science began to develop at a rapid pace.

According to the Regulations on Primary Public Schools approved on June 14, 1864, the state, church and society (zemstvos and cities) were to jointly educate the people.

On November 19, 1864, a new regulation on gymnasiums appeared, which proclaimed equality in admission to all estates. But because of the high pay, it was available only to children of wealthy parents.

Attention was also paid to women's education. Already in the 60s, instead of the former closed women's institutions, open ones began to be arranged, with the admission of girls of all classes, and these new institutions were under the authority of the institutions of Empress Maria. Similar gymnasiums began to be approved by the Ministry of Public Education. In 1870, on May 24, a new Regulation on Women's Gymnasiums and Progymnasiums of the Ministry of Public Education was approved. The need for higher female education led to the establishment of pedagogical courses and higher female courses in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Kazan and Odessa.

2.8 Printing reforms

The reform of the press also had a profound and beneficial effect on the development of public consciousness.

In 1857, the government put the question of revising the censorship charter on the agenda. After the permission in 1858 to discuss in the press the problems of social life and the activities of the government, the number of periodicals (1860 - 230) and book titles (1860 -2058) increased sharply.

Already in 1862, the main department of censorship was closed and part of its duties was assigned to the Ministry of the Interior, and the other - directly to the Minister of Education.

On April 6, 1865, the “Temporary Rules on the Press” were approved, which exempted from preliminary censorship original works of at least ten pages, and translated works of at least twenty sheets, and some periodicals at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. For periodicals, a large cash deposit was additionally required. Official and scientific publications were exempted from censorship.

The "Temporary Rules on the Press" operated practically unchanged for 40 years.

2.9 Assassination of the emperor

Emperor Alexander II, who caused delight and surprise of enlightened people of the whole world, also met ill-wishers. Pursuing incomprehensible goals, the organizers created a number of attempts on the life of the sovereign, who was the pride and glory of Russia. On March 1, 1881, the sovereign, for whom a large population was ready to lay down his life, died a martyr's death from a villainous hand that threw an explosive projectile.

On this fateful day, Emperor Alexander II decided to make a divorce (the procedure for sending out daily guards for a shift). The path lay along a narrow street made up of a garden Grand Duchess, fenced with a stone fence in the height of a man and a lattice of the Catherine Canal. The terrain is very impassable, and if it is true that the sovereign chose it in view of the anonymous threats he received, then it is difficult to imagine why an ambush awaited him precisely on this path, except because they noticed a large, against the usual, number of police on it. Be that as it may, but when the sovereign's carriage reached the Theater Bridge, there was an explosion that broke open the back of the carriage, which immediately stopped. The sovereign emerged from it unharmed, but one of the escorts, galloping behind, and a sapper officer, walking along the sidewalk along the stone wall of the Mikhailovsky Garden, were mortally wounded by a thrown bomb. The sovereign's coachman, sensing trouble, turned to him from the goat: "Let's go, sovereign!" The chief of police, galloping behind, jumped out of the sleigh with the same request to go faster. But the emperor did not listen and took a few steps back: "I want to see my wounded." At this time, the crowd managed to stop a healthy kid who threw a bomb. The sovereign turned to him: “So it was you who wanted to kill me?” But he did not succeed in finishing, as the second bomb exploded in front of him, and he lowered himself with the words: “Help.” They rushed to him, lifted him up, put the chief of police in the sleigh (who himself received 45 wounds from small fragments of the bomb, but not a single fatal one) and drove him away. A little over an hour later, at 3:35 pm, Tsar Alexander II died in the Winter Palace.

The eminent Russian philosopher V.V. Rozanov called the assassination of the emperor "a mixture of Madness and Meanness."

The political testament of Alexander II was destroyed. Alexander III, in the consciousness of his past delusions and in an effort to return to the ideal of the kings of Moscow, turned to the people with a manifesto, which affirmed the inviolability of autocratic power and the exclusive responsibility of the autocrat before God.

The Russian Empire thus returned to the old traditional paths on which it had once found glory and prosperity.

Conclusion

Alexander II left a deep mark on history, he managed to do what other autocrats were afraid to take on - the liberation of the peasants from serfdom. We enjoy the fruits of his reforms to this day.

The internal reforms of Alexander II are comparable in scale only to the reforms of Peter I. The reformer tsar made truly grandiose transformations without social cataclysms and fratricidal war.

With the abolition of serfdom, commercial and industrial activity "resurrected", a stream of workers poured into the cities, and new areas for entrepreneurship opened up. Old ties were restored between cities and counties and new ones were created.

The fall of serfdom, the equalization of all before the court, the creation of new liberal forms of social life led to the freedom of the individual. And the feeling of this freedom aroused the desire to develop it. Dreams were created about the establishment of new forms of family and social life.

During his reign, Russia firmly strengthened its relations with the European powers and resolved numerous conflicts with neighboring countries.

The tragic death of the emperor greatly changed the further course of history, and it was this event that 35 years later led Russia to death, and Nicholas II to a martyr's wreath.

Reforms carried out by Alexander II in the period 1855-1881. and are still relevant today. He and his followers laid the foundations of the modern state administration system, state system, executive and judicial systems.

So, for example, it was he and his followers-reformers who introduced the basic principles of civil and criminal judicial investigation and process, such as: legality, administration of justice only by the court, respect for the honor and dignity of the individual, inviolability of the individual, protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in legal proceedings, the inviolability of the home, the presumption of innocence, the competitiveness of the parties, ensuring the citizen's right to defense, freedom to assess circumstances, and others.

It should be noted that the reformation by Alexander II affected almost all aspects of the public life of Russian society: political, economic and social. The rapid development of railway construction, facilities transport infrastructure contributed to an increase in industrial productivity and the formation of new industries: chemical, textile, mining, machine building, etc. It was during his reign that the current industrial centers of Russia and neighboring countries were formed: Donetsk, Kharkov and Nikolaev regions in Ukraine, the Volga and Ural regions in Russia, the Baku oil fields in the Caucasus, etc.

The development of transport, the armed forces, the economy brought the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. to the very peak of its power, when they began to reckon with it in international politics and perceive it as an international power equal in status to itself.

Alexander Nikolaevich, the eldest son of Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, ascended the throne after the death of Nicholas I.

Alexander Nikolaevich, in order to get acquainted with state affairs, from 1834 attended meetings of the Senate, from 1835 - and the Synod.

The most important and, perhaps, one of the most difficult reforms under Alexander II in Russia was the abolition of serfdom by the Regulations of February 19, 1861. It was for this that the emperor was nicknamed the Tsar-Liberator by the people.

Serfdom in Russia lasted much longer than in any other European country. Go to the abolition of serfdom, the government was able only in 1861. As early as 1856, the emperor, receiving representatives of the nobility, announced his intention to carry out a peasant reform.

In the economic sphere, there was an increase in the crisis of the landlord economy, based on the forced, extremely inefficient, labor of serfs. In the social sphere, there was an intensification of peasant protest against serfdom, which was expressed in an increase in unrest. So, for example, in 1831-1840. in Russia there were 328 peasant unrest; in 1841-1850 - 545 peasant unrest; in 1851-1860 - 1010 peasant unrest.

The defeat in the Crimean War showed that serfdom - main reason military-technical backwardness of the country. Fearing that Russia would be thrown back into the ranks of minor powers, to which our Fatherland in his work "Theory of Military Art" was attributed by the ideologist of the Marxist movement - F. Engels, the government embarked on the path of social, economic and political reforms.

On January 3, 1857, the government formed a secret committee to discuss measures to organize the life of the landlord peasants, but since it consisted of ardent serfs, it acted indecisively. However, after some time, noticing that peasant discontent was not abating, but, on the contrary, was growing, the committee came close to preparing a peasant reform. In February 1858, the Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee "on landlord peasants emerging from serfdom."

Most of the landowners opposed the reform. Some landowners agreed, but on different conditions: some defended the option of freeing the peasants without land and for the redemption of the peasant’s personal freedom, others, whose economy was more involved in market relations, or intended to rebuild it on an entrepreneurial basis, advocated a more liberal version of it - the release peasants with land with a relatively moderate redemption.

The preparation of the peasant reform took place in an atmosphere of socio-political upsurge in the country. In the 1850s two ideological centers were formed that led the revolutionary-democratic direction of Russian thought: A. I. Herzen and N. P. Ogarev, N. G. Chernyshevsky and N. A. Dobrolyubov in London.

There is a revival of the liberal opposition movement among those strata of the nobility who considered it necessary not only to abolish serfdom, but also to create all-class elected bodies of government, establish a public court, introduce publicity in general, carry out reforms in the field of education, etc.

By the end of August 1859, the draft "Regulations on Peasants" was prepared. At the end of January 1861, the project was submitted for consideration by the last instance - the State Council. Here a new “addition” was made to the project in favor of the landowners: at the suggestion of one of the largest landowners, P.P. Gagarin, a clause was introduced on the right of the landowner to immediately give the peasants a quarter of the allotment into ownership and free of charge. Such an allotment was called "quarter" or "donation".

February 19 "Regulations" (17 legislative acts) were signed by the king and received force. On the same day, the tsar also signed the Manifesto on the liberation of the peasants. According to the Manifesto, the peasants received complete personal freedom.

For centuries, peasants fought for their freedom. If earlier the landowner could take away all his property from the serf, forcibly marry, sell, separate from his family and simply kill, then with the release of the Manifesto on February 19, 1861, the peasant got the opportunity to independently conclude transactions, open enterprises, move to other estates, etc. . This provided an opportunity for the development of peasant entrepreneurship, contributed to an increase in the departure of peasants to work, and in general gave impetus to the development of the economy in post-reform Russia.

In accordance with the Manifesto of February 19, 1861, peasant self-government was introduced, that is, village and volost gatherings headed by village elders and volost foremen. The peasants were given the right to distribute land, lay out duties, determine the order of serving recruiting duties, accept them into the community and dismiss them from it.

A volost peasant court was introduced for petty crimes and property claims. The redemption of estates and field plots specified in the law for the peasants was impossible, so the government came to the aid of the peasantry by establishing a "redemption system". The Manifesto of February 19, 1861 states that the landowners will be able to receive a land loan as soon as their land relations with the peasants are arranged and a land allotment is established. The loan was issued to the landowner in profitable interest-bearing papers and was credited to the peasants as a public debt, which they had to repay within 49 years by "redemption payments".

The procedure for implementing the peasant reform required an agreement between the landowner and the peasant regarding the size of the allotment, as well as about the obligations of the peasant in relation to the landowner. This should have been stated in the "charter" within one year from the date of release. If the abolition of serfdom took place immediately, then the elimination of feudal, economic relations, which had been established for decades, dragged on for many years. According to the law, for another two years, the peasants were obliged to serve the same duties as under serfdom. The corvee was only slightly reduced and petty requisitions in kind were abolished. Prior to the transfer of peasants for ransom, they were in a temporarily obligated position, that is, they were obliged to perform corvée or pay dues according to the norms established by law, for the allotments provided to them. Since there was no definite period after which the temporarily liable peasants were to be transferred to compulsory redemption, their release was extended for 20 years (although by 1881 there were no more than 15% of them left). Despite the predatory nature of the 1861 reform for the peasants, its significance for the further development of the country was very great. This reform was a turning point in the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The liberation of the peasants contributed to the intensive growth of the labor force, and the granting of some civil rights to them contributed to the development of entrepreneurship. For the landlords, the reform ensured a gradual transition from feudal forms of economy to capitalist ones. 2. 2. Bourgeois reforms of Alexander II.

In accordance with the provisions of the reform, more than 22 million Russian peasants were liberated in the country, and a new order of public peasant management was also established.

The city reform of 1870 created all-estate bodies of local self-government. Administrative functions were assigned to the representative body of urban society - the Duma. Elections to the Duma took place every four years. The number of members of the Duma - vowels - was quite significant: depending on the number of voters in the city - from 30 to 72 people. There were more vowels in the capital's dumas: in Moscow - 180, St. Petersburg - 252. At a meeting of the duma, the executive body of public administration was elected - the council and the mayor, who was the chairman of the executive and administrative bodies.

Suffrage was based on the property qualification. The right to participate in elections, regardless of class, was given to owners of immovable property taxed in favor of the city, as well as persons paying certain commercial and industrial fees to it. Various departments, institutions, societies, companies, churches, monasteries also used the right to vote as a legal entity. Only men who had reached the age of 25 were allowed to take part in the voting personally. Women who had the necessary electoral qualifications could participate in elections only through their proxies. In fact, hired workers, the overwhelming majority of whom did not own real estate, as well as representatives of the educated part of the population, people of mental labor: engineers, doctors, teachers, officials, who mostly did not have their own houses, turned out to be deprived of the right to vote, but rented apartments.

The tasks of managing the municipal economy were entrusted to new public institutions. Issues of urban economy and improvement were transferred to their jurisdiction: water supply, sewerage, street lighting, transport, landscaping, urban planning problems, etc. City dumas were also obliged to take care of the “public welfare”: to assist in providing the population with food, to take measures against fires and other disasters, to help protect “public health” (set up hospitals, help the police in carrying out sanitary and hygienic measures), to take measures against begging, to promote the spread of public education (to establish schools, museums, etc.).

Judicial statutes of November 20, 1864 decisively broke with the pre-reform judiciary and legal proceedings. The new court was built on a non-estate basis, the irremovability of judges, the independence of the court from the administration, publicity, oral and competitive legal proceedings were proclaimed; when considering criminal cases in the district court, the participation of jurors was envisaged.

In accordance with the provisions of the Judicial Reform of 1864, the judiciary was separated from the executive, administrative and legislative powers, which balanced the branches of power in their relationship with each other. It should be recalled that the legal and democratic principles of the separation of powers laid down by J.J. Rousseau, C.L. Montesquieu, N.Machiavelli, M.A. Russian state right up to the reforms of Alexander II. This fact speaks of democracy in the development of the state - the greatest, perhaps, than in many European countries.

The system of jurisdiction was also changed. The world court was created in counties and cities to consider minor criminal cases. The magistrate's court had jurisdiction over cases for which a punishment in the form of a reprimand, remark or suggestion, a fine not exceeding 300 rubles, arrest not more than three months, or imprisonment not more than a year followed.

When considering criminal cases in the district court, the institution of jurors was provided. It was introduced despite the resistance of conservative forces and even the reluctance of Alexander II himself. They motivated their negative attitude towards the idea of ​​jurors by the fact that the people had not grown up to this yet, and such a trial would inevitably have a “political character”.

According to the judicial statutes, a juror could be a citizen of Russia aged 25 to 70, who was not under trial and investigation, who was not excluded from service in court and was not subjected to public condemnation for vices, who was not under guardianship, who did not suffer from mental illness, blindness, dumb and lived in this county for at least two years. A relatively high property qualification was also required.

The second instance for district courts was the Judicial Chamber, which had departments. Its chairman and members were approved by the king on the proposal of the Minister of Justice. It served as the appellate court for civil and criminal cases heard in district courts without a jury.

The Senate was regarded as the supreme court of cassation and had criminal and civil cassation departments. Senators were appointed by the king on the proposal of the Minister of Justice.

The prosecutor's office was reorganized, it was included in the judicial department, it was headed by the prosecutor general, who is also the minister of justice.

Chairmen of courts, prosecutors and judicial investigators were required to have a higher legal education or solid legal practice. Judges and judicial investigators were irremovable, they were assigned high salaries in order to secure honest professionals for judicial institutions.

The largest step towards the introduction of the principles of European justice was the establishment of the institution of the Bar.

On November 20, 1866, it was allowed "to print in all time-based publications about what happens in the courts." Court reports reporting on Russian and foreign trials are becoming a prominent phenomenon in the press.

The defense system of the state has also undergone significant changes.

When considering the military reform, one should take into account its dependence on the socio-economic situation in the country and the realities of the international situation of those years. Second half of the 19th century characterized by the formation of relatively stable military coalitions, which increased the threat of war and led to a rapid buildup of the military potential of all powers. Emerging in the middle of the XIX century. the decomposition of the state system of Russia was reflected in the state of the army. The unrest in the army was clearly revealed, there were cases of revolutionary actions, there was a decline in military discipline.

The first changes were made in the army already in the late 1850s - early 1860s. Military settlements were finally abolished.

Since 1862, a reform of local military administration began on the basis of the creation of military districts. A new system of military administration was being created, eliminating centralization and facilitating the rapid deployment of the army in case of war. The Military Ministry and the General Staff were reorganized.

In 1865, a military judicial reform began to be carried out. Its foundations were built on the principles of openness and competitiveness of the military court, on the rejection of the vicious system of corporal punishment. Three judicial instances were established: regimental, military district and chief military courts, which duplicated the main links of the general judicial system of Russia.

The development of the army largely depended on the availability of a well-trained officer corps. In the mid-1860s, more than half of the officers had no education whatsoever. It was necessary to resolve two important issues: significantly improve the training of officers and open access to officer ranks not only for nobles and non-commissioned officers who had served, but also for representatives of other classes. For this purpose, military and cadet schools were created with a short period of study - 2 years, in which people who graduated from secondary educational institutions were admitted.

On January 1, 1874, the charter on military service was approved. The entire male population over the age of 21 was subject to conscription. For the army, basically, a 6-year term of active service and a 9-year stay in the reserve were established (for the fleet - 7 and 3). Numerous benefits have been established. The only son of the parents, the only breadwinner in the family, some national minorities, etc. were exempted from active service. New system allowed to have a relatively small peacetime army and significant reserves in case of war.

The army has become modern - in terms of structure, weapons, education. This already affected the course of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

Changes in the system of culture and education also differed in depth and scale.

The economic process and the further development of social life in Russia were seriously hampered by the low educational level of the population and the lack of a system of mass training of specialists.

In 1864, a new provision was introduced on elementary public schools, according to which the state, church and society (zemstvos and cities) were to jointly educate the people. In the same year, the charter of gymnasiums was approved, proclaiming the availability of secondary education for all classes and religions.

In 1863, a university charter was adopted, which returned autonomy to universities: the election of the rector, deans, and professors was introduced; the university council received the right to independently decide all scientific, educational, administrative and financial issues. The results were not slow to affect: by 1870. primary schools there were 17.7 thousand of all types, about 600 thousand students studied in them; the number of university students increased by 1.5 times. It was, of course, not enough, but incomparably more than in the pre-reform period.

At this time, higher educational institutions for women (in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and Kyiv), 3 universities were founded - Novorossiysk (1865), Warsaw (1865) and Tomsk (1880).

In 1863, a provision was adopted on the exemption from preliminary censorship of the capital's periodicals, as well as some books.

The gradual abolition of excluding and restrictive laws in relation to schismatics and Jews was carried out. However, after the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. the government gradually shifted to a course of restricting reforms with a series of temporary regulations and ministerial circulars.

The consequence of this was the rise of the democratic movement in the country, which led to revolutionary terror.

On March 1, 1881, Emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded by a bomb thrown at him by the terrorist Grinevitsky. Alexander II is buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Internal unity and liberal orientation of the entire complex of reforms of the 1860s-1870s. allowed Russia to take an important step towards a bourgeois monarchy and introduce new legal principles into the functioning of the state mechanism; gave an impetus to the formation of civil society, caused a social and cultural upsurge in the country. These are undoubted achievements and positive results of the reforms of Alexander II.

peasant reform stalin alexander

Reforms of Alexander II (briefly)

Reforms of Alexander 2 (briefly)

The main essence of all the reforms of Alexander II was the general restructuring of the management system and society. Historians consider the abolition of serfdom, which took place in 1861, to be one of the priority reforms. The reform itself was prepared for several years and, despite the ardent resistance of the bourgeoisie and the nobility, was nevertheless implemented.

As a result of the peasant reform, every peasant was freed from serfdom. In addition, along with personal freedom, he received a small plot of land completely free of charge. On it he could build a house and work. Also, the peasant had the right to purchase an arable plot for little money - this could significantly replenish the state treasury.

The peasant also received some civil rights. So, they could apply for a transition to a different class, open industrial and commercial enterprises, as well as make purchases and sales.

Another very important Alexander reform was the so-called printing reform. IN Russian Empire there is such a thing as freedom of the press and publicity (relative). At the same time, the newspapers were allowed to discuss various events that the government carried out and even sometimes criticize the ministers, without, of course, affecting the Emperor himself.

We also touched upon the reform of the judicial system. The former type of court was replaced by a new one, proclaiming the general principle of unity for each class, as well as the principle of publicity and openness. A jury was formed, which allowed the judiciary to completely separate from the exercise of executive power and make independent decisions.

City and zemstvo reforms formed more open local governments. In large cities, courts appear, as well as the so-called local councils, which greatly simplified the processes of city management.

The military reform of Alexander II assumed the replacement of Peter's recruits with universal military service. This change made it possible to form a more extensive army, which can be assembled in the shortest possible time at the first danger. In addition, the level of military education has also grown significantly. New academies and schools were built.

Along with the construction and development of military institutions, educational institutions of a different kind began to appear. Thanks to the educational reform, the level of education of the Russian people began to grow rapidly.

(Great reforms) - reforms carried out in the 60-70s of the 19th century in the Russian Empire by Emperor Alexander 2 and affecting almost all spheres of state life.

Background and reasons for the reforms of Alexander 2

Russia longer than any other states remained a country with a feudal system and serfdom. By the middle of the 19th century, this type of state had finally become obsolete, and the conflict that had been brewing since the 18th century reached its peak. It was necessary to urgently change both the state structure and, mainly, the economic system.

With the development of technology and the advent of industrial machinery, the need for manual labor However, the landowners still actively used the labor of the peasants, taxing them with huge taxes. As a result, the peasantry was ruined everywhere, widespread strikes and hunger strikes began, which led to a significant decline in the serf economy and the income of the landowners. The state, in turn, also received less profit from the ruined landlords, and the treasury suffered. This situation did not suit either side.

The developing industry also suffered, because due to the widespread enslavement of the peasants, there was not enough free labor force that could service the machines in the factories.

In 1859-1861, peasant revolts and revolutionary sentiments reached their peak. The situation was also aggravated by the lost Crimean War, which finally undermined the confidence of citizens in the tsar and the government, which showed its complete failure, both economic and military. In such an environment, talk began about the need to abolish serfdom and new reforms that would help the country get out of the crisis.

Emperor Alexander 2, who came to the throne in 1855, in one of his speeches to the nobility, declared the need for the speedy elimination of serfdom from above (by decree of the sovereign), otherwise it would happen from below (revolution).

The era of great reforms began.

The main reforms of Alexander 2

Among the main political reforms of Alexander 2 are:

• Peasant reform (1861);
• Financial reform (1863);
• Education Reform (1863);
• Zemstvo reform (1864);
• Judicial Reform (1864);
• Reform of the state self-government (1870);
• Military reform (1874);

The essence of all the reforms of Alexander 2 was the restructuring of society and the management system and the formation of a new type of state. One of the most important reforms can be called the abolition of serfdom in 1861. The reform was being prepared for several years and, despite the resistance of the nobility and the bourgeoisie, was nevertheless carried out. As a result of the peasant reform, all peasants were freed from serfdom - along with personal freedom, they also received a small plot of land completely free of charge, on which they could live and work. In addition, a peasant could buy an arable plot for himself for a small amount - this contributed quite a lot of money to the state treasury. In addition, the peasants received a number of civil rights: they could make purchase and sale transactions, could open trade and industrial enterprises, and apply for a transition to another estate. They were also freed from administrative and legal dependence on their former landlords.

Another reform of Alexander 2 is the reform of the press. In the Empire, such a concept as publicity and freedom of the press (relative) appeared, newspapers could discuss the activities carried out by the government and even criticize individual ministers, however, without affecting the emperor. The Iron Curtain was also lifted and people were free to leave the country.

The judicial system has also changed. The old type of court was replaced by a new one, which proclaimed the principle of unity for all estates and the principle of publicity and openness. Jury trial appeared, which allowed the judiciary to separate from the executive branch and make more independent decisions.

Zemstvo and city reforms formed open bodies of local self-government, courts and local councils appeared in cities - this greatly simplified the process of city self-government.

The military reform involved replacing the Peter's system of recruits with universal military service. This allowed the creation of a larger army that could be mobilized at short notice when needed. The level of military education has also increased due to the growth of military schools and academies.

Along with the development of military academies, other educational institutions began to appear. Thanks to the educational reform, the general level of education in society began to grow rapidly.

Results and consequences of the reforms of Alexander 2

The political and financial reforms carried out by Alexander 2 are not in vain called great. Thanks to them, the foundation was laid for the formation of a new type of society in the Russian Empire - an industrial society of the capitalist type. The state became more democratic, citizens began to have more equal rights, independent of class, as well as the opportunity for an honest and open trial. The press became freer, allowing citizens to have the opportunity to debate and denounce government decisions.

The emancipation of the peasants and the reforms in the economy allowed the country to overcome the crisis and create the conditions for further successful growth, taking into account the new economic realities.

In general, the country has experienced significant changes that have helped it embark on a new path of development, more successful and modern.