Jaffer Zaidi March 15, 1997

The above belief of Alexander II on improving the structure of the state when necessary is definitely an accurate explanation of his domestic policy. Throughout his reign, he attempted to institute several reforms which would accomplish his ultimate goal of maintaining a strong Russian state. Consequently, in order to relate the above statement to his domestic policy, it is important to look the five main reforms which he carried out: the emancipation of the serfs, the creation of local assemblies, or Zemstvos, the establishment of the rule of law, and economic reforms.

In March of 1861, by Imperial decree, Alexander II declared the emancipation of all serfs in Russia, a population of approximately 40 million people. His reason for doing so, as he stated to a gathering of nobility in Moscow, was that it would be "better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait till it begins to abolish itself from below." Obviously, this shows that he believed that the emancipation of the serfs was in fact a necessary and inevitable reform, as if he did not do it, the serfs themselves would rise together in what would probably be a bloody revolution (in the past 6 years alone there had been 474 uprisings), thus threatening the security of the Russian state. At the same time, his belief that he had to improve the structure of the Russian state might have also meant that he felt obligated to do so in order to protect the rule of the Romanovs. By emancipating the serfs, he was eliminating the possibility that the serfs would rise and threaten monarchical rule (and thus Romanov rule), with respect to their freedom. Thus, the above statement concerning Alexander II’s belief explains his foreign policy in this respect. Noted Historian Anthony Wood shared this opinion in his book Europe 1815-1960, when he stated that the reform "put in a nutshell the assumptions on which he was to govern."

With the emancipation of the serfs, as Anthony Wood once again stated in his above mentioned book, "the change in the legal relationship between landlord and peasant was bound to involve modifications in local government". Now that the serfs were free, they would almost certainly be looking for some form of participation in the government. Thus, Alexander II felt that it was necessary to establish representative assemblies, known as Zemstvos, at the district and provincial levels. Furthermore, Alexander felt that the Zemstvos were also needed to carry out the other reforms which he implemented on a local level. Thus, the above statement is an accurate explanation of his domestic policy.

Alexander II’s next major reform was the introduction of the principle of the rule of law throughout Russia, and basic judicial reforms in 1864. Alexander II was aware that the judicial system before he came into power promoted anything but justice for the lower classes- his view was definitely a unique on in comparison to past Tsars, but it can be explained by his Western education. Furthermore, the status quo made it easy for judges to be bribed, as they were paid relatively low salaries. His main concern here was simply that the discrepancies in the judicial system obviously served only to infuriate the lower classes, thus creating much anti-judicial and governmental sentiment. Thus, the improvement of structural reform was necessary. By instituting a jury system in the Russian courts, and by raising the salaries of the judges, Alexander II almost completely eliminated the problem. Thus, this aspect of Alexander’s reforms also shows that the above statement explains his foreign policy accurately.

When Alexander II took over the throne as ‘the Father to the Russian people’ in 1855, the economic situation of Russia was deteriorating rapidly. The Crimean War, which ended soon after he claimed the throne, cost Russia much more than initially expected, as the war itself lasted longer than expected. As for the Russian economic structure itself, the various trade barriers prevented businessmen from profiting form foreign trade as their counterparts in the rest of Europe did. Furthermore, the status quo did not assist the population in starting businesses, as there were no credit institutions to do so. Alexander knew that with Russia’s weak economy, there was no way that it could compete with the other powers, and perhaps even no way for her to remain a secure state, thus making her vulnerable to attack from the outside, and inside (local uprisings) as well. Thus, structural reforms of Russia’s economy were necessary to maintain a strong Russian state. As he believed it was his duty, Alexander abolished a considerable number of trade barriers, and established several state banks and other credit institutions.

In conclusion, much of Tsar Alexander II’s domestic policy was directed towards various structural reforms of the state which he felt were necessary. Thus, the above mentioned statement is an accurate explanation of his domestic policy.