How Far Do You Agree That Alexander Ii Brought Little Change to Russia?

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How far do you agree that Alexander II brought little change to Russia? Alexander II can be seen to historians as bringing little change to Russia. I will be arguing to see if that statement is correct. I will be writing about the abolishment of serfdom, creation of Zemstva and the trial by jury. In 1861 Alexander issued his Emancipation Manifesto that proposed 17 legislative acts that would free the serfs in Russia. Alexander announced that personal serfdom would be abolished and all peasants would be able to buy land from their landlords. The State would advance the money to the landlords and would recover it from the peasants in 49 annual sums known as redemption payments. This earned him the title, Tsar Liberator. Serfdom was the system in Russia at the time. Most of the population worked for little wages, if any, for the few nobility and landowners. The serfs did not own land; they just worked it for someone else. These serfs lived in rotten conditions with no education. There only desire was for land. The abolishment of serfdom came with the Emancipation Manifesto on March 3, 1861. The Emancipation Manifesto proposed 17 legislative acts that included the freedom of the serfs. Now, all peasants would be able to buy land from their landlords. The system worked through the advancement of money to the landlords and the recovering of it from the peasants in redemption payments. There were however some issues with the freedom of the surfs. Firstly they were still tied with the land meaning that they weren’t technically free. Also to back this up, they had to ask for permission to move land. This means that they weren’t technically freed and they couldn’t be proper citizens. Linking back to the question this shows that he brought little freedom as the surfs weren’t free as they were tied to the land and they had to ask for permission to move. Another reform
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