What reforms did Alexander II attempt and with what results?
Alexander reformed many things about Russia. Socially, he freed the serfs. But they had to buy their freedom and many could not afford the 50 year repayments. The land was not given to them, it was given to the village council – the Mir. The Mir then divided up the land according to who had the greatest need – so a family with a lot of children would get more land than a family with one child. If, however, someones children died, their land was re-allocated to others. All land was re-approtioned on a regular (I think 5 year( basis), so there was no incentive to improve the land. Economically he drew up plans for a massive investment in railways – (put in place under Alexander III). The emancipation, he hoped would lead to greater agricultural output, in order to finance the railways, and the beginnings of Russia’s industrialisation. Politically he instituted new provincial councils – zemstvos, and town councils, he also reformed the army & navy, along the British model. He hoped that h
