Alexander II’s greatest reform was the emancipation of the serfs. 90% of the Russian population at the time lived in serfdom, and as Russia began to become more and more modern, it was clear that the benefits outweigh the costs of freeing the serfs. Alexander II’s greatest aim was to modernize Russia. He would do this through giving more power to the people, Urbanizing and industrializing Russia, and to prevent uprising in the country. He was mostly successful in this goal, but he was never able to fully achieve it.
Freeing the Serfs his first step in giving power to the people. As mentioned previously, 90% of Russia lived under serfdom. As serfs, they had no power or freedom. However, simply freeing the serfs was not an option, had he done that, he would have effectively made the vast majority of Russia’s population homeless. About
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He made the nobility and landowners sell their land to the Serfs, who would then pay the landowners off over the course of a few years. But this reform also had a period of “temporary obligation” , this period gave Serfs control of their land, but still required them to pay their landowners, which let landowners keep their Serfs for longer, even stretching to twenty years in some places. The landowners and nobility were the only other people in Russia who held power and money, meaning that the Tsar had to appease them to still hold power. It is for this reason that he was not immediately successful in freeing the serfs. This reform was successful in giving the power to the people, which was the main purpose. Alexander II was the first tsar to change and modernize Russian