Big reforms

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150 Years of Great Reforms (commemorative coin of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation from 2014)
"Justice and leniency should rule in the courts" (center)
Alexander II
The abolition of serfdom in Russia (picture from 1914 from the Slav Epic by Alfons Mucha )

The Great Reforms ( Russian Великие реформы / Velikije reformy , scientific transliteration Velikie reformy ) were unprecedented reforms of the Russian Empire , which were implemented in the reign of Emperor Alexander II (born 1818, ruled 1855–1881) in the 1860s and 1870s. The most important was the law repealing the serfdom followed (peasant reform of 1861), which further reforms. Together, they are mostly described as the Great Reforms .

history

In his efforts to modernize his empire, the tsar took the example of France and the Prussian reforms in Germany . Wassili Andrejewitsch Schukowski (1783-1852), the Russian poet and tutor of the Tsarevich , is said to have been of great influence on him, so that the liberal reforms are sometimes attributed to his upbringing. In his biography, Henri Troyat describes Alexander II's emotional state in view of the reforms he has begun: “He felt like a lumberjack in the Russian forest. Felling, cutting out, clearing. "

The peasant reform of 1861 was followed by local government reforms, reforms to finance and education, to the judicial system, to urban self-government and a military reform.

The reforms under way put an end to a series of long-drawn-out socio-economic problems and paved the way for the development of capitalism in Russia. They expanded the boundaries of civil society and guaranteed the independence and publicity of the judiciary.

At the end of the reign of Alexander II, some reforms (judiciary, local administration reform) were restricted under the influence of the conservatives. Counter-reforms initiated by his successor Alexander III. were initiated also affected the provisions of the peasant reform and the reform of the city government.

The posthumously published diary of the Russian interior minister Pyotr Alexandrowitsch Valujew (1815–1890) is an important source of the reforms from the perspective of government circles. Alexander II had asked him to write a memorandum on the reforms.

The reform work was ultimately not completed.

Individual reforms

  • Elimination of military settlements (1857)
  • Abolition of Serfdom (1861)
  • Financial Reform (1863)
  • University reform (1863)
  • Local government reform (1864)
  • Judicial Reform (1864)
  • Censorship Reform (1865)
  • City government reform (1870)
  • Secondary education reform (1871)
  • Military Reform (1874)

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ cf. Julius Hasselblatt: The judicial reform of 1864 in: Russian Revue. Monthly magazine for customers of Russia , edited by Carl Röttger. VIII. Volume. St. Petersburg 1876, p. 306.
  2. ↑ cf. H. Troyat, p. 97
  3. ↑ H. Troyat, p. 99 f.
  4. ↑ После реформ: Правительственная реакция // Троицкий Н. А. Россия в XIX веке: Курс лекций. - М .: Высшая школа, 1997.
  5. ↑ Контрреформы 1889–1892 гг .: Содержание контрреформ // Троицкий Н. А. Россия в XIX веке: Курс лекций. - М .: Высшая школа, 1997.
  6. ↑ cf. H. Troyat, p. 104 f.
  7. ↑ Wojennyje posselenija ( Russian Военные поселения , scientific transliteration Voennye poselenija )
  8. ↑ Semskaja reforma ( Russian Земская реформа , scientific transliteration Zemskaja reforma ). - See also city dumas (Городская дума) and Zemstvos .

literature

Web links

Great reforms (alternative names of the lemma)
Reforms of Alexander II; Major reforms; the great reforms; Velikiye reformy; Velikie reformy