Alexander II and the Great Reforms: Emancipation and Empire

Tsar Alexander II, the ‘Tsar-Liberator,’ freed 23 million serfs in 1861, but his Great Reforms stretched far beyond emancipation. This episode unpacks the Emancipation Edict, the zemstvo local government system, judicial reforms that introduced trial by jury, and the military overhaul led by Dmitry Milyutin. We explore the tensions between reform and autocracy, the rise of the intelligentsia, the Polish January Uprising of 1863, and the assassination attempts that culminated in the People’s Will bombing on March 1, 1881. Along the way, we meet figures like Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Katkov, and Vera Zasulich, and examine why Alexander’s reforms, though transformative, failed to prevent revolutionary violence. A story of hope, backlash, and a tsar who freed millions yet died at the hands of those who wanted more. #AlexanderII #TsarLiberator #EmancipationOfTheSerfs #GreatReforms #Zemstvo #JudicialReform1864 #MilyutinReforms #PolishUprising1863 #People'sWill #NarodnayaVolya #VeraZasulich #AlexanderHerzen #MikhailKatkov #RussianHistory #19thCentury #ReformAndReaction #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo