Rise And Fall Of Serfdom
Serfdom had become the great moral and political issue for the Russian government by the 1840’s. Then the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 brought crisis, arising out of a dispute with France over who should protect Christian Shrines in the Ottoman empire. This war resulted in a huge loss for Russia due to its lack of industrialization. This was a huge turning point for Russia as it raised massive peasant rebellion and the need to industrialize. In 1855 Nicolas I died, handing the throne to a new Russian Czar, Alexander II. Later in 1861, Alexander freed the serfs in hopes of the emergence of a middle class. He believed after emancipating the serfs some would succeed to generate an entrepreneurial