Russia's Defeat In Russia After The Crimean War
Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War was the last straw that broke the camel’s back and started the demise of the old to spark the new modernization of Russia in both a social and economic way. The Crimean War lasted from 1853-1856 and was caused by a breakdown of the balance of power in Europe. Factors that also caused the conflict were the competition for land in the middle east and Russia’s desires to expand into the European territories then controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The war was devastating for Russia. Their military efforts were squashed by the new technologies their western enemies were using, especially artiltery. Russian forces lost 450,000 soldiers and they inevitably lost to the combined forces of France, Great Britain, The
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The biggest and most important was the abolishment of serfdom and the switch from a country based on slavery to one closer to a capitalistic state. But the visions of freedom were very different from the reality. Serfdom was abolished in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II, it was a bold move but a well received one. He was hailed as the “Tsar Liberator”. There was backlash, the conservative nobility was afraid that without free labor their fortunes would diminish. But this did not change the Tsars mind. He believed that there was no other option to freedom. He famously stated in a speech “Either we will emancipate the serfs from above, or they will emancipate themselves from below.” But the idea of freedom for the serfs was much different from the execution. Once they were given citizenship rights the peasants had to buy the land they once worked on, and for very high prices. This put them into huge amounts of debt and not far from where they used to be. This failure of social change in Russia left the country in a state of distrust and dissatisfaction with the government that would later lead to sympathy and support for the communist movement and to its eventual takeover. Although the social reform was not well done, those and the actions taken around economics and modernization proved to be much more
The biggest and most important was the abolishment of serfdom and the switch from a country based on slavery to one closer to a capitalistic state. But the visions of freedom were very different from the reality. Serfdom was abolished in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II, it was a bold move but a well received one. He was hailed as the “Tsar Liberator”. There was backlash, the conservative nobility was afraid that without free labor their fortunes would diminish. But this did not change the Tsars mind. He believed that there was no other option to freedom. He famously stated in a speech “Either we will emancipate the serfs from above, or they will emancipate themselves from below.” But the idea of freedom for the serfs was much different from the execution. Once they were given citizenship rights the peasants had to buy the land they once worked on, and for very high prices. This put them into huge amounts of debt and not far from where they used to be. This failure of social change in Russia left the country in a state of distrust and dissatisfaction with the government that would later lead to sympathy and support for the communist movement and to its eventual takeover. Although the social reform was not well done, those and the actions taken around economics and modernization proved to be much more