Compare and contrast economic policies adopted by Alexander II (1855-81) and Alexander III (1881-94) - Essay Example

The Russian society was facing a heap of troubles at the time related to social injustice and high levels of poverty. His first major reform came a year after taking control of Russia in 1856 in the aftermath of the Treaty of Paris (Nsspress). A social system that had great economic implications called the selfdom was abolished by Alexander II following the treaty but it took him five years to officially accomplish the task due to resistance. Finally in 1861 the Edict of Emancipation abolished Serfdom.

The serfdom was a labor system that created the lowest feudal class which was attached to a piece of land by a lord and required to perform labor in return for legal or customary rights (Freedictionary, 208). The noble concept of Alexander II became an economic opportunity for his regime which instead of giving the former serfs the land they hard for, Alexander II took away land from them landowners and gave that land to the former serfs in exchange for monthly payments to pay off the land to him and his government at extremely high interest rates.

Despite the negative implication for the poor peasants of having to pay for the new land the move essential create a redistribution of 1/3 of privately own land by the rich into the hands of the poor (Beyondbooks, 2007). The money help Alexander finance a variety of military conflicts such as the war with Poland in the 1860’s. The fiscal move created greater poverty among the peasant population which unable to pay off the monthly land payment to the government. One major reform that helped the economy in the long run even though its effects were not really beneficiary for the citizens during his reign was judicial reform.

Any economy system needs a solid foundation to help built economic activity since a legal platform protects merchants, creates stability for business activity and attracts investors into a region. Alexander II brought to Russia European based legal