Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Europe that took him to Copenhagen, Amster-
dam, Paris, and Berlin. He again surprised his
cultured European hosts by the informality of
his manner, as when he met the seven-year-old
French king Louis XV and picked him up and
embraced him. The tour was far less successful
than the first one, resulting only in the Treaty of
Amsterdam, a minor personal agreement of
friendship between the Russian czar and the
French and Prussian kings that involved no mil-
itary obligations. Having failed in his attempt to
persuade the French from supporting Sweden,
he returned to St. Petersburg in October 1717.
would organize the delivery of practical services
such as schools, roads, medical care, and estab-
lish food reserves. The judicial reforms (1864)
were in the long run perhaps the most successful
of all, introducing modern justice to a system that
was archaic, secretive, and extremely vulnerable
to corruption. The judicial reforms made the
judiciary an independent branch of government,
reduced to two the number of legal procedures
for conducting cases, and introduced trial by jury
for criminal offenses and justices of the peace for
minor cases. The municipal reform of 1870 reor-
ganized urban government and introduced the
zemstvo
model to many towns. The military
reforms of 1874 are generally considered the last
of the Great Reforms. Military service to be deter-
mined by lot was extended to all Russians, not
just the lower classes, and the onerous terms of
pre-reform Russia reduced from 25 to six. Other
changes that aimed at improving the quality of
the professional corps also followed. The Great
Reforms were controversial in their time, espe-
cially criticized by an impatient younger genera-
tion that felt the reforms did not go far enough.
Nevertheless, they introduced important changes
to Russian life and set the tone for Russia's devel-
opment in the next half-century, even as subse-
quent rulers sought to roll back many of their
provisions.
Great Reforms
A series of individual reforms issued by the gov-
ernment of
ALEXANDER II
, the Great Reforms
sought to modernize Russia after the debacle of
the
CRIMEAN WAR
. The centerpiece of the Great
Reforms was the
EMANCIPATION ACT
of 1861,
which abolished
SERFDOM
in Russia. The terms of
Emancipation were somewhat complicated, as
the government sought to balance a number of
interests: concern for the status of the gentry, fear
of the social upheaval that might accompany
emancipation, and reluctance to give former serfs
large quantities of land outright. Thus peasants
only received half of the land that they had culti-
vated for their former masters. The land was to
be bought through “redemption payments” that
were spread over a period of 49 years. Peasants
did not receive the land as individuals but rather
as members of a peasant commune that was col-
lectively responsible for fulfilling a village's obli-
gations to the state. Other reforms followed. The
abolition of serfdom made it necessary to address
the issue of rural self-government, a role that had
essentially been exercised by the landowners
themselves. In January 1864 the government
introduced a new institution, known as the
ZEM
-
STVO
,
at the district and provincial levels. Repre-
sentation in the
zemstvo
(pl.
zemstva
) was to be
decided on the basis of indirect election that
apportioned delegates according to landowner-
ship. The
zemstva
were to appoint boards that
Griboedov, Aleksandr Sergeevich
(1795-1829)
writer
A precocious genius who entered Moscow Uni-
versity at the age of 11, Griboedov left a literary
legacy that consists mainly of one extraordinary
play,
Woe from Wit,
considered to be Russia's first
comedy of manners. By the age of 16 Griboedov
had completed university studies in literature,
law, natural science, and mathematics and stud-
ied four languages. His plans to earn a doctorate
were interrupted by Napoleon's invasion, and
Griboedov served in the army, 1812-16. An early
interest in the theater found expression in sev-
eral translations and adaptations of foreign plays,
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