Editing History of Russia (section)

===Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom===
{{Further|Government reforms of Alexander II of Russia}}
When [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] came to the throne in 1855, the demand for reform was widespread. The most pressing problem confronting the Government was [[Russian serfdom|serfdom]]. In 1859, there were 23 million [[serfs]] (out of a total population of 67&nbsp;million).<ref>[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2007/0293/nauka02.php Excerpt from "Enserfed population in Russia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722042430/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2007/0293/nauka02.php |date=22 July 2017 }} published at ''Демоскоп Weekly'', No 293 – 294, 18 June 1 July 2007</ref> In anticipation of civil unrest that could ultimately foment a revolution, Alexander II chose to preemptively abolish serfdom with the [[Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|emancipation reform]] in 1861. Emancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities, stimulated industry, and the middle class grew in number and influence. The freed peasants had to buy land, allotted to them, from the landowners with state assistance. The Government issued special bonds to the landowners for the land that they had lost, and collected a special tax from the peasants, called redemption payments, at a rate of 5% of the total cost of allotted land yearly. All the land turned over to the peasants was owned collectively by the ''mir'', the village community, which divided the land among the peasants and supervised the various holdings.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first = Terence |editor-last= Emmons |title = Emancipation of the Russian Serfs|date = 1970|publisher = Holt, Rinehart and Winston|isbn = 9780030773600}}</ref><ref>David Moon, ''The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia: 1762-1907'' (Routledge, 2014).</ref><ref>[[Evgeny Finkel]], Scott Gehlbach, and Tricia D. Olsen. "Does reform prevent rebellion? Evidence from Russia's emancipation of the serfs." ''Comparative Political Studies'' 48.8 (2015): 984-1019. [http://www.econ.yale.edu/~egcenter/GelbachFinkelPaper.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801193855/http://www.econ.yale.edu/~egcenter/GelbachFinkelPaper.pdf |date=1 August 2020 }}</ref>

[[File:Russian Empire (1867).svg|thumb|The Russian Empire in 1867]]

Alexander was responsible for numerous reforms besides abolishing serfdom. [[Judicial reform of Alexander II|He reorganized the judicial system]], setting up elected local judges, abolishing capital punishment, promoting local self-government through the zemstvo system, imposing universal military service, ending some of the privileges of the nobility, and promoting the universities.<ref>W. Bruce Lincoln, '' The Great Reforms: Autocracy, Bureaucracy, and the Politics of Change in Imperial Russia'' (1990).</ref>

In foreign policy, he [[Alaska Purchase|sold Alaska]] to the United States in 1867. He modernized the military command system. He sought peace, and joined with Germany and Austria in the League of the Three Emperors that stabilized the European situation. The Russian Empire expanded in Siberia and in the Caucasus and made gains at the expense of China. Faced with an uprising in Poland in 1863, he stripped that land of its separate Constitution and incorporated it directly into Russia. To counter the rise of a revolutionary and anarchistic movements, he sent thousands of dissidents into exile in Siberia and was proposing additional parliamentary reforms when he was assassinated in 1881.<ref>{{cite book|first = W. E.|last = Mosse|title = Alexander II and the Modernization of Russia|date = 1958}}</ref>
[[File:The defeat of Shipka Peak, Bulgarian War of Independence.JPG|thumb|left|The Russian and Bulgarian [[Battle of Shipka Pass|defence of Shipka Pass]] against Turkish troops was crucial for the independence of Bulgaria]]
In the late 1870s Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|The Russo-Turkish War]] was popular among the Russian people, who supported the independence of their fellow Orthodox Slavs, the Serbs and the Bulgarians. Russia's victory in this war allowed a number of Balkan states to gain independence: [[United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|Romania]], [[Principality of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Principality of Montenegro|Montenegro]]. In addition, [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] de facto became independent. However, the war increased tension with [[Austria-Hungary]], which also had ambitions in the region. The Tsar was disappointed by the results of the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, but abided by the agreement.<ref>Riasonovsky pp. 386–387</ref>

During this period Russia [[Russian conquest of Central Asia|expanded its empire into Central Asia]], conquering the khanates of [[Khanate of Kokand|Kokand]], [[Emirate of Bukhara|Bukhara]], and [[Khanate of Khiva|Khiva]], as well as the [[Transcaspian Oblast|Trans-Caspian region]].<ref>Riasonovsky p. 349</ref> Russia's advance in Asia led to British fears that the Russians planned aggression against British India. Before 1815 London worried Napoleon would combine with Russia to do that in one mighty campaign. After 1815 London feared Russia alone would do it step by step. However historians report that the Russians never had any intention to move against India.<ref>David Fromkin, "The Great Game in Asia" ''Foreign Affairs'' 58#4 (1980), pp. 936-951 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718202141/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 |date=18 July 2021 }}</ref>