How far do the views in the Source A and B differ regarding the benefits of “Working towards the fuhrer”? (12 marks)
How far did the defeat in the Crimean War contribute to Alexander II as a reformer? (24 marks)
Alexander II had come to the throne in 1855, during the closing days of the Crimean war. The war had gone badly for Russia, and this set the tone of Alexander’s reign, but was it just the Crimean war which started the chain of reform? Or was it already existing pressures?
The Crimean war had highlighted the inadequacies in the Russian military. An example of this would be the lack of war materiel, such as rifles. The Crimean conflict had gone from bad to worse for the Russian military. The largely serf conscript army of the Empire, was poorly trained and poorly disciplined, this led to a number of mass desertions from the battle grounds, with almost The siege of Sevastopol was a sad and crippling defeat for the Russian empire, losing more than a 5th of its forces in the region. Alexander saw this as a triumph for the free troops of Britain and France, and a humiliating defeat for his conscripted and enslaved army. The Crimean war had also led to the eventual realisation that technological inferiority on the side of the Russians led to their defeat, The minister, Dmitri Milyutin, is described as stating quite bluntly, that “Russia must modernise, and it must build railways”. This is also a reference to the multitude of supply problems endured by the military, due to the lack of sufficient infrastructure such as railways. This makes the Crimean war a contributing factor to the Emancipation of the serfs, which defined Alexander II as a reformer.
However, there was increasing criticism of the institution of serfdom. The Russian empire had, since the reign of Ivan III, been a largely serf based rural nation. 85% of the populations at this time were peasants and most of those, serfs. A serf was someone who was owned by the Land lord, usually a member of the nobility, the serf would work there land until there death, with very little freedoms and certainly no education.
Alexander II had come to the throne in 1855, during the closing days of the Crimean war. The war had gone badly for Russia, and this set the tone of Alexander’s reign, but was it just the Crimean war which started the chain of reform? Or was it already existing pressures?
The Crimean war had highlighted the inadequacies in the Russian military. An example of this would be the lack of war materiel, such as rifles. The Crimean conflict had gone from bad to worse for the Russian military. The largely serf conscript army of the Empire, was poorly trained and poorly disciplined, this led to a number of mass desertions from the battle grounds, with almost The siege of Sevastopol was a sad and crippling defeat for the Russian empire, losing more than a 5th of its forces in the region. Alexander saw this as a triumph for the free troops of Britain and France, and a humiliating defeat for his conscripted and enslaved army. The Crimean war had also led to the eventual realisation that technological inferiority on the side of the Russians led to their defeat, The minister, Dmitri Milyutin, is described as stating quite bluntly, that “Russia must modernise, and it must build railways”. This is also a reference to the multitude of supply problems endured by the military, due to the lack of sufficient infrastructure such as railways. This makes the Crimean war a contributing factor to the Emancipation of the serfs, which defined Alexander II as a reformer.
However, there was increasing criticism of the institution of serfdom. The Russian empire had, since the reign of Ivan III, been a largely serf based rural nation. 85% of the populations at this time were peasants and most of those, serfs. A serf was someone who was owned by the Land lord, usually a member of the nobility, the serf would work there land until there death, with very little freedoms and certainly no education.