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The Russian Judicial Reform Of 1864; Its Origins And Development, 1825-1864, Stephen Wilson Mcintire

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The Russian Judicial Reform of 1864 has been hailed as one of Alexander II's “Great Reforms.” For it, along with the emancipation of the serfs, the creation of the zemstvos and, somewhat later, the military reforms, he inherited the appellation “Tsar-Liberator.” Most historians have regarded him as an enlightened and liberal monarch who intentionally set out to change fundamentally the constitutional foundations of the Russian Empire. In contrast, these same historians have consistently viewed his father and predecessor, Nicholas I, as a reactionary opponent of all change. Once freed from Nicholas’ tyrannical rule, the Russian people were then able to …