Alexander II’s Act of Emancipation frees Russia's…

Alexander II’s Act of Emancipation frees Russia's serfs in March 1861, amounting to the liquidation of serf dependence previously suffered by Russian peasants, ushering in an era of reform, and causing the influx of large numbers of poor into the capital.

Tenements are erected on the outskirts, and nascent industry springs up, surpassing Moscow in population and industrial growth.