Tsar Alexander II, who had succeeded Nicholas…

Alexander has initiated substantial reforms in education, the government, the judiciary, and the military.

In 1861, Alexander had proclaimed the emancipation of about twenty million privately held serfs.

Local commissions had effected emancipation by giving land and freedom to the serfs.

The land allotted to the peasants has been bought from the owners with the State's assistance.

The government has issued bonds to the landowners for this purpose and collected redemption payments from the peasants at the rate of five percent of the total cost yearly.

The government had envisioned that the fifty thousand former landlords who possessed estates of more than one point one square kilometers would thrive without serfs and will continue to provide loyal political and administrative leadership in the countryside.

The government also had expected that peasants would produce sufficient crops for their own consumption and for export sales, thereby helping to finance most of the government's expenses, imports, and foreign debt.

Reforms of local government closely follow emancipation.