| Annotation |
The article examines the socio-political reforms carried out by Alexander II in
the 60–70s. of the 19th century The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that the
prevailing in 1859–1861 the revolutionary situation forced the emperor to carry out
reforms “from above” to avoid the revolution “from below”. The ruling class did not
seek to preserve its privileges in integrity and eventually agreed to go for reforms.
The object of the study is the socio-political reforms of Alexander II, the subject is the
liberal nature of the reforms. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of
bourgeois reforms, to reveal the degree of their compliance with the laws of dialectics
and the logic of the world-historical process. Research objectives are as follows: 1) to
reveal the main content of the socio-political reforms of the 60–70s 19th century;
2) determine the role and significance of socio-political reforms in Russian transition
to the capitalist path of development. The authors have used the dialectical method
in materialistic and idealistic interpretations and such general scientific methods as
analysis, synthesis, generalization, abstraction, deduction and induction. The main
reasons for the reforms were the lack of civil and political freedoms, increased
exploitation of the peasants by the landowners, the growth of class struggle in the form
of peasant uprisings, including in the national outskirts, and the defeat in the Crimean
War (1853–1856). Changes in the basis led to transformations in the superstructure
of Russian society: restructuring of the state apparatus, introduction of a classless
court, modernization of local self-government, reform of the army, and so on. If social
being dictated the need for changes in social consciousness and transformed it,
then the transformed social consciousness had a reverse effect on social being and,
in turn, reshaped it. Despite the inconsistency and half-heartedness of the liberal
reforms, they contributed to Russian transition from feudalism to capitalism, laid the
foundations of a right-wing state and civil society, and created the prerequisites for the
future struggle for social justice and a socialist state. |
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