|Russia||Russian Revolution||Soviet Union 1920-45| The Crimean
War made Alexander II realize that Russia was no longer a great
military power. His advisers argued that Russia's serf-based
economy could no longer compete with industrialized nations such
as Britain and France. Alexander now began to consider the
possibility of bringing an end to serfdom in Russia. The
nobility objected to this move but as Alexander told a group of
Moscow nobles: "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than
to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from
below. In 1861 Alexander issued his Emancipation Manifesto that
proposed 17 legislative acts that would free the serfs in
Russia. Alexander announced that personal serfdom would be
abolished and all peasants would be able to buy land from their
landlords. The State would advance the the money to the
landlords and would recover it from the peasants in 49 annual
sums known as redemption payments. Alexander's reforms did not
satisfy liberals and radicals who want