II.

Domestic Reform

Alexander surrounded himself at the beginning of his reign with the so-called “young friends”, progressive young noblemen who were keen to implement constitutional and social reforms in Russia. Universities were established in St Petersburg, Kazan, and Kharkov, more primary schools were opened, and seminaries were reformed. The reform-minded administrator Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky became Alexander’s first minister in 1807, and two years later presented him with a plan for a Russian constitution, which would have introduced Napoleonic-style representative institutions and the separation of administrative, legislative, and judicial functions. Later, Nikolai Nikolaevich Novosiltsev, one of the former “young friends”, wrote a constitution for Russia (having been commissioned by Alexander to do so) that envisaged a federal constitution for the empire. Proposals for emancipation of the serfs (peasants on seignorial land) were also drawn up during his reign.

Alexander, however, kept all these proposals a secret, and their application was limited. Serfdom was ended in the Baltic Provinces between 1816 and 1819, although serfs were freed without land. A constitution was granted to Poland in 1815, after its acquisition at the Congress of Vienna. However, neither the emancipation of the serfs in the Baltic Provinces nor the Polish constitution was extended to Russian lands. Alexander was unwilling to challenge the interests of the Russian landowning nobility, who would oppose any moves towards the abolition of serfdom. The only part of Speransky’s plan that was implemented was the establishment of ministries in 1811 (Speransky fell from power in 1812).