WI Tsar Alexander II not assassinated

Suppose that the assassination attempt on Alexander II in 1881 had failed and that he had managed to implement his plans for a Duma and a constitution. What would have been the consequences? Could the Russian Empire have modernized and survived?
 
In a TL I never got around to finishing (mostly because others beat me to some of the ideas, and school limitations, and whatnot), I had Alexander institute a few changes a few years earlier than OTL (due to a realignment of ideas and alliances following a CSA victory).

Russia undergoes a much more liberal evolution and a power struggle ensues between Alexander and the nobles who have the most to lose from his proposals. With most of the military backing Alexander (not all, mind, as many officers were nobles), and a vast majority of the civilians, Alexander wins out over his rivals, even stepping down in the wake of the civil war to allow for a new election for a Prime Minister type person.

Here's where I got hung up because my imagination only goes so far...
 
*bumping this*

Come on. This has some potential :(. There aren't too many Russian Empire-wanks here IMHO. No more thoughts/ideas?
 
Come on. This has some potential :(. There aren't too many Russian Empire-wanks here IMHO. No more thoughts/ideas?

Despite a newly-accquired interest in Alexander II and his reforms, my knowledge is lacking considerably. I hope someone does continue this, it definitely caught my interest.
 
I'll give this a shot
I believe Alexander was assasinated by an anarchist and not a socialist or an ethnic minority so what needed I think needed to happen and I am going off of a history class I took years ago, is this: 1. survives assasination attempt and implements Duma 2. reforms military 3. starts industrilization and allows formation of strictly controlled labor unions. The trick will be to get the nobility to cooperate. they did not like the freeing of the surfs. Your POD could be his assasination.
any thoughts on what I laid out??
 
We have to remember that Alexander II was not supportive of ant reforms that would have resulted in a loss of power for the monarchy. While he was pragmatic enough to support the establishment of the zemstvo and other limited moves to improve representation, basically all the reforming aspects he made were simply to ensure the continuing existence of the all powerful Tsardom. He was a pragmatist but not a democrat in any way shape or form.

Should he survive the assassination, he will almost certainly increase the pace of the nominal reforms, but we will still see a reaction against the reactionary elements with a suppression of their activities. He was almost tempted to do this after the Winter Palace was bombed so another attempt on his life would result in an attack of the Social Revolutionaries and the like.

If he hangs on to the end of the century, we will perhaps see an elected Duma of sorts but only with the most minor consultative powers and some economic reforms on par with what Stolypin hoped to create. The thing about Alexander II was that he understood that economic reform had to come at the same time as political reform, you couldn't just create the latter without having major social unrest.

Hopefully, the minor reforms Alexander II would continue would have a positive effect on his successor (Alexander III may well die as Tsarevich) to the extent that the next Tsar would make some real attempts to create a constitutional monarchy.
 
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