They had no freedom to determine the course of their own lives. Male serfs were forced into the army for 25-year enlistments. Serfdom was truly not beneficial for the landlords either. It left them reliant on an outdated system of production and unable to compete with foreign agriculture. Alexander II realized that if Russia hoped to advance with the rest of the world, serfdom had to be abolished. .
The first major reason motivating Alexander II to emancipate the serfs were Russia's experience in the Crimean War and the rising number of peasant revolts. . In the Crimean War of 1853-56, Russia battled the Turks, the French, and the British for control over parts of the disintegrating Ottoman Empire. Much to its own surprise, Russia was defeated. In addition to suffering great humiliation, Russia was forced to acknowledge the weakness of both its army (made up primarily of illiterate serfs) and its infrastructure (which, alone among the European powers, had been slow to modernize and industrialize). By the end of the war in 1856, Russia's losses totaled 600,000 men. The war showed Russia could not seriously contend with the other European powers. Embarrassed by this defeat, Tsar Alexander began working to modernize his country. Convinced that Russia would be brought to ruin if it did not change, he spent the first part of his reign instituting reforms that he felt would bring his country up to speed with the rest of Europe. Alexander's reforms included reorganization of the army, emancipation of the serfs and the introduction of zemstva. .
The second major reason for reform of serfdom was Alexander's fear of peasant revolts. The condition of the Russian serf declined throughout the course of the 19th century. Their land allotments were either too small to provide subsistence, or else produced such poor harvests that mass starvation was a normal occurrence. The lords were supposed to provide for their serfs during poor harvest seasons, but many ignored this responsibility.