freeing the Serfs in the Russian Empire - 2025 VAULT II

Packet 9: Tossup 18

Description Acceptable. A speech to the Marshals of Nobility claimed that it was better to perform “[this action] from above” than to wait for it to happen (15[1]-5[1])“from below.” The Bezdna unrest (-5[1])began two months after this action, which also created “cut-off (15[1])lands” called otrezki (15[1]-5[1])(“ah-TRAY-skih”). A 49-year “redemption tax” (15[1])was charged to communities (15[1]-5[1])called (15[1])mir after (15[2])this action. (15[2]-5[1])Nikolay (15[1])Milyutin created the (*) zemstvo (-5[1])system of local government (-5[1])in the wake (10[1])of this action, (10[2]-5[1])which may have been motivated by losing (10[1])the Crimean War. (-5[1])Twenty years after taking this action, (10[1])a ruler was assassinated (10[2])by the People’s Will. (10[1])For 10 points, Alexander II took what liberating action (10[1])in 1861? ■END■ (10[7])

ANSWER: freeing the Serfs in the Russian Empire [accept answers describing Alexander II abolishing serfdom or the Emancipation reform of 1861; prompt on freeing the peasants or freeing the Russian lower classes; reject answers that mention “slaves”]

<History - European, Vikram Narasimhan> | VAULT II Packet 09

= Average correct buzzpoint

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Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Buzzpoint	Value
Charlie Nicholls	Cambridge	Bath	26	15
Willow Bhargava	Waltham A	Mansfield B	26	-5
Muye Chen	Cheese Sandwich	Martingrove	31	-5
Adhrit Yadav	Lambert A	Northview B	41	15
Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan	Bella Vista	Renert	44	-5
Kaiwen Xiao	Leif Eriksen's Striking Appearance	Don't Ever Take Sides Against the Family	44	15
Alex Mattson.	Minnetonka A	Minnetonka B	48	15
Edward Kim	Johns Creek	Innovation B	52	15
Justin Batistil	Northern	Glebe	52	-5
Elliot Earley	Sheffield A	Sheffield B	53	15
Andrew Gao	Belmont A	Mansfield A	55	15
Terry Tang	Midnight Bus to Vista	Always Set the Kurve	55	15
Pierre-Olivier Pitt-Butera	Chimera	Edinburgh	57	-5
Krish Nathan	Hoover	Innovation A	57	15
Nikola Wu	Heauton Timorumenos	whatever	57	15
Tom Morris-Jones	Birmingham A	Oxford	58	15
Dutch Connerty	Midtown	Chattahoochee A	62	-5
Mata Cooper	Southperial	Warperial	66	-5
Keke Xiu	Abbey Park	Burlington Trojans	69	10
Dan Millington	Birmingham B	Southampton	72	10
Amory Kaufman-Young	Providence	Minnetonka C	72	10
March Delfin	With Less Than 2 Years of Combined Quizbowl Experience	Taman's Nepo Babies	72	-5
Vivaan Kohli	Lambert B	Chattahoochee B	79	10
Emery Gehrke	Burnsville	Eden Prairie	82	-5
Anoop Valavoju	Northview A	Exhibition	88	10
Maciej Wojdyła	Manchester A	Manchester B	92	10
Annika Larson	Albanian Rift in the Sky	Basileus II: Electric Boogaloo	92	10
James O'Reilly	Taman's Nepo Babies	With Less Than 2 Years of Combined Quizbowl Experience	96	10
Ethan Elliott	Warperial	Southperial	105	10
Thomas Popham	Edinburgh	Chimera	108	10
Sankalp Agrawal	Eden Prairie	Burnsville	108	10
Arnav Jasapara	Chattahoochee A	Midtown	108	10
Matthew Cervasio-Dyer	Mansfield B	Waltham A	108	10
Hussain Saleem	Martingrove	Cheese Sandwich	108	10
Fionn Quinn	Glebe	Northern	108	10
Aydin Hirji	Renert	Bella Vista	108	10

Summary

Tournament	Edition	Match	Heard	Conv. %	Power %	Neg %	Avg. Buzz
VAULT II at Georgia Tech	2026-01-24	✓	6	100%	50%	17%	70.83
VAULT II at Eden Prairie HS	2026-03-13	✓	3	100%	33%	33%	76.00
VAULT II at McGill	2026-03-13	✓	4	100%	0%	75%	98.25
VAULT II at UCSB	2026-03-13	✓	5	100%	60%	20%	68.80
VAULT II Northern UK	2026-04-24	✓	3	100%	33%	33%	84.33
VAULT II Southern UK	2026-04-24	✓	4	100%	50%	25%	65.25
VAULT II at Harvard	2026-04-30	✓	2	100%	50%	50%	81.50