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 “from below.” The Bezdna unrest began two months after this action, which also created “cut-off lands” called otrezki (“ah-TRAY-skih”). A 49-year “redemption tax” was charged to communities called mir after this action. Nikolay Milyutin created the (*) zemstvo system of local government in the wake of this action, which may have been motivated by losing the Crimean War. Twenty years after taking this action, a ruler was assassinated by the People’s Will. For 10 points, Alexander II took what liberating action in 1861? ■END■
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
Buzzes
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Match | Heard | Conv. % | Power % | Neg % | Avg. Buzz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAULT II at MINT | 2026-06-19 | ✓ | 5 | 80% | 20% | 0% | 83.25 |
| VAULT II Stanford Online | 2026-07-17 | ✓ | 8 | 100% | 50% | 25% | 68.00 |