Round 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
| Player | Team | Opponent | Buzzpoint | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Bhargava | Waltham A | Mansfield B | 26 | -5 |
| Andrew Gao | Belmont A | Mansfield A | 55 | 15 |
| Matthew Cervasio-Dyer | Mansfield B | Waltham A | 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 |