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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 (-5[1])began two months after this action, which also created “cut-off lands” called otrezki (-5[1])(“ah-TRAY-skih”). A 49-year “redemption tax” was charged to communities (-5[1])called mir after this action. Nikolay Milyutin created the (*) zemstvo system of local government in the wake (10[1])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■ (10[3])

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

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzzpointValue
Muye ChenCheese SandwichMartingrove31-5
Pranavkrishna BharanidharanBella VistaRenert44-5
Justin BatistilNorthernGlebe52-5
Keke XiuAbbey ParkBurlington Trojans6910
Hussain SaleemMartingroveCheese Sandwich10810
Fionn QuinnGlebeNorthern10810
Aydin HirjiRenertBella Vista10810

Summary

TournamentEditionMatchHeardConv. %Power %Neg %Avg. Buzz
VAULT II at Georgia Tech2026-01-24✓6100%50%17%70.83
VAULT II at Eden Prairie HS2026-03-13✓3100%33%33%76.00
VAULT II at McGill2026-03-13✓4100%0%75%98.25
VAULT II at UCSB2026-03-13✓5100%60%20%68.80
VAULT II Northern UK2026-04-24✓3100%33%33%84.33
VAULT II Southern UK2026-04-24✓4100%50%25%65.25
VAULT II at Harvard2026-04-30✓2100%50%50%81.50