Alexander II also introduced a Censorship Reform in 1858 which encouraged the growth of books, journals and newspaper sales; for example in 1855 the number of books published was 1,020 whereas in 1894 this increased to 10,961. Within this reform the censorship was placed under the control of the Ministry for Internal Affairs and in 1865 the press and book publishers had new regulations which reduced restrictions (e.g. approval of titles). However this reform ended in 1870 because by the end of Alexander’s reign censorship was much tighter again so it could be argued that the reform was not as effective as it could have potentially been. Overall, Alexander II’s social reforms did help modernise Russia in the general sense that he gave more freedom
