Nicholas I abolishes Serfdom

Pretty self explanatory WI. Emperor Nicholas I of Russia didnt really like the system of serfdom and wished to abolish it. By 1835 a plan was presented to the Tsar regarding a program to emancipate the serfs. In OTL the plan was shot down in fear of the Russian landowners who benefited the most from serfdom.

What if instead the Tsar had approved of the program and put it into action? The landowners would most likely not put up too much of a fight as they are as disadvantaged as they were in 1861. This would mean that serfdom would end about 20 years earlier than OTL, and before both the 1840 revolutions and Crimean War. Effects on Russia and history?
 
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Wolfpaw

Banned
Nicholas would rapidly find himself unpopular with the aristocracy, which is going to start scrambling to find somebody to replace him. There's still one Pavlovich left, after all...

Nor were the nobles anywhere as weak as they would be in 1861. Indeed, Alexander II's reforms were only made possible by Nicholas' devotion to creating an "enlightened bureaucracy."
 
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