From the first days of the reign, the domestic and foreign policy of Alexander 3 was aimed at revising the main undertakings of Alexander 2. And the main engine of this policy was D. A. Tolstoy, once a liberal bureaucrat, and now - the newly made Minister of the Interior. His events, called "counter-reforms," aimed to strengthen the king’s power and preserve the privileges of the nobles. But although Alexander 3 supported these transformations, his domestic policy was nevertheless represented not only by them. The emperor participated in resolving all issues relating to his empire. Alexander 3 knew the history of Russia well, loved it, believed in the connection of the ordinary people with his monarch. And at the same time, he did not want to listen about the Constitution and taking the oath to "some cattle" (people).
The domestic policy of Alexander 3 as a truly “peasant king” was aimed at improving the situation in the village. Through events, he sought to improve the economic conditions of the peasants. A year after ascending the throne, he established the Peasant Land Bank, which issued loans to both peasant associations and independent peasants for the purchase of land. Also, the bank was involved in regulating the transfer to the peasants of some landowner lands. In 1886, the capitation rate, which was established by Peter the Great , was also canceled .
Also, the domestic policy of Alexander 3 was manifested in the conduct of such, perhaps, the most important event, as the establishment of the institute of zemstvo chiefs in 1889. Of the hereditary noblemen, a district zemsky chief who was suitable for a specific educational and property criterion was chosen. He had to oversee the activities of rural institutions, as well as volost. It was in his power to change the decision that the village assembly took, to punish the peasant with a whip, a fine, and arrest. Moreover, the decree of the Zemsky chief was not subject to appeal. That is, police power was restored over the peasant, which was canceled by the previous ruler in 1861.
The domestic policy of Alexander 3 was actually aimed in favor of the nobles. And this was once again confirmed by the next reform in 1890 (Zemstvo). According to her, now in the city curia there were two times less voters, the number of peasants who had the right to participate in the elections was limited, thereby ensuring the predominance of nobles in zemstvo institutions.
In 1892, the counter-reform was carried out in the city. Henceforth, the urban lower classes could not take part in local government. The property criterion also increased significantly. As a result, even in such large cities as St. Petersburg and Moscow, only about 1% of the population participated in the elections. Such a reform was in sharp conflict with the rapidly developing process of urbanization.
The domestic policy of Alexander 3 in the direction of judicial reforms was limited to eliminating the irremovability of investigators and judges, narrowing the circle of cases that are considered by jurors. However, the entire judicial charter in 1864 was not changed.
Reforms of the new government also affected public education. The autonomy of the university was eliminated by the very fact of the adoption of a new university charter. Now students were required to wear uniforms. Tuition fees have risen substantially. With the approval of I. D. Dilyanov, Minister of Education, many women's courses were closed. And the children of footmen, coachmen, laundresses and other small people were generally forbidden to accept for training in the gymnasium.
But all the reforms carried out as a whole did not change the political and social picture of the empire. This happened for the reason that, trying to break the social structure that had developed under Alexander 2, the new reformers acted inconsistently and contradictory with respect to the course of economic development. As a result, a false impression of the inviolability of the monarchist system was created.