Greetings to the academic conference marking the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Manifesto on the Emancipation of the Serfs 2011-03-03 09:50:00 Dmitry Medvedev sent his greetings to the academic conference marking the 150th anniversary of the signing of the 1861 Emancipation Manifesto. The message reads, in part: “The signing of this manifesto was a turning point in nineteenth-century Russian history, the start of the great reforms of the 1860s-1870s: local self-government, urban, judicial, military, financial, and other reforms. The emancipation of the serfs launched Russia’s transition from agrarian to industrial development and gave the impetus for developing private initiative and enterprise. I am sure that the scholars and publicists, public and political figures taking part in the conference will make a comprehensive analysis of these transformations’ substance and impact, and give an objective assessment of the part this reform played in the Russia’s political and socio-economic development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”