Restrictive governments breed revolutionaries, history has shown this much. Nineteenth-century Imperial Russia is marked by a time of reforms and liberations. The tsars' Alexander I, Nicholas I, and Alexander II mismanaged the reforms during this time in Russian history, which left the education system and the rights of women floundering through the decades. Each reign struggled to overcome the country’s unsettled and unforgiving socioeconomic setting, censored press, turbulent economy, and rigid educational systems. In attempts to ease the distorted systems created by his predecessors, Tsar Alexander II implemented the most striking changes, which included the emancipation of serfs. This emancipation ultimately lead to the establishment of a secondary education system, which included previously indentured girls. Although well-intended, the reforms by the Tsar had little impact on liberating women’s educational rights. His reforms further stratified women’s access to academic institutions, did little to expand their education in comparison to their male counterparts, and pressed the rising socioeconomic tensions which resulted in the birth of socialism in Russia. This thesis elucidates how nihilism and the Socialist movement became the cornerstones of women’s campaign for greater education in Russia. Presented at the 2022 UNC Charlotte Undergraduate Research Conference.