Are we all descendants of slaves? How terrible was serfdom . When was serfdom abolished? Add your price to the database Comment What year was serfdom abolished

March 3 (February 19, O.S.), 1861 - Alexander II signed the Manifesto "On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants" and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, which consisted of 17 legislative acts. Based on these documents, the peasants received personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property.

The manifesto was dedicated to the sixth anniversary of the emperor's accession to the throne (1855).

Even during the reign of Nicholas I, a large amount of preparatory material for the peasant reform was collected. Serfdom during the reign of Nicholas I remained unshakable, but significant experience was accumulated in solving the peasant issue, on which his son Alexander II, who ascended the throne in 1855, could later rely on.

At the beginning of 1857, a Secret Committee was established to prepare the peasant reform. The government then decided to make the public aware of its intentions, and the Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee. The nobility of all regions was to create provincial committees to develop a peasant reform. In early 1859, Editorial Commissions were set up to process the reform projects of the committees of the nobility. In September 1860, the developed reform project was discussed by the deputies sent by the committees of the nobility, and then transferred to the highest state bodies.

In mid-February 1861, the Regulations on the Emancipation of the Peasants were considered and approved by the State Council. On March 3 (February 19, O.S.), 1861, Alexander II signed a manifesto "On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants." The concluding words of the historical Manifesto were: "Sign of the Cross over yourself, Orthodox people, and call with us God's blessing on your free labor, the guarantee of your domestic well-being and the public good." The manifesto was announced in both capitals on a big religious holiday - Forgiveness Sunday, in other cities - in the week closest to it.

According to the Manifesto, the peasants were given civil rights - the freedom to marry, independently conclude contracts and conduct court cases, acquire real estate in their own name, etc.

The land could be redeemed both by the community and by the individual peasant. The land allotted to the community was in collective use, therefore, with the transition to another estate or another community, the peasant lost the right to the “worldly land” of his former community.

The enthusiasm with which the release of the Manifesto was greeted was soon replaced by disappointment. The former serfs expected full freedom and were dissatisfied with the transitional state of the "temporarily liable". Believing that the true meaning of the reform was being hidden from them, the peasants rebelled, demanding liberation from the land. To suppress the largest speeches, accompanied by a seizure of power, as in the villages of Bezdna (Kazan province) and Kandeevka (Penza province), troops were used. In total, more than two thousand performances were recorded. By the summer of 1861, however, the unrest subsided.

Initially, the period of stay in a temporarily obligated state was not established, so the peasants dragged on with the transition to redemption. By 1881, about 15% of such peasants remained. Then a law was passed on the mandatory transition to redemption within two years. Within this period, redemption transactions had to be concluded or the right to land plots was lost. In 1883, the category of temporarily liable peasants disappeared. Some of them completed redemption deals, some lost their land.

The peasant reform of 1861 was of great historical significance. It opened up new prospects for Russia, creating an opportunity for the broad development of market relations. The abolition of serfdom paved the way for other important transformations aimed at creating a civil society in Russia.

For this reform, Alexander II began to be called the Tsar the Liberator.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

“The former system has outlived its time” — such is the verdict of one of the ideologists of this system, M.N. Pogodin, delivered by him three months after the death of Nicholas I.

In 1855, the 37-year-old came to the throne.

Unlike his father, he was prepared to govern the state, received an excellent education and was ready to immediately begin solving state issues. A.I. Herzen wrote: “Sire! Your reign begins under a surprisingly lucky constellation. There are no blood stains on you, you have no remorse. The news of your father's death was not brought to you by his murderers. You didn't have to walk across a square drenched in Russian blood to sit on the throne. You did not need to announce your ascension to the people with executions” (“The Past and Dumas”).

The new Russian Emperor began with the conclusion of the Peace of Paris. The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) showed not only the inconsistency of the foreign policy course, but also put the autocracy before a choice: either the empire as a European power to leave the stage, or hastily catch up with rivals. It was necessary to restore the reputation of Russia in the general European public opinion. This forced Alexander II and his government to look for new ways and make non-standard decisions.

In 1855 - 1856. significant handwritten literature appeared: notes by P.A. Valueva, A.I. Kosheleva, K.D. Kavelina, Yu.F. Samarina, B.N. Chicherina, A.M. Unkovsky and others. They were published in the Free Printing House of A.I. Herzen in London in "Polar Star" (1855), in "Voices from Russia" (1856) and in "The Bell" (1857). The authors of the notes and drafts not only denounced the flaws of the system, but also offered various options for reforms and urged the government to take action.

The first document, from which it is customary to begin the history of the abolition of serfdom, was the tsar's rescript on November 20, 1857 to the Vilna Governor-General V.I. Nazimov. The rescript proposed to give the peasants the right to buy out only the estates and use the field plot for service; all land remained in the ownership of the landlords, and patrimonial power was preserved. The government entrusted the task of preparing reform projects to the nobility itself. To this end, during 1858 - early 1859. noble elections were held in 46 provincial committees to prepare the reform.

Peasant unrest in April 1858 in Estonia, where serfdom had been abolished 40 years earlier, played a special role in changing the views of Alexander II and the government on reform. The unrest was suppressed, but the “Ostsee version” (the liberation of the peasants without land) was debunked in the eyes of the tsar. The position of supporters of this option in the government weakened.

Against this background, a new direction began to gain priority in government policy, which set the goal of turning the peasants into owners of their allotments, destroying the patrimonial power of the landowners and introducing the peasantry to civilian life.

On February 17, 1859, a new, non-traditional institution was created - the Editorial Commissions, chaired by Ya.I. Rostovtsev. In the composition of the Editorial Commissions, the majority consisted of liberal-minded figures and bureaucracy, mostly aged 35 to 45 years. The soul of the commission was N.A. Milyutin. Among its members is the famous Slavophil Yu.F. Samarin, Westerner K.D. Cavelin, led. book. Konstantin Nikolaevich, prominent scientists P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, N.Kh. Bunge, D.A. Milyutin, public figures V.A. Cherkassky, A.M. Unkovsky and others. Of course, there were also serf-owners in the commissions, but they were in the minority and could not stop the course of its preparation.

On February 19, 1861, he signed the Manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants” and “Regulations on peasants who have emerged from serfdom”.

In accordance with the general provisions of the reform, the peasant was provided with:

free personal freedom. The landowner retained the right to all lands, but
was obliged to provide the peasant with the use of the estate with a plot, and the peasant was obliged to redeem it. The landowner was obliged to give allotment, and the peasant was obliged to accept this allotment.
Not every peasant was freed individually, but by the whole world, by the community. Therefore, the landowners and the state had relations with the community, which bought the land and paid duties. Since the peasants had no money to buy them out, and the landowners did not want to release the peasants on credit,
The state acted as an intermediary between the landowners and the peasantry. The government paid the landowners a lump sum of 80% of the redemption amount, and the remaining 20% was contributed by the community, which received a loan from the government at 6% per annum for a period of 49 years.

For the use of the estate and allotment, the peasant had to fulfill duties to the master for 8 years. Hence the term: temporarily obligated peasants. There were two forms of service: dues and corvee.. The average for the country, the rate of dues was 10 rubles. per year, and corvee - 40 days for men and 30 days for women. The size of the ransom for the allotment was such an amount that, if it was deposited in a bank paying 6% per annum, would give the landowner an annual amount of quitrent. With this money, the landowner could buy agricultural machines and hire workers, could invest in shares, modernize his farm. On average across the country, the ransom exceeded the market value of the land. 10 million male souls of the former landlord peasants received 34 million dess. land, or 3.4 dess. per capita. For a living wage, one had to have from 5 to 8 dess. The prospect of the ruin of a significant part of the peasantry became inevitable.

In 1911, in the year of the 50th anniversary of the reform of 1861, it was named Great. The fact of the abolition of serfdom, that humiliating form of the human condition, was an act of great humanistic significance.

For several centuries, a serf system dominated Russia. The history of the enslavement of the peasant people dates back to 1597. At that time, Orthodox obedience was a mandatory defense of state borders and interests, a precaution against enemy attacks, even if by self-sacrifice. The sacrificial service concerned the peasant, the nobleman, and the Tsar.

In 1861, serfdom was abolished in Russia. At the behest of conscience, Alexander II decided to take such a responsible step. His reforming deeds were partly the merit of the teacher-mentor Vasily Zhukovsky, who sought to engender humanity, kindness and honor in the soul of the future emperor. When the emperor inherited the throne, the teacher was no longer around, but moralizing was firmly planted in the mind, and throughout his subsequent life, Alexander II followed the call of his heart. It is worth noting that the nobility did not encourage the intentions of the ruler, which made it difficult to adopt reforms. The wise and kind ruler had to constantly seek a balance between noble opposition and peasant disapproval. Weak hints of the abolition of serfdom were observed earlier. At the end of the 17th century, Emperor Paul I introduced a three-day corvee, which did not allow the exploitation of serfs for more than three days a week. But either the law was drawn up incorrectly, or the idea turned out to be ineffective - gradually the exploitation of involuntary labor returned home. When Count Razumovsky turned to the Tsar with a request for the release of 50,000 of his serfs, the ruler issued a decree that allowed the release of forced laborers if the parties agreed on mutual benefit. In almost 60 years, 112,000 peasants received their will, of which 50,000 were liberated by Count Razumovsky. Years later, it turned out that the nobility prefers to hatch plans for improving public life, without making any attempts to bring the idea to life. The innovative laws of Nicholas I allowed the release of serfs without giving them a land plot, which could be obtained by fulfilling the agreed duties. As a result, the obliged peasants increased by 27 thousand. During the reign of Nicholas I, he prepared reforms and collected materials to stabilize public law. Alexander II continued and realized the idea. The wise emperor acted slowly, gradually preparing high society and oppositionists for the need to eradicate the serf system. He let the nobles know that the first rebellions spread like a virus, and it is better to start eradication from above than to allow a split from within. When there was no favorable reaction, the ruler organized a committee where measures were discussed to improve the pace of life of the serfs. Members of the committee tried to warn the daredevil from making radical decisions. A number of effective solutions were developed that pushed the landowners to mutual actions in favor of the liberation of the peasants and the abolition of serfdom. There was still a lot of work ahead and the coordination of innovations in legislation with both the highest ranks and socially disadvantaged citizens.

For a long time, the serf system was being cleared of laws that violated a person's right to freedom. On February 19, 1861, Alexander II managed to finally get rid of serfdom and gradually introduce a new system aimed at improving the life of the people without division into landlords and serfs.

What was serfdom? Russia of that time was cursed by Radishchev and fully approved by Pushkin. The outrages of crazy landowners there were side by side with high-profile lawsuits. Some peasants were sold at auction, and some became millionaires.

Today "Smart Journal" will talk about this, and also tell you - how big is the chance that your ancestors were "burned" and learned the charms of corvée and dues?

“Here you are, grandmother, and St. George's Day”

Formally, landowners-landowners had no rights personally to the peasant - they had rights to their land. The peasant had the right to leave this land - this procedure was called "peasant exit". The transformation of peasants into serfs, i.e. “attached to the land” is connected precisely with the restriction of the peasant output.

The first general law on this subject came out in 1497 - the peasant exit throughout the state was allowed a week before and a week after November 26 - St. George's Day or, in common parlance, St. George's Day.

This continued until the 1580s, when Ivan the Terrible introduced "reserved summers" - laws that suspended peasant output. This formally temporary ban was never lifted and was finally entrenched in the Council Code of 1649, which also introduced an indefinite search for fugitive peasants.

It was to those times that the saying "Here you are, grandmother, and St. George's day" refers. The negative memory of the people about those events was also entrenched in the expression "to deceive" (deceive), which comes from another name for St. George's Day - Yegory Autumn.

The atrocities of Saltychikha and Catherine II But even the abolition of the peasant exit did not change the main thing - the peasant was not the property of the landowner. Nobles, landowners were considered to be assigned to a certain piece of land. In fact, they, like the peasants, served before the sovereign - just in a higher position.

The further process of the enslavement of the peasants is connected with the fact that the state gave the nobles more and more powers, and at the same time left fewer and fewer responsibilities.

The historian Vasily Klyuchevsky described what was happening in the 1730-60s as follows: “The law increasingly depersonalized the serf, erasing from him the last signs of a legally capable person.”

Vasily Klyuchevsky

It was in those days that stories about the atrocities of the landowners against their serfs originate. The most famous character in such stories is the landowner Daria Saltykova, better known as Saltychikha.

Illustration for the encyclopedic edition "The Great Reform", which depicts the acts of Saltychikha "if possible in soft colors"

Having been widowed, she began to fall into terrible outbursts of anger, during which she subjected her peasants to humiliation and torture - she poured boiling water over her, pulled out her hair, forced the groom to beat the guilty to death. In winter, Saltykova stripped women naked and tied them to a pole in the street, after burning their hair with a candle.

Saltychikha loved to kill brides shortly before her marriage. One victim, a peasant woman Petrova, was ordered by the landowner to undress and lead into a pond (it was late autumn in the yard). The girl stood in water up to her neck for several hours and eventually died of hypothermia.

It got to the men too. In November 1759, during a torture that lasted almost a day, a young servant, Khrisanf Andreev, was killed, and in September 1761, Saltykova killed the boy Lukyan Mikheev with her own hands.

According to the testimonies of the serfs, received during the "general searches" in the estate and villages of the landowner, 75 people were killed by her.

Vladimir Pchelin "Saltychikha"

All this was stopped only when two peasants, Savely Martynov and Yermolai Ilyin, whose wives Saltykova killed, in 1762 miraculously managed to convey a complaint to Catherine II, who had just ascended the throne. Any complaints at the local level ended only with the punishment of the complainers and sending them to Siberia.

Catherine II The young empress decided to show herself an adherent of the rule of law and set the matter in motion. The landowner was sentenced "to life imprisonment in an underground prison without light and human communication" (light was allowed only during meals, and conversation was only with the head of the guard and the nun). Saltykova died in captivity in the Ivanovo Convent in 1801.

It would seem that justice has prevailed. However, during the investigation and trial of this high-profile case, which got underway only because a complaint was filed with the empress, in 1767 a decree was suddenly issued ... forbidding peasants to file complaints against the landlords personally to the sovereign.

Peasants as a living commodity

Contemporaries often called serfs "slaves".

Here is what the historian Nikolai Karamzin wrote: “I don’t know if Godunov did well by taking freedom from the peasants (then the circumstances are not completely known), but I know that now it’s inconvenient for them to return it. Then they had the skill of free people, now they have the skill of slaves.

Nikolai Karamzin

Also interesting are the words of Alexander Benckendorff, head of the secret police of the Russian Empire, written in a personal message to Emperor Nicholas I:

“In all of Russia, only the victorious people, the Russian peasants, are in a state of slavery; all the rest: Finns, Tatars, Estonians, Latvians, Mordovians, Chuvashs, etc. are free.”

Alexander Benkendorf

Indeed, many elements of slavery were part of the daily life of the Russian Empire. For example, human trafficking. For some time, a serf market even functioned in St. Petersburg.

Claudius Lebedev "Sale of serfs at auction"

On the other hand, state power has never taken such things for granted. Slave markets were eventually banned, just as advertisements for the sale of people were banned in newspapers.

However, the focus on supporting the interests of the nobility did not allow the emperor to strictly enforce his demands. Human trafficking continued in private homes, and ads were placed in newspapers allegorically - instead of "for sale" they wrote "served".

Nikolay Nevrev "Torg. Scene from the fortress life. From the recent past"

But Pushkin thought differently

The statements of people who spoke positively about the situation of serfs are also known. Alexander Pushkin, for example, wrote:

“The duties are not burdensome at all. The poll is paid in peace; corvée is determined by law; quitrent is not ruinous... The peasant does what he pleases, and sometimes goes 2,000 miles away to earn his own money... Look at the Russian peasant: is there even a shadow of slavish humiliation in his steps and speech? There is nothing to say about his courage and intelligence. His receptivity is known. Agility and dexterity are amazing.”

Alexander Pushkin

Many noted that Russian peasants live in much better conditions than European ones. The same Pushkin pointed out: “Fonvizin, who traveled around France at the end of the 18th century, says that, in good conscience, the fate of the Russian peasant seemed to him happier than the fate of the French farmer. I believe…”

A similar situation was noted by foreigners. British Navy Captain John Cochrane wrote in his book A Foot Journey Through Russia and Siberian Tartary to the Frontiers of China, the Frozen Sea and Kamchatka that "the position of the peasantry here is much better than that of this class in Ireland." Cochrane noted "an abundance of food, they are good and cheap", as well as "huge herds" in ordinary villages.

Another British traveler, Bremner, said: "There are areas of Scotland where people huddle in houses that the Russian peasant considers unsuitable for his cattle." However, he further added that the Russian peasant, in comparison with the English, had absolutely no rights.

The position of serfs in Russia was not the same. Of great importance was the form of service: corvée or dues. Corvee consisted in the fact that the peasant was obliged to work on the land of the landowner for a certain number of days. Quite, on the other hand, is a regular cash payment, for which a peasant could earn in many ways.

Ivan Turgenev wrote in the story "Khor and Kalinich":

“The Oryol peasant is small in stature, round-shouldered, gloomy, looks askance, lives in wretched aspen huts, goes to corvee, does not trade, eats badly, wears bast shoes; The Kaluga quitrent peasant lives in spacious pine huts, is tall, looks bold and cheerful, sells oil and tar, and wears boots on holidays.

Ivan Turgenev

The difference in the situation of such peasants is also noted by modern scientists. Doctor of Historical Sciences Irina Suponitskaya writes:

“Not all serfs in Russia worked on corvee. Before the abolition of serfdom, about 40% of them were quitrents, who paid quitrents to the landowner in kind or money. The quitrent was incomparably freer. He himself decided where to go to work. Entire villages, having received passports, went to crafts in the cities. Some villages supplied coachmen, others - artisans, others were engaged in crafts at home.

From peasant Smirnov to Smirnoff vodka

The French traveler Astolfe de Custine wrote in his book Russia in 1839 that the serfs were the "main trading figures" of the Nizhny Novgorod fair. “However, the law forbids granting a loan to a serf in the amount of more than five rubles,” de Custine added, “And so, deals are made with them on the word for huge sums. These millionaire slaves, these bankers-serfs, can neither read nor write, but what they lack in education is made up for by exceptional sharpness.

The conventional wisdom that most people in post-Soviet society are descendants of serfs is not supported by statistics. At the time of the abolition of serfdom in 1861, a large-scale sociological work was carried out, cited in the book “Serf population in Russia, according to the 10th national census”, published in the same year.

Cover and first page of the book

According to the data given there, the total population of the Russian Empire was 67,081,167 people, and 23,069,631 of them were serfs, that is, 34.39%.

The largest proportion of serfs was among the population of the Smolensk province - 69.07%. Those whose ancestors came from near Tula and Kaluga also have great chances for serf roots. More than 50% - among the natives of Vladimir, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ryazan and Pskov.

Also, the indigenous people of Ukraine and Belarus have very serious chances. In those lands, only the Grodno, Poltava, Kherson and Kharkov provinces had relatively low rates of the serf population.

The chances of native Tverians are 50/50.

To the northern and northwestern outskirts of the empire, the proportion of serfs is sharply reduced. Only 24.03% already lived in the capital Petersburg province.

There were also few serfs in the Baltics. The exception is Lithuania - in the Kovno province (the main part of the country's territory), 36.9% of the population was enslaved.

There were practically no serfs in the Caucasus. The exception was Georgia. In the Kutaisi province (west of the country), 59.71% of the population lived there. In the Tiflis province (east) - 21.46%.

The European North of Russia and Finland were practically not affected by enslavement. The same applies to Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Far East.

Serfdom in Russia was formed gradually and there are many reasons for this, according to historians. Back in the 15th century, peasants could freely move to another landowner. The legal enslavement of the peasants took place in stages.

Sudebnik of 1497

Sudebnik of 1497 - the beginning of the legal registration of serfdom.

Ivan III adopted a code of laws of the unified Russian state - Sudebnik. Article 57 "On Christian refusal" stated that the transition from one landowner to another was limited to a single period for the whole country: a week before and a week after St. George's Day - November 26. The peasants could go to another landowner, but they had to pay elderly for the use of land and yard. Moreover, the more time the peasant lived with the landowner, the more he had to pay him: for example, for a stay of 4 years - 15 pounds of honey, a herd of domestic animals or 200 pounds of rye.

Land reform of 1550

Under Ivan IV, the Sudebnik of 1550 was adopted, he retained the right to transfer peasants on St. elderly and established an additional fee, in addition, the Sudebnik obliged the owner to answer for the crimes of his peasants, which increased their dependence. Since 1581, the so-called reserved years, in which the transition was prohibited even on St. George's Day. This was connected with the census: in which region the census took place - in that reserved year. In 1592 the census was completed, and with it the possibility of the transition of the peasants was completed. This provision was enshrined in a special Decree. Since then, there has been a saying: “Here you are, grandmother, and St. George's day ...

The peasants, having lost the opportunity to move to another owner, began to run away, settling for life in other regions or on "free" lands. The owners of runaway peasants had the right to detect and return fugitives: in 1597, Tsar Fedor issued a Decree, according to which the term for detecting runaway peasants was five years.

"Here comes the master, the master will judge us ..."

Serfdomin the 17th century

In the 17th century in Russia, on the one hand, commodity production and the market appeared, and on the other, feudal relations were consolidated, adapting to market ones. It was a time of strengthening autocracy, the appearance of prerequisites for the transition to absolute monarchy. The 17th century is the era of mass popular movements in Russia.

In the second half of the XVII century. peasants in Russia were united in two groups − serfs and chernososhnye.Serfs ran their households on patrimonial, local and church lands, carried various feudal duties in favor of landowners. Black-eared peasants were included in the category of "hard people" who paid taxes and were under the control of the authorities. Therefore, there was a mass exodus of black-eared peasants.

Government Vasily Shuisky tried to resolve the situation, to increase the period of investigation of fugitive peasants up to 15 years, but neither the peasants themselves nor the nobles supported Shuisky's unpopular peasant policy.

Into the reign Mikhail Romanov there was a further enslavement of the peasants. Increasing cases of cession or sale of peasants without land.

Into the reign Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov a number of reforms were carried out: the procedure for collecting payments and incurring duties was changed. In 1646 - 1648. a household inventory of peasants and beans was carried out. And in 1648, an uprising called the “Salt Riot” took place in Moscow, the cause of which was an excessively high tax on salt. Following Moscow, other cities also rose. As a result of the current situation, it became clear that a revision of the laws was necessary. In 1649, the Zemsky Sobor was convened, at which the Council Code was adopted, according to which the peasants were finally attached to the land.

Its special chapter “The Court of the Peasants” canceled the “lesson years” for the investigation and return of fugitive peasants, the indefinite search and return of fugitives, established the heredity of serfdom and the right of the landowner to dispose of the property of a serf. If the owner of the peasants turned out to be insolvent, the property of peasants and serfs dependent on him was collected to compensate for his debt. Landowners received the right to a patrimonial court and police supervision over the peasants. Peasants did not have the right to speak independently in courts. Marriages, family divisions of peasants, inheritance of peasant property could only take place with the consent of the landowner. Peasants were forbidden to keep trading shops, they could trade only from wagons.

Harboring runaway peasants was punished with a fine, whipping and imprisonment. For the murder of a foreign peasant, the landowner had to give his best peasant with his family. The owner had to pay for the runaway peasants. At the same time, serfs were also considered "state taxpayers", i.e. were in charge of the state. The owners of the peasants were obliged to provide them with land and equipment. It was forbidden to deprive the peasants of land by turning them into slaves or letting them go free, it was impossible to forcibly take away property from the peasants. The right of the peasants to complain about the masters was also preserved.

At the same time, serfdom extended to black-haired, palace peasants who served the needs of the royal court, who were forbidden to leave their communities.

The Cathedral Code of 1649 showed the way to strengthening Russian statehood. It legally formalized serfdom.

Serfdom inXVIII century

Peter I

In 1718 - 1724, under Peter I, a census of the peasantry was carried out, after which the household taxation was replaced by a poll tax in the country. In fact, the peasants supported the army, and the townspeople - the fleet. The amount of the tax was determined arithmetically. The amount of military expenses was divided by the number of souls and the amount of 74 kopecks was obtained. from the peasants and 1 rub. 20 kop. - from townspeople. Poll tax brought the treasury more income. In the reign of Peter I, a new category of peasants was formed, called state, they paid to the state treasury in addition to the poll tax, they also paid a quitrent of 40 kopecks. Under Peter I, the passport system was also introduced: now, if a peasant went to work more than thirty miles from home, he had to receive a note in his passport about the date of return.

Elizaveta Petrovna

Elizaveta Petrovna at the same time increased the dependence of the peasants and changed their position: she eased the position of the peasants by forgiving them arrears for 17 years, reduced the size of the poll tax, changed recruitment (divided the country into 5 districts, which alternately supplied soldiers). But she also signed a decree according to which the serfs could not voluntarily enlist in the soldiers, allowed them to engage in crafts and trade. It put beginning of stratification peasants.

Catherine II

Catherine II set the course for further strengthening of absolutism and centralization: the nobles began to receive land and serfs as a reward.

Serfdom in19th century

Alexander I

Of course, serf relations hampered the development of industry and, in general, the development of the state, but, despite this, agriculture adapted to new conditions and developed to the best of its ability: new agricultural machines were introduced, new crops began to be grown (sugar beet, potatoes, etc.) , to develop new lands in Ukraine, the Don, in the Volga region. But at the same time, the contradictions between the landowners and the peasants are intensifying - corvée and dues are being brought to the limit by the landowners. Corvee, in addition to working on the master's arable land, included work in the serf factory, and the performance of various chores for the landowner throughout the year. Sometimes the corvee was 5-6 days a week, which did not allow the peasant to conduct an independent economy at all. The process of stratification within the peasantry began to intensify. The rural bourgeoisie, represented by peasant proprietors (more often state peasants), was able to acquire ownership of uninhabited land and lease land from the landowners.

The unspoken committee under Alexander I recognized the need for changes in peasant policy, but considered the foundations of absolutism and serfdom to be unshakable, although in the future it assumed the abolition of serfdom and the introduction of a constitution. In 1801, a decree was issued on the right to purchase land by merchants, philistines and peasants (state and appanage).

In 1803, a decree was issued "On free cultivators", which provided for the release of serfs to freedom for redemption with land by whole villages or individual families by mutual consent of peasants and landowners. However, the practical results of this decree were negligible. The provision did not apply to landless peasant laborers.

Alexander I tries to solve the peasant question again in 1818. He even approved the project of A. Arakcheev and the Minister of Finance D. Guryev on the gradual elimination of serfdom by redeeming landlord peasants from their allotments with the treasury. But this project was not practically implemented (with the exception of granting personal freedom to the peasants of the Baltic states in 1816-1819, but without land).

By 1825, 375 thousand state peasants were in military settlements (1/3 of the Russian army), of which a Separate Corps was formed under the command of Arakcheev - the peasants served and worked at the same time, discipline was tough, punishments were numerous.

AlexanderII - the king-liberator

Alexander II, who ascended the throne on February 19, 1855, set the following goals as the basis for the peasant reform:

liberation of peasants from personal dependence;
turning them into petty proprietors while retaining a significant part of the landed estates.

On February 19, 1861, Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom, he changed the fate of 23 million serfs: they received personal freedom and civil rights.

Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom

But for the land allotments allotted to them (until they redeem them), they had to serve a labor service or pay money, i.e. became known as "temporarily liable". The sizes of peasant allotments were different: from 1 to 12 acres per male (an average of 3.3 acres). For allotments, the peasants had to pay the landowner an amount of money, which, being deposited in the bank at 6%, would bring him an annual income equal to the pre-reform dues. According to the law, the peasants had to pay the landowner a lump sum for their allotment about a fifth of the stipulated amount (they could pay it not in money, but by working for the landowner). The rest was paid by the state. But the peasants had to return this amount (with interest) to him in annual payments for 49 years.

A. Mucha "Abolition of serfdom in Rus'"

The peasant reform was a compromise solution in the abolition of serfdom (this path is called reformist), it proceeded from the real circumstances of life in Russia in the middle of the 19th century, the interests of both peasants and landlords. The disadvantage of this program was that, having received will and land, the peasant did not become the owner of his allotment and a full member of society: the peasants continued to be subjected to corporal punishment (until 1903), they actually could not participate in agrarian reforms.

Let's summarize

Like any historical event, the abolition of serfdom is not unambiguously assessed.

It is hardly worth considering serfdom as a terrible evil and only as a feature of Russia. It was in many countries of the world. And it wasn't canceled right away. Until now, there are countries in the world where slavery has not been legally abolished. For example, slavery was abolished in Mauritania only in 2009. The abolition of serfdom also did not automatically mean an improvement in the living conditions of the peasants. Historians, for example, note the deterioration of the living conditions of peasants in the Baltic states, where serfdom was abolished under Alexander I. Napoleon, having captured Poland, abolished serfdom there, but it was reintroduced in this country and was abolished only in 1863. In Denmark, serfdom was officially abolished in 1788, but the peasants had to work out the corvée on the landlords' lands, which was finally abolished only in 1880.

Some historians even believe that serfdom in Russia was a necessary form of society's existence in conditions of constant political tension. It is possible that if Russia did not have to constantly repel the onslaught from the southeast and west, it would not have arisen at all; serfdom is a system that ensured the national security and independence of the country.

Monument to Emperor Alexander II, Moscow