Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
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Abolition Of Serfdom In Russia
On February 3, 1861, the Russian Tsar Aleksander II.
... signs the manifesto »On the Most Merciful Granting of the Rights of Free Rural Residents to the Serfs«.
The difference from slavery, for example in the USA, was that the serf, in contrast to the slave - at least officially! - was not a tradable commodity. In reality, however, it was very common for entire villages (with the people in them) to change hands at the gaming table.
The abolition of serfdom for around 25 million Russian peasants was long considered to be the most significant event in nineteenth-century Russian social history.
A small class of noble landowners previously had almost unlimited power over the mass of serfs in the Tsarist Empire. They could do as they pleased with the people who had no rights and lived in the most miserable conditions - to the point of simply beating them to death, which was quite common!
Unfortunately, no one kept a record of the tens of thousands who died in one way or another because they received no medical care, were starved or otherwise worked to death.
However, the Russian Ministry of the Interior kept precise records of when the serfs defended themselves against their owners. There were repeated peasant uprisings in the country and, according to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, around 60 "owners" (nobles or large landowners) were murdered by serfs every year.
During the Crimean War of 1853-55, peasant uprisings had intensified again.
After all, the war defeat of the troops formed from illiterate serfs by the armies of England and France exposed the backwardness of the Tsarist Empire to the world.
As already mentioned, general conscription was introduced and the armament and equipment of the troops was significantly improved.
But now the most important step is to follow: "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to be abolished from below", the tsar announced to a deputation of the Moscow nobility in March 1856 after the signing of the Peace of Paris .
Aleksandr II went down in history under the nickname “Tsar-Liberator”!
But was that really a liberation for the peasants?
For most peasants, the abolition of serfdom was of little use - they were theoretically now free and could go wherever they wanted, but had no farmland, because that was left in the hands of the big landowners, that was what the rich had to do when formulating the Liberation Manifesto carefully considered!
The now "free", but still poor farmers had to lease the land for a lot of money in order to survive! So they went from serf to debt slave...
Nor were they free socially or politically. The peasant-village assembly ("Semtsvo"), in which the rich peasants set the tone, and the village head ("Nachalnik") strictly enforced the will of the authorities, and the local gendarme in turn looked after the nachalnik.
Not least because of this, things continued to ferment in Russia, the "Tsar Liberator" will become the first Russian ruler of modern times to be assassinated...:
By the way, serfdom is NOT a specifically Russian invention, even if it is often regarded as typically Russian!
Serfdom was also known in many German territories and states. In the Kingdom of Hanover, for example, it was only abolished in 1833, and in Austria even later. Serfdom was known there as "hereditary subjection" and was only banned in 1848.
On February 3, 1861, the Russian Tsar Aleksander II.
... signs the manifesto »On the Most Merciful Granting of the Rights of Free Rural Residents to the Serfs«.
The difference from slavery, for example in the USA, was that the serf, in contrast to the slave - at least officially! - was not a tradable commodity. In reality, however, it was very common for entire villages (with the people in them) to change hands at the gaming table.
The abolition of serfdom for around 25 million Russian peasants was long considered to be the most significant event in nineteenth-century Russian social history.
A small class of noble landowners previously had almost unlimited power over the mass of serfs in the Tsarist Empire. They could do as they pleased with the people who had no rights and lived in the most miserable conditions - to the point of simply beating them to death, which was quite common!
Unfortunately, no one kept a record of the tens of thousands who died in one way or another because they received no medical care, were starved or otherwise worked to death.
However, the Russian Ministry of the Interior kept precise records of when the serfs defended themselves against their owners. There were repeated peasant uprisings in the country and, according to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, around 60 "owners" (nobles or large landowners) were murdered by serfs every year.
During the Crimean War of 1853-55, peasant uprisings had intensified again.
After all, the war defeat of the troops formed from illiterate serfs by the armies of England and France exposed the backwardness of the Tsarist Empire to the world.
As already mentioned, general conscription was introduced and the armament and equipment of the troops was significantly improved.
But now the most important step is to follow: "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to be abolished from below", the tsar announced to a deputation of the Moscow nobility in March 1856 after the signing of the Peace of Paris .
Aleksandr II went down in history under the nickname “Tsar-Liberator”!
But was that really a liberation for the peasants?
For most peasants, the abolition of serfdom was of little use - they were theoretically now free and could go wherever they wanted, but had no farmland, because that was left in the hands of the big landowners, that was what the rich had to do when formulating the Liberation Manifesto carefully considered!
The now "free", but still poor farmers had to lease the land for a lot of money in order to survive! So they went from serf to debt slave...
Nor were they free socially or politically. The peasant-village assembly ("Semtsvo"), in which the rich peasants set the tone, and the village head ("Nachalnik") strictly enforced the will of the authorities, and the local gendarme in turn looked after the nachalnik.
Not least because of this, things continued to ferment in Russia, the "Tsar Liberator" will become the first Russian ruler of modern times to be assassinated...:
By the way, serfdom is NOT a specifically Russian invention, even if it is often regarded as typically Russian!
Serfdom was also known in many German territories and states. In the Kingdom of Hanover, for example, it was only abolished in 1833, and in Austria even later. Serfdom was known there as "hereditary subjection" and was only banned in 1848.
