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What year was it canceled? When was serfdom abolished? Add your price to the base Comment

What year was it canceled? When was serfdom abolished? Add your price to the base Comment

Servants who do not have a master do not become free people because of this - they have servility in their souls.
G. Heine

The date of the abolition of serfdom in Russia is December 19, 1861. This is a significant event, since the beginning of 1861 stood out for Russian Empire extremely stressful. Alexander 2 was even forced to put the army on high alert. The reason for this was not a possible war, but the growing boom of discontent among the peasants.

A few years before 1861, the tsarist government began to consider a law to abolish serfdom. The emperor understood that there was nowhere to delay further. His advisers unanimously said that the country was on the brink of explosion. peasant war. On March 30, 1859, a meeting of noblemen and the emperor took place. At this meeting, the nobles said that it was better for the liberation of the peasants to come from above, otherwise it would follow from below.

Reform February 19, 1861

As a result, the date of the abolition of serfdom in Russia was determined - February 19, 1861. What did this reform give the peasants, did they become free? This question can be answered unambiguously the reform of 1861 made the life of the peasants much worse. Of course, the royal manifesto, signed by him in order to liberate ordinary people, endowed the peasants with rights that they never had. Now the landowner did not have the right to exchange a peasant for a dog, to beat him, to forbid him to marry, trade, or engage in fishing. But the problem for the peasants was the land.

Land issue

To resolve the land issue, the state convened world mediators who were sent to the places and there they were engaged in the division of the land. The overwhelming majority of the work of these intermediaries consisted in the fact that they announced to the peasants that on all disputed issues with the land they should negotiate with the landowner. This agreement had to be in writing. The reform of 1861 gave the landowners the right, when determining land plots, to take away from the peasants, the so-called "surplus". As a result, the peasants had only 3.5 acres (1) of land per audit soul (2). Before the reform of the land was 3.8 acres. At the same time, the landlords took away the best land from the peasants, leaving only barren lands.

The most paradoxical thing about the reform of 1861 is that the date of the abolition of serfdom is known exactly, but everything else is very vague. Yes, the manifesto formally endowed the peasants with land, but in fact the land remained in the possession of the landowner. The peasant received only the right to redeem that land who was assigned to him by the landowner. But at the same time, the landlords themselves were endowed with the right to independently determine whether or not to allow the sale of land.

Land redemption

No less strange was the amount at which the peasants had to buy land plots. This amount was calculated on the basis of the dues received by the landowner. For example, the richest nobleman of those years Shuvalov P.P. received a quitrent of 23 thousand rubles a year. This means that the peasants, in order to redeem the land, had to pay the landowner as much money as needed so that the landowner put them in the bank and annually received the same 23 thousand rubles in interest. As a result, on average, one auditor's soul had to pay 166.66 rubles for the tithing. Since the families were large, on average across the country, one family had to pay 500 rubles for the purchase of a land plot. It was an unbearable amount.

The state came to "help" the peasants. The State Bank paid the landlord 75-80% of the required amount. Peasants paid the rest. At the same time, they were obliged to settle accounts with the state and pay the required interest within 49 years. On average across the country, the bank paid the landowner 400 rubles for one land plot. At the same time, the peasants gave money to the bank for 49 years in the amount of almost 1200 rubles. The state almost tripled its money.

The date of the abolition of serfdom is an important stage in the development of Russia, but it did not give a positive result. Only by the end of 1861, uprisings broke out in 1176 estates in the country. By 1880, 34 Russian provinces were engulfed in peasant uprisings.

Only after the first revolution in 1907, the government canceled the purchase of land. Land was provided free of charge.

1 - one tithe is equal to 1.09 hectares.

2 - auditor's soul - the male population of the country (women were not entitled to land).

On this day in 1861, Alexander II abolished in Russia serfdom, having issued the Manifesto on the liberation of the peasants, reminds RIA Novosti.

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 on March 4, 1855, could later rely. Alexander Nikolaevich was animated by the most sincere intention to do everything to eliminate the shortcomings of Russian life. He considered serfdom to be the main disadvantage. By this time, the idea of abolishing serfdom had become widespread among the "top": the government, among officials, the nobility, and the intelligentsia. Meanwhile, this was one of the most difficult problems.

Serfdom was formed in Russia for centuries and was closely connected with various aspects of the life of the Russian peasant. The peasant depended on the feudal lord in personal, land, property, and legal relations. Now the peasant had to be freed from the guardianship of the landowner, to give him personal freedom. 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, 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 work, 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 - March 5, 1861, in other cities - in the next week.

The manifesto provided the peasants with personal freedom and general civil rights. From now on, the peasant could own movable and immovable property, make deals, act as entity. He was freed from the guardianship of the landowner, could marry without permission, enter the service and educational establishments, change their place of residence, move into the class of philistines and merchants. For this reform, Alexander II began to be called the Tsar the Liberator. The peasant reform of Alexander II was of great historical significance. It brought freedom to 25 million peasants and opened the way for the development of bourgeois relations. The abolition of serfdom marked the beginning of other important transformations. The moral significance of the reform was that it put an end to serf slavery.

The prerequisites for the abolition of serfdom were formed in late XVIII century. All sectors of society considered the serfdom an immoral phenomenon that dishonored Russia. In order to stand on a par with the European countries free from slavery, the question of the abolition of serfdom was ripe for the Russian government.

The main reasons for the abolition of serfdom:

Serfdom became a brake on the development of industry and trade, which hindered the growth of capital and placed Russia in the category of secondary states;
The decline of the landlord economy due to the extremely inefficient labor of serfs, which was expressed in the deliberately poor performance of the corvee;
The growth of peasant revolts indicated that the serfdom was a "powder keg" under the state;
The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) demonstrated the backwardness of the political system in the country.

Alexander I tried to take the first steps in resolving the issue of the abolition of serfdom, but his committee did not think of how to put this reform into practice. Emperor Alexander limited himself to the law of 1803 on free cultivators.

Nicholas I in 1842 adopted the law "On indebted peasants", according to which the landowner had the right to free the peasants, giving them a plot of land, and the peasants were obliged to bear the duty in favor of the landowner for the use of the land. However, this law did not take root, the landowners did not want to let the peasants go.

In 1857, official preparations began for the abolition of serfdom. Emperor Alexander II ordered the establishment of provincial committees, which were to develop projects to improve the life of serfs. On the basis of these drafts, drafting commissions drew up a bill, which was submitted to the Main Committee for consideration and establishment.

On February 19, 1861, Emperor Alexander II signed a manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and approved the "Regulations on peasants who have emerged from serfdom." Alexander remained in history with the name "Liberator".

Although emancipation from slavery gave the peasants some personal and civil freedoms, such as the right to marry, go to court, trade, enter the civil service, etc., but they were limited in freedom of movement, as well as in economic rights. In addition, the peasants remained the only class that carried recruiting duties and could be subjected to corporal punishment.

The land remained in the ownership of the landlords, and the peasants were allocated a settled place of residence and a field allotment, for which they had to serve their duties (in money or work), which almost did not differ from serfs. According to the law, the peasants had the right to redeem the allotment and the estate, then they received complete independence and became peasant owners. Until then, they were called "temporarily liable." The ransom amounted to the annual amount of dues, multiplied by 17!

To help the peasantry, the government arranged a special "buying operation." After the establishment of the land allotment, the state paid the landowner 80% of the value of the allotment, and 20% was attributed to the peasant as a government debt, which he had to repay in installments over 49 years.

Peasants united in rural communities, and those, in turn, united in volosts. The use of field land was communal, and for the implementation of "redemption payments" the peasants were bound by mutual responsibility.

Yard people who did not plow the land were temporarily liable for two years, and then they could register in a rural or urban society.

The agreement between the landowners and peasants was set forth in the "charter". And for the analysis of emerging disagreements, the post of conciliators was established. The overall leadership of the reform was entrusted to the "provincial presence for peasant affairs."

The peasant reform created conditions for the transformation of labor power into a commodity, market relations began to develop, which is typical for a capitalist country. The consequence of the abolition of serfdom was the gradual formation of new social strata of the population - the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

Changes in the social, economic and political life of Russia after the abolition of serfdom forced the government to undertake other important reforms, which contributed to the transformation of our country into a bourgeois monarchy.

Serfdom ... what associations does this phrase evoke? Heartbreaking scenes of the sale of unfortunate peasants, torturing them to death for the smallest offenses, losing them at cards by the master immediately come to mind. A lot of things come to mind when mentioning this phenomenon of Russian civilization. Classical Russian literature, created by representatives of the highest Europeanized class of Russia - the nobility, clearly reinforced in our minds the stereotype according to which we clearly associate serfdom with nothing more than legally enforceable slavery, comparable to the position of American blacks. The right of ownership of people allowed the landowners, on completely legal grounds, to do whatever they wanted with the peasants - torturing them, exploiting them mercilessly and even killing them. The recently celebrated 155th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom (1861 - the year of the abolition of serfdom in Russia) gives us reason to reflect on whether the years of serfdom in Russia were slavery, and at what stages it (serfdom) became such.

In the 16th-17th centuries, when serfdom was introduced, the structure of Muscovite Russia as a state differed significantly from Western monarchies, where relations between the king and feudal lords were based on contractual relations, and the king’s failure to fulfill obligations freed the vassals from their duties.

In Russia, a “serving state” developed, where each class had its own obligations to the state, the embodiment of which was the sacred figure of the anointed of God. The fulfillment of these duties gave representatives of all classes certain rights. Only serfs were deprived of duties to the state, but they also served the sovereign, being servants of service people. At that time, the definition of slaves was most suitable for the serfs deprived of personal freedom - they belonged entirely to their masters, who were responsible for them.

The performance of duties to the state was divided into two types: service and tax. The service class fulfilled its duty to the state by serving in the army or by working in bureaucratic positions. Boyars and nobles belonged to the service class. The draft estate was exempted from military service. This class paid tax - a tax in favor of the state. It could be in cash or in kind. This class included peasants, merchants and artisans. Representatives of this estate were personally free people, in contrast to the serfs, to whom the tax did not apply.

At the first stage (until the 17th century), the peasants were not assigned to rural communities and landlords. They rented land, taking a loan from the owner of it - grain, inventory, working livestock, outbuildings. To pay for this loan, they paid the owner of the land in kind quitrent - corvée. At the same time, they remained personally free people. At this stage, the peasants (who did not have debts) had the right to transfer to another class. The situation changed in the middle of the 17th century, when the peasants were attached to certain land plots and the owners of these plots - serfdom was approved by the conciliar code of 1649 under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. At the same time, the owners of the plots acted as representatives of the state and, in fact, the serfs did not belong to the landowner, but to the state, and were attached not to him personally, but to the land that he disposed of. Peasants were obliged to give part of their labor to the landowner. This period can be called the beginning of the final enslavement of the peasants. The transition of peasants to other estates was prohibited. However, for peasants unable to repay loans, the ban on transferring to other classes was a real salvation, since it saved them from the prospect of being transferred to the category of bonded serfs, or, simply, slaves. It was also beneficial for the state, which was not profitable to produce slaves who did not pay taxes.

After the death of the landowner, the estate, together with the attached peasants, returned to the treasury and was again distributed among the service people. At the same time, it is far from a fact that the estate went to the relatives of the deceased landowner. Landownership was actually transformed into private ownership of land only in the 18th century.

However, still full-fledged owners of the land at that time existed - these were the boyars who had the right to transfer their estates by inheritance. They most of all were similar to the western feudal lords. But, starting from the 16th century, their rights to land were significantly limited by the royal power - the sale of land by them was difficult, after the death of a childless patrimony, the land was transferred to the treasury and distributed according to the local principle. In addition, the ownership of land by votchinniki did not extend to serfs.

In general, in pre-Petrine Russia, a system developed under which the serf peasant actually belonged not to the service landowner, but to the state. The main function of the peasants was to pay the state tax. The landowner was obliged to assist his peasants in every possible way in the performance of this function. The power of the landlord over the peasants was severely limited by law. In addition to this power, the landowner had certain duties to the peasants - he was obliged to supply the peasants with equipment, grain for sowing, and save them from starvation in case of crop failure. The landowner did not have the right to turn peasants into slaves, to administer lynching in the event that a peasant committed a criminal offense. The landowner could punish the peasants, but for the murder of a peasant he was punishable by death, as for the destruction of state property. The peasant had the right to complain about the cruel treatment, lynching and willfulness of the landowner - as a result, he could lose his estate.

Serfs who were not attached to a particular landowner (state peasants) were in a more privileged position. They were attached to the land (although they could temporarily engage in fishing), could not move to another estate, but at the same time they were personally free, had property, had the right to participate in elections in Zemsky Sobor. Their only duty was to pay taxes to the state.

Peter's reforms significantly increased the serfdom of the peasants. The peasants were entrusted with military service (previously, the service was the responsibility of only the nobles) - they were required to represent recruits from a certain number of households. Almost all state serfs were handed over to the landlords, having lost their personal freedom. Numerous free people were turned into serfs - wandering merchants, free artisans, just vagrants. Here, universal passportization and the introduction of an analogue of registration turned out to be very useful. Serf workers appeared, assigned to factories and manufactories. Kholopov was obliged to pay the state tax, equalizing with serfs. True, this innovation rather speaks in favor of Peter, since by enslaving the serfs, he gave them certain rights, freeing them from slavery.

Despite the strengthening of serfdom, neither the landowners nor the serf factory owners turned into full-fledged owners of peasants and workers. Moreover, their power over the enslaved was limited by the state. In case of oppression of peasants, including former serfs, the estate, together with the peasants, was returned to the state and transferred to another owner. It was forbidden to interfere with the landowner marriages between peasants. It was forbidden to sell serfs apart, separating families. The institute of estates was abolished.

Purposeful public policy struggle against the trade in serfs. A serf, even a serf, could not be sold without a piece of land, which made such a bargain unprofitable. Serf workers could be sold (and bought) only together with the plant, which forced breeders to improve the skills (including abroad) of available workers.

Paradoxically, Peter, who blindly bowed to everything European, while reforming the country, retained the Russian institutions of the service state and even tightened them as much as possible, and did not use the Western model of relations between the king and the feudal landowners (where the aristocrats did not depend on the service).

The obligations to the state, assigned to all estates, were toughened not only in relation to the peasants - the reformation affected the service class to no lesser extent. The nobles were obliged to perform official duties not from case to case, as before, but on an ongoing basis. From the age of fifteen, a nobleman was obliged to perform lifelong military or civil service, having managed to get an education before that. The service began with the lowest ranks and lasted for years and decades, often in isolation from the family.

However, the nobles did not “suffer” for long. Already under the first successors of Peter, there was a desire of the aristocracy to lay down heavy state duties, retaining all privileges. In 1736, under Anna Ioannovna, lifelong service for the nobles was replaced by 25 years. Compulsory service from the age of 15, starting from the junior rank, turned into a profanity - noble children were enrolled in the service from birth, and by the age of 15 they "went up" to the officer rank.

Under Elizabeth Petrovna, landless nobles were allowed to have serfs. The landowners received the right to exile serfs to Siberia instead of sending them out as recruits.

Finally, the institution of the service state, which has no analogues in the world, was destroyed in Russia under Catherine II. German by birth, she did not know the ancient Russian customs and did not understand the differences between serfs and slaves.

The Manifesto of February 18, 1762, issued by Peter the Third, but implemented by Catherine II, freed the nobles from compulsory service to the state - the service became voluntary. In fact, the system of the Western aristocracy was introduced: the nobles received land and serfs as private property, without any conditions, only by the right of belonging to the estate. The peasants were obliged to serve the landowner, who was released from service to the state.

Under Catherine II, serfs were turned into full-fledged slaves. For "presumptuous behavior" they could, without any limitation in numbers, be exiled to Siberia. The peasants were deprived of the right to complain and go to court against the landowner. The landowners were granted the privilege of judging the peasants on their own. Serfs could be sold for landowners' debts at a public auction.

The size of the corvee was increased to 4-6 days a week. This led to the fact that in some provinces the peasants could only work for themselves at night.

Since 1785, according to the letter of commendation, the peasants were no longer considered subjects of the crown and were actually equated with the landowner's agricultural implements. In such a miserable state, the peasantry (more than a third of the country's population) was doomed to exist until the middle of the 19th century.

The serfs received a significant relief in their position with the coming to power (in 1825) of Nicholas I, known to us by national history as a "reactionary and serf-owner". Under Nikolai Pavlovich, a number of decrees were issued that softened the fate of the peasants and assigned certain duties to the nobles.

It was forbidden to sell people separately from their families, it was forbidden to buy serfs for landless nobles, landowners were forbidden to exile peasants to hard labor. The practice of distributing serfs to nobles for merit was discontinued. All state serfs were given allotments of land and forest plots. Peasants were allowed to buy from the estates being sold. The landlords were persecuted for cruel treatment of serfs, and this was not a fiction - during the reign of Nicholas I, several hundred landowners lost their estates. Under Nicholas I, the peasants again became subjects of the state, ceasing to be the property of the landowner.

Finally, slavery in Russia, established by the liberal and pro-Western rulers of Russia, was abolished in 1861, during the reign of Alexander II. True, the liberation was not entirely complete - they freed themselves only from dependence on the landowner, but not from dependence on the peasant community, from which the peasants were liberated during the peasant reform in Russia, which was carried out by Stolypin at the beginning of the 20th century.

However, the abolition of slavery by no means eradicated from Russian realities the elements of serfdom that regularly appear in the history of the country. The most striking example from the 20th century is a fortress imposed on peasant collective farmers in the form of a registry to a certain settlement, a certain collective farm and factory, and a number of clearly defined duties, the fulfillment of which granted certain rights that were practiced during the Stalinist modernization.

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).

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