Serfdom + Emancipation of the Serfs

Serfdom

a type of slavery in which the slaves are tied to the land, not the owner

serf

Slave

State of serfdom in Russia by 1855

* 53 million serfs in the Russian empire, made up 90% population
* 55% were privately owned, 45% by the state
* Some worked land, some did household duties

Serf military service

Serfs were required to serve 25 years in the army

Why should you emancipate the serfs

1. Political unrest and discontent
2. Economic growth
3. Moral reasons
4. Military development

Political unrest & Discontent

* fear of uprising and disorder
* More than 300 separate peasant uprisings before Crimean war
* Tsars typically grant freedom to serfs who have fought in war, but Alexander II didn’t, increasing tensions

Economic

* only way for Russia to develop industrially
* Serfs couldn’t move to the cities, so Russian factories lacked labour needed for industrial development
* Serf-owning nobles fell into debt because serfdom didn’t produce a grain surplus for export
* Because quality of life was low, demand for goods was low, so economy stagnated
* Peasants couldn’t pay taxes, and owed 54million pounds doubles in tax arrears by 1855

Moral

serfdom was degrading and poor humanitarian standards

military

* maintenance of a large peacetime army was taxing on govt budget
* Russian army was painfully outdated and inefficient
* Russian forces had inadequate transport, communications and equipment was handled by unqualified personnel

Timeline of emancipation

* In April 1856 Alex gave speech to a group of noblemen about desire to emancipate serfs
* February 19th 1861 the emancipation statute was signed by the Tsar
* By march 1861 it was published for all peasants and landlords to see
* Ended 200 years of tradition

How was emancipation carried out

1. Freedom
2. Temporary obligation
3. Redemption operation

1. Freedom

* Serfs no longer tied to land
* Could now vote, trade, own property, marry freely, buy land, etc.
* BUT, they had to fulfil labour service for 2 more years

2. Temporary obligation

* serfs had to continue to work for landowners until they were ready to pay rent
* They could ask to redeem land from their landowners and the size of the land would be negotiated between serfs and landowners
* However, the landowners often kept the best parts of land to themselves and the serfs were left with the poor parts

3. Redemption operation

* Serfs could buy land now but didnt have any money
* So they were loaned money by the government
* To pay back the loans the serfs had to pay in 49 annual payments at 6% interest
* Serfs had to work for the mir until they paid off all their debt and were now tied to the mir
* Landowners were compensated for the land they lost to peasants

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Wins of Emancipation

1. On paper, it was carried out successfully — 40 million peasants liberated and within 20 years or so of the reform, at least 85% of former serfs became landowners
2. Enterprising peasants benefited — were able to negotiate and forfeit mir rights and move to the cities, forming an upper sub-class of wealthy peasants known as Kulaks

Losses of emancipation

1. Peasant discontent — afterwards there were 647 peasant uprisings, Bezdna massacre
2. Hard to implement — Russia was massive and slow administration meant it took a long time to carry out
3. Land was not allotted equally — landowners inflated prices and kept good land to themselves so allotments were unfavourable to peasants
4. Worsened living standards for peasants
5. Didn’t boost the economy — serfs still didnt have money to spend because of debt, so they were not able to buy goods or leave for cities to work in factories
6. Undermined traditional social hierarchy — Alexander II didnt consult landowners before so he lost support of many who felt they’d lost their status