Emancipation of the Serfs

what were the military reasons for the emancipation

a freer population could supply a modern, professional conscript army

reformers argued that the old serf-based army have been exposed by the Crimean War (weaknesses had been revealed)

what were the economic reasons for the emancipation

reformers hoped free peasants would create a more mobile workforce

they also hoped peasants would farm more productively and generate surplus grain for export

what were the political reasons for the emancipation

peasant unrest was rising

reform from above was safer than revolution from below

when was the emancipation edict signed

february 1861

what did the term legal freedom mean

serfs were freed from personal bondage to their landlord but they could not leave the mir until all redemption payments were made

what did the term land allocation mean

allotments were given to the mir as a group, not individuals but the plots were usually smaller than the strips serfs had previously farmed

what does the term redemption payments mean

freed serfs paid the government over 49 years for their allotments and debts were not cancelled until 1907, nearly half a century later

what does the term temporary obligation mean

a two year transition period kept serfs bound to their landlords while allocations were set and around 15% of former serfs remained “temporarily obligated” after 1863

what does the term Volost courts mean

from 1861, peasant communities ran their own local courts but it was a separate inferior system to the main courts

what does the term landlord compensation mean

landowners received government bonds for the land and serfs they surrendered and many nobles used the money to pay off debts, not reinvest

why did the edict matter

largest act of social legislation in Russian history

• 23 million privately owned serfs were freed from personal bondage in 1861

• wider process affected around 51 million people, including state peasants

set a precedent for further reform

• The zemstvo reform in 1864, judicial reform in 1864 and military reform in 1874 all followed

• raised expectations the Tsar was not willing to meet

• for radicals, it also proved that state reform had limits, fuelling demands for revolution

impacts of the emancipation edict on peasants

minority of prosperous peasants (kulaks) benefited

• bought extra allotments from those who could not pay

• some were able to obtain internal passports and find work in growing industrial towns

• the most enterprising exported surplus grain and reinvested the profits

for many it made daily life harder

• allotments were smaller than previous land

• land subdivided between sons as families grew —> shrinking plots further each generation

• mir system blocked new farming methods and kept output low

• 1878, only 50% produced any surplus

• travel was restricted

impact on the nobility and state

kulaks

• gained land and capital

• some left the mir to work in industry

majority of peasants

• received smaller plots than before + became smaller with each generation

• had to pay redemption payments

• trapped in the mir

landowners

• received compensation bonds (used to pay debts not invest)

• noble bankruptcies rose

the state

• used the mir as a mechanism for tax collection, redemption payments and control

• weakened the nobility as a reliable support base

social unrest after the edict

peasant unrest became worse

• expected immediate, unconditional freedom

• in the first four months there was approx 647 incidents of rioting

Bezdna uprising in the Kazan region

• around 70 peasants killed

• showed emancipation did not remove need for repression

disputes over allotments and redemption levels continued for decades