Serfs Are Emancipated in Russia
The emancipation of serfs in Russia, initiated by Czar Alexander II on March 3, 1861, marked a significant turning point in the country's social and economic landscape. At that time, serfs comprised over 80 percent of the Russian population and were largely treated as property by landowners. Czar Alexander II, often referred to as the "Czar Liberator," believed that abolishing serfdom was essential for Russia to modernize and compete with Western nations. His reforms included redistributing land from the gentry to freed serfs and establishing local assemblies and a judiciary to foster political engagement.
Despite these progressive changes, the emancipation sparked social unrest, culminating in Alexander's assassination in 1881. This historical context reveals that serfdom was not unique to Russia; it was a widespread institution in medieval Europe, though conditions varied significantly. In many Western European countries, serfs had some rights and protections, while in Russia, the system had evolved to become more oppressive. The legacy of serfdom and the subsequent reforms highlight the complexities of Russian society's attempts to navigate modernization amid deeply entrenched social hierarchies.
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Serfs Are Emancipated in Russia
Serfs Are Emancipated in Russia
On March 3, 1861, Czar Alexander II of Russia issued a royal proclamation freeing the serfs. The serfs, who constituted more than 80 percent of the Russian population, were little more than chattels to the landowners and aristocracy. Nevertheless, the czar, like most progressive Russians, had become convinced that if Russia was to keep up with the West it had to abolish serfdom, because this ancient institution was holding back the country's economic, social, and political development.
Alexander II, also known as “Czar Liberator,” broke up the landed estates of the gentry and gave portions to the newly freed serfs. He also provided for the establishment of local representative assemblies and a free judiciary. However, the social tensions released by Alexander's reforms resulted in further demands by the long-oppressed populace, supported by an increasingly nihilistic underground, and he was assassinated on March 13, 1881.
Serfdom was never an exclusively Russian problem. During the Middle Ages the majority of people across Europe lived in some degree of bondage. Power belonged to the armored knights and other fighting men who had weapons and horses. They and the nobles they served lived off the lands they conquered, the only source of wealth in those days, and the people who lived on those lands were forced to serve the landowners for their own safety and in exchange were provided protection against outsiders. These were violent and lawless times, with Europe ravaged by invaders from three directions, and despite its flaws the system did provide a needed measure of security. Serfs worked the land, gave a portion of their crops to the local lords, and paid various taxes. However, the degree of severity in this arrangement varied wildly. In most of western Europe, serfs had some legal and economic rights, could own property, and could not be sold like slaves: They were bound to stay on the land they worked. Over the centuries, towns and cities developed, based on trade and craft rather than agriculture and offering greater freedom to commoners. The countries that encouraged this process prospered, so that by the Renaissance serfdom was dying in most of western Europe, although it was rising throughout the eastern part of the continent.
In Russia the situation was markedly different. The 16th-century Grand Duchy of Muscovy, predecessor to the Russian Empire, achieved its freedom from the Mongols who had swept across eastern Europe only by building up a massive bureaucratic and military establishment, which required tremendous resources and sacrifices from the people. As Muscovy expanded and became the vast Russian Empire, so did its demands on the people: “The state grew fat, but the people grew lean,” as one Russian historian wrote. After the Romanov dynasty was established in 1613, when Michael Romanov became czar, measures were taken to increase the state's and the dynasty's control over the masses. In 1649 a harsh new legal code was enacted which divided Russian society into various classes. Those assigned to the lower ranks had little chance of ever changing their lot, nor did their descendants. Peasants were required to stay on the lands where they were born, and during the reign of Peter the Great personal movement was further restricted by a system of internal passports and the establishment of a secret police organization. Eventually, the lowliest members of society lost almost all their rights and could be sold independently of the land or forced to serve the czar in various ways. Hundreds of thousands of serfs died when Peter used them to build his new capital of St. Petersburg, and similar numbers perished serving in the Russian armies.
There were many revolts among the serfs, but they were brutally suppressed. By the 19th century, however, dissent among the intelligentsia and other elements of Russian society about a system so obviously backward in comparison to the West could no longer be ignored. Russian czars agonized over the issue for decades, until Alexander II finally took action. He paid dearly for it, however, and his successors closed their minds to liberal notions.