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Emancipation of the Serfs

Editing Commission 1859 to legislate
1. The 22 Emancipation Statutes of 19th Feb 1861
  1. Serfdom= abolished. Legally free (marry/travel/vote in local election/ trade freely)
  2. Peasants could keep houses & land immediately around them, but would have to buy other land (strips) they worked
    1. Gov purchases land; peasants had to make redemption payments over 49 years
      1. X own land til final payment done
    2. 1866= peasants right to buy land in same way as former serfs or remain tenants
  3. Still under control of Mir, which had strengthened power...
  4. Nobility still have role in policing
  5. Landowners= compensated for loss of land in gov bonds, but X for the loss of their rights over serfs
Implementing Emancipation
1. X overnight
2. 23 million serfs involved!
3. After Feb 19th= 2-year transitional period- obligations to land owner remained as had been under serfdom, but now serfs = legally free- X be sold
  1. Time to work out how much land to who (Local committees allocating)
3 Key Aspects:
1. Most peasants got slightly less land than had worked before- many got difficult strips with limited yield/profit (esp. Black Earth region= allocation below av.). Had to work as hired labour on noble's remaining land for much of year
2. Landowners received above market value for the land they handed to peasants- peasants paying more for it. Landowners could decide which bits to keep, so kept the best. Landlords retained 2 thirds of land.
3. Powers of Mir= strengthened. Responsible for collecting redemption payments & other peasant taxes. If peasant left area, couldn't sell land; reverted to the Mir. Mir issued internal passports for peasant travel- to stop thousands freed peasants moving round countryside; now tied to village, not to lord. The peasants= more self-governing, yet for individuals it was renewed dependence.
Consequences
1. Peasants felt cheated
  1. 1961- Over 1,000 disturbances (one involved 10,000 peasants!)
    1. Army had to restore order on over 300 estates
2. Nobles= disgruntled; felt X compensated for loss of rights over the serfs- losing power, status, influence.
  1. Minority wanted gentry reps to form national commission to prevent bureaucrats mistreating them again
  2. Liberals wanted elected reps from all over Russia to be assembled
3. Much of money to nobles paid off existing debts & mortgages- so many moved to towns and rented land to peasants (absentee landlords)
  1. 1862-1905- landholdings fell from 87 million to 50 million desyatiny (Russia measurement of land; 2.7 acres)
4. Intelligentsia reacted badly- thought protected nobles and betrayed peasants; growth of opposition to the regime
5. Kulaks- bought land of poorer neighbours & hired labour= better-off
Assessing Emancipation
1. Soon after, Milyutin (its architect) was sacked by Tsar, to appease the nobility who X want it abolished
  1. The BIG issue- Tsar X want to offend/damage/destroy the ruling class whom his regime depended on for survival
    1. Thus no one was satisfied by the arrangements in the ES
2. Peasants= still segregated class, tied to commune with own law courts, X move around freely
Key Dates
1. 1856- Alexander told Marshalls of the Nobility its better to abolish serfdom from above
2. 1857- Committee set up to consider how to abolish it; provincial nobles elect committee to consider reform
3. 1857-9- Peasant disturbances on news of emancipation; key decision in December that feed serfs would acquire land
4. 1859- Editing commission established to draw up statues inc. 'enlightened bureaucrats' like Nicholas Milyutin
5. 1861- 19th Feb Alexander signed into law the proclamation & statues abolishing serfdom

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Emancipation of the Serfs

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	Created by Miranda Daniel almost 9 years ago