When was serfdom abolished in Rus'? Who introduced serfdom? The origins of serfdom in Rus'

Alexander II

Contrary to the existing erroneous opinion that the overwhelming majority of the population of pre-reform Russia was in serfdom, in fact, the percentage of serfs to the entire population of the empire remained almost unchanged at 45% from the second revision to the eighth (that is, from before), and by the 10th revision ( ) this share fell to 37%. According to the 1859 census, 23.1 million people (of both sexes) out of 62.5 million people inhabiting the Russian Empire were in serfdom. Of the 65 provinces and regions that existed in the Russian Empire in 1858, in the three above-mentioned Baltic provinces, in the Land of the Black Sea Army, in the Primorsky region, the Semipalatinsk region and the region of the Siberian Kyrgyz, in the Derbent province (with the Caspian region) and the Erivan province there were no serfs at all; back at 4 administrative units(Arkhangelsk and Shemakha provinces, Transbaikal and Yakutsk regions) there were also no serfs, with the exception of several dozen courtyard people (servants). In the remaining 52 provinces and regions, the share of serfs in the population ranged from 1.17% (Bessarabian region) to 69.07% (Smolensk province).

Reasons

In 1861, a reform was carried out in Russia that abolished serfdom and marked the beginning of the capitalist formation in the country. The main reason for this reform was: the crisis of the serfdom system, peasant unrest, which especially intensified during Crimean War. In addition, serfdom hampered the development of the state and the formation of a new class - the bourgeoisie, which had limited rights and could not participate in government. Many landowners believed that the liberation of the peasants would give a positive result in development agriculture. The moral aspect played an equally significant role in the abolition of serfdom - in the middle of the 19th century, “slavery” existed in Russia.

Preparation of reform

The government program was outlined in a rescript from Emperor Alexander II on November 20 (December 2) to the Vilna Governor-General V. I. Nazimov. It provided: the destruction of personal dependence peasants while maintaining all the land in the ownership of the landowners; provision peasants a certain amount of land, for which they will be required to pay rent or serve corvee, and over time - the right to buy out peasant estates (a residential building and outbuildings). To prepare peasant reforms, provincial committees were formed, within which a struggle began for measures and forms of concessions between liberal and reactionary landowners. The fear of an all-Russian peasant revolt forced the government to change the government program of peasant reform, the projects of which were repeatedly changed in connection with the rise or decline of the peasant movement. In December, a new peasant reform program was adopted: providing peasants the possibility of purchasing land and creating peasant public administration bodies. To review projects of provincial committees and develop peasant reform, Editorial Commissions were created in March. The project drawn up by the Editorial Commissions at the end differed from that proposed by the provincial committees in increasing land allotments and reducing duties. This caused discontent among the local nobility, and in the project the allotments were slightly reduced and duties increased. This direction in changing the project was preserved both when it was considered in the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs at the end, and when it was discussed in the State Council at the beginning.

On February 19 (March 3, New Art.) in St. Petersburg, Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, which consisted of 17 legislative acts.

The main provisions of the peasant reform

The main act is “ General position about peasants emerging from serfdom" - contained the main conditions of the peasant reform:

• peasants received personal freedom and the right to freely dispose of their property;
• The landowners retained ownership of all the lands that belonged to them, but were obliged to provide the peasants with “sedentary estates” and field allotment for use.
• For the use of allotment land, peasants had to serve corvee or pay quitrent and did not have the right to refuse it for 9 years.
• The size of the field allotment and duties had to be recorded in the statutory charters of 1861, which were drawn up by the landowners for each estate and verified by the peace intermediaries.
• Peasants were given the right to buy out an estate and, by agreement with the landowner, a field allotment; until this was done, they were called temporarily obligated peasants.
• the structure, rights and responsibilities of the peasant public administration bodies (rural and volost) courts were also determined.

Four “Local Regulations” determined the size of land plots and duties for their use in 44 provinces of European Russia. From the land that was in the use of peasants before February 19, 1861, sections could be made if the peasants' per capita allotments exceeded the maximum size established for the given area, or if the landowners, while maintaining the existing peasant allotment, had less than 1/3 of the total land of the estate left.

Allotments could be reduced by special agreements between peasants and landowners, as well as upon receipt of a gift allotment. If the peasants had smaller plots of land for use, the landowner was obliged to either cut off the missing land or reduce duties. For the highest shower allotment, a quitrent was set from 8 to 12 rubles. per year or corvee - 40 men's and 30 women's working days per year. If the allotment was less than the highest, then the duties were reduced, but not proportionally. The rest of the “Local Provisions” basically repeated the “Great Russian Provisions”, but taking into account the specifics of their regions. The features of the Peasant Reform for certain categories of peasants and specific areas were determined by the “Additional Rules” - “On the arrangement of peasants settled on the estates of small landowners, and on benefits to these owners”, “On people assigned to private mining factories of the Ministry of Finance”, “On peasants and workers serving work at Perm private mining factories and salt mines”, “About peasants serving work in landowner factories”, “About peasants and courtyard people in the Land of the Don Army”, “About peasants and courtyard people in the Stavropol province”, “ About peasants and courtyard people in Siberia”, “About people who emerged from serfdom in the Bessarabian region”.

The “Regulations on the Settlement of Household People” provided for their release without land, but for 2 years they remained completely dependent on the landowner.

The “Regulations on Redemption” determined the procedure for peasants buying land from landowners, organizing the redemption operation, and the rights and obligations of peasant owners. The redemption of a field plot depended on an agreement with the landowner, who could oblige the peasants to buy the land at his request. The price of land was determined by quitrent, capitalized at 6% per annum. In case of redemption by voluntary agreement, the peasants had to make an additional payment to the landowner. The landowner received the main amount from the state, to which the peasants had to repay it annually for 49 years with redemption payments.

The “Manifesto” and “Regulations” were published from March 7 to April 2 (in St. Petersburg and Moscow - March 5). Fearing the dissatisfaction of the peasants with the conditions of the reform, the government took a number of precautions (relocation of troops, sending members of the imperial retinue to places, appeal of the Synod, etc.). The peasantry, dissatisfied with the enslaving conditions of the reform, responded to it with mass unrest. The largest of them were the Bezdnenskoe uprising of 1861 and the Kandeyevsky uprising of 1861.

The implementation of the Peasant Reform began with the drawing up of statutory charters, which was mostly completed by the middle of the year. On January 1, 1863, peasants refused to sign about 60% of the charters. The purchase price of land significantly exceeded its market value at that time, in some areas by 2-3 times. As a result of this, in a number of regions they were extremely keen to receive gift plots, and in some provinces (Saratov, Samara, Ekaterinoslav, Voronezh, etc.) a significant number of peasant gift-givers appeared.

Under the influence of the Polish uprising of 1863, changes occurred in the conditions of the Peasant Reform in Lithuania, Belarus and Right Bank Ukraine: the law of 1863 introduced compulsory redemption; redemption payments decreased by 20%; peasants who were dispossessed of land from 1857 to 1861 received their allotments in full, those dispossessed of land earlier - partially.

The peasants' transition to ransom lasted for several decades. K remained in a temporarily obligated relationship with 15%. But in a number of provinces there were still many of them (Kursk 160 thousand, 44%; Nizhny Novgorod 119 thousand, 35%; Tula 114 thousand, 31%; Kostroma 87 thousand, 31%). The transition to ransom proceeded faster in the black earth provinces, where voluntary transactions prevailed over compulsory ransom. Landowners who had large debts, more often than others, sought to speed up the redemption and enter into voluntary transactions.

The abolition of serfdom also affected appanage peasants, who, by the “Regulations of June 26, 1863,” were transferred to the category of peasant owners through compulsory redemption under the terms of the “Regulations of February 19.” In general, their plots were significantly smaller than those of the landowner peasants.

The law of November 24, 1866 began the reform of state peasants. They retained all the lands in their use. According to the law of June 12, 1886, state peasants were transferred to redemption.

The peasant reform of 1861 entailed the abolition of serfdom in the national outskirts of the Russian Empire.

On October 13, 1864, a decree was issued on the abolition of serfdom in the Tiflis province; a year later it was extended, with some changes, to the Kutaisi province, and in 1866 to Megrelia. In Abkhazia, serfdom was abolished in 1870, in Svaneti - in 1871. The conditions of the reform here retained the remnants of serfdom to a greater extent than under the “Regulations of February 19”. In Armenia and Azerbaijan, peasant reform was carried out in 1870-83 and was no less enslaving in nature than in Georgia. In Bessarabia, the bulk of the peasant population was made up of legally free landless peasants - tsarans, who, according to the “Regulations of July 14, 1868,” were allocated land for permanent use in exchange for services. The redemption of this land was carried out with some derogations on the basis of the “Redemption Regulations” of February 19, 1861.

Literature

• Zakharova L. G. Autocracy and the abolition of serfdom in Russia, 1856-1861. M., 1984.

Links

• The most merciful Manifesto of February 19, 1861, On the abolition of serfdom (Christian reading. St. Petersburg, 1861. Part 1). On the website Heritage of Holy Rus'
• Agrarian reforms and development of the rural economy of Russia - article by Doctor of Economics. Adukova

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Serfdom a set of legal norms of the feudal state that established the most complete and severe form of peasant dependence. Included a ban on peasants leaving their land plots (the so-called attachment of peasants to the land... Wikipedia

Abolition of serfdom in Russia- Stages of the abolition of serfdom in Russia “Regulations of February 19, 1861” about peasants emerging from serfdom, concerned only the landowner peasants of the Great Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian provinces and provided for ... ... World history. Encyclopedia

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History of the abolition of serfdom in Russia- March 3 (February 19, O.S.), 1861 - Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of free rural inhabitants and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, consisting of... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

On March 3, 1861, Alexander II abolished serfdom and received the nickname “Liberator” for this. But the reform did not become popular; on the contrary, it was the cause of mass unrest and the death of the emperor.

Landowner initiative

Large feudal landowners were involved in preparing the reform. Why did they suddenly agree to compromise? At the beginning of his reign, Alexander gave a speech to the Moscow nobility, in which he voiced one simple thought: “It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for it to begin to be abolished from below by itself.”
His fears were not in vain. In the first quarter of the 19th century, 651 peasant unrest were registered, in the second quarter of this century - already 1089 unrest, and in the last decade (1851 - 1860) - 1010, with 852 unrest occurring in 1856-1860.
The landowners provided Alexander with more than a hundred projects for future reform. Those of them who owned estates in non-black earth provinces were ready to release the peasants and give them plots. But the state had to buy this land from them. The landowners of the black earth strip wanted to keep as much land as possible in their hands.
But the final draft of the reform was drawn up under the control of the state in a specially formed Secret Committee.

Forged will

After the abolition of serfdom, rumors spread almost immediately among the peasants that the decree he had read out was a fake, and that the landowners had hidden the real manifesto of the tsar. Where did these rumors come from? The fact is that the peasants were given “freedom,” that is, personal freedom. But they did not receive ownership of the land.
The landowner still remained the owner of the land, and the peasant was only its user. To become the full owner of the plot, the peasant had to buy it from the master.
The liberated peasant still remained tied to the land, only now he was held not by the landowner, but by the community, from which it was difficult to leave - everyone was “shackled by one chain.” For community members, for example, it was not profitable for wealthy peasants to stand out and run independent farms.

Redemptions and cuts

On what conditions did the peasants part with their slave status? The most pressing issue was, of course, the question of land. Complete dispossession of peasants was an economically unprofitable and socially dangerous measure. The entire territory of European Russia was divided into 3 stripes - non-chernozem, chernozem and steppe. In non-black earth regions, the size of the plots was larger, but in the black earth, fertile regions, landowners parted with their land very reluctantly. The peasants had to bear their previous duties - corvee and quitrent, only now this was considered payment for the land provided to them. Such peasants were called temporarily obliged.
Since 1883, all temporarily obliged peasants were obliged to buy back their plot from the landowner, and at a price much higher than the market price. The peasant was obliged to immediately pay the landowner 20% of the redemption amount, and the remaining 80% was contributed by the state. The peasants had to repay it annually over 49 years in equal redemption payments.
The distribution of land in individual estates also took place in the interests of the landowners. Allotments were fenced off by landowners from lands that were vital in the economy: forests, rivers, pastures. So the communities had to rent these lands for a high fee.

Step towards capitalism

Many modern historians write about the shortcomings of the 1861 reform. For example, Pyotr Andreevich Zayonchkovsky says that the terms of the ransom were extortionate. Soviet historians clearly agree that it was the contradictory and compromise nature of the reform that ultimately led to the revolution of 1917.
But, nevertheless, after the signing of the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom, the life of peasants in Russia changed for the better. At least they stopped buying and selling them, like animals or things. Liberated peasants joined the labor market and began working in factories. This entailed the formation of new capitalist relations in the country's economy and its modernization.
And finally, the liberation of the peasants was one of the first of a series of reforms prepared and carried out by the associates of Alexander II. Historian B.G. Litvak wrote: “... such a huge social act as the abolition of serfdom could not pass without leaving a trace for the entire state organism.” The changes affected almost all spheres of life: the economy, the socio-political sphere, local government, the army and navy.

Russia and America

It is generally accepted that the Russian Empire was a very backward state in social terms, because before the second half of the 19th century centuries, the disgusting custom of selling people at auction like cattle was preserved, and landowners did not suffer any serious punishment for the murder of their serfs. But we should not forget that at this very time, on the other side of the world, in the USA, there was a war between north and south, and one of the reasons for it was the problem of slavery. Only through a military conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people died.
Indeed, one can find many similarities between an American slave and a serf: they did not have the same control over their lives, they were sold, separated from their families; personal life was controlled.
The difference lay in the very nature of the societies that gave rise to slavery and serfdom. In Russia, serf labor was cheap, and estates were unproductive. Attaching peasants to the land was a political rather than an economic phenomenon. The plantations of the American South have always been commercial, and their main principle was economic efficiency.

1842

Nicholas I in 1842 issued the Decree “On Obligated Peasants,” according to which peasants were allowed to be freed without land, providing it for the performance of certain duties. As a result, 27 thousand people became obligated peasants. During the reign of Nicholas I, preparations for peasant reform were already underway: the basic approaches and principles for its implementation were developed, and the necessary material was accumulated.

But Alexander II abolished serfdom. He understood that he had to act carefully, gradually preparing society for reforms. In the first years of his reign, at a meeting with a delegation of Moscow nobles, he said: “There are rumors that I want to give freedom to the peasants; it's unfair and you can say it to everyone left and right. But, unfortunately, a feeling of hostility between peasants and landowners exists, and as a result there have already been several cases of disobedience to the landowners. I am convinced that sooner or later we must come to this. I think that you are of the same opinion as me. It is better to begin the destruction of serfdom from above, rather than wait for the time when it begins to be destroyed of its own accord from below.” The emperor asked the nobles to think and submit their thoughts on the peasant issue. But I never received any offers.

1857

On January 3, the Secret Committee on the Peasant Question was created under the leadership of the then Chairman of the State Council, Prince A.F. Orlov, who said that “he would rather have his hand cut off than sign the liberation of the peasants with the land.” All projects presented up to this time for the abolition of serfdom in Russia had a common focus - the desire to preserve landownership.. The committee included statesmen, which delayed the consideration of peasant reform. Particularly ardent opponents of the reform were the Minister of Justice, Count V.N. Panin, Minister of State Property M.N. Muravyov, chief of gendarmes Prince V.A. Dolgorukov, member of the State Council, Prince P.P. Gagarin. And only the Minister of Internal Affairs S.S. Lanskoy made positive proposals, approved by Alexander II: the liberation of the peasants, their purchase of estates within 10-15 years, the preservation of peasant plots for service.

The position of the government and the committee fluctuated between progressives and reactionaries.

1858

The committee was inclined towards the landless emancipation of peasants, but the peasant unrest of 1858 in Estonia showed that the emancipation of landless peasants did not solve the problem. Soon the emperor's brother entered the Secret Committee Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, and Alexander II himself demanded certain decisions from the Committee. In 1858, the Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs, and during that year 45 provincial committees were opened in the country.

1859

On next year, in February 1859, Editorial Commissions were formed, the chairman of which was a member of the Main Committee, General Yakov Ivanovich Rostovtsev, a close friend of the tsar, who proposed a draft of a new government program: the redemption of estate and allotment land by peasants, the establishment of peasant self-government and the abolition of patrimonial power of landowners . This is how the main positions of the future reform were formulated.

Imperial Manifesto from February 19, 1861

“On the most merciful granting of the rights of free rural inhabitants to serfs” and “Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom.”

According to these documents, serfs received personal freedom and the right to an allotment of land. At the same time, they still paid the poll tax and carried out conscription duties. The community and communal land ownership were preserved; peasant plots turned out to be 20% smaller than those they had used before. The value of the peasant land purchase was 1.5 times higher than the market value of the land. 80% of the redemption amount was paid to the landowners by the state, and the peasants then paid it back for 49 years.

1. According to the Manifesto, the peasant immediately received personal freedom. “Regulations” regulated the issues of allocating land to peasants.

2. From now on, former serfs received personal freedom and independence from the landowners. They could not be sold, bought, donated, relocated, or mortgaged. The peasants were now called free rural inhabitants; they received civil liberties - they could independently make transactions, acquire and dispose of property, engage in trade, get hired, enter the educational institutions, move to other classes, marry independently. But the peasants received incomplete civil rights: they continued to pay the poll tax, carried out conscription duties, and were punished corporally.

3. Elected peasant self-government was introduced. Peasants of one estate united into a rural society, and rural gatherings resolved economic issues. A village elder was elected (for 3 years). Several rural communities comprised a volost headed by a volost foreman. Rural and volost assemblies themselves distributed the land allocated for allotment, laid out duties, determined the order of serving conscription duties, resolved issues of leaving the community and admission to it, etc. The relationship between peasants and landowners was regulated by “statutory charters” and controlled by amicable intermediaries from among the landowners . They were appointed by the Senate, did not obey the ministers, but only the law.

4. The second part of the reform regulated land relations. The law recognized the landowner's right to private ownership of all land on the estate, including peasant allotment land. The peasants were freed with land, otherwise this would have led to popular rebellion and undermined government revenues (peasants were the main tax payers). True, large groups of peasants did not receive land: courtyard workers, possession workers, and peasants of small landed gentry.

5. According to the reform, peasants received a set land allotment (for a ransom). The peasant had no right to refuse his allotment. The size of the allotment was determined by mutual agreement of the landowner and peasant. If there was no agreement, then the “Regulations” established the norm of allotment - from 3 to 12 dessiatinas, which was recorded in the charter.

6. The territory of Russia was divided into chernozem, non-chernozem and steppe. In the non-chernozem zone, the landowner had the right to retain 1/3 of the land, and in the chernozem zone - 1/2 of the land. If before the reform the peasants used more land than was established by the “Regulations,” then part of the land was taken away from them in favor of the landowners - this was called cuttings. The peasants in the middle zone lost 20% of their land, and in the black soil - 40% of their land.

7. When allocating land, the landowner provided the peasants with the worst lands. Some of the plots were located among the landowners' lands - striped. A special fee was charged for passing or driving cattle through the landowner's fields. The forest and lands, as a rule, remained the property of the landowner. Land was provided only to the community. Land was given to men.

8. To become the owner of the land, the peasant had to buy his plot from the landowner. The ransom was equal to the annual quitrent amount, increased by an average of 17(!) times. The payment procedure was as follows: the state paid the landowner 80% of the amount, and 20% was paid by the peasants. Within 49 years, the peasants had to pay this amount with interest. Until 1906, peasants paid 3 billion rubles - with the cost of land being 500 million rubles. Before the land was redeemed, peasants were considered temporarily obligated to the landowner; they had to bear the old duties - corvée or quitrent (abolished only in 1881). Following the Russian provinces, serfdom was abolished in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Transcaucasia, etc.

9. The owner of the land was the community, from which the peasant could not leave until the ransom was paid. A mutual responsibility was introduced: payments and taxes were received from the entire society, and all members of the community were forced to pay for those who were absent.

10. After the publication of the Manifesto, peasant riots began in many provinces against the predatory provisions of the reform. The peasants were not satisfied that after the publication of the documents on the reform, they had to remain subordinate to the landowner for another 2 years - perform corvée, pay quitrent, that the plots provided to them were the landowner's property, which they had to redeem. Mass unrest was especially strong in the village of Bezdna, Kazan province, and in the village of Kandeevka, Penza province. During the suppression of the uprising in Bezdna, 91 peasants died, in Kandeevka - 19 peasants. In total, 1860 peasant unrest occurred in 1861; more than half of them were suppressed by military force. But by the autumn of 1861 the peasant movement began to decline.

11. The peasant reform had a huge impact historical significance:

> conditions were created for broad development market relations, Russia has embarked on the path of capitalism, over the next 40 years the country has traveled a path that many states have traveled over centuries;

> the moral significance of the reform, which ended serfdom, is invaluable;

> the reform opened the way for transformations in the zemstvo, court, army, etc.

12. But the reform was built on compromises and took into account the interests of landowners to a much greater extent than the interests of peasants. It did not completely eradicate serfdom, the remnants of which hampered the development of capitalism. It was obvious that the peasants' struggle for land and true freedom would continue.

Servants who do not have a master do not become free people because of this - lackeyness is in their soul.

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 turned out to be Russian Empire extremely tense. Alexander 2 was even forced to put the army on high alert. The reason for this was not a possible war, but a growing boom in peasant discontent.

Several years before 1861, the tsarist government began to consider legislation to abolish serfdom. The Emperor understood that there was no longer room to delay. His advisers unanimously said that the country was on the verge of explosion peasant war. On March 30, 1859, a meeting between noble nobles 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 for the abolition of serfdom in Russia was determined - February 19, 1861. What did this reform give to the peasants, did they become free? This question can be answered unequivocally, the reform of 1861 made life much worse for peasants. Of course, the royal manifesto, signed by him for the purpose of liberation ordinary people, endowed the peasants with rights that they never possessed. Now the landowner did not have the right to exchange a peasant for a dog, beat him, forbid him to marry, trade, or engage in fishing. But the problem for the peasants was the land.

Land question

To resolve the land issue, the state convened world mediators, who were sent to the localities and dealt with the division of land there. Overwhelmingly, the work of these intermediaries consisted of announcing to the peasants that, according to all controversial issue with the land they must negotiate with the landowner. This agreement had to be drawn up in writing. The reform of 1861 gave landowners the right to take away the so-called “surplus” from peasants when determining land plots. As a result, the peasants were left with only 3.5 dessiatines (1) of land per auditor's soul (2). Before the land reform there were 3.8 dessiatines. At the same time, the landowners took the best land from the peasants, leaving only infertile 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 allocated land to the peasants, but in fact the land remained in the possession of the landowner. The peasant received only the right to buy it land plot , who was assigned to him by the landowner. But at the same time, the landowners themselves were given the right to independently determine whether or not to allow the sale of land.

Redemption of land

No less strange was the amount at which the peasants had to buy out the land plots. This amount was calculated based on the rent that the landowner received. For example, the richest nobleman of those years, P.P. Shuvalov. received a quitrent of 23 thousand rubles a year. This means that the peasants, in order to buy the land, had to pay the landowner as much money as was necessary for the landowner to put it in the bank and annually receive those same 23 thousand rubles in interest. As a result, on average, one audit soul had to pay 166.66 rubles for tithes. Since the families were large, on average across the country one family had to pay 500 rubles to buy out a plot of land. It was an unaffordable amount.

The state came to the “aid” of the peasants. The State Bank paid the landowner 75-80% of the required amount. The rest was paid by the peasants. 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 plot of land. At the same time, the peasants gave the bank money for 49 years in the amount of almost 1,200 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 1,176 estates in the country. By 1880 34 Russian provinces were engulfed in peasant uprisings.

Only after the first revolution in 1907 did the government cancel the land purchase. Land began to be provided free of charge.

1 – one dessiatine is equal to 1.09 hectares.

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

March 3 (February 19, O.S.), 1861 - Alexander II signed the Manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of free rural inhabitants” and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom, which consisted of 17 legislative acts. On the basis of these documents, peasants received personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property.

The manifesto was timed to coincide with the sixth anniversary of the emperor's accession to the throne (1855).

Even during the reign of Nicholas I, a large amount of preparatory material for carrying out peasant reform was collected. Serfdom during the reign of Nicholas I remained unshakable, but significant experience was accumulated in solving the peasant question, which his son Alexander II, who ascended the throne in 1855, could later rely on.

At the beginning of 1857, a Secret Committee was established to prepare peasant reform. The government then decided to make its intentions known to the public, and the Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee. The nobility of all regions had to create provincial committees to develop peasant reform. At the beginning of 1859, Editorial Commissions were created to process draft reforms of the noble committees. In September 1860, the draft reform developed was discussed by deputies sent by noble committees, and then transferred to the highest government bodies.

In mid-February 1861, the Regulations on the Liberation of Peasants were considered and approved by the State Council. On March 3 (February 19, old style), 1861, Alexander II signed the manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of free rural inhabitants.” The final words of the historical Manifesto were: “Autumn yourself sign of the cross, Orthodox people, and call with us God’s blessing on your free labor, the guarantee of your home well-being and the good of the public.” The manifesto was announced in both capitals on a major religious holiday - Forgiveness Sunday, in other cities - in the week closest to it.

According to the Manifesto, peasants were granted civil rights - freedom to marry, independently conclude contracts and conduct court cases, acquire real estate in their own name, etc.

Land could be purchased by both the community and individual peasants. The land allocated to the community was for collective use, therefore, with the transition to another class or another community, the peasant lost the right to the “secular land” of his former community.

The enthusiasm with which the release of the Manifesto was greeted soon gave way to disappointment. The former serfs expected complete freedom and were dissatisfied with the transitional state of the “temporarily obliged”. Believing that the true meaning of the reform was being hidden from them, the peasants rebelled, demanding liberation with land. Troops were used to suppress the largest uprisings, accompanied by the seizure of power, as in the villages of Bezdna (Kazan province) and Kandeevka (Penza province). In total, more than two thousand performances were recorded. However, by the summer of 1861, the unrest began to subside.

Initially, the period of stay in a temporary state was not established, so the peasants delayed the transition to redemption. By 1881, approximately 15% of such peasants remained. Then a law was passed on the mandatory transition to buyout within two years. During this period, redemption transactions had to be concluded or the right to land plots would be lost. In 1883, the category of temporarily obliged peasants disappeared. Some of them executed redemption transactions, 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 major transformations aimed at creating a civil society in Russia.

For this reform, Alexander II began to be called Tsar the Liberator.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources