First half of the 19th century - The Russian Empire was one of the largest states in the world. The population of the country by the middle of the XIX century reached 69 million people. Russia was an agrarian country, the state had large territories not occupied by agriculture, and the state pursued a policy of colonization.

The increase in demand for agricultural products within the country and in Europe presented Russia with new opportunities. However, the feudal-serf system hindered the development of economic sectors.

In the 1830s - 1840s. In Russia, an industrial revolution began, which, due to the inhibitory influence of the feudal-serf system, dragged on until the 1870s-1880s. Manufactory production in pre-reform Russia received competition in the form of factory production. The first steamships and railways appeared in Russia.

First half of the 19th century characterized by a single period in the socio-economic development of Russia, but this period had its own characteristics. During the reign of Alexander I (1801-1825), a more liberal domestic policy was observed, especially before the Patriotic War of 1812. historical realities.

Partial internal political transformations of the autocracy in the first half of the 19th century. could not resolve the accumulating contradictions between the emerging capitalist

relations and the feudal-serf system.

The contradictions between the nascent capitalist and decaying feudal relations are clearly visible in the social structure of society and the policy of the autocracy in relation to the estates. Officially, the country's population was divided into nobility, clergy, rural and urban inhabitants. In fact, new strata of the population already existed - classes that differed from each other in their property, that is, in their relationship to the means of production. The new emerging classes were the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

The nobility continued to be the smallest estate and was divided into personal and hereditary. Nobles made up about 1.5% of the country's population. The nobles, as before, were the social pillar of absolutism, and the policy of the autocracy was aimed at consolidating this class, preserving their class privileges. Many of the nobles were not landowners. Only hereditary nobles had the right to own estates and have serfs, and there were no more than 600 thousand of them (1% of the total population of the country). Of these, only 109,000 families actually owned estates, mostly small ones. In such an estate, on average, there were 7 souls of serfs, and the landowners themselves were forced to manage their household on an equal basis with their peasants. The landowners were forced to mortgage their estates and by the middle of the 19th century. more than half of the estates were mortgaged.

The government tried to support the nobility with economic and social measures. Alexander I restored the effect of the Charter to the nobility, canceled by Paul I. With the same purpose, in 1827, the nobles received the right to trade with merchants and have unions in cities, and the decree of 1845

Introduced a ban on the alienation and fragmentation of estates. Noble estates could be bequeathed only to the eldest

son. This measure revived similar legislation in the 18th century. It would be economically possible to support the nobility in the classical feudal way - by transferring state peasants to the ownership of the nobles, but the autocracy opposed this measure. Only in difficult for the government 1810 - 1817. Alexander I reluctantly went to sell 10,000 serfs to the nobles. Instead of these measures, the government tried to issue loans to some of the landlords and promote prudent housekeeping, but such half-hearted measures were to change the situation.

impossible. More successful were the actions of the government in limiting the ability of the nobles to buy estates and reducing the influx of representatives of other classes into the nobility. At the same time, in its estate policy, the government tried not to rely on all the nobles, but only on large landowners. The rest were encouraged by economic measures to continue their public service.

In 1831 - 1832. the government limited the right of small landed nobles to be elected to public positions in the noble assemblies, and significantly increase the property qualification. Those who reached such a property qualification (100 souls of serfs or 3 thousand acres of land), as a rule, were hereditary, even well-born nobles. The same goal was achieved by the introduced in 1832. gradation of honorary citizens into hereditary and personal. The category of honorary citizens included persons who had reached a high educational qualification and officials who had reached the ninth rank. Of these citizens, only merchants of the first guild, scientists and artists received the rank of hereditary, honorary citizens. Honorary citizens were not a taxable estate, they were exempted from recruitment duty, from 1848 they received the right to purchase uninhabited lands, had other privileges, but they were not nobles. Thus, the state cut off from the nobility a whole

a layer of service people, intelligentsia and persons with high property qualifications. Decrees 1848 - 1856 further increased the rank, the achievement of which gave the right to hereditary nobility. It was possible to become a full-fledged nobleman only by reaching the ranks of the fifth and fourth classes in the civil service, and the eighth - ninth in the military, respectively. Representatives of non-noble estates who did not reach sufficiently high ranks became honorary citizens. According to the decree of 1815, the right to receive hereditary nobility was given to a serving personal nobleman, whose father and grandfather served the state for 20 years.

In the 19th century actually nobles began to be considered hereditary nobles. This included persons to whom this state was granted by a nominal royal decree, merits in military or public service. "Ancient noble families" and offspring of foreign aristocrats were recognized as hereditary nobles.

Unlike the 18th century, when public service and a successful career made it possible to obtain a noble state, the estate policy of the first half of the 19th century. was the following interpretation of the law: "The more difficult the elevation to the nobility, the more useful it will be for the state." Thus, the state tried to maintain a consolidated privileged class as servants of the throne and to adapt the few Russian nobility to new historical conditions.

The clergy of the first half of the XIX century. was the smallest estate and totaled 150 thousand people. The policy of the government in relation to this estate tried to keep it closed, hereditary, inaccessible to representatives of other, primarily tax-paying estates. At the beginning of the XIX century. the trend of transformation of the clergy into employees intensified. These measures led to the fact that the clergy were treated

only directly (clergymen and a small number of black clergy (about 30 thousand monks and novices). The achievement of this goal was facilitated voluntarily - coercive measures of the first quarter of the 19th century. All priests who did not have positions in churches were ordered to switch to secular service or enroll in In the second quarter of the 19th century, the clergy were gradually transferred to a monetary allowance from the treasury, forcing the jobless clergy, left without a livelihood, to move to "a different kind occupations".

The property and legal status of those who remained in the "clergy" steadily increased. In the first quarter of the XIX century. the clergy were exempted from corporal punishment and land tax, and their houses from the post. In the second quarter of the XIX century. the white clergy began to be granted the title of nobility, they were allowed to buy real estate, the maintenance of monasteries improved. The state contributed to the spiritual, educational, charitable activities of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Urban population. The urban population by 1861 reached 6.5 million people, which accounted for 8% of the population of Russia. Capitalist relations in the first half of the XIX century. developed most rapidly in cities, so they affected the urban population to a greater extent. The policy of the autocracy also affected the development of the urban class. Paul I canceled the Charter of 1785, and replaced the class system of city government in Moscow and St. Petersburg with strict administration, in 1800 he extended it to all cities of Russia. At the head of the city was the "Commission on supplying the residence with supplies, the order of apartments and other parts belonging to the police," which since 1801 was subordinate to the governors.

The "Commission" included the city government (ratgauz) and two offices for food supply and urban improvement.

The rights of the urban estates were restored by Alexander I, who abolished the non-estate city government and re-enacted the Letter of Complaint to the cities.

The reduction in the number of clergy, the dismissal of non-noble officers from the army, and the increase in the number of bankrupt nobles led to the formation of a new group in the cities - raznochintsy, that is, "people of different ranks."

The raznochintsy were not a taxable class, since they legally belonged to those estates from which they passed. Professionally, the raznochintsy were the urban intelligentsia and minor employees. In Russia, there were 24 thousand raznochintsy. In addition to raznochintsy, peasants who received "freedom" sometimes settled in the cities, some of the same palaces and foreigners. In 1840, many of the sessional workers were transferred to the category of petty bourgeois, thereby replenishing the urban population.

The urban population had a number of benefits. The Decree of December 12, 1801 gave the inhabitants of the city the right to buy uninhabited land. In 1807, the "primary merchant class" was established. This social group included eminent citizens who declared a capital of more than 30 thousand rubles, carried out foreign trade, and ship owners. The first-class merchants had the right to "come to the court of His Imperial Majesty", to be a supplier of goods to the court. The social status was confirmed by the right to wear a sword (like the nobles), the first-class merchants were entered in the so-called "velvet book". First-class merchants were awarded orders and medals, had other economic and social benefits.

"Secondary merchants" had the right to carry out retail trade, for which it was allowed to establish and develop trade, manufacturing enterprises, and when declaring

a fortune of 30 thousand rubles could become a first-class merchant.

Thus, the division of merchants into three gils was canceled? days and the gradation of this layer into two articles was introduced.

In 1832 first class merchants began to be called honorary citizens. Honorary citizens were divided into hereditary and personal. The descendants included the children of personal nobles, clergy, the above-mentioned big bourgeoisie, scientists, and the creative intelligentsia. All other layers of the intelligentsia, for example, teachers, engineers, and also adopted by nobles, were treated as personal honorary citizens.

Honorary citizens did not bear recruitment duty, were exempted from poll tax, were not subject to corporal punishment.

The following population groups were taxable. This included craftsmen and tradesmen. These urban dwellers were small proprietors, but differed in the type of activity and property status. Some of them joined the honorary citizens, the other part became part of the lower group of the urban population, the so-called working people.

Working people made up a group of people who worked for hire, many of them did not have property in the city, did not pay taxes or paid them incorrectly, and therefore could not be considered philistines. According to the police, there were also marginal elements among the working people, that is, people with "bad behavior". Working people made up the population of factory and factory settlements. This part of the urban population grew faster than others due to the newly arriving representatives of the peasants, sessional workers, and so on. Working people were the basis of the emerging Russian proletariat.

Peasants in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. accounted for more than 90% of the country's population. The peasants were divided into three large groups, distinguished by their departmental

accessories. The three main categories of peasants were called state (state), "ownership" (landlords), appanage. There were also minor small subgroups of peasants (possession - no more than 12 thousand souls, peasants of military settlements - they numbered up to 1/3 of the size of the army and single-palaces - there were 2 million of them). Some researchers tend to distinguish between two groups: ("rural inhabitants" and serfs). The peasants also differed in their property status, for example, "settled on their own lands", "foreigners", peasants of the southern, richer regions. As in the previous period, state and specific (before 1797 palace) peasants found themselves in a more advantageous position.

Regardless of their affiliation, the stratification of the peasantry was influenced by the development of capitalism. A small part of the peasants was involved in capitalist relations, and otkhodnichestvo became widespread. In the industrial provinces of the country, up to 40% of the male population went to work. Peasants who left for long-term earnings, as in the XVIII century. passports were issued to those who went on short-term work, so-called tickets were issued. In the cities, such people were counted as working people, in manufactories as civilians. However, according to departmental affiliation, they all remained peasants. In general, the classification of peasants, as noted in 1826 by M.M. Speransky, is a rather complicated question.

Peasants, regardless of their affiliation, professional differences, property status, were entered in the audit lists, were subject to recruitment, corporal punishment and were taxable population. The size of the poll tax during this period increased from 1 rub. 26 kop. up to 3 rubles 30 kop. In the peasant environment there was a community,

and in large estates, it had the functions of self-government.

State (state) peasants remained in a more advantageous position. However, this group of peasants was not homogeneous and broke up into several groups. Along with the term "state peasants" in the first quarter of the XIX century. the term "black-eared peasants" continues to be used (mainly the population of the northern provinces of Russia). Chernososhnye, as well as state-owned peasants, were not subject to transfer to serfdom (Alexander I, Nicholas I were against this kind of "grants"). The state peasants were a taxable class, in addition to the poll tax established by law, they paid a fixed dues, were subject to recruitment duty. They could be transferred to military settlements, and until the 1840s. could lease (possession) to private individuals. At the same time, the "official" peasants really enjoyed the benefits that the government had given them.

By decree of December 12, 1801, state peasants had the right to buy uninhabited land (serfs began to have such a right 47 years later). Decree of December 28, 1818 gave the right to all peasants (including landlords) to start factories and plants, but these rights were more often used by more prosperous state peasants. In 1827 state peasants received the right to own houses in cities, and 21 years later they were allowed to purchase real estate in Moscow and St. Petersburg. State peasants traditionally lived compactly, in large groups, for this reason, patriarchal communal relations were preserved among them. For example, the Circular of 1829 ordered that the land of state peasants be considered communal. In 1810, in the form of an experiment, the first military settlements appeared, which from 1816 - 1818. began to be introduced everywhere, and during the reign of Nicholas I, the number of military settlers was

already 800 thousand. The essence of the reform was as follows. Soldiers were settled with the state peasants, and both of them were declared military settlers. On the one hand, they were soldiers and were obliged to carry out military service. On the other hand, the "military settlers" were peasants and had to farm and provide themselves with food. In some cases, the soldiers settled in the empty "Novorossiysk lands". Military settlers - soldiers, "soldiers' wives" and "soldiers' children" served and ran their household, strictly obeying the charter, even the daily routine was regulated (from wake up to lights out). The children of military settlers served in the military with their fathers from the age of 7, they necessarily studied at school and military affairs, and from the age of 18 they were transferred to military units to junior command posts. It should be noted that the position of military settlers as a category of state peasants was the most burdensome and difficult.

A small group were of the same kind. Some of them owned over 20,000 serfs. Odnorodtsy are the descendants of the service people of the 17th century, the landmilitia of the 18th century. During the reign of Nicholas I, they lost the right to purchase, and then the ownership of serfs. Subsequently, the social status of the odnorodtsy became equal to the rest of the state peasants.

In social policy in relation to the peasantry, the reform of the state village of 1837 - 1841 was of great importance, which influenced the subsequent reform of 1861. The reform was carried out by P.D. Kiselev, who was put at the head of the created Ministry of State Property. Several legislative acts of this period introduced a four-stage system of community management (province, district, volost, rural society). In addition to a clear administrative structure, legislation determined local elected self-government bodies in volosts and rural communities.

The collection system was subject to reorganization. In accordance with the 1836 census and the conducted land cadastre (assessment and demarcation of land), the quitrent collection system was streamlined. The quitrent was calculated according to the "souls" of the male sex in accordance with the size of land plots and their quality. Other measures stimulated the development of agriculture. In particular, the peasants moved to the south of the country, soft loans were issued, the cultivation of "new" agricultural crops - potatoes and sunflowers - was promoted and economically encouraged.

Appanage peasants received this name in 1797 from the Department of Appanages, which was given over to the management of peasants who personally belonged to the imperial family. In total, the specific peasants numbered over 830 thousand male souls, they were divided into "sovereign" and "stable". The appanage peasants were a taxable population, they carried the same duties in favor of the state, but the quitrent was paid in favor of their feudal lord, that is, the king. Specific peasants occupied an intermediate position between state and landowners.

The largest group of "rural inhabitants" was still made up of landowners, that is, "ownership" peasants. There were over 11 million male souls, which accounted for more than 50% of the entire peasant population of the country. The forms and methods of exploitation of the serfs differed and changed in connection with the internal policy of the autocracy. Already at the beginning of the XIX century. contemporaries distinguished duality, inconsistency in the definition of a serf, landlord peasant. According to the old rules of law XVII - early XVIII century. there was a provision that the serf was an integral part of the estate, that is, real estate, this explains the word "serf". The landowner is only the owner of the peasants, in exchange for state

or military service. The development of serfdom in the XVIII century. led to the opposite definition of the serfdom of the peasant. By the beginning of the XIX century. the landlord peasant was defined as movable property, conditionally related to real estate, through "revision tales". The serf, at the will of the owner, could be sold, mortgaged, alienated from the land. Therefore, in the XIX century. the landlord peasant was also considered outside the list of immovable property.

The forms of exploitation of the peasants also underwent changes. Instead of the "old corvée" limited in 1797 to three days a week, quitrent was distributed, which increased 3.5 times in the central and 2.5 times in the black earth provinces. Corvee intensified in the form of a month. It was impossible to keep a peasant on corvée for more than three days, but it was quite possible to be transferred to the courtyards, to withdraw the land allotment and force the peasant to work the lord's land six days a week in exchange for a minimum monthly ration, a kind of wage. This form of exploitation practically did not differ from slavery and spread in the black earth provinces, where there were up to 1.5 million household peasants. In addition, corvée was generally accepted among leased (possession) peasants, that is, the real distribution of corvée was wider.

Legislation almost did not limit the landowner in the forms and methods of exploitation of the peasants. In addition to the already mentioned limitation of the three-day corvee (1797) and the general recommendations of the autocracy to alleviate the fate of the peasant, the government took several measures that reduced the degree of serfdom.

In 1816 Alexander I finally forbade the sale of peasants assigned to factories and factories (before that, the decree of Paul I was in effect, which allowed such sales). Decree of 1801 forbade the publication in newspaper advertisements for the sale

yard peasants, in 1808 it was forbidden to publish the sale of peasants at retail fairs. In 1809, the right of the landowners to exile peasants to Siberia for insignificant income was abolished, and the removal of the landowner's right to criminal trial of the peasants was generally confirmed. It was impossible to torture, maim the peasants. Similar decrees were issued later, in the second quarter of the 19th century.

In the last decades of serfdom, there was a surge in the social activity of the peasants. Nicholas I himself and his government repeatedly noted that "the current state of the peasantry is evil," and that "the state is, as it were, on a powder keg." In this regard, some changes are introduced into the legislation "on the serf issue." In total from 1825 to 1860. more than 100 such laws were issued to continue the "restrictions" of the previous autocrat. Here are the most important ones. In 1827, the landlords were again forbidden to separate movable property or real estate during the sale and give the peasants to the factories. In 1828 limited the right of landowners to exile peasants to Siberia. The decree of May 2, 1833 forbade the sale of peasants at auction in public and the separation of peasant families during the sale.

According to other generally accepted norms, the rule was confirmed, "once received freedom cannot be enslaved again", a peasant becomes free upon his return from military service from captivity or from abroad. The landowners were not supposed to ruin their peasants, and in lean years the landowner was obliged to feed the peasants and provide them with the necessary minimum of seed material for the resumption of agricultural activity.

The leaders of the nobility, that is, the same landowners, had to monitor the observance by the landowners of the above restrictions. It is clear that with such supervision, even these minor restrictions were not enforced, and the position of a serf was entirely dependent on the lord's will and whim.

The development of capitalism, the growth of the anti-feudal struggle pushed the government to take measures that contributed to the exit of the peasants from serfdom. However, it was possible to carry out the withdrawal of peasants from serfdom only with the consent of the landowners. Therefore, in the first half of the XIX century. several laws were issued, the actions of which were possible only with the consent of the landowners.

On February 20, 1803, Alexander I signed a decree "On free cultivators". The decree provided for the release of peasants to freedom for a ransom, the amount of which was established with the mutual consent of the landowner and serf. This law, which was originally called "On the release by landowners of their peasants to freedom upon the conclusion of conditions based on mutual consent," provided for the release of peasants to freedom with a plot of land, so that "the peasants, thus dismissed, could remain in the state of free farmers, without being obliged to enter in another sub-life." The minimum allotment equal to 8 acres was determined. According to their social status, free cultivators were equated with state peasants, that is, they were a taxable population, they carried recruit and other duties. The action of the decree in the first half of the XIX century. about 150 thousand male souls took advantage.

Other acts also proceeded from the observance of mutual interests when concluding transactions. At the same time, in resolving the "serf issue" the interests of the state were necessarily taken into account - to preserve the peasant as an agricultural producer. In particular, the decree "On the price of the revision soul" of August 3, 1806 ordered transactions with peasants to be based on the cost of the revision soul of the male at 75 silver rubles, the female half of this cost. (Subsequently, the price of a peasant rose to 100 rubles).

Decree July 20, 1809 "On the suppression of vagrancy" (searching for fugitive peasants) ordered the return of the peasants to their owners or to betray these peasants in the order of public charity.

On April 2, 1842, a decree was issued "On the proposal to the landlords to conclude agreements with the peasants on the transfer of plots of land to them for use for agreed duties, with the peasants who concluded the agreement accepting the names of the obliged peasants." This decree became known under the name "On obligated peasants" and developed the provisions of previous legislation, in particular, the decree "On free cultivators". Since the peasants did not have the opportunity to pay the landowner the entire redemption sum at a time, it was determined that the serfs were obliged to serve the corresponding duties or pay the amount agreed with their owner in installments in the form of dues. The peasants received their freedom as if on credit. During the time of redemption to the will of himself and his family, serfdom was preserved, it was called temporarily indebted. The agreement could be terminated if the peasants did not comply with its terms. The decree of 1841 was also not widespread, six landowners took advantage of its action, setting free 27,173 peasants.

Peasants who received freedom under these laws, who bought themselves out or received "freedom" for other reasons, became personally free rural inhabitants, settled on their own lands (if they had land plots).

In relation to the overwhelming mass of the peasantry, which remained in a serf state, the government took measures that limited entrepreneurial activity. The peasants could not leave the estates without the permission of the landowner, they did not have the right to maintain shops in the cities, and they could trade only in the market. These restrictions were also established in the XVIII

century, and now confirmed by decrees of 1810 and 1812 Peasants by decree 12

December 1801 they did not have the right to buy land, but for the development of industry they could, according to the law on December 28, 1818. organize factories and plants. Subsequently, the property rights of the peasants were expanded by the law of March 3, 1848.

On June 12, 1844, a decree appeared that allowed peasants to be released into the wild by mutual agreement with the landowner, and from 1853 the right to lease peasants to non-nobles was limited. By decree of November 8, 1847, the peasants received the benefits of redeeming themselves at will when selling the estates of bankrupt landowners at auction. In total, about 960 thousand souls of peasants took advantage of this decree. They were transferred to the category of "personally free rural dwellers settled on their own lands", since they redeemed their allotments with personal freedom. In other cases, such peasants were called "leaves" because they owned their own land, which means they did not pay dues to the state. The dynamics of the redemption of peasants to freedom shows the depth of the crisis of feudalism, when the peasants turned out to be wealthier than their owners, who mortgaged their estates.

The peasant question was repeatedly raised before the governments of Alexander I and Nicholas I. In the 1830s - 1850s. the problem of the serfdom of the peasants was repeatedly considered at meetings of various "secret committees", but because of the opposition of the nobles, the political reaction of 1848 - 1855. the terms of the Peasant Reform were constantly pushed back. As a result, the social activity of the peasants grew, and the situation in Russia before the abolition of serfdom can be called revolutionary. The government could not cope with the growing protest of the peasants, was afraid of a new "Pugachevism", and Alexander II, who ascended the throne, was forced to recognize the need for a speedy solution of the peasant question "from above", until the peasants themselves liberate themselves in a revolutionary way "from below".