Alexander II

Contrary to the existing erroneous opinion that the vast majority of the population of pre-reform Russia consisted of serfdom, in reality 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 to), and to 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 who inhabited the Russian Empire were serfs. Of the 65 provinces and regions that existed in the Russian Empire in 1858, in the three above-mentioned Ostsee provinces, in the Land of the Black Sea Host, in the Primorsky Region, the Semipalatinsk Region and the region of the Siberian Kirghiz, in the Derbent Governorate (with the Caspian Territory) and the Erivan Governorate there were no serfs at all; in 4 more administrative units (Arkhangelsk and Shemakhinsk provinces, Zabaikalsk and Yakutsk regions) there were no serfs either, with the exception of a few dozen courtyard people (servants). In the remaining 52 provinces and regions, the proportion of serfs in the population ranged from 1.17% (Bessarabian region) to 69.07% (Smolensk province).

Causes

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 feudal system, peasant unrest, especially intensified during the Crimean War. In addition, serfdom hindered the development of the state and the formation of a new class - the bourgeoisie, which was limited in rights and could not participate in government. Many landowners believed that the emancipation of the peasants would give a positive result in the development of agriculture. The moral aspect played an equally significant role in the abolition of serfdom - in the middle of the 19th century there was "slavery" in Russia.

Reform preparation

The government's program was outlined in the rescript of 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; providing peasants a certain amount of land for which they will be required to pay dues or serve corvee, and over time - the right to buy out peasant estates (a residential building and outbuildings). In order 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's program of peasant reform, the drafts of which were repeatedly changed in connection with the rise or fall of the peasant movement. In December, a new peasant reform program was adopted: providing peasants the possibility of redemption of land allotment and the creation of bodies of peasant public administration. Editorial commissions were created in March to consider the drafts of provincial committees and develop a peasant reform. The project, drawn up by the Editorial Commissions at the end, differed from that proposed by the provincial committees with an increase in land allotments and a decrease in duties. This caused dissatisfaction with the local nobility, and in the project allotments were somewhat reduced and duties increased. This direction in changing the draft was preserved both when it was considered in the Main Committee on Peasant Affairs at the end, and when it was discussed in the State Council at the beginning.

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

The main provisions of the peasant reform

The main act - "The General Regulations on Peasants Who Have Emerged from Serfdom" - contained the main conditions for 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, however, they were obliged to provide the peasants with "estate estates" and a field allotment for use.
• For the use of allotment land, the peasants had to serve a corvée or pay dues and did not have the right to refuse it for 9 years.
• The size of the field allotment and duties had to be fixed in charter letters of 1861, which were drawn up by the landowners for each estate and verified by peace mediators.
• The peasants were given the right to buy out the estate and, by agreement with the landowner, the field plot, before this they were called temporarily liable peasants.
• the structure, rights and obligations of the bodies of peasant public administration (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 the peasants before February 19, 1861, cuts could be made if the per capita allotments of the peasants exceeded the highest size established for the given locality, or if the landowners, while maintaining the existing peasant allotment, had less than 1/3 of the entire land of the estate.

Allotments could be reduced by special agreements between peasants and landlords, as well as upon receipt of a donation. If the peasants had smaller allotments in use, the landowner was obliged to either cut 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 male and 30 female working days per year. If the allotment was less than the highest, then the duties decreased, but not proportionally. The rest of the "Local provisions" basically repeated the "Great Russian", but taking into account the specifics of their regions. The features of the Peasant Reform for certain categories of peasants and specific regions were determined by the “Additional Rules” - “On the arrangement of peasants settled on the estates of small landowners, and on the allowance for these owners”, “On people assigned to private mining plants of the department of the Ministry of Finance”, “On peasants and workers serving work at Perm private mining plants and salt mines”, “About peasants serving work at landowner factories”, “About peasants and courtyard people in the Land of the Don Cossacks”, “About peasants and courtyard people in the Stavropol province”, “ About Peasants and Household People in Siberia”, “About people who came out of serfdom in the Bessarabian region”.

The “Regulations on the arrangement of courtyard 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 the redemption of land by peasants from landlords, the organization of the redemption operation, the rights and obligations of peasant owners. The redemption of the field allotment depended on an agreement with the landowner, who could oblige the peasants to redeem the land at their request. The price of land was determined by quitrent, capitalized from 6% per annum. In the event of a ransom under a 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 for 49 years annually in redemption payments.

"Manifesto" and "Regulations" were promulgated from March 7 to April 2 (in St. Petersburg and Moscow - March 5). Fearing dissatisfaction of the peasants with the terms of the reform, the government took a number of precautionary measures (redeployment of troops, secondment of the imperial retinue to the 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 Bezdnensky performance of 1861 and the Kandeev performance of 1861.

The implementation of the Peasant Reform began with the drafting of charters, which was basically completed by the middle of the city. On January 1, 1863, the peasants refused to sign about 60% of the charters. The price of land for redemption 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 striving to receive donation allotments, and in some provinces (Saratov, Samara, Yekaterinoslav, Voronezh, etc.) a significant number of peasants-gifts appeared.

Under the influence of the Polish uprising of 1863, changes took place in the conditions of the Peasant Reform in Lithuania, Belarus and the Right-Bank Ukraine: the law of 1863 introduced compulsory redemption; redemption payments decreased by 20%; peasants, landless from 1857 to 1861, received their allotments in full, previously landless - partially.

The transition of peasants to ransom lasted for several decades. K remained in a temporary relationship 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 redemption was faster in the black-earth provinces, where voluntary transactions prevailed over mandatory redemption. Landowners who had large debts, more often than others, sought to speed up the redemption and conclude voluntary deals.

The abolition of serfdom also affected the appanage peasants, who, by the "Regulations of June 26, 1863", were transferred to the category of peasant proprietors by means of compulsory redemption on the terms of the "Regulations of February 19". On the whole, their cuts were much smaller than those of the landowning peasants.

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

The peasant reform of 1861 led to 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 terms of the reform here retained serfdom survivals to a greater extent than according to the "Regulations of February 19". In Armenia and Azerbaijan, the peasant reform was carried out in 1870-83 and was no less enslaving 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 for service. The redemption of this land was carried out with some derogations on the basis of the "Regulations on Redemption" on 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). Online Heritage of Holy Russia
• Agrarian reforms and the development of the rural economy of Russia - an article by Doctor of Economics Adukova

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

• Peasant reform of 1861
• Peasant wedding (painting)

See what the "Peasant Reform of 1861" is in other dictionaries:

Peasant reform of 1861- bourgeois reform that abolished serfdom in Russia and marked the beginning of the capitalist formation in the country. The main cause To. was the crisis of the feudal serf system. “The force of economic development that drew Russia in… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Peasant reform in Russia- Boris Kustodiev. “The Liberation of the Peasants (... Wikipedia

Peasant reform- In Russian classical literature, almost exclusively LANDED PEASANTS, which were discussed above, are bred. But there were other categories of peasants, sometimes mentioned in passing by the classics. To complete the picture, you should get to know them ... Encyclopedia of Russian life of the XIX century

PEASANT REFORM- 1861, the main reform of the 1860s and 70s, which abolished serfdom in Russia. Conducted on the basis of the "Regulations" February 19, 1861 (published March 5). Peasants received personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property. The landowners kept ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Medal "February 19, 1861"- Medal "February 19, 1861" ... Wikipedia

The abolition of serfdom is the central event in the Russian history of the 19th century, since it affected the interests of the general population, changed their usual way of life, and ushered in the “epoch of great reforms”.

Objectively, regardless of the intentions of the reformers, the economic essence of the changes was to create conditions for the replacement of serf labor, based on non-economic coercion of the worker, with capitalist exploitation of a worker free personally, and also to some extent from the means of production, the worker.

“Manifesto of February 19, 1861”, “General Regulations on Peasants Who Have Emerged from Serfdom, Their Settlement and on the Government’s Assistance in Acquiring Field Land by Peasants”, other legislative acts of the reform ensured the undermining of feudal ownership of land, the mobilization of land property, its transition to other classes, including the peasantry, which was endowed with a number of personal and property rights. The reform created the legal foundations for the development of the all-Russian capitalist market: money, land, labor. It contributed to the spread of entrepreneurship, the productive use of capital. It was precisely these features of it, clearly visible in the economic upswing of the 1870s and 1880s, that allowed historians to compare the adoption of the reform of 1861 with coming of age, followed by maturity.

However, Russia crossed this age threshold with a clear delay, as evidenced by its defeat in the European war of 1853-1856. Moreover, steps in the noted direction were made by her, as it were, with reluctance, expressed in the limited nature of the transformations: the preservation for a long time of feudal-serfdom remnants in the form of landownership, the temporarily obligated state of the peasants with their political lack of rights, civil inequality compared to other estates.

This contradictory nature of the reform of the abolition of serfdom was clearly reflected in its implementation in the Yaroslavl province. The Provincial Committee for Improving the Life of the Peasants, which consisted of 20 landowners, was created on October 1, 1858, when there were 3,031 landowners, 523,345 serfs, and 28,072 yards in the province. Most of the peasants were owned by the feudal aristocracy, royal dignitaries and ministers. These include: the princes Gagarins and Golitsyns (Yaroslavl district), prince Vorontsov (Danilov district), prince Lieven (Lyubimsky district), counts Musin-Pushkins (Mologa district), who had over 76 thousand dessiatins. land, Count Sheremetev, who owned 18.5 thousand dess. land in the Rostov district and 70.96 thousand dess. in Uglich county. In the Yaroslavl province, the quitrent system of serf duties prevailed, according to which the landowner received the main income not from the land, but from his serf, who was released for quitrent. On the eve of the reform, 9% were in corvée, 61% of the peasants were on dues, the rest (30%) performed mixed service.

The peasants expected from the reform exemption from compulsory work for the landowner, the right to own the land they used, and also the allocation of not only agricultural, but also forest land. On March 8, 1861, the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom was promulgated in Yaroslavl. As a result of its implementation, the peasants lost a significant part of the land in the form of segments: if under serfdom the average allotment of a Yaroslavl peasant was 5.2 dessiatines, then after liberation it was reduced to 3.8 dessiatines.

The forced nature of the reform was reflected in the fact that statutory charters, designed to regulate new relations between the former owner of the serfs and the peasants, were often drawn up without the participation of the latter. Such letters were clearly enslaving in nature, which led to their return by peace mediators to the landowners for alteration. According to the statutory charters, the Yaroslavl peasant, when he redeemed his land allotment, had to pay 41 rubles for 1 tithe of land. 50 k., while the average market price of a tithe in the Yaroslavl province was 14 rubles. 70 k. This injustice, as well as the obligatory serving of duties by mutual responsibility, the reduction of land allotments (cuts) caused discontent among the peasants, who often refused to sign charter letters, to fulfill their obligations to the landowner. Frightened by the performances of the peasants, the landowners were forced to even call for military teams to restore calm. In just less than a year after the proclamation of the "Manifesto of February 19, 1861" 46 peasant uprisings took place in the province.

The liberation of the peasants in the Yaroslavl province caused enormous socio-cultural consequences and, having solved a number of problems, created new problem nodes in the life of every person and the whole society.

"The Peasant Reform of 1861." (Grade 8)

Lesson type: learning new material

The purpose of the lesson:analysis of the provisions of the Manifesto February 19, 1861

Tasks:

educational

• on the basis of the studied historical sources to find out the main provisions of the reform of 1861.

developing

• develop the mental activity of students
• develop skills in working with historical documentation

nurturing

• to form an interest in history, in one's past by studying historical documents
• cultivate respect for the history of their Fatherland

Means of education:

Textbook A.N. Bokhanov "History of Russia XIX in." , Moscow, "Russian Word" 2009.

Texts of documents for the lesson

Alexander's speech II in the State Council." (January 28, 1861)

2. "Manifesto on the liberation of landlord peasants from serfdom

3. "Regulations on peasants who emerged from serfdom"

Lesson plan:

reasons for the abolition of serfdom

the main provisions of the reform

the significance of the reform

consolidation

I . Introduction:

The abolition of serfdom is an important event in the history of Russia. This year marks the 155th anniversary of the adoption of the peasant reform. It led to serious changes in the social and economic life of the country, became the impetus for subsequent reforms.

We will analyze issues related to the reform of the abolition of serfdom on the basis of documents and the text of the textbook

Let's discuss the reasons for the abolition of serfdom

What foreign policy event showed the economic backwardness of Russia? The defeat in the Crimean War demonstrated to the society the discrepancy between the requirements of the time of the socio-political and economic system.

Was the peasants interested in the results of their labor?

The serfs were not interested in the results of labor on the land of the landowner. Therefore, the level of agricultural production was low. The lack of workers hindered the development of production. The hired workers were otkhodnik peasants.

In the 1st half of the 19th century, the countries of Europe looked at Russia as a country where slavery existed. Therefore, the abolition of serfdom was required by the need to strengthen the international prestige of Russia.-

At the turn of the 50-60s of the 19th century, the peasant movement intensified in the serf village: 1857 - 192 performances, 1858-528, 1859-938.

Notebook entry:

Reasons for the abolition of serfdom

economic reasons (crisis of serfdom)

foreign policy (defeat of Russia in the Crimean War)

internal political reasons (growth of tension in society, threat to stability in the country)

Much preparatory work has been done to prepare the document.

Working with the document “From the speech of Alexander II in the State Council." (January 28, 1861) The text is given in the textbook p.164

DOCUMENT

FROM THE SPEECH OF ALEXANDER II IN THE STATE COUNCIL

The case of the liberation of the peasants, which was submitted for consideration by the State Council, due to its importance, I consider it a vital issue for Russia, on which the development of its strength and power will depend.

I am sure that all of you, gentlemen, are just as convinced as I am of the usefulness and necessity of this measure. I also have another conviction, namely, that this matter cannot be postponed; why I demand from the State Council that it be finished by them in the first half of February and that it could be announced by the beginning of field work; I place this on the direct duty of the chairman of the State Council.

I repeat, and it is my indispensable will that this matter be ended immediately. It has been going on for four years now and has been raising various fears and expectations both among the landlords and the peasants. Any further delay may be detrimental to the state.

Answer questions about the document.

1. What influenced Alexander's determination II free the peasants?

2. How does the emperor explain the need for reform as soon as possible?

3. What is the role Alexander II in the abolition of serfdom?

4. What features of the preparation and implementation of the peasant reform can be learned from the document?

Thus Alexander II "considered the cause of the liberation of the peasants as vital"

Think about what other documents you might need to study the topic?

1. "Manifesto on the liberation of landlord peasants from serfdom"

2. "Regulations on peasants who have emerged from serfdom"

II .The main provisions of the reform of 1861

Regulation February 19, 1861 includes 17 legislative acts, which describe in detail the entire procedure for release.

Work with the text of the document.

Fragment of the document from the "Manifestoon the liberation of landlord peasants from serfdom” from the “Ransom Regulations” February 19, 1861.

Manifesto on the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants

We began this work by an act of our trust in the Russian nobility, in the great experience of devotion to its throne and its readiness to donate to the benefit of the Fatherland. We gave it to the nobility itself, on their own call, and the nobles were supposed to limit their rights to the peasants and raise the difficulties of transformation, not without reducing their benefits. And our trust was justified. In the provincial committees, in the person of their members, endowed with the confidence of the entire noble society of each province, the nobility voluntarily renounced the right to the identity of serfs. In these committees, in order to collect the necessary information, assumptions were made about a new way of life for people in a serf state and about their relationship to the landowners.

By virtue of the aforementioned new provisions, serfs will in due course receive the full rights of free rural inhabitants.

The landowners, while retaining the right of ownership to all the lands belonging to them, provide the peasants, for the established duties, with permanent use of their estate settlement and, moreover, to ensure their life and fulfill their duties to the government, the amount of field land and other lands determined in the regulations.
Using this land allotment, the peasants are obliged for this to perform in favor of the landowners the duties specified in the regulations. In this state, which is a transitional state, the peasants are called temporarily liable.
At the same time, they are given the right to redeem their estate settlement, and with the consent of the landowners, they can acquire ownership of field lands and other lands allocated to them for permanent use.

In order to achieve this correctly, we recognized it as good to command:
1. To open in each province a provincial office for peasant affairs, which is entrusted with the highest management of the affairs of peasant societies established on landowners' lands.
2. In order to resolve local misunderstandings and disputes that may arise in the implementation of the new provisions, appoint conciliators in the counties and form them into county conciliation congresses.
4. Draw up, verify and approve for each rural society or estate a statutory charter, which will calculate, on the basis of the local situation, the amount of land provided to the peasants for permanent use, and the amount of duties due from them in favor of the landowner, as for land, as well as for other benefits from it.
6. Until the expiration of the period of 2 years, the peasants and householders should remain in their former obedience to the landlords and unquestioningly fulfill their former duties.

Peasants who have emerged from serfdom and have acquired land in their ownership on the grounds set forth in the Regulations are called peasant proprietors.

Peasants who have emerged from serfdom are subject to the general provisions of civil laws on family rights and obligations. On this basis, the permission of the landowners is not required for the entry of peasants into marriage and disposition in their family affairs.

Peasants who have emerged from serfdom are given the right, on an equal basis with other free rural peasants:

1) to carry out free trade,

2) open and legally maintain factories and various industrial, commercial and craft establishments;

3) enroll in workshops, produce handicrafts in their villages and sell their products both in villages and in cities;

4) join guilds, trade ranks and corresponding ones in a row.<...>

1. Define the document type.

2. Write out new concepts and terms from the document.

3. Analysis of the facts and events contained in the document

describe the legal status of the peasants after the abolition of serfdom;

highlight the main provisions of the Manifesto;

determine the interests of which social forces this document expressed

2. Working with written concepts

How did you understand the meaning of the new concepts? The teacher listens to the answers. Check the correctness by comparing with the definitions in the textbook. Writing in a notebook

Temporarily liable peasants - peasants freed from serfdom under the reform of 1861, who paid the landowner 20% of the ransom.

Free rural inhabitants - peasants, freed from serfdom under the reform of 1861 and redeemed their allotments.

Redemption payments - payment of peasants for land after the abolition of serfdom

Conciliators are officials appointed to approve statutory charters and resolve disputes between peasants and landlords.

Statutory charter - an agreement between the landowner and the peasants on the size of the allotment and the condition of the redemption operation.

reform provisions. Writing in a notebook

Personal liberation of the peasants.

Land allotment.

Redemption operation.

The provision of land to the peasants was subject to a number of conditions. By law, the landowner retained ownership of the land, but had to provide the peasant with an allotment for ransom.

In accordance with the legislative documents on the abolition of serfdom, Russia was conditionally divided into three zones - black earth, non-black earth and steppe - in each of which the minimum and maximum size of the peasant land allotment was established. The minimum amount is the one less than which the landowner was not supposed to offer the peasant, and the maximum is the one more than which the peasant was not supposed to demand from the landowner. In each specific case, the size of the allotment was determined by an agreement between the landowner and the peasant, drawn up in the form of a charter. In general, the peasants received 10-40% less land than the amount they used before the reform. The plots of land seized from the peasants were called "segments". "Segments" passed to the landowner.

Let's see how the redemption operation was organized. Work with the text of the document.

"Regulations on redemption by peasants who have emerged from serfdom"

64. When peasants acquire ownership of their allotment by mutual voluntary agreement with the landowner, the amount of payment for the acquired land depends solely on the discretion of the contracting parties, but not less than 20% of the redemption amount: the assistance provided by this government consists only in issuing land of a certain redemption loan.

65. To determine the amount of a redemption loan, a cash quitrent is accepted, appointed from the peasants in favor of the landowner according to the charter charter for the estate and field allotment provided to the peasants for permanent use.

66. The amount of dues for the acquired land is 80% and is paid by the state treasury.

113. Peasants who have acquired ownership of land through a redemption transaction are obliged to pay into the treasury annually in return for the dues that followed the landowner for this land, six kopecks per ruble from the redemption loan appointed by the government until it is repaid. Such payments are called ransom payments.

114. A redemption loan shall be repaid with a installment of redemption payments within forty-nine years from the date of issuance of the loan.

Tasks for the document: 1.

Determine the procedure for making a redemption transaction (the treasury immediately paid 80% of the redemption amount to the landlords, this is a redemption loan from the state to the peasants; the peasant had to reimburse it for 49 years, paying 6% per annum on the loan; the rest of the redemption amount - 20% - the peasants paid on their own; if the peasant paid this amount immediately, then he became free, if not, temporarily liable)

Tasks . (I propose to solve only in a strong class)

The amount of the ransom was determined by capitalization of the quitrent. Each peasant annually paid the landowner a quitrent. After the liberation of the peasants, the landlord stopped receiving this amount. At that time it was possible to place in the bank at 6% per annum. The peasant had to pay so much for the redeemed land that, having put this money in the bank at 6% per annum, the landowner would annually receive a profit equal to the amount of quitrent paid by the peasant before the reform..

- Calculate how much a peasant must pay for the land to the landowner, who annually paid a quitrent of 10 rubles?

(10 rubles × 100%: 6% = 166 rubles 67 kopecks)

It is known that the market price of 1 tithe of land in the 60s of the 19th century in non-chernozem provinces was 14.5 rubles, and the average value of the redemption allotment was 8 tithes. How much did the peasant overpay the landowner for the land? (14.5x8 = 116 rubles - the amount for which 8 acres of land could be bought on the market. 166.67 - 116 \u003d 50 rubles 67 kopecks - the amount that the peasant overpaid for the land as a result of the established redemption operation).

- Was the ransom amount fair?

III . Significance of the abolition of serfdom.

Work with the text of the textbook from 162-163

Write in a notebook the historical significance of the abolition of serfdom.

1. Eliminated the right of ownership of people.

2. Conditions have been created for intensive economic development of the country.

The reform caused discontent among both landowners and peasants. However, in spite of everything, the abolition of serfdom was of great importance for Russia. Now all Russians are free. The right of ownership of labor and personal freedom of people was destroyed. The country opened up the possibility of developing new economic relations. Alexander II for this historical reform he received the honorary title of Tsar-Liberator.

IV . Consolidation. Test

1. Mark the rights acquired by the peasants under the Regulations of February 19, 1861

a. peasants were given the right to own land

b. peasants could marry without the permission of the landowner

c.peasants could elect zemstvos

2.After the reform, the amount of land.

a. increased

b. decreased

c. has not changed

3. Segments are part

a. peasant allotments

b. landed estates

c. land of peasants taken in favor of the landowner

4. Peasants had to pay a ransom in order to

become personally free

b. become owners

in. leave the landlord

5. The amount of the ransom

exceeded the value of the land

b. reflected the real value

in. was less than the value of the land

6. Peasants were considered temporarily liable

before the buyout deal

b. after paying the ransom

in. before paying the debt to the state

7. Temporarily liable peasants

a. worked on landowner's land

b. belonged to the landowner

in. paid dues and performed corvée

8. The amount of duties

a. arbitrarily set by the landowner

b. approved by the peasant assembly

in. strictly regulated by law

Evaluation criteria: 8 correct answers - score "5", 7.6- - score "4", 5-"3", 4-"2".

In Russian history, one of the saddest pages is the section on "serfdom", which equated most of the population of the empire with the lowest grade. The peasant reform of 1861 freed dependent people from bondage, which became impetus for reorganization the whole state into a democratic free state.

In contact with

Basic concepts

Before talking about the process of abolition, we should briefly understand the definition of this term and understand what role it played in the history of the Russian state. In this article you will get answers to the questions: who abolished serfdom and when serfdom was abolished.

Serfdom - these are legal norms that prohibit the dependent population, that is, the peasants, from leaving certain land plots to which they were assigned.

Talking about this topic briefly will not work, because many historians equate this form of dependence with slavery, although there are many differences between them.

Not a single peasant with his family could leave a certain plot of land without the permission of an aristocrat who owned land. If the slave was attached directly to his master, then the serf was attached to the land, and since the owner had the right to manage the allotment, then the peasants, respectively, too.

People who fled were put on the wanted list, and the relevant authorities had to bring them back. In most cases, some of the fugitives were defiantly killed as an example for others.

Important! Similar forms of dependence were also common during the New Age in England, the Commonwealth, Spain, Hungary and other states.

Reasons for the abolition of serfdom

The predominant part of the male and able-bodied population concentrated in the villages, where they worked for the landowners. The entire crop harvested by the serfs was sold abroad and brought huge incomes to the landowners. The economy in the country did not develop, which is why the Russian Empire was at a much lagging stage of development than the countries of Western Europe.

Historians agree that the following causes and conditions were dominant, as they most sharply demonstrated the problems of the Russian Empire:

1. This form of dependence hindered the development of the capitalist system - because of this, the level of the economy in the empire was at a very low level.
2. The industry was going through far from its best times - due to the lack of workers in the cities, the full functioning of factories, mines and plants was impossible.
3. When agriculture in the countries of Western Europe developed according to the principle of introducing new types of equipment, fertilizers, methods of cultivating the land, then in the Russian Empire it developed according to an extensive principle - due to increase in the area of ​​crops.
4. The peasants did not participate in the economic and political life of the empire, and yet they constituted the predominant part of the entire population of the country.
5. Since in Western Europe this type of dependence was considered a kind of slavery, the authority of the empire suffered greatly among the monarchs of the Western world.
6. The peasantry was dissatisfied with this state of affairs, and therefore uprisings and riots constantly took place in the country. Dependency on the landlord also encouraged people to go to the Cossacks.
7. The progressive layer of the intelligentsia constantly put pressure on the king and insisted on profound changes in.

Preparations for the abolition of serfdom

The so-called peasant reform was prepared long before its implementation. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, the first prerequisites for the abolition of serfdom were laid.

Cancellation preparation serfdom began during the reign, but it did not go beyond projects. Under Emperor Alexander II in 1857 Editorial Commissions were created to develop a project for liberation from dependence.

The body faced a difficult task: a peasant reform should be carried out according to such a principle that the changes would not cause a wave of discontent among the landowners.

The commission created several reform projects, reviewing various options. Numerous peasant revolts pushed its members towards more radical changes.

Reform of 1861 and its contents

The manifesto on the abolition of serfdom was signed by Tsar Alexander II March 3, 1861 This document contained 17 points that considered the main points of the transition of peasants from a dependent to a relatively free class society.

It is important to highlight main provisions of the manifesto about the liberation of people from serfdom:

• the peasants were no longer the dependent class of society;
• now people could own real estate and other types of property;
• to become free, the peasants had to initially buy the land from the landowners, taking a large loan;
• for the use of the land allotment they also had to pay dues;
• the creation of rural communities with an elected head was allowed;
• the size of allotments that can be redeemed were clearly regulated by the state.

The reform of 1861 to abolish serfdom followed the abolition of serfdom in the lands subject to the Austrian Empire. The territory of Western Ukraine was in the possession of the Austrian monarch. The elimination of serfdom in the West happened in 1849. This process has only accelerated this process in the East. They had practically the same reasons for the abolition of serfdom as in the Russian Empire.

The abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861: briefly

The manifesto has been released throughout the country from March 7 to mid-April of the same year. Due to the fact that the peasants were not just freed, but forced to buy their freedom, they protested.

The government, in turn, took all security measures, redeploying troops to the most hot spots.

Information about such a path of liberation only outraged the peasantry. The abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861 led to an increase in the number of uprisings compared to the previous year.

The uprisings and riots almost tripled in scope and number. The government was forced to subdue them by force, which caused thousands to die.

Within two years from the moment the manifesto was published, 6/10 of all the peasants in the country signed the advising letters "on liberation". Buying the land for most people stretched over more than a decade. Approximately a third of them had not yet paid their debts in the late 1880s.

The abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861 was considered by many representatives of the estate of landlords. the end of Russian statehood. They assumed that now the peasants would rule the country and said that it was necessary to choose a new king among the mob, thereby criticizing the actions of Alexander II.

Results of the reform

The peasant reform of 1861 led to the following transformations in the Russian Empire:

• the peasants now became a free cell of society, but they had to redeem the allotment for a very large sum;
• the landlords were guaranteed to give the peasant a small allotment, or sell the land, at the same time they were deprived of labor and income;
• "rural communities" were created, which further controlled the life of the peasant, all questions about obtaining a passport or moving to another place were again decided on the council of the community;
• conditions for obtaining freedom caused discontent, which increased the number and scope of the uprisings.

And although the liberation of the peasants from serfdom was more profitable for the landowners than for the dependent class, it was progressive step in development Russian Empire. It was from the moment when serfdom was abolished that the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society began.

Attention! The transition to freedom in Russia was quite peaceful, while due to the abolition of slavery in the country, the Civil War began, which became the bloodiest conflict in the history of the country.

The reform of 1861 did not completely solve the actual problems of society. The poor still remained far from government and were only an instrument of tsarism.

It was the unresolved problems of the peasant reform that came to the fore at the beginning of the next century.

In 1905, another revolution began in the country, which was brutally suppressed. Twelve years later, it exploded with renewed vigor, which led to and drastic changes in society.

For many years, serfdom kept the Russian Empire at the agrarian level of development of society, while in the West it had long since become industrial. Economic backwardness and peasant unrest led to the abolition of serfdom and the liberation of the dependent stratum of the population. These were the reasons for the abolition of serfdom.

1861 was a turning point in the development of the Russian Empire, since it was then that a huge step was taken, which later allowed the country to get rid of the vestiges that hindered its development.

Prerequisites for the Peasant Reform of 1861

The abolition of serfdom, a historical overview

Conclusion

In the spring of 1861, the great All-Powerful Alexander II signs a manifesto on the liberation of the peasants. The conditions for obtaining freedom were taken very negatively by the lower class. And yet, twenty years later, most of the once dependent population became free and had their own land allotment, house and other property.

INTRODUCTION

The abolition of serfdom in Russia was caused by the economic and social conditions prevailing in the 1940s and 1950s. 19th century.

The development of new capitalist production and the disintegration of subsistence serfdom, which began as early as the end of the 18th century, led in the 50s. to the deepest crisis of the entire feudal-serf system of Russia.

Serfdom in Russia lasted longer than in any European country, and acquired such forms that it practically did not differ from slavery.

New, capitalist phenomena in the economy came into conflict with serfdom, which became a serious brake on the development of industry and trade, and peasant entrepreneurship. The landlord economy, based on forced serf labor, increasingly fell into decay. The crisis primarily affected the corvee estates (by the middle of the 19th century they contained 71% of serfs), which was expressed in a progressive decline in the productivity of corvee labor. The peasant became more and more weary of lordly work, trying to spend his strength on it as little as possible.

Quit estates also experienced serious difficulties. From the 20s. In the 19th century, arrears in the payment of dues grew.

An indicator of the decline of the landowners' farms was the growth of landlords' debts to credit institutions and private individuals. More and more landowners began to mortgage and re-mortgage their "serf souls" in these institutions.

Another important reason that forced the landowners to agree to the abolition of serfdom was the social factor - the growth of peasant revolts from decade to decade.

The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that from whatever point of view we look at the process of internal socio-political development of Russia in the 19th century, 1861 is undoubtedly a turning point. In Soviet historiography, this year was conventionally taken as the boundary separating the history of feudal Russia from capitalist Russia.

The purpose of this work is to consider the peasant reform of 1861.

The objectives of this work are:

Consider the prerequisites for the peasant reform of 1861.

Consider the essence of the reform of 1861. and its influence on the further development of Russia.

The abolition of serfdom in Russia and the bourgeois reforms of the 1960s are one of the most popular topics in Soviet historiography. This is due to the exceptional historical significance attributed to the reforms of the 60s. A huge number of scientific works, both general and special, are devoted to the abolition of serfdom.

As a theoretical basis for the study, the works and manuals of Russian authors on the study of the peasant reform of 1861 in Russia were used in the work. These are the works of such authors as Zakharova L.G., Kornilov A.A., Zaionchkovsky P.A., Gorinova I.M., Eidelman N.Ya. In the books and articles of the mentioned authors, the economic and political preconditions and the very process of carrying out the peasant reform of 1861 in Russia are studied and analyzed, the consequences of the reform carried out are studied, a large place is given to the study of state policy for the implementation of this reform.

CHAPTER 1. Prerequisites for the peasant reform of 1861

The feudal system of organizing agriculture at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. experienced a period of decay and crisis. By this time, the productive forces in agriculture had reached a relatively high level of development; the manufacturing industry of Russia was not inferior to that of Western Europe.

The new productive forces in agriculture could not achieve any great development in the first half of the 19th century due to the dominance of feudal-serf relations. The final approval of the new production relations was impossible in the conditions of the preservation of feudal forms of economy, which were an insurmountable obstacle to any progress.

The forms of exploitation of the serfs were determined by local economic conditions, which gave the landowner the opportunity to receive the greatest income either in the form of corvée or dues. In more industrially developed areas, quitrent prevailed in the form of cash rent. The quitrent system created great opportunities for the stratification of the peasantry, which meant its inclusion in the orbit of capitalist relations. However, the quitrent system in itself was by no means an indicator of the capitalist economy, although it created certain prerequisites for this due to the relative freedom that the quitrent peasant enjoyed in comparison with the peasant who was on corvée. Obrok prevailed in the central industrial non-chernozem provinces, corvee - in the non-industrial regions of the black and non-chernozem provinces. In Belorussia, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, corvée dominated almost exclusively.

About 70% of all serfs were employed in the Barshchina. In such landlord farms, the crisis manifested itself in the low labor productivity of the forced peasants. The worker was not economically interested in his work.

In the non-chernozem zone of Russia, the quitrent system in the form of cash and in-kind payment prevailed. High quitrents were available where peasants could make good money: near capitals and large cities, in fishing villages, in areas of gardening, horticulture, poultry farming, etc.

Elements of capitalism penetrated the landowners' farms, which manifested itself in the strengthening of commodity-money relations, ties with the market, in individual attempts to use machines, hired workers, and improve agricultural technology. However, on the whole, the economy did not develop at the expense of capital investment, but at the expense of increased exploitation of the peasants and the expansion of the legal right to own land.

In order to pay taxes, corvee peasants had to sell, on average, at least a quarter of the harvested grain. In prosperous peasant farms, the surplus of grain accounted for more than 30% of the gross harvest. It was these peasants who used hired labor and machines, were more closely connected with the market, merchants, usurers, owners of workshops and factories came out of their midst. All these processes proceeded much wider and faster in the state countryside. Among the state peasants there were many owners who sowed dozens, and some - in the South, in Siberia and the Urals - hundreds of acres of land, had exemplary farms with the use of machines, hired workers, improved livestock breeds, etc. The peasants themselves invented improved tools and machines .

By the middle of the 19th century. the old relations of production in Russia came into clear conflict with the development of the economy, not only in agriculture, but also in industry.

Two processes were going on simultaneously in Russia: the crisis of feudalism and the growth of capitalism. The development of these processes during the first half of the 19th century. caused an irreconcilable conflict between them both in the field of the basis - production relations, and in the field of political superstructure.

The abolition of serfdom took place not as a result of a mass peasant movement or revolution, but peacefully, "from above", after 100 years of discussions and attempts to resolve the peasant issue in various commissions and committees, mostly secret ones. Objective socio-economic, demographic, socio-political reasons matured gradually, but the Crimean War of 1853-56, which was difficult and inglorious for Russia, served as a direct impetus for reform "from above", the power of autocratic power. During the war, the backwardness of Russia was exposed: the sailing fleet could not withstand the steam fleet; the recruiting system for the army, based on serfdom, was outdated and did not correspond to the new organization of the armed forces in Europe; the absence of railways delayed the transfer of troops, the delivery of ammunition and food. The eleven-month siege of Sevastopol, which ended with its fall in August 1855, ended the duel between Russia and the West - England and France, who fought on the side of Turkey. This showed how much the backlog of serf Russia from the capitalist countries has increased.

Alexander II embarked on the path of liberation reforms not because of his convictions, but as a military man who realized the lessons of the Eastern War, as an emperor and autocrat.

CHAPTER2. Peasant reform of 1861

The preparation of the peasant reform took 4 years. At first it was carried out in secret. Then, broad circles of the nobility were involved in it: in 1858, in all provinces (except Arkhangelsk, where there were no serfs), elected noble committees were created to draw up reform projects. The central leadership in the preparation of the reform was concentrated in the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs, created in 1858.

The main issue of the reform was the question of whether to free the peasants with or without land. On this issue there were disputes between groups of serf-owners and liberals. The feudal-bureaucratic nobility, as well as the landowners, whose economy was based on worked-out rent, belonged to the serf-owners. The liberals expressed the interests of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie landlords. The struggle between them was not fundamental: both the feudal lords and the liberals stood for the abolition of serfdom while maintaining landlordism and autocracy, but the liberals wanted to somewhat limit tsarist absolutism and were against the liberation of the peasants without land.

There was also a class struggle around the reform. No one represented the interests of the masses in the tsarist committees and commissions. The main struggle around the reform was not fought between groups of nobles, but between the landowners and the autocracy, on the one hand, and the peasantry, on the other. The interests of the peasants were expressed by the revolutionary democrats, in their speeches they called for the complete elimination of serfdom and landlordism, for the transfer of all land to the peasants without any redemption. The struggle of the revolutionary democrats, the unceasing peasant unrest forced the tsarist government to abandon the most reactionary options for reform and make some concessions to the peasantry. A compromise decision was made, reconciling all the landowners, to release the peasants with a minimum allotment of land for ransom. Such liberation provided the landowners with both working hands and capital.

On February 19, 1861, the "Regulations on peasants leaving serfdom" (they included 17 legislative acts) were signed by the tsar and received the force of law. On the same day, the Manifesto was signed, announcing the liberation of the peasants.

According to the Manifesto, the peasants immediately received personal freedom, but the elimination of feudal economic relations in the countryside dragged on for 20 years. According to the law, after receiving personal freedom, the peasants had to serve practically the same duties for 2 years as under serfdom, only the corvée was slightly reduced and natural requisitions were abolished. Prior to the transfer of peasants for ransom, they were in a temporarily obligated position, i.e. are obliged for the allotments provided to them, according to the norms established by law, to bear corvée or pay dues. The law did not establish any deadline for the end of the temporarily obligated position of the peasants.

An important place in the reform of 1861 was occupied by the solution of the agrarian question. It was impossible to liberate the peasants without land, it was economically unprofitable and could cause a social explosion. Giving them a sufficient amount of land was unprofitable for the landlords. Therefore, the task was to provide such an amount of land that they were tied to their allotment, and if this was not enough, then to the landowner's economy. The law proceeded from the principle of recognizing the ownership of the landlord on all the land on his estate, including the peasant, allotment. The peasants received their allotment not as property, but for use, for a duty established by law in the form of quitrent or corvée. In order to become the owner of allotment land, a peasant must buy it from the landowner, paying the entire ransom at once, which was practically impossible. The state took over the ransom. It immediately paid the ransom money to the landowners, and then collected it in the form of redemption payments from the peasants. The term for payment of redemption payments was set at 49 years.

Thus, the reform on the emancipation of the serfs was carried out in the interests of the landowners.

The noble nature of the reform manifested itself in many ways: in the procedure for calculating the redemption payments, in the procedure for the redemption operation, in the privileges for the exchange of land plots, etc. When redeemed in the black earth regions, there was a clear tendency to turn the peasants into tenants of their own allotments (the land there was expensive), and in the non-chernozem - a fantastic increase in prices for the redeemed estate.

During the redemption, a certain picture emerged: the smaller the redeemed allotment, the more you had to pay for it. Here, a hidden form of redemption was clearly manifested not of the land, but of the personality of the peasant. The landowner wanted to get from him for his freedom. At the same time, the introduction of the principle of compulsory redemption was a victory of the state interest over the interest of the landowner.

The deceived hopes of the peasants for "full freedom" caused an explosion of peasant protest in the spring - summer of 1861. During the year, about 2 thousand unrest swept through the country, more than half of which were suppressed with the use of military force. During the following year, unrest arose again, but the government suppressed peasant discontent. Since 1863, the peasant movement has declined sharply.

A feature of the reform of 1861 was the preservation of the community, the allotment land was transferred to the peasants on the basis of the rights of a collective form of communal use, and after redemption - communal property. The exit from the community was not closed, but very difficult. The legislators were not supporters of the preservation of the community, however, they agreed to preserve it, as it then seemed to them, temporarily. They proceeded from the fact that the community would help the peasants, who were not accustomed to being the owners of their property, to maintain their independence. In addition, the community was a powerful obstacle to the process of proletarianization of the peasantry and the brewing of social explosions. There were also fiscal considerations - making it easier for the authorities to collect duties and payments. The peasant community bound its members with a mutual guarantee: it was possible to leave it only by paying off half of the remaining debt and with a guarantee that the community would pay the other half. It was possible to leave the "society" by finding a deputy. The community could decide on the mandatory purchase of land. The gathering permitted family divisions of the land.

The volost gathering decided by a qualified majority questions: on the replacement of communal land use by district, on the division of land into permanently inherited plots, on redistribution, on the removal of its members from the community.

The headman was the actual assistant to the landowner (during the period of temporary existence), he could impose fines on the guilty or arrest them.

The volost court was elected for a year and resolved minor property disputes or considered for minor offenses.

Peasant reform of the 60s. served as the main reason for the creation in Russia of an all-encompassing system of official signs. Previously, the country had almost no positions that would have appropriate uniforms. The peasant reform brought to life many elective posts, the holders of which had to constantly clash with people, judge them, encourage or punish them. And in Russia, in order to perform such work, it was necessary to have a formal sign of the right to a position.

A wide range of measures was envisaged to be applied to the debtors: taking away income from real estate, giving it to work or guardianship, forced sale of the debtor's movable and immovable property, taking away part or all of the allotment. The peasant reform of 1861 provided for the abolition of patrimonial power, as well as the organization of elective peasant self-government, which was seen as the basis for the participation of peasants in the new local all-estate self-government. Thus, the estate, like the community, seemed to be a temporary institution, inevitable and justified only for the transitional period. The "Regulations" and the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom were published during Great Lent - from March 7 to April 2; in St. Petersburg and Moscow - March 5. The peasant reform of 1861 extended to the landowning peasants of the European part of Russia. Similar legislation was developed for the national fringes in the following decades.

The negative consequences of the reform were the following:

a) the allotments of the peasants decreased in comparison with the pre-reform ones, and payments, in comparison with the old dues, increased;

b) the community actually lost its rights to use forests, meadows and water bodies;

c) the peasants remained a separate class.

Thus, the main provisions of the reform were as follows:

1. The abolition of personal dependence - the reform provided the peasants with personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property, buy and sell movables and real estate, and engage in commercial and industrial activities. However, having freed the peasants from serfdom, the reform made them dependent on the rural community.

2. Allotments and duties of the peasants - in determining the norms of allotments, they formally proceeded from the degree of fertility of the land in various regions of the country, but in fact - from the interests of the landowners. Only men were given land. The size of the shower allotments varied depending on the fertility of the soil and the economic characteristics of different regions.

3. Redemption of peasant allotments - the redemption of the estate was mandatory, and the redemption of the allotment depended on the desire of the landowner. The amount of the ransom was determined by the size of the capitalized quitrent.

After the reform, the stratification of the peasantry also intensified. Some peasants grew rich, bought land from landowners, hired workers. Of these, subsequently formed a layer of the kulaks - the rural bourgeoisie. Many peasants went bankrupt and gave up their allotments for debts to the kulaks, and they themselves were hired as farm laborers or went to the city, where they became the prey of greedy factory owners and manufacturers.

And yet, the peasant reform of 1861 was an act of progressive significance. The emancipation of the peasants gave impetus to the intensive growth of the labor market. The granting of property and certain civil rights to peasants contributed to the development of agricultural and industrial entrepreneurship.

CONCLUSION

The reforms of 1861, connected with the socio-economic and political processes of the first half of the 19th century, were at the same time a turning point in the history of Russia. Without foreseeing and without ensuring a one-time upheaval in all spheres of public life, they laid the foundation for this overturn and ruled out the possibility of restoring the pre-reform order.

The modernization of Russia continued on a new basis - labor freed from serfdom, the development of private initiative, the emergence of civil society. In this context, 1861 is a milestone, a starting point from which the "new history of Russia" begins.

The abolition of serfdom played an important role in the transformation of Russia into a bourgeois monarchy. Carried out by the nobility, although bourgeois in its content, the reform of 1861 opened up wide opportunities for the development of capitalism, but did not completely destroy feudal socio-economic relations.

The reform changed the position of landowners, state and appanage peasants, as well as workers of sessional and patrimonial manufactories.

The peasant reform of 1861 was the beginning of important changes in the socio-political life of the country, which can be noted. So, in a revolutionary situation, the tsarist government was forced, following the abolition of serfdom, to go for a number of other bourgeois reforms - to introduce elements of local self-government, a jury trial, to abolish corporal punishment, to introduce universal military service instead of recruitment kits, to reorganize education and finance.

LIST OF USED LITERATURE

Zayonchkovsky P.A. The crisis of autocracy at the turn of the 1870-1880s. M., 1964

Zakharova L.G. Autocracy, bureaucracy and reforms of the 60s. 19th century in Russia // Questions of History, 1989, No. 10

History of Russia, part 2. The heyday and decline of the Russian Empire / Gorinov I.M., Lyashchenko L.M., M., 1994

Kornilov A.A. The course of the history of Russia in the 19th century. M., 1993

Eidelman N.Ya. "Revolution from above" in Russia. M., 1991