Emancipation Flashcards
Why was agriculture unstable?
Weather
The lack of skilled and educated workers - serfs hadn’t studied agriculture so could not farm effectively
What did the prohibited movement of peasants mean could not be set up?
Factories, mining industrialising etc
What did serfdom doom the economy to?
Agriculture
What did the discussions for the emancipation revolve around?
Whether serfs should be freed with land
How much land each household should get
How it would be paid for
Amount of compensation given to landowners
If the nobility should retain judicial and economic control over former serfs
How many serfs compared to whole population?
75 million, 100 million population
What was created in 1859 to turn the recommendations into legislation?
An Editing Commission
When were the 22 Emancipation Statutes declared?
19 February 1861
Sunday after lent - grateful to Tsar who is rewarding them after giving something up
Main terms of the emancipation
Serfdom abolished
Serfs legally free to marry, travel, vote and trade
Peasants could keep houses and land around it but have to buy the other strips they had worked on
Redemption payments over 49 years for the land
Peasants controlled by Mir
Mir power strengthened
Nobles still police
Landowners compensated for land in government bonds but not for loss of rights over serfs
How many serfs were involved?
23 million
What did the huge variation between regions mean?
Different provinces emancipated serfs at different times, some not until 1890 so the final transfer of land took a long time
How long was the transitional period during which the obligations to the land owner remained the same as they had been under serfdom?
2 years
Why could peasants not be sold or sent to other estates etc despite having obligations to the land owner?
Legally free
Why was there a two year transitional period?
To allow time to work out the amount of land in each area that should be handed over to the peasants and how this should be done
Who worked out the amount of land allocated per peasant?
Local committees but the stock of land was given to the village and the village community actually allocated parcels of land to individual peasants
When would peasants own the land?
After the last redemption payment had been made
Why did peasants receive less land than before?
Supply of affordable, good quality land available to peasants was limited to the strips allocated to them which were difficult to maintain and get good yield
As a result of the allocation of land, what did peasants have to do to make ends meet?
Work as hired labour on nobles remaining land for most of the year
Why did the peasants pay more for the land?
Landowners received above market value for the land they were handing over so the high valuation meant peasants paid more for it
Why could the landowners keep the best land for themselves?
They could decide which part of their holdings they would hand over
How much land did landlords retain and how much did peasants receive?
2/3 compared to 1/3
What happened to the power of the Mir?
Strengthened
Why was the power of the Mir strengthened?
Administrative reasons and as a mechanism for keeping order in the countryside
What was the Mir made responsible for collecting?
Collecting redemption payments and the other payments peasants had to pay
What would happen if a peasant left the area?
The land would revert to the Mir, the peasant could not sell it
Whats did the Mir issue?
Internal passports allowing peasants to travel
Why were passports issued to peasants?
So that the freed peasants didn’t move around the countryside and spread disorder
How long did peasants have to wait to travel?
10 years
What happened when the peasants could travel?
Urbanisation
A more aware, mobile and enfranchised peasantry who were frustrated about the government
What were the peasants as a whole doing more of but what did the individual peasant get?
Self-governing
Renewed dependence
Why did the fact that the peasants didn’t own the land outright cause deep resentment?
They had always believed land belonged to those who worked it so felt cheated
How many disturbances were there during 1861?
Over 1000, one involving 10,000 peasants
How many estates had the army been brought in to restore order?
Over 3000
Why were nobles disgruntled?
Felt they had not been compensated for the loss of their rights over the serfs
What were nobles losing?
Power, status and influence
Why did emancipation stir up a lot of criticism of the regime from the gentry?
It removed their automatic authority over the peasants
What did the gentry want to form to prevent the government riding roughshod over their interests?
A national commission
What did some of the more liberal members of the nobility want to be assembled?
Elected representatives from all over Russia
What did much of the money paid to the nobles go towards?
Paying off existing debts and mortgages
What did nobles who could not afford or want the adaptation to hire labour do?
Moved to towns
Rented out land to peasants
Became absentee landlords by moving to the cities
From 1862 to 1905, how did noble landholdings fall?
From 87 million to 50 million desyatiny
Desyatina (pl desyatiny)
Russian measurement of land, equivalent of 2.7 acres
Why did racial intelligentsia react badly to the terms of the emancipation?
They felt it had protected the nobles and betrayed the peasants - led to growth of opposition to the regime
What did some kulak peasants start buying and renting?
Buying the land of poorer neighbours
Renting land from the nobility and hiring labour
Kulaks
Better-off peasants who owned animals and hired labour
What did Alexander do to appease the conservative nobility who did not want serfdom abolished?
He sacked Nicholas Milyutin, the architect of the emancipation proclamation
What did the Tsar not want to do?
Offend, damage or destroy the ruling class on whom his regime depended on for its survival
What were peasants supposed to be free to do?
Own property
Go to law
Enter the market on their own account
Participate in political life
At the end of the emancipation, what did the peasantry remain?
A segregated class tied to the commune with their own law courts, unable to move freely
