February 19, 1861. Peasant Reform in Russia. Abolition of serfdom

The reign of Alexander II (1856-1881)went down in history as a period of "great reforms". In many respects, thanks to the emperor, serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861, an event that, undoubtedly, is his main achievement, which played a big role in the future development of the state.

Preconditions for the abolition of serfdom

In 1856-1857 a number of southern provinces shookpeasant unrest, which, however, very quickly subsided. But, nevertheless, they served as a reminder to the ruling authorities that the situation in which the common people are located can eventually turn out to be grave consequences for it.

In addition, the existing serfdomsignificantly slowed the progress of the country's development. The axiom that free labor was more effective than the servitude was fully manifested: Russia lagged behind the Western states in both the economy and the socio-political sphere. This threatened that the previously created image of a powerful power could simply dissolve, and the country would become second-rate. Not to mention the fact that serfdom was very much like slavery.

By the end of the 50-ies of the 62 million populationcountries in full dependence on their owners lived more than a third. Russia urgently needed peasant reform. 1861 was to be a year of serious changes, which should be carried out so that they could not shake the established foundations of the autocracy, and the nobility maintained its dominant position. Therefore, the process of abolishing serfdom required careful analysis and elaboration, and this, because of the imperfect state apparatus, was already problematic.

The necessary steps for the coming changes

The abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861 had to seriously affect the life foundations of a huge country.

However, if in the states living inthe Constitution, before any changes are made, they are discussed in the ministries and discussed in the government, after which ready-made drafts of reforms are submitted to the parliament, which passes the final verdict, in Russia there were no ministries or a representative body. And serfdom was legalized at the state level. Alexander II could not abolish it alone, since this would violate the rights of the nobility, which is the basis of the autocracy.

Therefore, in the country to promote reformit was necessary to create a whole apparatus known for dealing with the abolition of serfdom. It was supposed that it would consist of institutions organized on the ground, whose proposals should be submitted and processed by the central committee, which, in turn, would be controlled by the monarch.

As in the light of the forthcoming changes, morejust landlords were losing, then for Alexander II, the best way would be if the initiative for the liberation of the peasants was from the nobility. Soon such a moment turned up.

Rescript to Nazimova

In the middle of the autumn of 1857, St. Petersburg arrivedGeneral Vladimir Ivanovich Nazimov, the governor from Lithuania, who brought with him a petition for granting the right to him and the governors of the Kovno and Grodno provinces to give free his serfs, but without giving them land.

In response, Alexander II sends in the name of Nazimovarescript (personal imperial letter), in which he instructs the local landowners to organize provincial committees. Their task was to develop their own options for future peasant reform. At the same time the Tsar gave his recommendations in the message:

• Granting complete freedom to serfs.
• All land allotments should remain for the landlords, with the preservation of the property right.
• Granting the opportunity for the liberated peasants to receive land allotments provided they pay tribute or work off the corvee.
• To give the peasants the opportunity to redeem their estates.

Soon rescript appeared in the press, which gave impetus to a general discussion of the question of serfdom.

Creation of committees

At the very beginning of 1857, the emperor, following thehis plan, created a secret committee on the peasant question, which secretly engaged in the development of reform to abolish serfdom. But only after the "Rescript Nazimov" was made public, the institution earned its full force. In February 1958, he was removed from all secrecy, renaming the Main Committee on Peasant Affairs, headed by Prince AF. Orlov.

When it was created, the Editorial Commission, which examined the projects submitted by the provincial committees, and based on the collected data, an all-Russian variant of the future reform was created.

The chairman of these commissions was appointed member of the State Council, General Ya.I. Rostovtsev, who fully supported the idea of ​​abolishing serfdom.

Contradictions and the work done

During the work on the project between the Mainthe committee and the majority of the provincial landowners did not do without serious contradictions. Thus, the landowners insisted that the liberation of the peasants be limited only to the granting of freedom, and the land could be secured for them only on a leasehold basis without redemption. The committee also wanted to give the former serf the opportunity to acquire land, becoming full owners.

In 1860 Rostovtsev died, in connection with whichHead of the Editorial Commissions Alexander II appoints Count VN. Panin, who, by the way, was considered an opponent of the abolition of serfdom. As an unquestioning performer of the Tsar's will, he was forced to complete the reform project.

In October, the work of the Drafting Commissions wascompleted. In total, the provincial committees submitted 82 drafts for the abolition of serfdom, which occupied 32 printed volumes in volume. The result of painstaking work was submitted for consideration to the State Council, and after its adoption it was submitted for reassurance to the tsar. After acquaintance with him, the relevant Manifesto and the Regulations were signed. February 19, 1861 became the official day of abolition of serfdom.

On March 5, Alexander II personally read the documents before the people.

The main provisions of the manifesto on February 19, 1861

The main provisions of the document were as follows:

• The serfs of the empire received full personal independence, now they were called "free rural inhabitants".
• From now on (that is, on February 19, 1861) serfs were considered full citizens of the country with the corresponding rights.
• All movable peasant property, as well as houses and buildings were recognized as their property.
• The landlords retained their rights to their lands, but they had to provide homesteads to the peasants, as well as field allotments.
• For the use of land plots peasants had to pay a ransom both directly to the owner of the territory, and to the state.

The necessary compromise of reform

New changes could not satisfy desireall interested. The peasants themselves were dissatisfied. First of all, on what conditions did they provide land, which, in fact, was the main means of existence. Therefore, Alexander II's reforms, or rather some of their provisions, are ambiguous.

Thus, according to the Manifesto, throughout the territoryRussia established the largest and smallest sizes of land allotments per capita, depending on the natural and economic characteristics of the regions.

It was assumed that if the peasantsmaller than the document, this obliged the landowner to add the missing area. If it's big, then, on the contrary, cut off the extra and, as a rule, the best part of the allotment.

Norms of allotments provided

The Manifesto on February 19, 1861, divided the European part of the country into three parts: the steppe, chernozem and non-chernozem.

• The rate of land allotments for the steppe part is from six and a half to twelve dessiatines.
• The norm for the chernozem strip was from three to four and a half acres.
• For the non-chernozem belt - from three and a quarter to eight dessiatines.

In general, the area of ​​the allotment became smaller in the country than before the changes, thus, the peasant reform of 1861 deprived the "liberated" more than 20% of the area of ​​cultivated land.

In addition, there was a category of serfs,which, in general, did not receive any sites. These are household people, peasants who previously belonged to the landless nobles, as well as workers' manufactories.

Conditions for the transfer of land in ownership

According to the reform of February 19, 1861, the landThe peasants were not given the property, but only for use. But they had the opportunity to redeem it from the owner, that is, to conclude a so-called redemption deal. Until the same moment, they were considered temporarily liable, and for using the land they had to work out a corvee, which was no more than 40 days a year for men, and 30 for women. Or, to pay a rent, the amount of which for the highest allotment was from 8 to 12 rubles, and when assigning the tax, the fertility of the lands was necessarily taken into account. At the same time, the temporarily liable did not have the right to simply abandon the allotment provided, that is, the corvee still had to work out.

After the completion of the redemption deal, the peasant became a full-fledged owner of the land plot.

And the state did not remain in the forefront

Since February 19, 1861, thanks to the Manifesto, the state has the opportunity to replenish the treasury. This income item was opened because of the formula by which the amount of the redemption payment was calculated.

The amount that the peasant was to pay forland, was equated to the so-called conditional capital, which is put in the State Bank at 6% per annum. And these percentages were equated to that income which the landowner received from a quitrent earlier.

That is, if the landowner had from one soul inyear 10 rubles of dues, the calculation was made using the formula: 10 rubles divided by 6 (interest from capital), and then multiplied by 100 (the total amount of interest) - (10/6) x 100 = 166.7.

Thus, the total amount of the quitrent was166 rubles 70 kopecks - money "unbearable" for the former serf. But then the state entered into the transaction: the peasant was to pay the landowner at a time only 20% of the estimated price. The remaining 80% was contributed by the state, but not simply, but by providing a long-term loan with a maturity of 49 years and 5 months.

Now the peasant had to pay the State Bankannually 6% of the amount of the redemption payment. It turned out that the amount that the former serf had to contribute to the treasury exceeded the loan three times. In fact, February 19, 1861 was the date when a former serf peasant, getting out of one bondage, fell into another. And this despite the fact that the amount of the repurchase amount exceeded the market value of the allotment.

Results of changes

The reform, adopted on February 19, 1861 (abolitionserfdom), despite the shortcomings, gave a solid impetus to the development of the country. Freedom received 23 million people, which led to a serious transformation in the social structure of Russian society, and later revealed the need to transform the entire political system of the country.

The Manifesto issued on February 19, 1861year, the prerequisites of which could lead to serious regress, became a stimulating factor for the development of capitalism in the Russian state. Thus, the eradication of serfdom, of course, is one of the central events in the history of the country.