Russian Emancipation of Serfs

A detailed Summary of Russian Emancipation of Serfs

In the course of studying Russian History one could justifiably ponder, "How did Russia ever eventually become a world Super Power'." considering how they repeatedly found ways to not deal with issues of the time. Take for instance the emancipation of serfdom in Russia in 1861. The Russian approach, during the reign of Romanov Rulers, to deal with issues always seems to be "What to do about this?" or "What to do about that"? Well "this" or "that" never seems to never get answered. The question of what to do about serfdom has been an enormous debate throughout the history of Russia. From the Enlightenment to the Industrial Age the tsars proved that they lacked the ability to answer the question of serfdom.

There are a string of events occurring over 200 years that would culminate in the Emancipation decree issued by Alexander II on 1861. The seriousness of serfdom discontent first became obvious to the government in 1773 when Pugachev led an army of serfs to revolt against the wealthy estate owners. The rebellion was squashed, however, the instability of serfdom would become apparent for all of Russia, and even Europe, to see.

The invasion by Napolean would have consequences for serfdom as well. After the defeat of N

With reforms introduced along with the emancipation in 18611, the fundamentals of the land-peasantry relationship in Russia doesn't change. However, the nobility at the time of emancipation were probably happy with the Edict. Over time those sentiments would change as they begin to realize that that they, the landowners, were now responsible for the redemption payments. The landowners became responsible somewhat at their own doing. The harsh conditions they had created to keep serfs poor and tied to the land continued and now prevented the serfs from paying their taxes to the landowners, which in turn, prevented the landowners from paying redemption payments. Famines, colonization to the east, insufficient transportation, and loss of workers due to conscription of peasantry for military service and the slow introduction of industrialization in Russia all compounded with the serfs, harsh conditions slowly began to deteriorate what influence the landed nobility had on the tsar.

apolean the Russian government was now able to deal with internal problems, mainly, "What to do about serfdom?" During the Congress of Vienna was when military leaders of Russia would get to experience The Enlightenment of Europe and the much higher standard of living than that of Russia. On their return they shared what they had seen and experienced, keeping in mind that the arts and literature in Russia were flourishing. People were writing about the Enlightenment in Europe and The Industrial Age that was beginning in London and contrasting Russia to these

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Approximate Word count = 1045
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History