Serfdom, which prevailed for many centuries in the Russian Empire, became a serious brake on the country's development in the nineteenth century. And this fact in Russian society was then realized by very many. The question was only one: how to carry out the abolition of serfdom?
The peasant reform in serfdom in Russia, according to historians and economists, was ripe for about a century before the abolition of serfdom. This, apparently, was understood by the monarchs themselves, who reigned all this time. And such of them as Paul I and Alexander I even took some steps to solve this problem. But all their attempts were almost fruitless.
Preparation of the peasant reform
In the fifties of the IXI century, the Russian government begins to understand that if serfdom is not abolished from the top by a tsarist decree and on any acceptable conditions for those in power, then it will be abolished from the bottom by the peasants themselves with unpredictable consequences.
Therefore, in 1857, a Secret Committee was established under the government, which was entrusted with preparing the peasant reform. A year later, Emperor Alexander II announced in noble circles his decision to abolish serfdom and the Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee. Provincial committees are being created locally to develop peasant reform.
At the beginning of 1861, the government submitted to the Council of State the Regulation on the emancipation of the peasants. Without any delay, it is approved by the State Council and submitted to the emperor for approval. And already on February 19, signed by Alexander II, the Manifesto "On the all-merciful donation to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants" was published.
Landless freedom
This Manifesto provided the peasants with the following civil rights: free marriage, independent contracting and legal proceedings, independent acquisition of real estate. However, with all the breadth of legal freedoms afforded by this Manifesto to the peasantry, all the land remained in the ownership of the landowners. For the use of their land plots, the peasants were obliged to bear obligations in favor of their legal owners, who are, in essence, the same serfs as before.
The peasants, however, received the right to purchase these land plots, but at a price that significantly exceeded its real value.
To ensure the reality of land redemption, the government provided peasants with juice for 49 years at 6% annual payments.
Land could also be bought out by communities. But at the same time, the peasant actually lost his freedom, since he could not leave the community without losing his land share.
As a result, the peasants were extremely disappointed with such landless freedom. Rumors began to appear that, supposedly, there was another, real Manifesto, which grants them land free of charge, and the landowners were hiding the truth from them. Peasant unrest swept across Russia, which was brutally suppressed by the troops.
By the fall of 1861, the storm of peasant indignation had gradually subsided.