Preview

To What Extent Do You Consider the Emancipation of Serfs 1861 to Be a Key Turning Point in the Development of Russian Government and Society Till 2000?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1456 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To What Extent Do You Consider the Emancipation of Serfs 1861 to Be a Key Turning Point in the Development of Russian Government and Society Till 2000?
Essay Question: To what extent do you consider the Emancipation of Serfs 1861 to be a key turning point in the development of Russian government and society till 2000?
Many historians argue The Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861, to be a key turning point within Russian history. It drastically altered Russia’s economic, political and social stipulation. One could propose the argument that this event lead to the fall of communism in 1990, further more suggesting the extent to which this event affected Russia. Hence this is ‘perhaps the most defining moment in Russian history, with its impact being seen many years after the event itself’. Although historians identify short term effects of this event, the significance to which this event developed Russian government and society up to the 21st century has been so tremendous that they cannot be disregarded. However when one considers the argument of the likes of Louis Hobart who suggests the event was only a contributing element to ‘the social and economic transformation’ it must be asked to what extent was this event alone a key turning point in the development of Russian Government?
‘…A character of freedom or an act of betrayal?’ Michel Lynch, 30th November 2003, History Today. Indeed it’s highlighted within this excerpt that the intent behind emancipating the serfs is ambiguous; this was either a decision made with the objective of satisfying the Russian peasant’s best interest or rather more with the hope that it would develop Russia economically and militarily at any means necessary, even exploiting it’s people. Hence it’s debatable whether the idea of freeing the peasants was even sincerely considered or whether it was done for personal aims and masked under human rights. Tsar Alexander II entered his reign during the Crimean war therefore witnessing the fundamental decline of Russia’s status of a super power as being forced to surrender from the Crimean War in January 1856 severely effected Russia’s moral, he

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A Nationwide Revolution

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The first reason for the revolution in 1905 was the developments in the Russian countryside and how they produced a general unhappiness among the landowners and even the peasants. A long-term social and economic cause was the continuing dissatisfaction of both these groups to the Emancipation reform of Alexander II in 1861. The Landowners did not approve of the act because it denied them the free labour they had access to before the emancipation of the serfs. They had lost their free labour and large amounts of their land. By 1905 many of the Landowners were facing large debts. Although the act did end serfdom in Russia, the peasants were still angry due to the redemption payments they were expected to pay and the poor quality of land they received. They also disliked the fact that they were still tied to the…

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Alexander ll was seen to be liberal in the early years of his reign as seen in the emancipation of the Serfs in 1861. This gave the Serfs more freedom and basic rights which at this time was a major liberal reform compared to the majority of the previous Tsars, this was by in large Alexander’s greatest reform. The emancipation, he hoped, would lead to greater agricultural output in order to finance the railways, and the beginning of the…

    • 3481 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Russian Revolution Causes

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Russian Revolution was one of the most important revolutions in history. Just like the French people, Russians got tired of being treated unfairly by the Higher classes, and so decided to revolt against them. However unlike the French, they could not be satisfied, or entertained for long by a single revolution, reason why they did many revolts. Each time retreating at its middle, until they finally were annoyed and determined enough to overthrow the Government and change their lives as they knew it. Even so, that wasn’t the only cause of the Russian Revolution, along the many revolts came various relevant causes and events, but only few of them stood out, with such importance to today’s history of the causes for the Russian…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huge changes came to Russia when the tsar Alexander II came to power. His reforms freed the serfs and industrialized the nation’s economy. In the past, Russian serfs were tied to the land and worked on the land for the land owners and received no pay. While they were permitted to have farms of their own, serfs had to work the lord’s land whenever called upon, even during times of harvest when their own crops need harvesting or tending. Due to Alexander II’s reforms, these serfs were freed. Once these serfs were freed, they either went into the city to look for work or out to the country to find land. Many also fled to surrounding societies to escape the Russian hardships of being a serf. Russian labor was also changed through Industrialization, also influenced by Alexander II’s reforms. Factories and railroads expanded and industries like coal, steel, and petroleum boomed. Serfs who were emancipated found easy work in factories that were booming. With new industries creating new jobs and plenty of freed serfs to take them, the Russian labor system greatly changed between 1750 and 1914.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This period of time ensured many changes, positive and negative regarding the labor system. It is evident that serfdom congealed from about 1750 onwards, meaning that the peasants were required to provide free labor for a particular number of days a year or a specific amount of money to their lords. The time of labor depended on when it was needed. For example, during harvesting or sowing. The job had to be done, regardless, the peasants own farming responsibilities. Subsequent to the emancipation of serfs in 19th century, they had to buy their own freedom, as they were granted land they also had to pay for working on it. Eventually, such strict limitations caused farmers and peasants to leave their farming business and seek more opportunities in large urban areas. That lead to Russia’s rapid industrialization during the 18th. However, prior to Russia's industrialization workers set up guilds to protect their interests. Such guilds were often set up in areas where workers migrated to work - such as logging camps, and were often communal. Although, as the industrialization finally occurred in 19th century, people traveled to cities seeking more opportunities, causing the population to extremely swell. Such overpopulation ensued in dangerous working conditions, very poor sanitation and exploitation of the workers. Such circumstances were very hard to fight off as Russia didn’t have a very strong reformist movement to address such problematic aspects of the society. Unsuccessful attempts to reform the working class troubles, resulted in growing unrest and discontent among all. Eventually, public announcement of opinions was strictly forbidden and punished by a trip to Siberia, which was later widely expanded by the…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the period from 1855 to 1964, Russia saw various reforms and policies under the Tsars and the Communist leaders that had great impacts on its economy and society both positive and negative. Lenin definitely implanted polices that changed society and the economy for example with war communism. However whether his policies had the greatest impact is debatable and in this essay I will be assessing the view whether Lenin had the greatest impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other ruler between the period from 1855-1964.…

    • 2039 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first measure he took shortly after he came to power was to emancipate the serfs in order to modernise Russia and finally bring social stability after years of chaos and fighting to keep up with the West. The Emancipation Edict was passed in 1861 but was better known as the “Great Disappointment” due to the fact that state serfs had to wait until 1866 to be freed, and as a result of the redemption tax serfs had to pay back to their former owners for the loss of labour and as payment for the allotments they received at emancipation. The serfs also could not keep the land they had worked - day and night – on and ended up getting bad quality land most of the time as their former owners kept the fertile, good quality land, and this unfair distribution of land led to even more hostility and disappointment. Mirs were set up to provide uniformity and stability. They were responsible for the allocation of land and they had special village courts, which ensured that the peasants remained separate and denied the full equality of other citizens, despite supposedly being “free”.…

    • 722 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The abolition of serfdom in 1861, under Alexander II, and the reforms which followed were a ‘watershed’, ‘a turning point’ in the history of Russia. After being soundly defeated in the Crimean War (1853-56), Russia was fully exposed to her backwardness in all fields- military, economic, social and administrative. The reforms under Alexander II, an aftermath of the war were undertaken to air the grievances of different sections of society. During the late 1860s and 70s, a more assertive public opinion was emerging with recurrent outbreaks of student protest and formation of a small but dynamic underground revolutionary movement, which pressurized the government for more changes.…

    • 3563 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peasants in Russia

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Assess the view that the condition of the peasantry in Russia was transformed in the period from 1855 to 1964.”…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Russia had many problems that were being blamed on serfdom like military unskillfulness, the scarcity of food around the country, over population in some areas of the country, civil and public disorder and finally a delayed industry caused by serfdom. In 1856, Alexander II declared to the nobility in Russia that the change was needed and this modification was that serfdom would end and the nobility would have to decide how.…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    heyo potao

    • 1486 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Describe and analyze the long-term social and economic trends in the period 1860 to 1917 that prepared the ground for revolution in Russia.…

    • 1486 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Russia Change over Time

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In 1700, serfdom had been what Eastern European society was based on in Russia. Serfs were tied to the land as a limited form of slavery. While forms of democracy was spreading across the globe in the late 1700s, Russia was behind and barely affected by the new ways of nationalism inspired by the French Revolution. However, Alexander II had serfdom abolished in the 1861 because he did not believe a country could compete in the modern world if it was based on slavery. However, although serfdom had ended, the status of the peasants did not as remnants of the class structure remained and the liberated serfs remained at the bottom of the social ladder. By the 1860s, when Russia was industrializing, the role the lower class played in society would shift as the liberated serfs moved to the cities to seek work in the factories. This change exists because of the severe hardships in the rural population due to increased taxes on the land. The…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To what extent do you consider that the October 1917 Revolution was a key turning point in the development of modern Russia in the years 1856-1964?…

    • 1462 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Serfdom had become the great moral and political issue for the Russian government by the 1840’s. Then the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 brought crisis, arising out of a dispute with France over who should protect Christian Shrines in the Ottoman empire. This war resulted in a huge loss for Russia due to its lack of industrialization. This was a huge turning point for Russia as it raised massive peasant rebellion and the need to industrialize. In 1855 Nicolas I died, handing the throne to a new Russian Czar, Alexander II. Later in 1861, Alexander freed the serfs in hopes of the emergence of a middle class. He believed after emancipating the serfs some would succeed to generate an entrepreneurial…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Alexander II ascended the throne at the age of thirty-seven. He was tsar of Russia from 1855-1881. Alexander II was referred to as the “Tsar Liberator.” One of the major accomplishments of Alexander II is that he was able to emancipate the serfs. Alexander II singed the emancipation manifesto on March 3, 1861. At his coronation he stated that it is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until it would abolish itself from below. (Riasanovsky 366) Prior to the emancipation there had been many peasant uprisings in the attempt to gain freedom. According to the official record, Vasilii Semevsky had counted 550 peasant uprisings in the 19th century prior to the emancipation of the serfs. (Riasanovsky 365) It is speculated that this number is very inaccurate and it is more likely that there were 1,467. Inna Ignatovich gave this break down, “281 peasant rebellions, that is, 19 percent of the total, in the period form 1801-1825; 712 rebellions, 49 percent, from 1826-1854; and 474 uprisings, or 32 percent, in the six years and two months of Alexander II’s reign before the abolition of serfdom.” (Riasanovsky 365) Clearly there were many uprisings going on, which more than likely could have influenced his strong decision to liberate the serfs. During this time there were many exoduses of the serfs towards Caucasus because the serfs believed the rumors of freedom available there. There was the more obvious moral attributes displayed in his decision as well. Many political parties, such as the Decembrists, the Slavophiles, the Westernizers, the Petrashevtsy, and some supporters of the…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays