Reasons for Emancipation

Reasons for Emancipation

There were four main reasons for the emancipation of the serfs: Risk of revolt Economic reasons Moral reasons Crimean war

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Caption: : Serfs

Risk of Revolt

Alexander II said, "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below." Serious peasant revolts in the past and disturbances had been increasing since the 1840's. Alexander was especially unsettled by the 1848 revolts in Europe. worried that the army was mainly made up of peasants so it might be difficult to contain an uprising. The Tsar was so worried that he ordered weekly reports on the mood of the peasants from 1857. However, many argue that the scale of these revolts was greatly exaggerated as the main sources of data are unreliable.

Economic Reasons

They believed you needed a free labour market where peasants could move around to where they could be most productive. Many enlightened government officials and intellectuals believed that serfdom needed to be abolished in order for the Russian economy to advance. Nicholas Milyutin, an official in the Ministry of interior Affairs, wrote, "Serfdom serves as the main- even the only- hiderance to the development in Russia at the present time... Only with the emancipation of the serfs will the betterment of our rural economy be possible. Some of these officials accepted the arguments of economists, for example Adam smith, that free labour was more productive than forced labour.

Crimean War

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Caption: : The Crimean war

The army was mainly comprised of peasants, many of whom were serfs. They were compulsorily enlisted for periods of 25 years- and if they survived this period they were given their freedom. Military reformers thought that Russia needed a smaller, better trained army with a reserve. This meant entailed peasants served for a shorter time before returning home- so thousands of freed serfs with military experience would be released back to their villages- a risky proposition. Military reform could only take place is serfdom was abolished.

Moral Reasons

A radical intelligentsia who opposed serfdom was growing. Members of the royal family dating from Catherine the great (1762-96) had considered serfdom morally and ethically wrong. Nicholas I said "serfdom is an evil, palpable and obvious to all." Some nobles and liberal state officials knew it was wrong to own people, and it demeaned the serf owner as well a the serf. The writer, Turgenev, drew attention to the plight of the serfs.

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Caption: : Serfs