There was still serfdom in russia until february 19, 1861. Serfdom quotes quotes about serfdom yourdictionary. According to the russian census of 1857, russia had 23. Hoch recreates life on a serf estate in this groundbreaking social history. Most of these were the property of the nobility but large numbers were owned by the tsar and religious foundations. The book is divided into three chronological periods, each containing chapters on society. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude, which developed during the late antiquity and early middle ages in europe and lasted in some countries until the mid19th century. In this era several serf memoirs appeared in russian literary journals or were published as books. In the book, radishchev takes an imaginary journey between russia s two principal cities. Here are 4 mustread books about serfdom life in russia global authors. Peasants in russia from serfdom to stalin provides a comprehensive, realistic examination of peasant life in russia during both these eras and the legacy this left in the postsoviet era. Savva purlevskii recollects his life in russian serfdom and life of his grandparents. How american slavery echoed russian serfdom jstor daily.
Serfdom remained in force in most of russia until the emancipation reform of 1861, enacted on february 19, 1861, though in the russian controlled baltic provinces it had been abolished at the beginning of the 19th century. In russia and the other slavic countries serfdom took different forms and persisted in some cases as late as the 19th cent. Latest posts exploring medieval russia in veliky novgorod. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude, which developed during the late antiquity and early middle ages in europe and lasted in some. Serfdom in its russian variant could not have existed without the precedent and presence of slavery. A life under russian serfdom preface openedition books. Westerners have a view of the russian revolution as an uprising of downtrodden peasants against their rich landlords, like a replay of the french revolution, and tend to ignore the uprisings of city workers.
While slavery and russian serfdom are often equalized, serfs, according to different accounts and researches, lived better than slaves. The russian countryside in the 1800s was quite egalitarian. This is the autobiography of a serf who came from an initially prosperous but then impoverished family. Reading books printed before the october revolution, including those of g. Historians usually trace the root of russian serfdom to the 11th century, but it only began to fully establish itself after the introduction of the sobornoye ulozhenie law code in 1649 by tsar alexei mikhailovich which first legally tied serfs to russian. The virginia house of burgessess first piece of slave legislation, allowing african slavery for. Aleksandr nikitenko, descended from oncefree cossacks, was born into serfdom in provincial russia in 1804. In february 1861 tsar alexander ii issued the statutes abolishing the institution of serfdom in russia. Coverage focuses on those of the empires european territories populated predominantly by ethnic russian peasants. Although the legal and economic history of serfdom has received widespread scholarly attention, the social aspects of serf life have been ignored. The book, published almost a year after the emancipation, zooms in on the final years of serfdom and attempts to trace its impending abolition by focussing on the generation gap in human relationships that. The emancipation reform of 1861 in russia, also known as the emancipation edict of russia, russian.
The serfdom that had operated in russia since the middle of the seventeenth century was technically not slavery. Russia s age of serfdom 16491861 offers a broad interpretive history of the russian empire from the time of serfdom s codification until its abolition following the crimean war. Longman, pearson 2005 is jerome blums 1961 lord and peasant in russia, princeton university press nonspecialists clearly need a reliable summary of the last four decades of scholarship. To the peasant in imperial russia, dearth and disease were far more potent forces than czar or landlord. At least they had their own living space, mostly as separate houses except some of livein servants, had more. That stopped the people moving to eastern europe, and many people who were already there died. One of 300,000 serfs owned by count sheremetev, nikitenko as a teenager became fiercely determined to gain his freedom.
The book elegantly printed by the central european university press and illuminated with nineteenthcentury miniatures of peasant life will surely provide an attractive teaching material for the courses on prereform russian history, as well as a good read for all those interested in social history of russia. These younger peasants had access to newspapers and books, which. Was black slavery in the united states worse than serfdom. It covers the period from ivan iv to the death of nicholas ii. Hine writes, during roughly the same time period as american slavery. Since the most recent work on russian serfdom to be cited in peter stearns, et al. My childhood and youth in russia, 1804 1824 by aleksandr nikitenko. Serfdom is the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. A member of the lowest feudal class, legally bound to a landed estate and required to perform labor for the lord of that estate in exchange for a. The russian code of 1649 firmly embedded serfdom as a labor system. Among the very few autobiographies ever written by an exserf, up from serfdom providesa unique portrait of serfdom in nineteenthcentury russia and a profoundly clear sense of what such bondage meant to the people, the culture, and the nation.
Isbn 5 88607 028 1 proceedings of seminar serfdom in russia and its. Serfdom, society, and the arts in imperial russia yale. Slavery, by contrast, was an ancient institution in russia and effectively was abolished in the 1720s. Ivan turgenevs fathers and sons is a book which, among other things, carefully explores the institution of serfdom and the shape it takes with the changing times in russia of 1858. List of books and articles about serfdom in russia online. Russian slavery and serfdom, 14501804 chapter 11 the. There are chronologies for each of the reigns and the handbook covers important political and administrative changes, the influence of the west, religion, serfdom, and economic progress. This contrasted with the system in the usa where the negro slaves were chattels.
A life under russian serfdom introduction openedition books. Serfdom simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Serfdom and generation gap in fathers and sons by ivan. It tells the story of a peasant who knew sorrow in his. By the 19th century it was estimated that about 50 per cent of the 40,000,000 russian peasants were serfs. Since its publication in 1944, the road to serfdom has been an influential and popular exposition of market libertarianism. Serfdom, which began in 1450, evolved into nearslavery in the eighteenth century and was finally abolished in 1906.
Russian life is a publication of a 30yearyoung, awardwinning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for russophiles the world over. The russian system of serfdom, which was established in most ukrainian territories under russian rule at the end of the 18th century, was based on the principle that the lord owned the peasant under his control. List of books and articles about serfdom online research. Imperial russia provides an accessible reference tool for students, researchers, historians and russian history enthusiasts. Serfdom in russia developed gradually over many centuries. Peasant life and serfdom under tsarist russia guided history. Serfdom quotes quotes tagged as serfdom showing 110 of 10 it was pitiful for a person born in a wholesome free atmosphere to listen to their humble and hearty outpourings of loyalty toward their king and church and nobility. Krestyanskaya reforma 1861 goda peasants reform of 1861 was the first and most important of the liberal reforms passed during the reign 18551881 of emperor alexander ii of russia. Often described as a russian uncle toms cabin, it is a polemical study of the problems in the russia of catherine the great. Savva purlevskii recollects his life in russian serfdom and life of his grandparents, parents, and fellow villagers. This book is an excellent addition to the literature on serfdom, prereform provincial society, russian history in the early nineteenth century, and the development of sociopolitical thought among nonelite groups during that period. This collection of stories made turgenev wildly popular with russias. But we remember that it was just precisely in the reign of richard ii that the peasants war, following upon the changes wrought by the visitations of the great plague, virtually destroyed serfdom as a personal sta.
It was regarded by the majority of russians as the major defect in the russian state and as contrary to the interests of the rising industrial class and of the great landowners. The procedures set in motion by alexander ii undid the ties. The term serf, in the sense of an unfree peasant of the russian empire, is the usual. The emancipation of the russian serfs, 1861 history today. This is a translation of one of very few russian serfs memoirs. List of books and articles about serfdom in russia. This book examines the history of reforms and major state interventions affecting russian agriculture. The origins of serfdom as a form of migration control can be seen in midfifteenthcentury documents that restricted peasant movement to the period on or around st. In russian baltic provinces it ended in the beginning of 19th century russian serfdom reforms. The peasantry accounted for the large majority of the russian population during the imperialist and stalinist periods it is, for the most part, how people lived. Rather than presenting abolition as an event that happened in february 1861, the abolition of serfdom in russia presents the.