Serfdom is frequently regarded as a major institutional constraint on the economic progression of Tsarist Russia, which persisted after emancipation in 1861. Many Scholars have argued that even after the emancipation serfdom persisted due to its profitability and the genuine fear among Russians of ‘change’. This is shown by ‘The peasant protest’ when the 1861 serf emancipation act was formed. However, it is be acquainted to the high birth rate resulting from ‘near-universal and early marriage.’ For the duration of this period Russian serfs or peasants promoted high birth rates for a number of reasons. ‘There was an abundance of land available for cultivation by the growing number of peasants in most of Russia prior to the end of the eighteenth …show more content…
Within Russia there have been famines, and this inevitably constitutes another important reason for the high birth rate of peasants. Serfs had very high death rates, as a result of the ‘unhygienic conditions and customs of village life and environmental factors, periodic epidemics and bad harvests posed constant threats to the inhabitants of households and communities.’ Consequently this does indicate why serfdom persisted in Russia. Higher birth rates would mean increased labour, when the father of the family died or was too old to work his sons would take over, it was like a fallacy. In conclusion, many historians would use serfdom as a scapegoat to explain Russia’s issues such as famines, over population, military failures, civil disorders such as rebellions and protests and industrial economic backwardness. However I believe serfdom persisted in Russia because it was beneficial to the state, nobility and landowners. Why would they stop an institution that has lasted for centuries? Well, there was a general fear because serfdom was so successful if it was officially eradicated what would they replace it with? Russia hardly had any enterprises or entrepreneurs who could invest to create new institutions. Although many
During the early 20th century in Russia, the country was a tsarist country which was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II. Russia was a vast country who had one of the largest agriculture producer. During that time Russia rely on agricultural as their national income. This peasant country have a population of approximately 127 million people. The rich were very rich and have a comfortable life while the poor was treated unfairly, many people had died because they don’t have enough food.
Russia reborn The Russian Revolution can be argued, that it was started for many different reasons but i believe it was caused by three main reasons that happened in Russia during this period of time. The three reasons are, the involvement of Russia in WWI, the autocratic government, and the poverty/non-industrial economy and agriculture. In Document 1 it says “ Before the twentieth-century, 80%-95% of the population were poor peasants”. Since economic struggles were country wide and the people were suffering, a change or a revolution was close to come.
Money was required for Russia to build their own industrial base to support themselves. To build this infrastructure they had to borrow money from other countries. In exchange Russia would give them grains. Hence, Russia’s economy depended on the peasant who had to feed themselves & the bourgeoisie.The peasants weren’t productive enough. As a result, Stalin started to collect agriculture to finance industrialization (New World Encyclopedia contributors, 2014). Economics historians believe it to be the fastest economic growth rate ever achieved. In 1932-1933 the 4th greatest famine occured in the USSR due to collectivication (Fitzgerald, 2013). The workers building and working in these industries were unpaid laborers and prisoners (New World Encyclopedia contributors, 2014). Because there was about ~7 million - 15 million prisoners in labor camps and they were working in industries, those camps were now necessary for the prosperity of Russia’s economy (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.). With all those measures in place the productions of coal, pig iron & steel increased (New World Encyclopedia contributors,
Pre-Revolutionary Russia was infamous for the growing discontent amongst the people from systematic mistreatment and neglect. Sources 6, 7 and 8 despite differing in content and provenance all provide insight into the social situation in pre-revolutionary Russia and reasons for the peoples’ discontent. According to its context statement by M, Anderson, Source 6, Living conditions in pre-revolutionary Russia, is a photograph from the early 20th century that illustrates the standard living conditions of peasants in Russia at the time. This visual source provides primary insight into the standards of poverty that were frequent amongst the working classes and serfs during the circa 1900s. The photograph depicts an emaciated and impoverished family
3. What were the main causes of Russian policy toward the serfs? Tsars granted hereditary territories to military
(doc.1) so the peasants were pretty much like slaves. There were more poor people who were farmers and they didn't have food .this lead people aka poor people go into a rant and wanted to overthrow tsar's government. The middle term cause was that tsar had too much power in his hands. In ‘' the 19th century a significant minority of the Russian population began to call for a voice in the government'' (doc.1) so people thought the ones
Russia was a country rich in raw materials that had been undisturbed by modern extraction and refining techniques until then, however, the majority of the countries resource rich areas were nowhere near any railways, with the bulk of the heavy materials such as steel, iron, coal and copper being in the Urals, almost 1,000km away from the nearest railway system in 1860. Oil, another key ingredient in industrialisation was almost 1,500km away to the south, in the Caucasus area3. This lack of transportation in a period when steam powered machines were producing the goods and steam powered trains were delivering them and leading the industrialisation in other countries like Britain, the USA and a future foe in Germany is an indicator of the distance that Russia was behind its rivals under the leadership of the Tsar. So the Tsar’s Russia was largely an agrarian one, but even in the agricultural sector Russia was lagging far behind the rest of the West in terms of the methods employed by farmers, little fertiliser was used and the labour saving machines used in countries with enormous agricultural output like the US were nowhere near as widespread in Russia. The weaknesses of the Tsar’s management of the agricultural sector were highlighted in 1891 when famine hit. Due to the heavy tax on consumer goods, peasants had been forced to sell more of their
Intentions of Alexander II and the Failure of the Emancipation of the Serfs In the 19th century it was estimated that about 50 per cent of the 40,000,000 peasants in Russia were serfs, who worked on the land and were owned by the Russian nobility, the Tsar and religious foundations. This had been true for centuries; in 1861, however, this was all changed when Tsar Alexander II emancipated the serfs and gave them freedom from ownership. Alexander's decision was based on many reasons, and did not have the desired consequences, for the serfs at least. Therefore, it is possible to question Alexander's motives for such large reform, which this essay will do and will also look at why the emancipation,
The landowners charged the Serfs high rent for the land and its use. Even though both countries had different economic inequities they were also similar. In both countries the land was owned by the higher class rather than the lower class. There was very little change when talking about the economic and social aspects of the people in Russia and
In the 1880s Russia's farming land was being decreased vastly. The farmers and peasants were facing poverty that eventually let to some cases of starvation. According to the United States census
Imagine what life was like back then as a peasant. Imagine you were in Russia back in the early 1900’s, where there was no personal electronic devices, there was no television, and you were probably too poor to afford a radio. Pretty soon however, your life will change because of an event called Bloody Sunday, which started the Russian revolution. I think that the Russian revolution was partially necessary to improve the life of the peasants, because the result of a couple of the leaders turned a good opportunity into a bad one by having a corrupt government.
Russia's overthrows and shortage caused revolutionary upheaval and massive inflation, which led to deprived infrastructure. During World War I, Russian society naturally caused great dissatisfaction among the serfs. As the revolution wore on, numerous reform and Tsar Nicholas II, a ruler, tried to change Russia's social structure and government. Among the masses, there was discontentment with Russia's social system and living conditions. Laborers worked and lived in horrendous conditions, which played a crucial role in aggravating the condition of workers and peasants. As a result, peasants starved and Russia’s armies were overpowered on the battlefield because much of its terrain was occupied by enemies. Hence, Imperial Russia was a
In the 19th century, Russia was a huge country with millions of extremely poor farming peasants called serfs. They believed that the Tsar was second only to god in power, and that tsar had control over everyone.
The peasantry made up a huge proportion of the population and the stability of the Russia depended on their compliance. There had been growing peasant resentments over noble ownership and this resulted in the peasants trying to overthrow the landowners. The commune were poorly organised and
Although serfdom was abolished in 1861, the Russian societal climate at the dawn of the twentieth century was a breeding ground for revolutionary ideas and beliefs