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Essay On Serfdom In Russia

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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

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