A Study On The Economy Of Peasants After The Emancipation Of The Russian Serfs In 1861

The Emancipation of the Russian Serfs in 1861 was the great event which abolished serfdom and librated peasants. However, the liberation of peasants was just surface, in fact, serfdom existed widely in Russia, and peasants continued to suffer from exploiting caused by the remaining evils of feudalism.The article is divided into three parts, including preface, four chapters of text and conclusion. The part of preface mainly elaborates the significance of topics, the summary of research and the main research problems.The first chapter illustrates all kinds of laws which were enacted by the Emancipation of the Russian Serfs in 1861 and all categories peasants in reform process. The reform decrees included mainly The General Statutes, four local acts and the rests of supplementary statutes. There were specific files, enacted in the process of the reform performing, which on the behalf of title documents, foreclosure agreements, mediation collectors’regulations. The laws explicitly stated that the peasants became freemen in term of the law, in possession of rights of person and property. But, it was unfeasible for the regulations and rules to put into effect.Part two, peasants’burden of taxation, analyses the all categories of taxation and rent service burdened by peasants, which limited the rights of peasants’freedom and ownership in land. The government still conducted severe policy of taxation, and peasants tried to raise taxes, but it was hard to break away from owning taxes. The labor rent, quit-rent and mixed rent all transformed to quit-rent, in addition to all object obligation, peasants economic burden were heavier than ever before. The heavy burden forced a lot of peasants to go bankruptcy, as a result, it blocked the development of peasants’economy.Part three studies the land use of peasants after reformation, and the reform declared that the peasants may be“liberated with land”, but the peasants’property in land was not achieved successfully in the reformation. The number of the land in the actually use was reducing, and the soil fertility was declining. It did not even the matter that the peasants rent land, bought land, or cultivated the earth, or government supplied land. And this situation did not change radically until the early 20th century.Part four represents the development of peasants’sideline. Peasants tried to improve economic status with animal husbandry and handicraft activities. But the overall of animal husbandry appeared a trend of decline. And the peasants who had local jobs or went out for jobs did not help alleviate their heavy economic burden. Peasants’sideline just played the role of a beneficial supplement for economy. In a word, the reformation of the abolition of serfdom in Czar Alexander II followed the lift. Because the vested interests in the reform tried to maintain of the tradition, the peasants’burden was heavier, and the development of peasant economy was made more complicated. In the beginning of twenty century, the peasants fell into serious crisis.