A Study On The Nobility Conservatism In Russian Peasant Reform Of 1861

This paper mainly studies the ideology,program plan and political activities of conservative nobles during the period of the peasant reform in 1861,explores the realities and changes of their positions and analyzes their influence on the reform process.Dating back to the end of the 18 th century,analyzing the political,economic and social characteristics of the aristocracy,showing the essence and change of the noble conservative position,and the relationship between the aristocracy and the authoritarian system.From the content point of view,it includes four important issues together: Russian conservatism,Russia 1861 peasant reform,the Russian aristocratic history,the Russian serfdom.The reform of 1861 was the key moment in determining the fate of the Russian aristocracy: on the one hand,the socio-political and economic characteristics of the aristocracy under the serfdom were revealed in this reform;on the other hand,these characteristics themselves largely determined the aristocracy demands and activities in the reform,determines the main content and outcome of the aristocratic conservatism.Therefore,this article's main line is the Russian aristocratic history,both from the macro traces studies the serfdom under the aristocratic state of the basic situation,but also from the micro-specific analyzes their programs and activities during the reform.The full text includes the introduction,four chapters and conclusions.In the introduction,the history of Russian conservatism and Russian Great reform is discussed in detail,and the literatures and research methods used in this paper are presented.The innovation and shortcomings of this paper are introduced.It is important to note that this article is consciously pursuing the Zaionchkovsky School in the study of peasant reform in 1861In addition to the introduction,the trunk includes the following four aspects:The first chapter discusses the political,economic and social characteristics of the nobility under the serfdom,and analyzes the reason why the nobility insists on the conservative position on the eve of the reform in 1861 and the related influencing factors.On the one hand,the aristocracy has a privileged position in politics,possession of land property rights and serf ownership,and the implementation of hierarchical autonomy.Along with the intensification of the exploitation of peasants and the slow development of serfdom economy,aristocratic income is also increasing.On the other hand,despite the great political potential of the Russian aristocracy,they still politically attached to the imperial power,and fell in conflict with the bureaucracy.In the economy,the aristocratic landlords depend on the labor of the peasants and contradict the peasants' land concept for centuries.The serfdom was also in deep crisis,although the crisis did not affect the determination of the nobility's maintaining of serfdom.But the impoverishment and inner differentiation of the nobility affected their ability to maintain the privilege of hierarchy.Therefore,at the beginning of the reform,the aristocracy is still a group of lax,dependent on the imperial power,economically weak privilege level.The second chapter discusses the reform and the protection of the conservative aristocracy.First of all,Alexander II's reform has a long history,and aristocratic conservatism emerged also in the process of production.The reforms of Alexander I and Nicholas I on the issue of peasants had had a significant impact on Alexander II's policy on peasants.The core of this chapter is the first guiding principle of the tsarist government-the edict of November 20,1857 and the reaction and struggle of the conservatives.The purpose of the edict is to abolish the serfdom,but it wants to maintain both the landlord and the peasants' demand for the land,and retain the landlord's sovereignty over the peasants in the case of peasant autonomy,so it is vague and contradictory.Conservative aristocrats generally resisted the principle of edict,especially against redeeming the household and the long-term use of the land,that was regarded as unfairly depriving of aristocratic property and weakening the aristocratic political role.The conservative aristocracy had a stubborn boycott of the edict,but ended up in failure,and they were forced to agree to the abolition of the serfdom.This is because the nobility's dissonance and dependence on the tsarist government;and second,because the serfdom was experiencing a crisis,the abolition of serfdom was no longer a matter of principle,but a matter of time;and the third,aristocracy only involved in reform,they wound not lose the initiative to reform.The third chapter discusses the rising and failure of the conservative nobility's scheme.(1)The background and its essence of the April Program of 1858.Although Alexander II initiated the reform,the reformers are still in a weak situation.Conservative nobles promulgated the April program.This program not only allowed the nobles to prepare for reform,but also the implementation of reform,in fact,was to protect the aristocracy monopoly land ownership,and strengthen the control of farmers.(2)The attitude of the provincial aristocracy committees for the reform.They opposed the edict and agree with the April program,to them,liberation of farmers and protection of land private rights were two completely independent issues,considering that the liberation of the farmers should be compensated to the aristocracy,that is,should be the human redemption,and that even if the farmers get personal free,and should not touch the landlords' land.So the conservative aristocracy opposed redeeming the household – it would destroy the aristocratic land property rights.But in the case of losing the personal control of the peasantry,the nobility had to agree the peasants to redeem the household,hoping to make up for their losses by high ransom.At the same time,they wanted the peasants to use the land temporarily,after the transition period it would be returned to the nobility.(3)The transition of the reform: the December program of 1858.The role of Alexander II and Rostovshev,the bankruptcy of the Baltic model.The December program finally set the goal of reform: let the farmer become the land owner,not only let them redeem the household,but also redeem the land,at the same time the farmers get personal rights,property rights,and the implementation of village autonomy.Conservative aristocrats in the upper echelons of the government failed to stop the transition.Chapter 4 deals with the struggle between conservatives and the Compiling committee.(1)In March 1859 the Tsar set up a special bureaucratic apparatus-the Compiling committee to consider the aristocracy schemes and formulate a national reform draft.In the Compiling committee conservatives were only a few,the most important of which was the Petersburg noble Shuvalov and the rich landlord of black soil Posen.The former opposed the redemption of lotment,opposed the forced redemption;the latter opposed the indefinite use of land,opposed the peasants to retain the existing land,opposed the invariability of rent,only allowing the farmers to voluntarily redeem the land.But their struggle eventually failed.(2)Opposition activities outside the Committee.The great aristocracy was extremely dissatisfied with the bureaucratic reform,saying that the right to solve the peasant problem belongs to the nobility rather than the government.The arrogance of the aristocracy is becoming increasingly evident,and the aristocratic constitutionalism begins to emerge.The government launched a counterattack against the nobility.? The struggle of two groups of aristocratic representatives and the Compiling committee in the end of 1859 to early 1860.Conservative aristocracy and the Compiling committee launched face-to-face conflicts;they resolutely defend the aristocratic land property rights,asked to retain the aristocracy's territorial rights of farmers,against the Compiling committee's the reform programs,against bureaucratic forces into the countryside.But the tsar finally supported the Compiling committee.(4)Conservative aristocrats in the upper echelons of the government did not prevent the adoption of the Compiling committee's programs,although they were modified,but the main principles of reform were preserved.The last chapter is the conclusion.This paper draws the following conclusions:(1)The reform of 1861 highlights the rapid changes in the Russian history,this sharp transition showed that the historical accumulation of hidden forces at the crucial moment played an important role.This power came from the ideological crisis of the serfdom and the Russian political crisis after the defeat of the Crimea,from the reforms of the Russian government on the peasant issue in the first half of the 19 th century,and also from the characteristics of the Russian nobility and the serfdom itself.The serfdom was weak and in decline.Conservative aristocrats in the mid-nineteenth century were as difficult to defend the legitimacy of serfdom in theory and law as the thinkers of the early nineteenth century,and they were forced to agree to reform and could only use it as a bargaining chip for political and economic practical benefits.(2)The peasant reform in 1861 was the key node of the change of land relations in Russia.Under the serfdom,although the aristocracy had complete property rights over the land,the aristocracy did not have complete control of land because of the presence of the peasants,which eventually led to the 1861 reform that could not be carried out without land.? In the process of developing reform program,Alexander II played the role of moderator and balancer and became the ultimate arbiter.He protected the aristocracy's right to participate in the reform,while maintaining their loyalty and dependence to the tsar.On the most critical issue of land and redemption,Alexander II expressed a balance between landlords and farmers' interests.(4)Conservative aristocrats want to deprive the peasant's land rights,hoping that the peasants will continue to be attached to the nobility in the economic and administrative terms after the liberation,but this kind of scheme cannot be supported by the authoritarian system because the tsar regard the peasants as their own rule.The relationship with the authoritarian system has changed.? As the privilege level of Russia,aristocratic level was weak,they could use very limited power in the struggle with the government.The bureaucracy,including the Compiling committee,was actually afraid of the collective resistance of the aristocracy,but because of the lax and inconsistency of the aristocracy,the dependence on the tsar regime and internal division,the aristocracy could only rely on the Mercy and support of the tsar to maintain their own interests.The conservative aristocracy was strong,but because of the inability to win the support of the tsar,their opposition finally failed.This also indicated the ultimate outcome of aristocratic conservatism under the autocratic system.