Russian serfdom reform new trend of thought

How to evaluate Russia’s 1861 reform

This reform abolished serfdom, and serfs became free people, providing a large amount of free labor for the development of capitalism. The huge land ransoms accumulated a large amount of funds for the development of capitalism. All of these objectively created conditions for the development of capitalism and enabled Russia to embark on the path of capitalist development. The reforms of 1861 were a major turning point in Russian history.

At the same time, the 1861 reforms also retained a large number of feudal remnants, which had a negative impact on the subsequent development of Russian society. The reform of 1861 was another plunder of the peasants. Because the ransom paid by farmers to redeem their land was higher than the land price at the time. The land they acquired was worth about 650 million rubles based on the market price at the time, but the ransom they had to pay was as high as 900 million rubles. They later actually paid The total amount is no less than 2 billion rubles. As Lenin said, "When the peasants gained 'freedom,' they had already been deprived of everything."

The crisis of serfdom In the first half of the 19th century, with the development of the commodity currency economy, Russian landlords continued to intensify the exploitation of serfs in order to increase grain production and expand sources of wealth. As a result, farmers' lives are deteriorating day by day, and their enthusiasm for production is further reduced. This not only affects farmers' income from allotment of land, but also reduces the yield of landlords' land, causing agricultural production to stagnate.

In the context of the serfdom crisis, capitalist factors emerged in the countryside. In order to pursue production, some landowners in Ukraine and the Volga River Basin adopted the wage labor system, replaced the three-field system with crop rotation, purchased agricultural machinery, and expanded the cultivation of cash crops. At the same time, farmers also differentiated, and the rich peasant class emerged. They hired workers to farm and run businesses. Therefore, the serfdom system was in a state of gradual disintegration.

In addition to the above factors, the peasants' struggle also impacted serfdom. In addition to being passive and sabotaging work and destroying landlord property, they also rose up and fought bloody battles. In the first half of the 19th century, thousands of peasant uprisings occurred, which brought serfdom to the point of collapse.

Industry under the serfdom system. Under the serfdom system, there were two types of Russian manual workshops: serfdom and capitalism. The former relied on serf labor and was either established by the government, started for owners, or operated by aristocratic landowners; the latter used wage labor and was established by merchants or rich peasants. In the first half of the 19th century, in order to extract more surplus products, companies that used serfs often used coercive means such as whipping, shackles, and imprisonment to force serfs to increase labor intensity. However, the means used by the serfs such as escaping, setting fires, and uprisings, and the fierce struggles carried out by the owners, made it impossible for the serf workshops to sustain themselves, and they closed down one after another. By 1860, very few of them could survive. While the serf workshops declined, the workshops that exploited wage labor became relatively developed. In the processing industry, free wage workers accounted for 48% of all workers in 1804, rising to 54% in 1825, and reaching 82% in 1860. However, capitalist factories were still bound by serfdom and were difficult to fully develop. For example, the so-called wage workers at this time were mainly serfs who paid rent. The rent they pay is actually part of the surplus value captured by the owners, thus reducing their profit margins.

Due to the development of handicraft workshops and the prosperity of factory owners, Russia also began the Industrial Revolution from the 1830s to the 1840s. Initially, Russian machines were mainly imported from Britain. Later, the machine manufacturing industry also developed. By 1860, there were 59 machine manufacturing plants in Russia, with a total production volume of 7.954 million rubles. Under serfdom in Russia, the majority of serfs had extremely low purchasing power, a small domestic market, and a lack of real free labor. So even after the industrial revolution, the development of industry was still very slow. Out of the need to plunder surplus value, the owners of manual workshops insisted on the abolition of serfdom.

The Decembrist Uprising Most of the Decembrists were young aristocratic officers. The brutality of the tsarist government, the tyranny of the nobility and the backwardness of the serfdom prompted them to launch a struggle to abolish serfdom and the feudal autocratic system. The first organization of the Decembrists was the "National Salvation Association" founded in 1816 by the young officer Moraviev. However, due to internal differences of opinion, it soon collapsed. In 1818, the "Happiness Association" was established, with 200 members. They regard the establishment of a republic as their goal. In 1821, it was reorganized and the "Southern Association" and "Northern Association" were formed. The leader of the Southern Association is Pister, who drafted the first draft of the Constitution of the Republic of China in the history of the Russian revolutionary movement - "Russian Truth". This draft constitution declares the resolute elimination of serfdom and hierarchy, the establishment of a democratic and political system, stipulates that landlords who own more than 10,000 acres of land will confiscate half of it and classify it as public land, and establishes freedom of religious belief, speech, and publication, etc. . The main leader of the Northern Association was Moravyov. According to the draft constitution he drew up, there were high property restrictions on electoral qualifications, and he proposed to liberate serfs but not give them land. This clearly showed the aristocracy of the Decembrists. limitations of class. Among them, a faction headed by Shereyev called for the overthrow of the tsarist system and the establishment of a republic. The two associations were completely consistent in advocating a military coup to overthrow the tsarist system.

After some deliberation, the Decembrists prepared to take advantage of the opportunity of the subjects to swear an oath to the new Tsar Nicholas I (1825-1855) on December 14, 1825, to stage an uprising. On this day, the insurrectionary troops arrived at the Senate Square on time. Although the commander did not show up, 3,000 officers and soldiers also fought against the Royal Cavalry. Nicholas finally mobilized more than 10,000 troops to suppress the uprising. Half a month later, the Decembrists launched another uprising in the south and occupied the city of Vasilkov, but were also defeated by the Tsarist army. Five of the main leaders of the uprising, including Pister and Moraviev, were hanged, and more than 100 people were exiled to Siberia. The Decembrists failed because they did not dare to mobilize the masses and only relied on military conspiracy to complete the revolution. But their heroic struggle against the Tsarist autocracy strengthened the revolutionary will of the Russian people and had a profound impact.

After the Decembrist uprising, the Tsarist government’s reaction was faced with the magnificent people’s movement and the Decembrist uprising. After Nicholas I came to the throne, he “outspokenly and unscrupulously tried to implement autocracy” politics". In July 1826, he set up a "Third Office" in the "His Majesty's Office" to put the reactionary activities of the political police under his personal leadership. In the same year, he promulgated censorship regulations, which stipulated that censors should ban the publication of any works that doubted religious precepts, did not respect the government, criticized the monarchy, or advocated political freedom. In order to consolidate the autocratic system, the tsarist government also strengthened the centralized bureaucracy. Under the reactionary rule of Nicholas I, an atmosphere of terror enveloped the country.

However, the people will not succumb to the tyrannical power of the tsarist government. According to incomplete statistics, 674 peasant uprisings occurred during the reign of Nicholas I. Along with the peasant uprising, workers' unrest also occurred. Between 1830 and 1850, there were at least 108 worker riots. In addition, in September 1830, a Polish uprising occurred that had great influence. In September of the next year, Nicholas mobilized 120,000 troops to suppress it.

The Tsarist government's reaction was also reflected in its foreign policy. Nicholas I tried his best to invade Türkiye and plotted to expand to the Balkans. In 1849, troops were sent to suppress the revolution in Hungary and became the pillar of reactionary forces in Europe.

Revolutionary democrats The increasing crisis of serfdom and the vigorous development of mass struggle have had a strong ideological reflection, and revolutionary democrats have emerged. Revolutionary democrats firmly advocated the use of revolutionary means to overthrow the feudal autocratic system, which to a certain extent reflected the voice of the majority of farmers. Their outstanding representatives are Herzen, Belinsky, Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov.

Herzen (1812-1870) was born into a noble family. He accepted the ideas of French Enlightenment scholars in his early years and was influenced by the Decembrists. While studying at Moscow University (1829-1833), he organized a political group to publicize the importance of establishing a republic. Later, he used novels to expose and attack the evils of the Tsarist autocracy and serfdom. In 1847, Herzen could not bear the persecution of the Tsarist government and went into exile in Western Europe. In July 1857, he and Ogarov published "The Bell". He was a witness to the French Revolution of 1848. After the failure of the revolution, he believed that it was impossible to realize socialism in Western Europe, so he fantasized about using village communities in Russia to directly transition to socialism without going through capitalism. Of course, this kind of "socialism" is as Lenin said: "It is not socialism at all, but a kind of beautiful words and good wishes used by bourgeois democrats and the proletariat that have not yet escaped its influence to express their revolutionary nature at that time. "①

Belinsky (1811-1848) was born into a poor family of naval doctors. He entered Moscow State University on official scholarship. But he was soon expelled for writing an article attacking the tsarist system. He resolutely opposed barbaric and backward serfdom, and ruthlessly exposed the deception of bourgeois "democracy" and "freedom." Lenin spoke highly of him, calling him "the pioneer of civilian intellectuals who completely replaced the aristocracy" in the history of the Russian liberation movement. ②

Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828-1889) was the son of a pastor. While studying in Petersburg, he was influenced by Herzen and Belinsky. He worked as a teacher and boldly used the classroom to promote revolutionary ideas, and later engaged in literary and artistic activities. Chernyshevsky was a "materialist". He criticized capitalism extremely deeply and advocated the establishment of socialism. But he, like Herzen, also regarded the village community as a bridge for the transition to socialism. However, he was different from the utopian socialists in Western Europe. He did not place his hope of realizing socialism on the "goodwill" of the property-owning class and the government, but believed that the people's revolution was the only way to establish a new society.

Nikolai A. Dobrolyubov (1836-1861) was a comrade and student of Chernyshevsky. He criticized serfdom and autocratic regimes mercilessly, and vigorously promoted socialism. He and Chernyshevsky edited the influential magazine Modern Man. With this magazine as the center, they organized and united many revolutionaries and revolutionary groups.

Revolutionary democrats not only create revolutionary public opinion, but also go deep into the masses and try to organize the people.

In the late 1950s, they opened weekly schools, enrolled working people, and established close ties with the people. Their activities played a great role in promoting the abolition of serfdom in Russia.

The Crimean War, the invasion of West Asia by Russia, Britain, and France, caused conflicts between Russia and the two countries. This contradictory development led to the outbreak of the Crimean War. On October 4, 1853, Türkiye declared war on Russia with the instigation of Britain and France. After the war began, three battlefields were formed: the Danube River Basin, the Black Sea Coast and the Caucasus. On November 30, the Russian navy defeated the Turkish fleet north of Sinop on the Black Sea coast, putting Turkey at a disadvantage. In order to save Turkey's defeat and stop the expansion of Russian power in West Asia, Britain and France declared war on Russia on March 28, 1854. The British and French fleets launched attacks against Russia in the Black Sea, Baltic Sea, and White Sea. On September 14, 1854, the British and French forces launched an attack on Russia in the Black Sea, Baltic Sea and White Sea. On September 14, 1854, after the British and French forces landed at Yevpatoria on the northern coast of the Black Sea, the Crimean Peninsula became the main battlefield. In January 1855, the Kingdom of Sardinia also joined the coalition fighting. After nearly a year of fighting in Crimea, the Russian army was forced to retreat from Sevastopol on September 11. This is a sign that the Russian army has basically lost its combat effectiveness. Although the Russian army later defeated the Turkish army in the Caucasus battlefield, it was difficult to reverse Russia's defeat. In March 1856, the warring parties signed a peace treaty in Paris, agreeing that neither Russia nor Turkey could maintain fleets in the Black Sea; Turkey's Christians would be "jointly protected" by major European powers; Russia would dismantle its fortresses in the Black Sea. Since then, the superior positions of Britain and France in the Balkans and West Asia have been consolidated.