Serfdom in Russia

[Larry1]

In much of Europe the institution of serfdom existed a thousand years ago. Serfdom was somewhat different from country to country and period to period, so it is difficult to write about it in detail without expending considerable research and effort. But serfdom was a very important institution in Imperial Russia and it occurs to me that many readers might not be aware of it.

Serfs were somewhat similar to slaves, although there were differences between the two. Most serfs in the Russian Empire were agricultural workers. Serfdom evolved in the Empire, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries. There were times and places where serfs were bound to the land and there were times and places where serfs could be sold apart from the land upon which they worked.

Serfs could be punished by their masters, but this punishment had its limits.  The impetus behind this thread was an event that occurred on this date in 1768:

On October 2, 1768, Empress Catherine the Great convicted landlady Darya Saltykova of brutality to her serfs – the recorded number of her victims alone amounted to 139 people.

Although serfdom existed in Russia for centuries, generally known for the arbitrariness of the landlords and displays of unprecedented violence of the masters towards their slaves, Darya Saltykova – often referred to as Saltychikha – was one to go beyond any possible boundary in her cruelty.

Darya Saltykova was not prone to sadism in her early years. She came from a common family, and only entered aristocratic circles by successfully marrying an officer, Gleb Saltykov, of a very high descent. Unfortunately, Saltykova’s married life was ended abruptly by the tragic death of her husband when she was only 26. Becoming one of the richest landowners in Russia with over 600 serfs, she simultaneously hardened and started to display outbreaks of incredible violence toward her subjects, chiefly the women. This fact is accounted for by her unrequited love for a land surveyor, who had an affair with her, but later married another woman. An infuriated Saltykova decided to kill her unfaithful lover and his sweetheart with a bomb, specially designed for that purpose. Only an anonymous letter warning the unfortunate lover about the impending assault saved him from the inevitable death.

Saltychikha was particularly intolerant towards young girls, seeing them as the major threat to herself and a plague of humankind. In most cases she tortured her maids with her own hands and for no particular reason. She would hit them on the head with rolling pins, logs, steamers, sometimes hot. She would burn their hair or pull it out; she dipped her victims in boiling water and tore their ears off. Some victims were starved to death or kept outside in the cold until they froze. When she got tired of torturing them, she ordered her footmen to carry on in her stead.

Though normally not in the position to complain, her serfs still filed 21 complaints against their sadistic mistress regardless. Saltykova, having vast connections among the law enforcement agencies, still didn’t escape the law. Yermolay Ilyin, a serf whose three wives had been tortured to death by Saltychikha, managed to pass a note to Empress Catherine the Great, asking her to bring the hand of justice down upon the monster...  the Empress finally decided to open a lawsuit against Slatykova. This decision solidified as she was dismayed to hear witnesses talking about Saltykova’s brutality and violence. As many had witnessed against her, Saltykova was finally found guilty.

http://russiapedia.rt.com/on-this-day/october-2

Some noble families owned vast estates upon which tens of thousands of serfs worked. There were some serf orchestras and theaters.

The Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko was born a serf but his freedom was purchased when he was an adult. Not all serfs were agricultural workers. There were even some serfs who worked in factories.

Some masters would take sexual advantage of their female serfs. I remember reading about one serfmaster who typically took up to five serfs into his bedroom at night. One serf would share his bed and the others would sleep on the floor.

Some 19th century Tsars had considered ending serfdom but it was only in 1861 did Tsar Alexander II issue a decree ending serfdom.

I hope some of you will contribute more information on serfdom in the Russian Empire.

[SANDRO43]

I hope some of you will contribute more information on serfdom in the Russian Empire.

For what is worth, I could tell you the gist of what my grandmother (born in 1890) told me about the relationships between her family in the Voronezh area and the peasants in their lands after 1861:

"Russian landowners were of two minds after then, some stubbornly clinging to their old exploitative ways, others like us seeing human potential to be encouraged for what were considered - and considered themselves - members of a larger family, headed by the landowner."

This included funding higher education for promising youths - most of whom would eventually return home and enrich the area with their acquired skills - and converting their hunting lodge into a convalescents' home for the local wounded of WWI, where she and her older sister often acted as part-time nurses.

[Gator]

This included funding higher education for promising youths - most of whom would eventually return home and enrich the area with their acquired skills - and converting their hunting lodge into a convalescents' home for the local wounded of WWI, where she and her older sister often acted as part-time nurses.

Very noble. 

[SANDRO43]

Very noble.

Possibly but, as you know, Russian family ties are very strong and deep-rooted, so it could also be interpreted as a form of dutiful "caring for your own" .

[ML]

Ochka compiled a report that she presented both orally and written for her Intensive English Studies with the topic of Serfdom and Slavery.


AN ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF SLAVERY IN
THE UNITED STATES AND SERFDOM IN RUSSIA

   Slavery is a system in which “one human being is legally the property of another, can be bought or sold” (Wikipedia).  Although slavery is not legal now anywhere in the world, the history of slavery covers thousands of years.  Many civilizations and countries have such a page in their history.
   Slavery was known in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Ancient China, etc.  In modern history, the USA and the Russian Empire are examples of  this type of relationship where one human being is a master and another is his property.   Such a relationship in Russia was referred to as serfdom.  Even though serfdom and slavery have some differences, they also have many similarities in their actual operation.
   In this paper, I am going to compare slavery and serfdom in such aspects as history of development, geography of distribution, their place in the economic system, what brought about the necessity to end slavery and serfdom, and the roles of Abraham Lincoln and Czar Alexander II in these processes.
   Slavery in the USA and serfdom in the Russian Empire had their origin at approximately the same time in the 17th century.  In the USA, slavery started in 1619 when the first two dozen enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown, VA.  The number of slaves soon increased rapidly, mostly in the southern states.  “By the first U.S. census in 1790, the total population was 3.9 million including 757,000 slaves - about one in five people” (O’Donnell, 2011, p. 10).  Slavery in the USA had an economic reason - the lack of labor in a quickly developing nation.
   Although serfdom was first mentioned in the 11th century in Russia, its full implementation started in the same 17th century when slavery began its  development in the USA.  Serfdom in Russia is one of the sub-forms of feudalism in Europe.  Russian peasants were restricted in their right to free movement.  Late in 1649, according to the Sobornoye Ulozhenie [this translates into English as “Code of Law”], peasants were bound to the lord who got ownership of the land from the Czar.  This was the way that the Czar awarded the aristocrats who supported him.  This is how free peasants became serfs.
   In the USA, slavery became common in the Southern states.  The warm climate there allows crops to grow throughout the year.  Plantations needed a lot of workers.  Slavery was a very profitable solution to this problem.  “Slavery never became prominent in the North because the economy there was built on small family farms, not large plantations, of the economics of slavery didn’t make sense” (O’ Donnell, 2011, p. 10 ).
   Just as in the USA, the distribution of slavery was not equal throughout the different areas of Russia.  “The proportion of serfs to the whole population is greatest in the earlier Polish provinces, where it ranges from 56 to 70 percent, and in Great Russia, where it ranges from 57 to 68 percent, while in some areas it is only 0 to 5 percent” (Rowe).  This variation can be explained by the same reason that existed in the USA.  The western part of the Russian Empire had the most prolific soil, and farming there was very profitable.  The labor of serfs brought good revenue to the landowners and taxes to the state.
   The people subjected to slavery and serfdom had different places in society.  Slaves in the USA were Africans brought to this country, while serfs were previously free peasants who lived in Russia and lost their freedom.  According to Syponitskay (2006), a serf had his own house and a piece of land which he rented from his master.  He worked for his landowner three to four days in a week and he worked for himself the rest of the time.  The community could protect a serf in some situations.  “The landowner did not own the serf.  This contrasted with the system in the USA where the Negro slaves were chattels; that is, there were regarded in law as the disposable property of their masters” (Syponitskay).  Slaves did not have their own property.  They could be sold any time and separated from other members of their family.
   There were some slaves in the North of the USA.  In some cases, these slaves were able to earn some money and buy their freedom.  And a similar situation existed for serfs who might be able to buy their independence.  A slave was the private property of his owner.  A serf was also viewed as property,  but the state had some role between the serf and his landowner.
   Both slaves and serfs were very cheap workers.  Plantations in the USA sought to get as much profit as possible from their slaves.  They used different methods for this, such as control, punishment and encouragement.  Slaves were more productive for their owners as compared to serfs, because serfs only worked part-time for the landowners.
   In the 19th century the idea that slavery and serfdom must be ended appeared in both the USA and Russia.  This idea was based on both humanitarian and economic reasons.  The institution of serfdom actually retarded the development of Russia.  In the middle of the 19th century Russia was a very backward country compared to European countries.  “Serfdom was symptomatic of the underlying difficulties that held Russia back from progress” (Lynch).  Its defeat in the Crimean War in 1854 destroyed Russian belief in their strength.  The intelligentsia “argued for the liberalizing of Russian society, beginning with the emancipation of the exploited peasants” (Lynch, 2003).  In this situation, Czar Alexander II had to provide some reforms to avoid internal conflict and earn respect abroad.  “The first step on that path would be the removal of serfdom” (Lynch).
   In contrast, the 19th century is considered to be the period of Industrial Revolution in the USA.  “The broader impact of the Industrial Revolution was a shift in American value from republican simplicity to capitalism, even in agriculture” (O’Donnell, 2011, p. 39).  The institution of slavery was contradictory to these new changes.  The movement for emancipation started in the industrial North.  This idea caused a great counter reaction in the more agricultural South.  The movement toward the emancipation of slaves was the main reason for the American Civil War that started in 1861.  So, in both countries, wars led to the ending of slavery and serfdom which ceased to exist at nearly the same time in history.
   In 1861, Czar Alexander II issued “The Manifesto of February 19, 1861" according to which “the serfs will receive in time the full rights of free rural inhabitants” (Alexander II, Emancipation Manifesto, 1861).  On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued “The Emancipation Proclamation.”  The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free” (The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863).
   But in both countries, former slaves and serfs did not get real freedom.  Although “Alexander’s manifesto required that serfs receive land that they could call their own . . . freed serfs, however, received the worst land parcels from their former owners and in many cases these allotments were inferior to the private land plots serfs had been allowed to use while still in bondage” (Streich).  A similar situation developed in the USA.  “Emancipation did not include land or compensation to any affected party.  Freedmen often found themselves in a new bondage as sharecroppers or tenant farmers” (Streich).  It took decades and cost many lives for African American and Russian peasants to become full members of society.
   It is always a controversial topic to consider a person’s role in history.  Would slavery and serfdom have ended if Lincoln were not the President of the USA  and Alexander II were not the Czar of Russia?  Without doubt, I believe the answer is yes, but the remaining question would be about the timing and eventual price.  Both leaders were intelligent and progressive when envisioning the future of  their countries.
   Alexander II understood that serfdom must be abolished.  But he also realized “that so radical a revolution was fraught with danger to the entire economic and political structure of Russia” (Woldman, p. 171).  For several years he had been trying to find a compromise with nobles but without much success.  So “he decided to take matters into his own hands.”  “On March 3, 1861 he issued a manifesto setting all serfs of Russia free.” (Woldman).  [Note: This March 3 date and my earlier referenced February 19 date difference relates to the difference between the Gregorian and Julian calendars.  Russia did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1917.]
   “Lincoln hated slavery with every fiber of his being, he fervently wished that all men everywhere might be free” (Woldman, 1952, p. 172).  “But despite his personal inclinations as a citizen, now as the President of the nation, his personal feelings had to be sacrificed to his sworn obligation” (Woldman, 1952, p. 172).  Two years passed from the beginning of his presidency until The Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
    Even the fates of these two men were similar.  They both were assassinated, but for opposite reasons.  Alexander II was killed by members of the Narodnaya Voya [this translates into English as “The People’s Will”], who thought that he did not give real freedom to former serfs.  Lincoln was killed by Confederate sympathizer John W. Booth who was against the emancipation of slaves (O’Donnell, 2011).
   The USA and Russia are very different countries and, as a result, slavery and serfdom varied in many aspects.  However, personal dependence, absence of rights, and coercive labor made them similar. 
        Both countries were affected by slavery and serfdom for many years after emancipation.  It left an imprint not only in the mind of contemporaries of Lincoln and Alexander, but also in the mind of future generations.
     
References

   Alexander II, Emancipation Manifesto (1861). No author or other information given. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from www.academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php

   Lynch, M. (2003). The Emancipation of the Russian Serfs, 1861: A Charter of Freedom or an Act of Betrayal? No other information given.  Retrieved March 13, 2012, from http://www.historytoday.com

   O’Donnell, E. (2011). Turning Points in American History.  Chantilly, VA: The Great Courses.

   Rowe, N. (1861). Serfdom in Russia.  Macmillan’s Magazine, Volume 4, 384-391. Retrieved March 14, 2012 from http://books.google.com/books

Russian Serfdom. No author or other information given.  Retrieved March 13, 2012, from
   http://histclo.com/country/rus/cr-serf.html

Serfdom in Russia.  Wikipedia Retrieved March 15, 2012.

   Sobornoye Ulozhenie   No other information given. Retrieved March 20, 2012 from  http://www.prlib.ru/en-us/History/Pages/Item.aspx?itemid=319

   Streich, M. (2009). Comparing American and Russian Emancipation.  No other information given. Retrieved March 14, 2012, from www.exampleessays.com/veewpaper113767.html

   Syponitskay, I. (2006). Slaves and Serfs. 1st September History 2006 Volume 14, Issue 4. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from his.1september.ru/2006/15/4.htm

   The Emancipation Proclamation (1863).  No author or other information given.  Retrieved March 28, 2012 from www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents

   Woldman, A. (1952). Lincoln and the Russians. Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company.