Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861, four years before slavery in the US was abolished by a Constitutional Amendment. Tsar Alexander II (1855-81) shared with his father, Nicholas I, a conviction that American slavery was inhumane. This is not as hypocritical as it might first appear. The serfdom that had operated in Russia since the middle of the 1600s (around when slavery was taking hold in the southern British colonies) was technically not slavery. The landowner did not own the serf, the serf just could not leave the land. Or disobey the landowner. But it wasn’t slavery, technically. Serfs made up 1/2 the peasants and about 1/3 of the population. And it was widely agreed by the 1850s that Russia needed land reform — and serfs were a clear target. So the young Tsar after losing the Crimean War declared the end of the war marked a golden moment in the nation’s history. Now was the hour when every Russian, under the protection of the law, could begin to enjoy ‘the fruits of his own labours.’
He then asked the nobles to plan how freeing the serfs could be done. Tsar Alexander II was shrewd: the nobles could hardly ignore a command from their tsar, and they could not complain about a plan they themselves had created, and to top it all off they couldn’t blame Alexander if their plan did not go well. Impressive though the prospect of legal freedom first appeared to the serfs, it soon became apparent that they had come at a heavy price for the peasants. It was not they, but the landlords and Tsar Alexander II, who were the beneficiaries. Unsurprising since the landowners decided how the serfs would be freed. The landowners got to decide which parts of their lands they got to keep (usually around 2/3) , and which to give up. They always chose the best parts, of course. And the landowners were compensated far above market value for the serfs they lost, and the peasants had to pay for their new land which they had been working for centuries now!
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