Russia under the Old regime

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myth of autocratic Russia's military might was irreparably shattered once the empire proved itself unable to defend its territory from the armies of the 'corrupt' liberal states. In the crisis of self-confidence which followed the defeat, all institutions came under critical scrutiny, serfdom most of all: 'At the head of current domestic problems which we must tackle stands - as a portent for the future and as an obstacle which precludes at the present time a substantial improvement of anything whatever - the question of serfdom'. Samarin wrote during the Crimean War, 'From whatever end our internal reconstruction should begin we will inevitably confront this issue'.as Human bondage now appeared as a ballast around Russia's neck, a weight which dragged it down into an abyss: on this there was wide agreement, which only those unable to see beyond their immediate personal interests did not share.

Russian serfdom as it developed historically consisted of two disparate elements: the authority of the landlord over the serf, and the serf's attachment to the land. The Emancipation Edict, issued after prolonged deliberations of 19 February 1861, immediately abrogated the landlord's authority. The one-time serf now became a legal person allowed to own property, to sue in court and to participate in elections to local self-government boards. Traces of his previous inferior status, however, remained. In many crimes of a civil nature he came under the jurisdiction of special rural courts operating according to customary law which could impose corporal punishment. He continued to pay the soul tax from which the other estates were exempt; and he was required to petition his commune every time he wished to absent himself for a longer period of time.*

The government approached the second ingredient of serfdom, attachment to the land, very gingerly. In this respect the peasant became fully free only half a century later. The reasons for keeping the peasant bound to the land were partly political, partly fiscal. The authorities knew how ready the Russian peasant was to abandon the soil and roam the country in search of easier and more remunerative work. It feared that an uncontrolled mass movement of the peasantry would provoke social unrest and make it impossible to collect taxes. In the final settlement, therefore, the government attached the peasant to the community which, in addition to its traditional powers (e.g. the right to repartition land strips) acquired some of the authority previously enjoyed by the landlord. The commune was retained where it had already existed and introduced where it had been unknown.

The authorities resolved early that upon his emancipation the ex-serf would receive an adequate land allotment to support himself and his

* This disability survives in the USSR, where kolkhoz members are not issued regular internal passports and cannot move away without authorization.