Serfdom in Russia
The term
Serfdom became the dominant form of relation between Russian peasants and nobility in the 17th century. Serfdom most commonly existed in the central and southern areas of the
The emperor and the highest state officials feared that the peasants' emancipation would be accompanied by popular unrest, given the reluctance of the landlords to lose their serf property, but took some actions to alleviate the situation of the peasantry.[2]
Emperor Alexander I (r. 1801–1825) wanted to reform the system but moved cautiously, liberating serfs in Estonia (1816), Livonia (1816), and Courland (1817) only. New laws allowed all classes (except the serfs) to own land, a privilege previously confined to the nobility.[3] Emperor Alexander II abolished serfdom in the emancipation reform of 1861, a few years later than Austria and other German states. Scholars have proposed multiple overlapping reasons to account for the abolition, including fear of a large-scale revolt by the serfs, the government's financial needs, changing cultural sensibilities, and the military's need for soldiers.[4]
Terminology
The term muzhik, or moujik (Russian: мужи́к, IPA: [mʊˈʐɨk]) means "Russian peasant" when it is used in English.[5][clarification needed] This word was borrowed from Russian into Western languages through translations of 19th-century Russian literature, describing Russian rural life of those times, and where the word muzhik was used to mean the most common rural dweller – a peasant – but this was only a narrow contextual meaning.[6]
History
Origins
The origins of serfdom in Russia (крепостничество, krepostnichestvo) may be traced to the 12th century, when the exploitation of the so-called zakups on arable lands (ролейные (пашенные) закупы, roleyniye (pashenniye) zakupy) and corvée smerds (Russian term for corvée is барщина, barschina) was the closest to what is now known as serfdom. According to the Russkaya Pravda, a princely smerd had limited property and personal rights and his escheat was given to the prince.
From the 13th century to the 15th century
From the 13th century to the 15th century, feudal dependency applied to a significant number of
Transition to full serfdom
The Sudebnik of 1550 increased the amount of pozhiloye and introduced an additional tax called za povoz (за повоз, or transportation fee), in case a peasant refused to bring the harvest from the fields to his master. A temporary (Заповедные лета, or forbidden years) and later an open-ended prohibition for peasants to leave their masters was introduced by the ukase of 1597 under the reign of Boris Godunov, which took away the peasants' right to free movement around Yuri's Day, binding the vast majority of the Russian peasantry in full serfdom. These also defined the so-called fixed years (Урочные лета, urochniye leta), or the 5-year time frame for search of the runaway peasants. In 1607, a new ukase defined sanctions for hiding and keeping runaways: the fine had to be paid to the state and pozhiloye – to the previous owner of the peasant.
The
Most of the
The Sobornoye Ulozhenie introduced an open-ended search for those on the run, meaning that all of the peasants who had fled from their masters after the census of 1626 or 1646–1647 had to be returned. The government would still introduce new time frames and grounds for search of the runaways after 1649, which applied to the peasants who had fled to the outlying districts of the country, such as regions along the border
Serfdom was hardly efficient; serfs and nobles had little incentive to improve the land. However, it was politically effective. Nobles rarely challenged the tsar for fear of provoking a peasant uprising. Serfs were often given lifelong tenancy on their plots, so they tended to be conservative as well. The serfs took little part in uprisings against the empire as a whole; it was the Cossacks and nomads who rebelled initially and recruited serfs into rebel armies. But many landowners died during serf uprisings against them. The revolutions of 1905 and 1917 happened after serfdom's abolition.
Rebellions
There were numerous rebellions against this bondage, most often in conjunction with
Slaves and serfs
As a whole, serfdom both came and remained in Russia much later than in other European countries. Slavery remained a legally recognized institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter the Great abolished slavery and converted the slaves into serfs. This was relevant more to household slaves because Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679.[10][11]
Formal conversion to serf status and the later ban on the sale of serfs without land did not stop the trade in household slaves; this trade merely changed its name. The private owners of the serfs regarded the law as a mere formality. Instead of "sale of a peasant" the papers would advertise "servant for hire" or similar.
By the eighteenth century, the practice of selling serfs without land had become commonplace. Owners had absolute control over their serfs' lives, and could buy, sell and trade them at will, giving them as much power over serfs as Americans had over chattel slaves, though owners did not always choose to exercise their powers over serfs to the fullest extent.[12]
The official estimate is that 23 million Russians were privately owned, 18.3 million were in state ownership and another 900,000 serfs were under the Tsar's patronage (udelnye krestiane) before the Great Emancipation of 1861.[13]
One particular source of indignation in Europe was Kolokol published in London, England (1857–65) and Geneva (1865–67). It collected many cases of horrendous physical, emotional and sexual abuse of the serfs by the landowners.
Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
Edicts of 1718, 1734, 1750, 1761, and 1767 obliged landlords to feed their peasants in times of crop failure and famine and to prevent their impoverishment. Since 1722 landlords were responsible for the correct payment of the per capita tax by their peasants (the tax was collected from the peasants and paid to the treasury by the landlord himself or his clerk). It was forbidden to put peasants on torture for their master's debts. In order to suppress fraudulent practices of landlords, who during audits recorded persons who did not belong to serfs, allegedly with their consent, decrees of 1775, 1781 and 1783 prohibited voluntary registration of serfs. The legislation stipulated conditions that allowed peasants to leave the serf state. Edicts of 1737, 1743, 1744, 1745, 1770, and 1773 declared free those who returned from captivity, as well as foreigners who accepted
As the ideas of Enlightenment and humanism spread among the Russian nobility at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, a conviction developed that the system of serfdom was flawed and hindered economic development and urban growth.[2] Tsar Alexander I and his advisors quietly discussed the options at length. Obstacles included the failure of abolition in Austria and the political reaction against the French Revolution. Cautiously, he freed peasants from Estonia and Latvia and extended the right to own land to most classes of subjects, including state-owned peasants, in 1801 and created a new social category of "free agriculturalist", for peasants voluntarily emancipated by their masters, in 1803. The great majority of serfs were not affected (under this decree by 1858 152,000 male souls, or 1.5 per cent of serfs, had been bought out to freedom[2]).[3] Alexander I forbade to advertise the sale of serfs without land (1801), to sell peasants at fairs (1808), cancelled the right of landlords to exile peasants to katorga ('hard labour'; 1807) and to settle them in Siberia (1809). In 1818 Alexander I gave secret instructions to 12 dignitaries to develop projects to abolish serfdom (among the authors of the projects were A. A. Arakcheev, P. A. Vyazemsky, V. N. Karazin, P. D. Kiselyov, N. S. Mordvinov, N. G. Repnin). All these projects were united by the principle of gradual emancipation of peasants without infringement of economic interests of landlords. However, in 1822–23, due to changes in the domestic political course, Alexander I again forbade serfs to complain to the authorities about the cruelty of their masters, to bring lawsuits for emancipation, and also restored the right of landlords to exile peasants to Siberia at their discretion.[2]
The Russian state also continued to support serfdom due to military conscription. The conscripted serfs dramatically increased the size of the Russian military during the war with Napoleon.[18] With a larger military Russia achieved victory in the Napoleonic Wars and Russo-Persian Wars; this did not change the disparity between Russia and Western Europe, who were experiencing agricultural and industrial revolutions. Compared to Western Europe it was clear that Russia was at an economic disadvantage. European philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment criticized serfdom and compared it to medieval labor practices which were almost non-existent in the rest of the continent. Most Russian nobles were not interested in change toward western labor practices that Catherine the Great proposed. Instead they preferred to mortgage serfs for profit. Napoleon did not touch serfdom in Russia. In 1820, 20% of all serfs were mortgaged to state credit institutions by their owners. This was increased to 66% in 1859.[19]
To discuss the peasant question,
Bourgeois were allowed to own serfs 1721–62 and 1798–1816; this was to encourage industrialisation. In 1804, 48% of Russian factory workers were serfs, 52% in 1825.[22] Landless serfs rose from 4.14% in 1835 to 6.79% in 1858. They received no land in the emancipation. Landlords deliberately increased the number of domestic serfs when they anticipated serfdom's demise. In 1798, Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs apart from land. In 1841, landless nobles were banned also.[23]
Poland–Lithuania
According to certain Polish sources, increasingly in the 18th century Russian peasants were escaping from Russia to the
Abolition
In 1816, 1817, and 1819, serfdom was abolished in Estland, Courland, and Livonia respectively.[27] However all the land stayed in noble hands and labor rent lasted till 1868. It was replaced with landless laborers and sharecropping (halbkörner). Landless workers had to ask permission to leave an estate.
The nobility was too weak to oppose the emancipation of the serfs. In 1820, a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842.[28] By 1859, a third of noble's estates and two thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or the state.[29] The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack of primogeniture, and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.
The Tsar's aunt Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna played a powerful role backstage in the years 1855 to 1861. Using her close relationship with her nephew Alexander II, she supported and guided his desire for emancipation, and helped mobilize the support of key advisors.[30]
In 1861, Alexander II freed all serfs[
Serfdom was abolished in 1861, but its abolition was achieved on terms not always favorable to the peasants and served to increase revolutionary pressures. Between 1864 and 1871 serfdom was abolished in Georgia. In Kalmykia serfdom was abolished only in 1892.[31]
The serfs had to work for the landlord as usual for two years. The nobles kept nearly all the meadows and forests, had their debts paid by the state while the ex serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept. This figure was 90% in the northern regions, 20% in the black earth region but zero in the Polish provinces. In 1857, 6.79% of serfs were domestic, landless servants who stayed landless after 1861.[citation needed] Only Polish and Romanian domestic serfs got land. 90% of the serfs who got larger plots were in Congress Poland where the Tsar wanted to weaken the szlachta. The rest were in the barren north and in Astrakhan. In the whole Empire, peasant land declined 4.1%, 13.3% outside the ex Polish zone and 23.3% in the 16 black earth provinces.[citation needed] These redemption payments were not abolished till January 1, 1907.
Impact
A 2018 study in the
Serf society
Labour and obligations
In Russia, the terms barshchina (барщина) or boyarshchina (боярщина), refer to the obligatory work that the serfs performed for the landowner on his portion of the land (the other part of the land, usually of a poorer quality, the peasants could use for themselves). Sometimes the terms are loosely translated by the term corvée. While no official government regulation to the extent of barshchina existed, a 1797 ukase by Paul I of Russia described a barshchina of three days a week as normal and sufficient for the landowner's needs.
In the black earth region, 70% to 77% of the serfs performed barshchina; the rest paid levies (obrok).[33]
Marriage and family life
The Russian Orthodox Church had many rules regarding marriage that were strictly observed by the population. For example, marriage was not allowed to take place during times of fasting, the eve or day of a holiday, during the entire week of Easter, or for two weeks after Christmas. Before the abolition of serfdom in 1861, marriage was strictly prohibited on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Because of these firm rules most marriages occurred in the months of January, February, October, and November. After the emancipation the most popular marrying months were July, October, and November.[34]
Imperial laws were very particular with the age in which serfs could marry. The minimum age to marry was 13 years old for women, and 15 for men. After 1830 the female and male ages were raised to 16 and 18 respectively. To marry over the age of 60, the serf had to receive permission, but marriage over the age of 80 was forbidden. The Church also did not approve marriages with large age differences.[35]
Landowners were interested in keeping all of their serfs and not losing workers to marriages on other estates. Prior to 1812 serfs were not allowed to marry serfs from other estates. After 1812 the rules relaxed slightly, but in order for a family to give their daughter to a husband in another estate they had to apply and present information to their landowner ahead of time. If a serf wanted to marry a widow, then emancipation and death certificates were to be handed over and investigated for authenticity by their owner before a marriage could take place.[36]
Before and after the abolition of serfdom, Russian peasant families were patriarchal. Marriage was important for families economically and socially. Parents were in charge of finding suitable spouses for their children in order to help the family. The bride's parents were concerned with the social and material benefits they would gain in the alliance between the two families. Some also took into consideration their daughter's future quality of life and how much work would be required of her. The groom's parents would be concerned about economical factors such as the size of the dowry as well as the bride's decency, modesty, obedience, ability to do work, and family background. Upon marriage, the bride came to live with her new husband and his family, so she needed to be ready to assimilate and work hard.[37]
Serfs looked highly upon early marriage because of increased parental control. At a younger age there is less chance of the individual falling in love with someone other than whom his or her parents chose. There is also increased assurance of chastity, which was more important for women than men. The average age of marriage for women was around 19 years old.[38][39]
During serfdom, when the head of the house was being disobeyed by their children they could have the master or landowner step in. After the emancipation of serfs in 1861, the household patriarch lost some of his power, and could no longer receive the landowner's help. The younger generations now had the freedom to work off their estates; some even went to work in factories. These younger peasants had access to newspapers and books, which introduced them to more radical ways of thinking. The ability to work outside of the household gave the younger peasants independence as well as a wage to do with what they wanted. Agricultural and domestic jobs were a group effort, so the wage went to the family. The children who worked industrial jobs gave their earnings to their family as well, but some used it as a way to gain a say in their own marriages. In this case some families allowed their sons to marry whom they chose as long as the family was in similar economic standing as their own. No matter what, parental approval was required in order to make a marriage legal.[40]
Distribution of property and duties between the spouses
According to a study completed in the late 1890s by the ethnographer Olga Petrovna Semyonova-Tian-Shanskaia, husband and wife had different duties in the household. In regards to ownership, the husband assumed the property plus any funds required to make additions to the property. Additions included fence, barns, and wagons. While primary purchasing power belonged to the husband, the wife was expected to buy certain items. She was also expected to buy household items such as bowls, plates, pots, barrels and various utensils. Wives were also required to purchase cloth and make clothes for the family by spinning and using a
Material culture
Typical Russian serf clothing included the zipun (Russian: зипун, a collarless kaftan) and the smock.[42]
A 19th-century report noted: "Every Russian peasant, male and female, wears cotton clothes. The men wear printed shirts and trousers, and the women are dressed from head to foot in printed cotton also."[43]
The extent of serfdom in Russia
By the mid-19th century, peasants composed a majority of the population, and according to the census of 1857, the number of private serfs was 23.1 million out of 62.5 million citizens of the Russian empire, 37.7% of the population.
The exact numbers, according to official data, were: entire population 60909309; peasantry of all classes 49486665; state peasants 23138191; peasants on the lands of proprietors 23022390; peasants of the appanages and other departments 3326084.[44] State peasants were considered personally free, but their freedom of movement was restricted.[45]
Estate of | 1700 | 1861 |
---|---|---|
>500 serfs | 26 | 42 |
100–500 | 33 | 38 |
1–100 | 41 | 20 |
1777 | 1834 | 1858 |
---|---|---|
83 | 84 | 78 |
Russian serfdom depended entirely on the traditional and extensive technology of the peasantry. Yields remained low and stationary throughout most of the 19th century. Any increase in income drawn from agriculture was largely through increasing land area and extensive grain raising by means of exploitation of the peasant labor, that is, by burdening the peasant household still further.
No. of serfs | in 1777 (%) | in 1859 (%) |
---|---|---|
>1000 | 1.1 | |
501–1000 | 2 | |
101–500 | 16 (>100) | 18 |
21–100 | 25 | 35.1 |
0–20 | 59 | 43.8 |
% peasants enserfed in each province, 1860
>55%:
36–55%:
Pskov Saratov Simbirsk Tambov Tver Vilna16–35%:
In the Central Black Earth Region 70–77% of the serfs performed labour services (barshchina), the rest paid rent (obrok). Owing to the high fertility, 70% of Russian cereal production in the 1850s was here.[33] In the seven central provinces, 1860, 67.7% of the serfs were on obrok.
In literature, Russian serfdom provided both a backdrop and a source of dramatic tension for the works of prominent authors like Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Characters drawn from the serf population were portrayed with profound emotional depth, their stories shedding light on the harsh realities of serfdom. These narratives served to amplify calls for social reform and underscored the deep inequalities of the Russian societal structure.
The influence of serfdom was also notable in Russian music and art. Folk songs and dances, often performed by serfs, contributed significantly to Russia's unique cultural tradition. At the same time, works of art often depicted serfs and their lives, either romanticizing their existence or highlighting the cruelty of the serfdom system.
See also
- Slavery in Russia
- Anna Orlova-Tshesmenskaja
- Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova
- Dead Souls, a novel which focuses on late serfdom
- Fugitive peasants
- Government reforms of Alexander II of Russia
- History of serfdom
- Kholop
- Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century
- Manifesto of three-day corvee (1797)
- Obshchina
- Smerd
References
- ISBN 9780226326474.
- ^ a b c d e f g "КРЕПОСТНОЕ ПРАВО • Great Russian Encyclopedia – Electronic version". old.bigenc.ru. 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ a b Susan P. McCaffray, "Confronting Serfdom in the Age of Revolution: Projects for Serf Reform in the Time of Alexander I", Russian Review (2005) 64#1 pp 1-21 in JSTOR
- ^ Evsey D. Domar and Mark J. Machina, "On the Profitability of Russian Serfdom", (1984) p 919.
- ISBN 9780716602996. Retrieved 18 December 2016 – via Google Books.
- ^ The Durham University journal – Volumes 45–46 – Page 237
- Snippet: "Thus a Russian–English dictionary will give the Russian word muzhik as 'peasant'. Yet the English word 'peasant' brings to mind a being far different from the Russian muzhik who, unlike his Western counterpart, is presented to us in literature ..."
- ^ "Rural Population Classes". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ "Language Centre – Language Centre – Home". Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ Водарский, Ярослав Евгеньевич (1973). Население России за 400 лет (XVI-начало XX вв). Moscow: Просвещение. p. 32.
- ^ Historical survey > Ways of ending slavery
- JSTOR 2846321.
- ISBN 0674920988.
- ^ Marie, Jean-Jacques (1997). "Le règne réformateur d'Alexandre II". Cairn. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ David Moon. "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia". Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Page 37
- ^ Gregory Freeze. "Russia: A History". New York: Oxford University Press, 2002
- ^ David Moon. "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia". Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Page 39
- ^ David Moon. "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia". Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Page 40
- ^ David Moon. "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia". Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Page 33
- ^ David Moon. "The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia". Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Pages 22-23
- ^ "Serfdom".
- ^ «Наиболее сильный запрос был на красивых девушек» Как в России торговали соотечественниками (The greatest demand was for pretty girls: How they traded compatriots in Russia) // Commersant 2017] - "20 мая 1842 года в России был опубликован указ «О предании суду и наказании Российских подданных, которые будут изобличены в каком-либо участии в торге неграми»."
- ^ Geroid Robinson, Rural Russia under the old regime, page 59
- ^ Geroid Tanquary Robinson, Rural Russia under the old régime: a history of the landlord-peasant world, page 37
- ISSN 1509-9091. Archived from the originalon 3 January 2005.
- ISSN 0458-4317.
- JSTOR 25778591.
- ^ David Moon. The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. Page xiv
- ^ Geoffrey Hosking, Russia: People and Empire, page 164
- ^ Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, p. 48
- ^ Shane O'Rourke, "The Mother Benefactress and the Sacred Battalion: Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, the Editing Commission, and the Emancipation of the Serfs", Russian Review (2011) 70#4 pp. 584–607, online
- ^ NUPI – Centre for Russian Studies Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ISSN 0002-8282.
- ^ a b Richard Pipes, Russia under the old regime, pages 147–8
- Institut National d'Études Démographiques), 742–43.
- ^ Avdeev, Blum, Troitskaia, Juby, "Peasant Marriage", 731–33.
- ^ Avdeev, Blum, Troitskaia, Juby, "Peasant Marriage", 726.
- , Vol. 23, No. 4 (Summer, 1990), (Oxford University Press), 695–98.
- ^ Avdeev, Blum, Troitskaia, Juby, "Peasant Marriage", 733.
- ^ Engel, "Peasant Pre-Marital Relations", 698–99.
- ^ Engel, "Peasant Pre-Marital Relations", 701–05, 708.
- ^ Olga Semyonova-Tian-Shanskaia, Edited by: David L. Ransel. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. Pages 124-127.
- ^
Vionnet, Louis Joseph (19 January 2013) [1899]. North, Jonathan (ed.). With Napoleon's Guard in Russia: The Memoirs of Major Vionnet, 1812. Translated by North, Jonathan. Casemate Publishers (published 2013). ISBN 9781783408986. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
The peasants, or, more precisely, the serfs, wear a costume which very much resembles that worn by the Poles or, perhaps more accurately, that worn by Asians. It consists of a long and rather shapeless smock.
- ^ Morley, Henry (1866). Sketches of Russian Life Before and During the Emancipation of the Serfs. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 218. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1905). "CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SERFS". Russia. Archived from the original on 2009-07-05.
- ^ Assigned, Church and Crown Peasants
- ^ David Moon, The Russian Peasant 1600–1930, pages 204–205.
- ^ Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions, page 87.
- ^ Richard Pipes, Russia under the old regime, page 178.
Further reading
- Blum, Jerome. Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century (1961)
- Blum, Jerome. The End of the Old Order in Rural Europe (1978) influential comparative history
- Crisp, Olga. "The state peasants under Nicholas I." Slavonic and East European Review 37.89 (1959): 387-412 online.
- Dennison, Tracy. The institutional framework of Russian serfdom (Cambridge University Press, 2011) excerpt Archived 2014-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Domar, Evsey, and Mark Machina. "On the Profitability of Russian Serfdom". Journal of Economic History (1984) 44#4 pp. 919–955. JSTOR 2122113.
- Emmons, Terence. The Russian Landed Gentry and the Peasant Emancipation of 1861 (Cambridge University Press, 1968)
- Gorshkov, Boris B. "Serfs on the Move: Peasant Seasonal Migration in Pre-Reform Russia, 1800–61". Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History (Fall 2000) 627–56
- Gorshkov, Boris B. "Serfs, Emancipation of" in Encyclopedia of Europe, 1789–1914. John Merriman and Jay Winter, eds. in chief. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006
- Hellie, Richard, Slavery in Russia, 1450–1725 (1984)
- Hoch, Steven. "Did Russia's Emancipated Serfs Really Pay Too Much for Too Little Land? Statistical Anomalies and Long-Tailed Distributions". Slavic Review (2004) 63#2 pp. 247–274.
- Hoch, Steven. Serfdom and Social Control in Russia: Petrovskoe, a Village in Tambov (University of Chicago Press, 1986)
- Hoch, Steven and Wilson R. Augustine. "The Tax Censuses and the Decline of the Serf Population in Imperial Russia, 1833–1858". Slavic Review (1979) 38#3 pp: 403-425.
- Kolchin, Peter. Unfree Labor: American Slavery and Russian Serfdom (1987).
- Lust, Kersti. "Kiselev's Reforms of State Peasants: The Baltic Perspective", Journal of Baltic Studies (2008) 39#1 pp 57–71.
- Lust, Kersti. "The Impact of the Baltic Emancipation Reforms on Peasant-Landlord Relations: A Historiographical Survey", Journal of Baltic Studies (2013) 44#1 pp. 1–18.
- McCaffray, Susan P. "Confronting Serfdom in the Age of Revolution: Projects for Serf Reform in the Time of Alexander I", Russian Review (2005) 64#1 pp 1–21 JSTOR 3664324.
- Mironov, Boris. “When and Why was the Russian Peasantry Emancipated?” in Serfdom and Slavery: Studies in Legal Bondage Ed. M.L. Bush. (London: Longman, 1996) pp. 323–347.
- Moon, David. Abolition of Serfdom in Russia: 1762–1907 (2002)
- Moon, David. The Russian Peasantry 1600–1930: The World the Peasants Made (London: Longman, 1999)
- Nafziger, Steven. 'Serfdom, emancipation, and economic development in Tsarist Russia" (Working paper, Williams College, MA, 2012). online Archived 2014-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Rudolph, Richard L. "Agricultural structure and proto-industrialization in Russia: economic development with unfree labor". Journal of economic history (1985) 45#1 pp: 47–69. JSTOR 2122007.
- Stanziani, Alessandro. "Revisiting Russian Serfdom: Bonded Peasants and Market Dynamics, 1600s–1800s". International Labor and Working-Class History (2010) 78#1 pp: 12-27.
- Viaene, Vincent, Wayne Thorpe, and H. G. Koenigsberger. "Reassessing Russian Serfdom". European History Quarterly (1996) 26 pp. 483–526.
- Wallace, Donald Mackenzie. Russia (1878) Chapter XXVIII The Serfs; online
- Wirtschafter, Elise Kimerling. Russia's Age of Serfdom 1649–1861 (2008).
Primary sources
- Gorshkov, Boris B., ed. A Life Under Russian Serfdom: Memoirs of Savva Dmitrievich Purlevskii, 1800–68. Budapest & New York, 2005
- Nikitenko, Aleksandr. Up from Serfdom: My Childhood and Youth in Russia, 1804–1824 (2001)
External links
- Serfdom: The Life of East Europe's Masses
- Saltychikha (1730–1801): Russian serf-owner
- The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis
- Russian serfdom, The Argus, Friday 30 July 1858, p. 7