The Peasantry and the Limited Reforms of Serfdom of the 1840s

Abstract

In the 1840s there were a number of attempts by seigniorial peasants, mainly in the central provinces of Russia, to take advantage of two limited reforms of serfdom: the decree of 1842 on ‘obliged peasants’ and a decree of 1847 which allowed seigniorial peasants to redeem themselves by buying their estates if they were sold at auction on account of debts. Most of the attempts were based on ‘misunderstandings’ of the decrees, neither of which permitted peasants to take the initiative. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the causes and significance of these apparent ‘misunderstandings’, and to consider what they and the related incidents tell us about peasants’ aims and aspirations, mentalité and behavioural patterns.