The world mediator and his role in the peasant reform of 1861

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire underwent a series of reforms aimed at transforming the social and political system according to the requirements of the time, one of them was the abolition of serfdom and a specially established position for this - the world mediator.

The peasant question under Alexander I

By the middle of this century, Russia came up with an extremely weakened economy and agriculture, the defeat in the Crimean War further exacerbated all the negative processes of Russian reality. Since the beginning of the XIX century, the society constantly raised the question of the abolition of serfdom. Alexander the First was at first very liberal and was also inclined to this decision. Moreover, after the victory of our country in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaign, the reformist sentiments intensified not only among the intelligentsia, but also among the peasants themselves, as well as the progressively inclined landlords. Alexander Pavlovich was well aware of all this, but he was not in a hurry to carry out the reforms, and after a number of revolutionary speeches in some European countries he completely refused any changes in the position of the peasants. The law on "free farmers" and the exemption from dependence of the Baltic peasants, which were very few, are all measures taken to alleviate the situation of the peasants.

The point of view of Nicholas I Pavlovich

Heir to the emperor, younger brother Nikolai, in the family was known as a confident conservative, the Decembrist uprising in 1825 further strengthened him in this direction. Even after his suppression, the emperor himself took part in the interrogation of the rioters, and the whole uncomfortable picture of Russian reality clearly stood out before him. Nikolai Pavlovich agreed with the assertion that serfdom for Russia is evil, but he considered something even more evil under current conditions.

Nevertheless, in his reign, the favorite of the emperor, Count Arakcheev, drafted a peasants' emancipation project, whose needs required about five million rubles per year, and the process itself was extended in time for an indefinite period. Even this very limited project has provoked open resistance from government circles. Finance Minister Count Kankrin said that there is no such money in the treasury, so you need to look for another way out, all the other half-tries also ended in nothing. Nicholas I, for his rather long reign, did nothing to alleviate the fate of the peasants. Meanwhile, the economy continued to develop at a slow pace, which was reflected in further developments.

The shift from the "dead center"

In 1856, the eldest son of Nicholas, Alexander II, took the throne. He was already a formed person and personality, it was of no small importance that Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, the poet, who held liberal views and tried to impart them to his pupil, was the educator of the heir. From the first days of the reign Alexander Nikolaevich declared the intention to abolish the disastrous and shameful phenomenon - serfdom. It all began with a public discussion of the reform, which gave it a vowel character and irreversibility. There were several reform projects around the capital. In 1859, the Editing Commissions were created, which were to analyze and combine all the projects, achieving the most acceptable result for the landlords and peasants. The work was in the midst of extreme contradictions, but the tsar did not quarrel over difficulties and insisted on his own. By the beginning of 1861, all preparatory measures had been completed, and on February 19, the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom was declared , the slave status of the peasants fell, but for the reform it was required to create many new bodies and officials who would monitor its implementation. Thus appears the lower executive link - the world mediator.

"Freedom"

The "Manifesto of the Manifesto of 1861" defined the main task of these persons as the registration of relations between the landowner and the peasant on the basis of an agreement concluded between them, called "charter charter". Also, the world mediators are people whose competence included supervision over the self-government of rural units, approval of elected posts (peasant elder, parish elder). If necessary, the peace mediator could remove them from office. With regard to the peasants, he was endowed with judicial and police power, examined various minor conflicts, could arrest and appoint corporal punishment. The site, which served one mediator, covered from three to five volosts. Throughout the empire there were about 1714 of these officials. They were appointed from among the nobles of the given area on the proposal of the governor and the leader of the nobles. Above was a list of tasks that the world mediator was solving, 1861 was the most productive, many were appointed among progressive landowners, among them were L.N. Tolstoy, N.I. Pies. As the course of events continues, the content allocated to one mediator decreases every year.

Results of the reform

However, these people played a very important role in the implementation of the reform. It was thanks to them that a certain balance of interests of the peasants remained, although they were infringed, but this did not acquire a flagrant character. And the most important thing was to draw up a legally correct document, corresponding to the mutual interests of both sides of the document, which was the charter. The world mediators tried to make every peasant and landlord complete the redemption deal as soon as possible, and also so that the temporarily liable status of the peasants was not extremely prolonged. The activities of these officials were discontinued in 1874, and in exchange two independent institutions were created. However, they had little interest in the needs of the peasants and soon became part of the vast bureaucratic apparatus of the Russian Empire. But the main thing was done: the peasants got freedom, and the world mediators are a symbol of freedom for the peasants.