What reasons hampered the development of peasant farms in the 19th century? Preconditions of the peasant reform of 1861

At the beginning of the XIX century, the whole of the Russian Empire was divided into lands that belonged to the provinces and regions. They, in turn, consisted of counties. As new territories were added to Russia, the number of provinces increased significantly. Some of them have become larger, while others have formed by converting regions. The part was united and had a level of governor-general and vicegerency. The Grand Duchy of Finland and the Kingdom of Poland owned special titles.

Social system in Russia

Russia was at that time an absolutist and feudal country. It was led by the tsar, who concentrated practically all managerial threads in his hands. The nobles remained as the main socio-political force. They had tremendous support from the autocratic state. His entire policy (both external and internal) was aimed at their provision.

If, however, to investigate what causes hampered the development of peasant farms, the answer must be sought in the fact that at that time the Russian bourgeoisie received no support from the government of the country.

Peasants belonged to the largest part of the population. All of them were divided:

• On the landlords;
• State group;
• Specific category and others.

The inhabitants of cities and townspeople accounted for only 1-2 percent of the total population of the state.

The peasant question

Russia of the XIX century is an agrarian country. The predominant number of peasants were under the rule of the landlords. They were in serfdom. The process of settling the peasant question in the country was significantly different and inferior in its main characteristics to other European states.

Among the reasons that hampered the development of peasant farms, a special place belongs to the personal dependence of the peasants on the landlords. She helped to lower the level of their interest in the results of their work. This, in turn, significantly reduced the efficiency of agriculture.

The position of the landed peasants

At the beginning of the XIX century there was a significant increase in the role of monetary form of dues. At the same time, as a source of dues, it was not agricultural agricultural work that was most often used, but its work in a variety of off-site fisheries and urban factories.

But the main role still belonged to this time corvee. There was an active increase in the size of the manorial scale (from 18 to 49%). The most intensive nature of this process was on the territory of the black earth regions of the country. Here, most of the peasants were transferred to the month or stolen from the land at all.

Among the reasons that hampered the development of peasant farms in the 19th century is the significant decrease in the amount of land belonging to this stratum of the population. The increase in the amount of arrears indicated the existence of an absolute crisis in serfs.

State peasants owned by the state

The situation of the state peasants was also quite difficult . But also slightly better than the landlords. This belongs to a significant role among the reasons that hampered the development of peasant farms in 1861.

If we compare the 18th century and the 30th years of the 19th century, then there is a significant increase in the total monetary taxation of state peasants. But before they had the right to purchase and sell land. To conduct trade at fairs and found factories. In this case it was necessary to pay only the necessary taxes and duties. And only units of the entire mass of peasants of the XIX century belonged to the right to use these privileges.

This was related to the reasons that hampered the development of peasant farms, and negatively affected the state of affairs in them. Most of them, mostly those who led a subsistence economy, could not make ends meet. Only the representatives of the well-to-do top of the state and vagrant villagers had access to the market.

There could be no question of improving agricultural machinery and introducing the use of new machines or improving livestock breeds. Because most of all farms were on the verge of survival. Therefore, a significant place among the reasons that hampered the development of peasant farms belongs to a low level of agricultural technology. He left the yield at a very low level.

The condition of the landed estates

The processes taking place in the landed estates were no less revealing. Despite the fact that the landowner's reserve has increased significantly, the yield has not increased. This was due to the feudal nature of the exploitation of workers and the low level of productivity of their labor.

According to the results of research by modern specialists, the labor productivity of a hired worker was twice as large as that of a serf peasant. The increased size of the corvee did not ensure an increase in the productivity of their work. This is also included in the list of what causes hampered the development of peasant farms.

The basic preconditions for the abolition of serfdom

The prerequisites for the abolition of serfdom developed over a fairly long time. Directly on the eve of the 1961 reform, there was a deepening of the socioeconomic processes of the disintegration of serfdom. At that time, all of its capabilities as an economic system had exhausted itself. It's time for a deep crisis. This significantly hampered the development of industry, trade and entrepreneurship of peasants and was included in the list of what causes hampered the development of peasant farms (grade 8 is the time to study this problem in school).

Crisis conditions first fell on the corvee estate. The level of labor productivity has fallen sharply. The peasants began to work half-heartedly and without much desire and zeal.

Another important reason is the social factor. There was a gradual increase in peasant revolts. In addition, there were mass murders of landlords and a variety of everyday forms of struggle. Although statistical account of these cases was not carried out, but the landlord economy had significant damage because of them.

The economic and military-technical crisis was especially felt after the defeat in the Crimean War. This was one of the main reasons that made the government think about the social danger of serfdom and its further preservation.

The reform of 1861 was a process of revolution. It began with the liberation of peasants belonging to the landowner, from dependence. And the final stage was the small proprietors-owners, in which the very peasants turned. Almost all the landed estates and large-scale landholdings were preserved.