Serfdom

period from 1855 to 1956? By 1956, the Russian peasantry had finally been liberated by Khrushchev as he had introduced passports and finally given them identification. This was a massive step from what peasant life was like in the 1850’s – where serfdom was the most dominant form of relation between the peasants and the nobility, meaning that peasants in Russia were bound under the rules and regulations of the higher classes and their freedom of movement was restricted. It is clear, however,…

When the Muscovy princes first freed themselves from the Mongol rule, their goal was to create their own state with Moscow at the center. They set out on conquests in hopes of taking land from neighboring khanates, land once ruled by the Mongols. After the reign of Ivan the Terrible the ruler became a monarch, called a tsar, in charge of an all-powerful government. Later, Peter the Great “established the Senate to coordinate government and take the routine tasks away from the tsar, eleven…

reforms to fail because he underestimated the vested interests he would upset (Kors 546). In one instance, the Hungarian nobility ousted a series of Joseph's decrees because they would have tremendously affected their incomes. When Joseph abolished serfdom in 1781, he faced resistance from both nobles and peasants. Under the new reform, peasants were to be paid in cash. The peasantry rejected and revolted against this because their simple barter system lacked money. Seeing the immense freedom…

Aside from the successful unifications of Italy and Germany, many other countries were also undergoing change to become better, successful, and more dominant. Mainly, there were three countries that had experienced reforms or changes. One of these countries or nations, was the Austrian Empire. As the only lasting result of the revolution of 1848 was the emancipation, which freed the serfs; the Austrian Empire was in need of economic and social change. However, this change brought about an urban…

working in factories. Many German citizens had never worked inside a factory. This made them want to work in factories, eager to learn these new methods. Industrialization promised the Germans more money than they ever would have seen living in serfdom. All over Germany “some industries were introduced at once as large-scale enterprises”, this was beneficial for the revolution as it meant that these industries didn’t have “to wait upon slow growth and thus immediately benefited from the…

such as China were occurring. China, which had originally been ruled by an emperor, transitioned into a Communist state, and promoted the idea that everyone was equal to each other. However, in Tibet, the social changes took a slower route out of serfdom. Eventually, the Communist state of China came to Tibet and forcefully pushed them towards becoming a more modern society, which faced backlash. Alai’s novel Red Poppies is set around this time period and not only follows the development of the…

During the period 1855 – 1956 Russia was involved in many major wars, all of which played an important role in its development. With the exception of the Second World War many of the wars Russia was involved led to defeats for them and these defeats exposed the weakness of the Tsar or government in charge. War outlined the flaws in the presiding system and highlighted Russia’s faults, and thus placed a spotlight upon the shortcomings of the Russian leadership. Such pressure prompted the Tsars…

nobility in order for his success like Catherine II, but fought against them. Despite his alienation from the nobility and the church, he was successful in his reforms during his lifetime. He drastically changed the Austrian Empire by abolishing serfdom, allowing religious toleration, and annulling the death penalty. Most importantly, Joseph II believed that everyone had the same basic rights and that the government may not interfere with them. His reform program encompassed the main ideals of…

Enlightened Absolutists were interested in true reform to the extent of of applying the principles of enlightenment to their kingdoms. The absolutists believed that going from the top to the bottom was the way to rule and the society didn’t need to rule with bureaucracy. These absolutists included Catherine II of Russia, Frederick II of Prussia, and Joseph ll of Austria. They followed the acronym of TRAP where, “T” stands for religious views, “R” for reform of institutions, “A” for absolutism,…

time it would help maintain the autocracy in Russia following the social unrest and growing economic problems which could be fixed by the emancipation. Additionally, serfdom was not entirely different to the feudalism which had been present in many areas of pre-modern Europe, although long abolished. The fact that Russia still had serfdom when other western countries had long moved on past feudalism showed Russia’s backwardness…