Conditions and Prerequisites for the Abolition of Serfdom in the Russian Empire

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of the causes of the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire by Emperor Alexander II in 1861. The authors of the article consider the historical and geographical features and conditions of the development of the fatherland, which served as the basis for the formation of serfdom in the Russian Empire. The article also identifies the main positive and negative sides of serfdom. The authors of this study drew parallels between the vectors of the development directions of European countries in the first half of the XIX century and the Russian Empire during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. Special attention is paid to the state of the states after the Patriotic War of 1812 and its impact on the domestic and foreign policy of both European countries and the Russian Empire. The study also examines the key features that characterize the image of ruler Nicholas I as a statesman and autocrat, as well as the central ideologies that were formulated and were relevant during his reign. In this article, an important role is also played by the Crimean War of 1853−1856, which, in the opinion of the authors, is of paramount importance for the awareness of the state authorities, in the person of Emperor Alexander II, of the need to change the vector of development of the Russian Empire in the middle of the XIX century. In addition, the authors investigated another set of indirect reasons for the abolition of serfdom, namely the change in cultural and moral values among the representatives of the nobility of the XIX century, as well as the Manifesto of Peter III “On the granting of liberty and freedom to all Russian nobility” as a normative source, which later became a key tool of a kind of cultural revolution in the circles of the upper class of the Russian empires.