At the beginning of the 19th century, the entire Russian Empire was divided into lands belonging to the provinces and regions. They, in turn, consisted of counties. Since new territories were annexed to Russia, the number of provinces has increased significantly. Some of them became larger, while others were formed by transforming areas. The unit was united and had the level of governorships and governorates. 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. She was led by the king, who concentrated in his hands almost all managerial threads. The nobles remained as the main socio-political force. They had great support from the autocratic state. All his policies (both external and internal) were aimed at ensuring them.
If one examines what causes hindered the development of peasant farms, the answer must be sought in the fact that at that time the Russian bourgeoisie did not receive any support from the government.
Peasants belonged to the largest part of the population. All of them were divided:
- on landowners;
- state group;
- specific category and others.
Residents of cities and townspeople accounted for only 1-2 percent of the total population of the state.
Peasant question
Russia of the 19th century is an agricultural country. The predominant number of peasants were ruled by landowners. They were in serfdom. The process of solving the peasant question in the country was significantly different and inferior in its main characteristics to other European states.
Among the reasons that impeded the development of peasant farms, a special place belongs to the personal dependence of the peasants on the landlords. She helped lower their level of interest in the results of her work. This, in turn, significantly reduced the effectiveness of agriculture.
The situation of the landlord peasants
At the beginning of the XIX century there is a significant increase in the role of the money form of the quitrent. Moreover, as a source of quitrents, it was most often not agricultural peasant labor that was used, but his work in a variety of latrines and city factories.
But the main role nevertheless belonged to corvee at that time. There was an active increase in the size of the landlord's plow (from 18 to 49%). This process was most intense in the territory of the chernozem regions of the country. Here, most of the peasants were transferred for a month or stolen from the earth altogether.
Among the reasons that hindered the development of peasant farms in the 19th century is a significant decrease in the amount of land that belonged to this layer of the population. The increase in arrears indicated an absolute crisis in serf farming.
State of peasants belonging to the state
The position of state peasants was rather difficult . But also a little better than the landowners. This plays a significant role among the reasons that impeded the development of peasant farms in 1861.
If we compare the 18th century and the 30s of the 19th century, there is a significant increase in the total monetary taxation of state peasants. But before they had the right to make the purchase and sale of land. Trade at fairs and establish factories. In this case, it was necessary to pay only the necessary taxes and duties. And only a few of the entire mass of peasants of the 19th century owned the right to use these privileges.
This related to the reasons that impeded the development of peasant farms, and negatively influenced the state of affairs in them. Most of them, mainly those who conducted subsistence farming, could not make ends meet. Only representatives of the prosperous elite of state and quitrent villagers had the opportunity to contact the market.
There could be no question of improving agricultural technology and introducing the use of new machines or improving livestock breeds. Because most of all households were on the verge of survival. Therefore, a significant place among the reasons that impeded the development of peasant farms belongs to the low level of agricultural technology. He left the yield at a very low level.
The status of landowners
The processes taking place on landlords' households were no less revealing. Despite the fact that the landlord plowed significantly, productivity did not increase. 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 2 times higher than that of a serf. The increased size of corvée did not provide an increase in the productivity of their work. It is also included in the list of reasons that impeded the development of peasant farms.
The main prerequisites for the abolition of serfdom
The prerequisites for the abolition of serfdom developed over a fairly long time. Immediately on the eve of the 1961 reform, the socio-economic processes of the decomposition of serfdom deepened. At that time, all of its possibilities as an economic system had exhausted itself. The time has come for a deep crisis. This significantly impeded the development of industry, trade and entrepreneurship of the peasants and was included in the list of what causes hindered the development of peasant farms (Grade 8 is the time to study this problem in school).
The crisis state first hit the corvee estates. The level of labor productivity fell 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 riots. In addition, there were massacres of landlords and a variety of everyday forms of struggle. Although the statistical records of these cases were not carried out, 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 coup process. It began with the liberation of the peasants belonging to the landowner from dependence. And the final stage was the small owners, the owners, in which the very peasants had turned. At the same time, almost all the noble estates and large-scale landowners were preserved.