Emancipation of the serfs - Definition and Overview

The Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia performed by tsar Alexander II of Russia amounted to liquidation of serf dependence of Russian peasants.

The legal basis of the reform was tsar's Emancipation Manifesto of March 3 (February 19, O.S.), 1861, accompanied by the set of legislative acts under the general name Regulations Concerning Peasants Leaving Serf Dependence (Положения о крестьянах выходящих из крепостной зависимости, Polozheniya o krestyanakh vykhodyashchikh iz krepostnoi zavisimosti).

The Manifesto granted the full rights of free citizens to serfs and prescribed that peasants would be able to buy the land from the landlords.

See also: Alexander II of Russia: Emancipation of the serfs.

Pre-reform Russia

Emancipation Manifesto

Implementation

Related article

• Stolypin reform

External links

• Emancipation Manifesto, in English (http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dml0www/emancipn.html)
• Emancipation Manifesto, in Russian (http://schoolart.narod.ru/1861.html)

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