Objective reasons for the unwillingness of the Decembrists to free their serfs

Disputes often arise among various experts about why the participants in the anti-government uprising in December 1825 did not want to free their serfs. After all, one of the postulates of the movement was that serfdom was disastrous for the Russian Empire.

In this case, there are two opinions. The former claim that the Decembrists, being representatives of the nobility, did not want to give up a luxurious life and therefore did not free the peasants. Others argue that there were objective reasons for such a decision.

It is worth noting here that both camps are right to some extent.

If we talk about objective reasons, then they really were.

First, the average age of the participants in the uprising was approximately 25 years. Most of them had living parents, who were the owners of the serfs. In other words, many Decembrists simply had no right to dispose of family property.

Secondly, according to the decree of Alexander I of 1803 on “free cultivators”, the landowner could free his serfs, either by releasing them without land, or by giving them a plot, which they would then have to buy out for a certain period. However, this decision no longer suited the peasants themselves.

Finally, thirdly, the Decembrists simply could not free the peasants together with the land. The reason is banal. Many participants in the uprising were military officials of the middle and lower ranks, as well as civilians with salaries that are simply impossible to live on. Thus, it was the income from the estate that "fed" most of the nobles and their families.

However, in favor of those who accuse the Decembrists of hypocrisy, it should be noted that not all nobles were officials with meager salaries and two or three serfs working on a small plot.

For example, a member of the anti-government movement Sergei Muravyov-Apostol owned 3500 serfs, and Sergei Trubetskoy owned 800 peasants. There were other "tycoons" among the Decembrists. Why they did not release at least some of their serfs is a rhetorical question.

Comments

[boris ivanov]

Well, "your own shirt, always closer to the body"!

[Vasilenko Vladimir]

yes, they didn’t give a damn about Russia, they had a goal to take power, in essence they were no different from the young reformers of the 90s, adjusted for the historical period

[Reptiloid]

From word transmission ~~10,5 ----

...... serfs 37 male souls ..... and what would a mother live on ...... and sisters would not get married ....

That is the question ---- how to live? And should I be sorry? But we heard this a few years ago ----- No money, but you hold on!
let them go into business Didn't listen any further! Those who are richer always have a reason there will be

[Gomez]

but the "tsar's satrap" Benckendorff freed his peasants. He released them with land, with initial funds, and also paid taxes for each to the treasury for 5 years. These "young and poor" Decembrists of course had serfs in service: lackeys, coachmen, cooks, maybe they didn’t need land. But no one thought about them either. Excuse me, dads didn’t allow them. But such a step would be, if not a revolution that you usually have to start with yourself, then a revolutionary example for society.

[Dart2027]

Quote from Gomez

but the "royal satrap" Benckendorff freed his peasants. He released them with land, with initial funds, and paid taxes for each to the treasury for 5 years

General Miloradovich, who was killed by the Decembrists, also released his serfs. Yes, he did it before his death, but still.
By the way, the "awakened" Herzen sold all his serfs when he left Russia.

[Stirbjorn]

General Miloradovich, who was killed by the Decembrists, also released his serfs. Yes, he did it before his death, but still.

So he shared their ideas. His murder was largely an accident.

[Dart2027]

Quote: Stirbjorn

So he shared their ideas.

And so he persuaded the soldiers to disperse?

[Stirbjorn]

Quote from Gomez

but the "royal satrap" Benckendorff freed his peasants. He released them with land, with initial funds, and paid taxes for each to the treasury for 5 years.

Yes, this is a bike, there are no documents about this event

[Seamaster]

Did you look for these documents in "Gosuslugi"?

[Senior seaman]

Quote from Gomez

"Tsar's satrap" Benkendorf freed his peasants. He released them with land, with initial funds, and paid taxes for each to the treasury for 5 years.

This is not true, but the protocol of interrogation of the Decembrists allegedly quoted in RuNet, where Benckendorff says this is just an excerpt from a work of art.

[ivan2022]

The discourse is not new ..... read. Indeed, here among the commentators there are only saints and righteous people .... the last shirt will be removed. From myself, of course, and not from the neighbor... Savva Mamontov - gosh, what a bastard he was ... he helped the socialists, but he didn’t give his property to the poor ... wow, scoundrel .... To such a high level, at which fundamental issues are resolved without transition and personality, we have not yet reached regret .... obvious game ....
.
If the Decembrists had abolished serfdom in Russia, they would naturally have to part with their serfs - they understood this perfectly well. But they had to be cretins to do the second first, and then the first.

[Vasilenko Vladimir]

firstly, they did not even think about the plans to abolish serfdom
secondly, they had only one goal - POWER
thirdly, they initially LIED TO THE PEOPLE

[ivan2022]

Quote: Vasilenko Vladimir

firstly, they did not even think about the plans to abolish serfdom
secondly, they had only one goal - POWER
thirdly, they initially LIED TO THE PEOPLE

And you probably sat under their bed and eavesdropped, if you even know what someone was thinking?

These are the descendants of the serfs - thieves and bandits who threatened the country - they are friends, and the Decembrists of the 19th century are personal enemies .. So they got what they deserved in the end.

[Dart2027]

Quote: ivan2022

But they had to be cretins to do the second first, and then the first.

Why?

[ivan2022]

Quote: Dart2027

Quote: ivan2022

But they had to be cretins to do the second first, and then the first.

Why?

The author explained why. Are you able to read?
To release only one's own under feudal laws or on general grounds under republican laws is a completely different matter.

[Ezekiel 25-17]

There is only one reason: the economic structure and the situation in Russia did not contribute to this; many estates were ruined in 1812, and the salary of a guards or army junior officer ensured only a semi-beggarly existence.

[Senior seaman]

Quote: Ezekiel 25-17

many estates were ruined in 1812,

Yeah. In Smolensk province and some part of Moscow. And the estates of Muravyov-Apotol mentioned in the article were located mainly in Poltava.

[Seamaster]

But how, for example, did English or German officers manage at that time without serf slaves? Did everyone own the gold mines as one?

[Human_manoid]

Quote: Dart2027

[....
By the way, the "awakened" Herzen sold all his serfs when he left Russia.

zamtte sold - this has nothing to do with the declared values. Judas.

[ivan2022]

And the nobles nevertheless rehabilitated. There were many of them among the socialists of the 20th century. They, the nobles, brought up raznochintsy. And together with them the USSR was created.

But after 1953, wise peasants, descendants of serfs, came to power ..... Khrushch, Gorbach, the favorite of the people, Borya Yeltsin. These thieved and plundered everything quickly and cleanly ......

Ah, well done, every Pestel and Muravyov there never dreamed of ... They look at us from Heaven and rejoice .... The man got into politics!

[Human_manoid]

You can start reading Lenin. There is no question of any equality. This is just a storyline for social dogma that suffocates society. The real works remained in the archives of the Gosokhra classified as secret. The goal was world domination under the leadership of a single monarch. The same Stalin (Lenin) Klikukhs selected the same corresponding ones. Showmen, since 1917. everywhere the struggle for power - who will be on top of the mountain.

[Seamaster]

But where are they going to eat then, if no one will work hard for them?
"Madame Clicquot" - how much now?
And the oysters from Ostend?
Don't confuse state wool with your own! (With)

[Plowman]

Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko, once a serf himself, when he became a landowner near Kanev, mercilessly exploited his peasants and strictly observed the “right of the first night”, was famous for revelry and was repeatedly sentenced to a fine at the suit of his neighbors.

[Foul skeptic]

Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko, once a serf himself, when he became a landowner near Kanev, mercilessly exploited his peasants and strictly observed the “right of the first night”, was famous for revelry and was repeatedly sentenced to a fine at the suit of his neighbors.

What kind of sketch is this?

[Seamaster]

What kind of landowner was this bukharik? Even the money collected for him by St. Petersburg aristocrats and bohemians to ransom his relatives from slavery, he drank away.
Even the former prostitute Melanya refused to become his legal wife - he will drink everything she earned with her own hands .... well, not with her hands, but still a pity.