The main causes of the Crimean War 1853 1856. Causes, stages and results of the Crimean War

Causes of the Crimean War

The Eastern question has always been relevant for Russia. After the Turks captured Byzantium and established Ottoman rule, Russia remained the most powerful Orthodox state in the world. Nicholas 1, the Russian emperor, sought to strengthen Russian influence in the Middle East and the Balkans by supporting the national liberation struggle of the Balkan peoples for liberation from Muslim rule. But these plans threatened Great Britain and France, who also sought to increase their influence in the Middle East region. Among other things, Napoleon 3, the then Emperor of France, simply needed to switch the attention of his people from his own unpopular person to the more popular war with Russia at that time.

The reason was found quite easily. In 1853, another dispute arose between Catholics and Orthodox Christians over the right to repair the dome of the Bethlehem Church on the site of the Nativity of Christ. The decision had to be made by the Sultan, who, at the instigation of France, decided the issue in favor of the Catholics. The demands of Prince A.S. Menshikov, the Ambassador Extraordinary of Russia about the right of the Russian Emperor to patronize the Orthodox subjects of the Turkish Sultan were rejected, after which Russian troops occupied Wallachia and Moldavia, and the Turks responded to the protest by refusing to leave these principalities, citing their actions as a protectorate over them according to the Treaty of Adrianople.

After some political manipulations on the part of European states in alliance with Turkey, the latter declared war on Russia on October 4 (16), 1853.

At the first stage, while Russia was dealing with only one Ottoman Empire, she won: in the Caucasus (battle of Bashkadyklyar), Turkish troops suffered a crushing defeat, and the destruction of 14 ships of the Turkish fleet near Sinop became one of the brightest victories of the Russian fleet.

Entry of England and France into the Crimean War

And then “Christian” France and England intervened, declaring war on Russia on March 15 (27), 1854 and capturing Evpatoria in early September. The Parisian Cardinal Cibourg described their seemingly impossible alliance as follows: “The war into which France entered into with Russia is not a political war, but a sacred, ... religious war. ... the need to drive away the heresy of Photius... This is the recognized goal of this new crusade...” Russia could not resist the united forces of such powers. Both internal contradictions and insufficient technical equipment of the army played a role. In addition, the Crimean War moved to other directions. Turkey's allies in the North Caucasus - Shamil's troops - were stabbed in the back, Kokand opposed the Russians in Central Asia (however, they were unlucky here - the battle for Fort Perovsky, where there were 10 or more enemies for each Russian, led to the defeat of the Kokand troops) .

There were also battles in the Baltic Sea - on the Alan Islands and the Finnish coast, and in the White Sea - for Kola, Solovetsky Monastery and Arkhangelsk, there was an attempt to take Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. However, all these battles were won by the Russians, which forced England and France to see Russia as a more serious opponent and take the most decisive actions.

Defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855

The outcome of the war was decided by the defeat of Russian troops in the defense of Sevastopol, the siege of which by coalition forces lasted almost a year (349 days). During this time, too many unfavorable events happened for Russia: the talented military leaders Kornilov, Istomin, Totleben, Nakhimov died, and on February 18 (March 2), 1855, the All-Russian Emperor, the Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke Finnish Nicholas 1. On August 27 (September 8), 1855, Malakhov Kurgan was taken, the defense of Sevastopol became meaningless, and the next day the Russians left the city.

Defeat of Russia in the Crimean War of 1853-1856

After the capture of Kinburn by the French in October and the note from Austria, which had hitherto observed armed neutrality together with Prussia, the further conduct of the war by a weakened Russia made no sense.

On March 18 (30), 1856, a peace treaty was signed in Paris, which imposed on Russia the will of the European states and Turkey, which prohibited the Russian state from having a navy, took away the Black Sea bases, prohibited the strengthening of the Åland Islands, abolished the protectorate over Serbia, Wallachia and Moldova, and forced an exchange Kars to Sevastopol and Balaklava, and stipulated the transfer of Southern Bessarabia to the Moldavian Principality (pushing back the Russian borders along the Danube). Russia was exhausted by the Crimean War, its economy was in great disarray.

The Crimean War 1853-1856, also the Eastern War, was a war between the Russian Empire and a coalition consisting of the British, French, Ottoman Empires and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The fighting took place in the Caucasus, in the Danube principalities, in the Baltic, Black, White and Barents seas, as well as in Kamchatka. They reached their greatest tension in Crimea.

TO mid-19th century, the Ottoman Empire was in a state of decline, and only direct military assistance from Russia, England, France and Austria allowed the Sultan to twice prevent the capture of Constantinople by the rebellious vassal Muhammad Ali of Egypt. In addition, the struggle of the Orthodox peoples for liberation from the Ottoman yoke continued (see Eastern Question). These factors led the Russian Emperor Nicholas I in the early 1850s to think about separating the Balkan possessions of the Ottoman Empire, inhabited by Orthodox peoples, which was opposed by Great Britain and Austria. Great Britain, in addition, sought to oust Russia from the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and from Transcaucasia. The Emperor of France Napoleon III, although he did not share the British plans to weaken Russia, considering them excessive, supported the war with Russia as revenge for 1812 and as a means of strengthening personal power.

During a diplomatic conflict with France over control of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Russia, in order to put pressure on Turkey, occupied Moldavia and Wallachia, which were under Russian protectorate under the terms of the Treaty of Adrianople. The refusal of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I to withdraw troops led to the declaration of war on Russia on October 4 (16), 1853 by Turkey, followed by Great Britain and France.

During the ensuing hostilities, the Allies managed, using the technical backwardness of the Russian troops and the indecisiveness of the Russian command, to concentrate quantitatively and qualitatively superior forces of the army and navy on the Black Sea, which allowed them to successfully land an airborne corps in the Crimea, inflict a series of defeats on the Russian army, and after a year siege to capture the southern part of Sevastopol - the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Sevastopol Bay, the location of the Russian fleet, remained under Russian control. On the Caucasian front, Russian troops managed to inflict a number of defeats Turkish army and capture Kars. However, the threat of Austria and Prussia joining the war forced the Russians to accept the peace terms imposed by the Allies. The humiliating Treaty of Paris, signed in 1856, required Russia to return to the Ottoman Empire everything captured in southern Bessarabia, the mouth of the Danube River and the Caucasus; the empire was prohibited from having a combat fleet in the Black Sea, which was declared neutral waters; Russia stopped military construction in the Baltic Sea, and much more.

Results of the war

On February 13 (25), 1856, the Paris Congress began, and on March 18 (30) a peace treaty was signed.

Russia returned the city of Kars with a fortress to the Ottomans, receiving in exchange Sevastopol, Balaklava and other Crimean cities captured from it.

The Black Sea was declared neutral (that is, open to commercial traffic and closed to military vessels in peacetime), with Russia and the Ottoman Empire prohibited from having military fleets and arsenals there.

Navigation along the Danube was declared free, for which the Russian borders were moved away from the river and part of Russian Bessarabia with the mouth of the Danube was annexed to Moldova.

Russia was deprived of the protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia granted to it by the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774 and the exclusive protection of Russia over the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire.

Russia pledged not to build fortifications on the Åland Islands.

During the war, the participants in the anti-Russian coalition failed to achieve all their goals, but managed to prevent Russia from strengthening in the Balkans and deprive it of the Black Sea Fleet.

The Crimean War - events that took place from October 1853 to February 1856. The Crimean War was called due to the fact that the three-year conflict took place in the south former Ukraine, now Russia, which is called the Crimean Peninsula.

The war involved coalition forces of France, Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire, which ultimately defeated Russia. The Crimean War, however, will be remembered by the coalition as a poor organization of the leadership of joint actions, which was epitomized by the defeat of their light cavalry at Balaklava and led to a rather bloody and prolonged conflict.

Expectations that the war would be short did not materialize for France and Great Britain, which were superior in combat experience, equipment and technology, and the initial dominance turned into a long, protracted affair.

Reference. Crimean War - key facts

Background before events

The Napoleonic Wars, which brought unrest on the continent for many years until the Congress of Vienna - from September 1814 to June 1815 - brought much-awaited peace to Europe. However, almost 40 years later, for no apparent reason, some signs of conflict began to appear, which in the future developed into the Crimean War.

Engraving. Battle of Sinop Russian and Turkish squadron

The initial tension arose between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, located in what is now Turkey. Russia, which had been trying for many years before the start of the Crimean War to expand its influence into the southern regions and by that time had already curbed the Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars, looked further to the south. The Crimean territories, which gave Russia access to the warm Black Sea, allowed the Russians to have their own southern fleet, which, unlike the northern ones, did not freeze even in winter. By the middle of the 19th century. There was no longer anything interesting between Russian Crimea and the territory where the Ottoman Turks lived.

Russia, long known in Europe as the protector of all Orthodox Christians, has drawn attention to reverse side the Black Sea, where many true believers remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Royal Russia, which was ruled at that time by Nicholas I, always considered the Ottoman Empire as the sick man of Europe and, moreover, the weakest country with a small territory and lack of funding.

Sevastopol Bay before the attack by coalition forces

While Russia sought to defend the interests of Orthodoxy, France under the rule of Napoleon III sought to impose Catholicism on the holy places of Palestine. So, by 1852 - 1853, tensions between these two countries gradually increased. Until the very end, the Russian Empire hoped that Great Britain would take a neutral position in a possible conflict for control over the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, but it turned out to be wrong.

In July 1853, Russia occupied the Danube principalities as a means of putting pressure on Constantinople (the capital of the Ottoman Empire, now called Istanbul). The Austrians, who were closely connected with these regions as part of their trade, took this step personally. Great Britain, France and Austria, which initially avoided resolving the conflict by force, tried to come to a diplomatic solution to the problem, but the Ottoman Empire, which had the only option left, declared war on Russia on October 23, 1853.

Crimean War

In the first battle with the Ottoman Empire, Russian soldiers easily defeated the Turkish squadron at Sinop in the Black Sea. England and France immediately presented Russia with an ultimatum that if the conflict with the Ottoman Empire did not end and Russia did not leave the territory of the Danube principalities before March 1854, they would come out in support of the Turks.

British soldiers in the Sinope bastion recaptured from the Russians

The ultimatum expired and Great Britain and France remained true to their word, siding with the Ottoman Empire against the Russians. By August 1854, the Anglo-French fleet, consisting of modern metal ships, more technologically advanced than the Russian wooden fleet, already dominated the Baltic Sea to the north.

To the south, the coalitionists gathered a 60 thousand army in Turkey. Under such pressure and fearing a rift with Austria, which could join the coalition against Russia, Nicholas I agreed to leave the Danube principalities.

But already in September 1854, coalition troops crossed the Black Sea and landed in the Crimea for a 12-week attack, the main issue of which was the destruction of the key fortress of the Russian fleet - Sevastopol. In fact, although the military campaign was successful with the complete destruction of the fleet and shipbuilding facilities located in the fortified city, it took 12 months. It was this year, spent in the conflict between Russia and the opposing side, that gave its name to the Crimean War.

Having occupied the heights near the Alma River, the British inspect Sevastopol

While Russia and the Ottoman Empire met in battle several times as early as the beginning of 1854, the first major battle involving the French and British took place only on September 20, 1854. On this day the Battle of the Alma River began. The better-equipped British and French troops, armed with modern weapons, greatly pushed back the Russian army north of Sevastopol.

Nevertheless, these actions did not bring final victory to the Allies. The retreating Russians began to strengthen their positions and separate enemy attacks. One of these attacks took place on October 24, 1854 near Balaklava. The battle was called the Charge of the Light Brigade or the Thin Red Line. Both sides suffered heavy damage during the battle, but the Allied forces noted their disappointment, complete misunderstanding and improper coordination between their various units. Incorrectly occupied positions of well-prepared Allied artillery resulted in heavy losses.

This tendency towards inconsistency was noted throughout the Crimean War. The failed plan for the Battle of Balaklava brought some unrest into the mood of the Allies, which allowed Russian troops to redeploy and concentrate an army near Inkerman that was three times larger than the army of the British and French.

Disposition of troops before the battle near Balaklava

On November 5, 1854, Russian troops tried to lift the siege of Simferopol. An army of almost 42,000 Russian men, armed with whatever, tried to break up the group of allies with several attacks. In foggy conditions, the Russians attacked the French-English army, numbering 15,700 soldiers and officers, with several raids on the enemy. Unfortunately for the Russians, the several-fold excess of numbers did not lead to the desired result. In this battle, the Russians lost 3,286 killed (8,500 wounded), while the British lost 635 killed (1,900 wounded), the French 175 killed (1,600 wounded). Unable to break through the siege of Sevastopol, the Russian troops nevertheless pretty much exhausted the coalition at Inkerman and, given the positive outcome of the Battle of Balaklava, significantly reined in their opponents.

Both sides decided to wait out the rest of the winter and mutually rest. Military cards from those years depicted the conditions in which the British, French, and Russians had to spend the winter. Beggarly conditions, lack of food and disease decimated everyone indiscriminately.

Reference. Crimean War - casualties

In the winter of 1854-1855. Italian troops from the Kingdom of Sardinia act on the side of the Allies against Russia. On February 16, 1855, the Russians tried to take revenge during the liberation of Yevpatoria, but were completely defeated. In the same month, Russian Emperor Nicholas I died of the flu, but in March Alexander II ascended the throne.

At the end of March, coalition troops tried to attack the heights on Malakhov Kurgan. Realizing the futility of their actions, the French decided to change tactics and start the Azov campaign. A flotilla of 60 ships with 15,000 soldiers moved towards Kerch to the east. And again, the lack of a clear organization prevented the rapid achievement of the goal, but nevertheless, in May, several ships of the British and French occupied Kerch.

On the fifth day of massive shelling, Sevastopol looked like ruins, but still held on

Inspired by the success, the coalition troops begin the third shelling of Sevastopol positions. They manage to gain a foothold behind some redoubts and come within shooting distance of the Malakhov Kurgan, where on July 10, fallen by a random shot, the mortally wounded Admiral Nakhimov falls.

After 2 months, Russian troops last time They test their fate, trying to wrest Sevastopol from the besieged ring, and again suffer defeat in the valley of the Chernaya River.

The fall of the defense on Malakhov Kurgan after another bombardment of Sevastopol positions forces the Russians to retreat and surrender the southern part of Sevastopol to the enemy. On September 8, the actual large-scale military operations were completed.

About six months passed until the Treaty of Paris of March 30, 1856 put an end to the war. Russia was forced to return the captured territories to the Ottoman Empire, and the French, British and Turkish-Ottomans left the Black Sea cities of Russia, liberating occupied Balaklava and Sevastopol with an agreement to restore the destroyed infrastructure.

Russia was defeated. The main condition of the Treaty of Paris was the prohibition of the Russian Empire from having a navy in the Black Sea.

The spirit in the troops is beyond description. During the times of ancient Greece there was not so much heroism. I was not able to be in action even once, but I thank God that I saw these people and live in this glorious time.
Lev Tolstoy

The wars of the Russian and Ottoman empires were a common phenomenon in international politics in the 18th-19th centuries. In 1853, the Russian Empire of Nicholas 1 entered into another war, which went down in history as the Crimean War of 1853-1856, and ended in the defeat of Russia. In addition, this war showed the strong resistance of the leading countries of Western Europe (France and Great Britain) to the strengthening of Russia’s role in Eastern Europe, in particular in the Balkans. The lost war also showed Russia itself problems in domestic policy, which led to many problems. Despite victories in the initial stage of 1853-1854, as well as the capture of the key Turkish fortress of Kars in 1855, Russia lost the most important battles on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula. This article describes the causes, course, main results and historical significance in short story about the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

Reasons for the aggravation of the Eastern Question

By the Eastern Question, historians understand a number of controversial issues in Russian-Turkish relations, which at any moment could lead to conflict. The main problems of the Eastern question, which became the basis for the future war, are the following:

The loss of Crimea and the northern Black Sea region to the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 18th century constantly stimulated Turkey to start a war in the hope of regaining the territories. Thus began the wars of 1806-1812 and 1828-1829. However, as a result, Turkey lost Bessarabia and part of the territory in the Caucasus, which further increased the desire for revenge.
Belonging to the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. Russia demanded that these straits be opened for the Black Sea Fleet, while the Ottoman Empire (under pressure from Western European countries) ignored these Russian demands.
The presence in the Balkans, as part of the Ottoman Empire, of Slavic Christian peoples who fought for their independence. Russia provided them with support, thereby causing a wave of indignation among the Turks about Russian interference in the internal affairs of another state.

An additional factor that intensified the conflict was the desire of Western European countries (Britain, France, and Austria) not to allow Russia into the Balkans, as well as to block its access to the straits. For this reason, countries were ready to provide support to Turkey in a potential war with Russia.

The reason for the war and its beginning

These problematic issues were brewing throughout the late 1840s and early 1850s. In 1853, the Turkish Sultan handed over the Bethlehem Temple of Jerusalem (then the territory of the Ottoman Empire) to the administration catholic church. This caused a wave of indignation among the highest Orthodox hierarchy. Nicholas 1 decided to take advantage of this, using the religious conflict as a reason to attack Turkey. Russia demanded that the temple be transferred to the Orthodox Church, and at the same time also open the straits to the Black Sea Fleet. Türkiye refused. In June 1853, Russian troops crossed the border of the Ottoman Empire and entered the territory of the Danube principalities dependent on it.

Nicholas 1 hoped that France was too weak after the revolution of 1848, and Britain could be appeased by transferring Cyprus and Egypt to it in the future. However, the plan did not work; European countries called on the Ottoman Empire to act, promising it financial and military assistance. In October 1853, Türkiye declared war on Russia. This is how, to put it briefly, the Crimean War of 1853-1856 began. In the history of Western Europe, this war is called the Eastern War.

Progress of the war and main stages

The Crimean War can be divided into 2 stages according to the number of participants in the events of those years. These are the stages:

October 1853 – April 1854. During these six months, the war was between the Ottoman Empire and Russia (without direct intervention from other states). There were three fronts: Crimean (Black Sea), Danube and Caucasian.
April 1854 - February 1856. British and French troops enter the war, which expands the theater of operations and also marks a turning point in the course of the war. The Allied forces were technically superior to the Russians, which was the reason for the changes during the war.

As for specific battles, the following key battles can be identified: for Sinop, for Odessa, for the Danube, for the Caucasus, for Sevastopol. There were other battles, but the ones listed above are the most basic. Let's look at them in more detail.

Battle of Sinop (November 1853)

The battle took place in the harbor of the city of Sinop in Crimea. The Russian fleet under the command of Nakhimov completely defeated the Turkish fleet of Osman Pasha. This battle was perhaps the last major world battle on sailing ships. This victory significantly raised the morale of the Russian army and inspired hope for an early victory in the war.

Map of the Sinopo naval battle November 18, 1853

Bombing of Odessa (April 1854)

At the beginning of April 1854, the Ottoman Empire sent a squadron of the Franco-British fleet through its straits, which quickly headed for the Russian port and shipbuilding cities: Odessa, Ochakov and Nikolaev.

On April 10, 1854, the bombardment of Odessa, the main southern port of the Russian Empire, began. After a rapid and intense bombardment, it was planned to land troops in the northern Black Sea region, which would force the withdrawal of troops from the Danube principalities, as well as weaken the defense of Crimea. However, the city survived several days of shelling. Moreover, the defenders of Odessa were able to deliver precise strikes on the Allied fleet. The plan of the Anglo-French troops failed. The Allies were forced to retreat towards Crimea and begin battles for the peninsula.

Fighting on the Danube (1853-1856)

It was with the entry of Russian troops into this region that the Crimean War of 1853-1856 began. After success in the Battle of Sinop, another success awaited Russia: the troops completely crossed over to the right bank of the Danube, an attack was opened on Silistria and further on Bucharest. However, the entry of England and France into the war complicated the Russian offensive. On June 9, 1854, the siege of Silistria was lifted, and Russian troops returned to the left bank of the Danube. By the way, Austria also entered the war against Russia on this front, which was worried about the rapid advance of the Romanov Empire into Wallachia and Moldavia.

In July 1854, a huge landing of the British and French armies (according to various sources, from 30 to 50 thousand) landed near the city of Varna (modern Bulgaria). The troops were supposed to enter the territory of Bessarabia, displacing Russia from this region. However, a cholera epidemic broke out in the French army, and the British public demanded that the army leadership give priority to the Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea.

Fighting in the Caucasus (1853-1856)

An important battle took place in July 1854 near the village of Kyuryuk-Dara (Western Armenia). The combined Turkish-British forces were defeated. At this stage, the Crimean War was still successful for Russia.

Another important battle in this region took place in June–November 1855. Russian troops decided to attack the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, the Karsu fortress, so that the Allies would send some troops to this region, thereby slightly easing the siege of Sevastopol. Russia won the Battle of Kars, but this happened after the news of the fall of Sevastopol, so this battle had little impact on the outcome of the war. Moreover, according to the results of the “peace” signed later, the Kars fortress was returned to the Ottoman Empire. However, as the peace negotiations showed, the capture of Kars still played a role. But more on that later.

Defense of Sevastopol (1854-1855)

The most heroic and tragic event The Crimean War is, of course, the battle for Sevastopol. In September 1855, French-English troops captured the last point of defense of the city - Malakhov Kurgan. The city survived an 11-month siege, but as a result it was surrendered to the Allied forces (among which the Sardinian kingdom appeared). This defeat was key and provided the impetus for ending the war. From the end of 1855, intensive negotiations began, in which Russia had practically no strong arguments. It was clear that the war was lost.

Other battles in Crimea (1854-1856)

In addition to the siege of Sevastopol, several more battles took place on the territory of Crimea in 1854-1855, which were aimed at “unblocking” Sevastopol:

Battle of Alma (September 1854).
Battle of Balaklava (October 1854).
Battle of Inkerman (November 1854).
Attempt to liberate Yevpatoria (February 1855).
Battle of the Chernaya River (August 1855).

All these battles ended in unsuccessful attempts to lift the siege of Sevastopol.

"Distant" battles

The main fighting of the war took place near the Crimean Peninsula, which gave the name to the war. There were also battles in the Caucasus, on the territory of modern Moldova, as well as in the Balkans. However, not many people know that battles between rivals also took place in remote regions of the Russian Empire. Here are some examples:

Petropavlovsk defense. The battle, which took place on the territory of the Kamchatka Peninsula between the combined Franco-British troops on one side and the Russian ones on the other. The battle took place in August 1854. This battle was a consequence of Britain's victory over China during the Opium Wars. As a result, Britain wanted to increase its influence in eastern Asia by displacing Russia. In total, the Allied troops launched two assaults, both of which ended in failure. Russia withstood the Petropavlovsk defense.
Arctic company. The operation of the British fleet to attempt to blockade or capture Arkhangelsk, carried out in 1854-1855. The main battles took place in the waters Barents Sea. The British also launched a bombardment of the Solovetsky Fortress, as well as the robbery of Russian merchant ships in the White and Barents Seas.

Results and historical significance of the war

Nicholas 1 died in February 1855. The task of the new emperor, Alexander 2, was to end the war, and with minimal damage to Russia. In February 1856, the Paris Congress began its work. Russia was represented there by Alexey Orlov and Philip Brunnov. Since neither side saw the point in continuing the war, already on March 6, 1856, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed, as a result of which the Crimean War was completed.

The main terms of the Treaty of Paris 6 were as follows:

Russia returned the Karsu fortress to Turkey in exchange for Sevastopol and other captured cities of the Crimean peninsula.
Russia was prohibited from having a Black Sea fleet. The Black Sea was declared neutral.
The Bosporus and Dardanelles straits were declared closed to the Russian Empire.
Part of Russian Bessarabia was transferred to the Principality of Moldova, the Danube ceased to be a border river, so navigation was declared free.
On the Allad Islands (an archipelago in the Baltic Sea), Russia was prohibited from building military and (or) defensive fortifications.

As for losses, the number of Russian citizens who died in the war is 47.5 thousand people. Britain lost 2.8 thousand, France - 10.2, Ottoman Empire - more than 10 thousand. The Sardinian kingdom lost 12 thousand military personnel. The number of deaths on the Austrian side is unknown, perhaps because it was not officially at war with Russia.

In general, the war showed the backwardness of Russia compared to European countries, especially in terms of the economy (the completion of the industrial revolution, the construction of railways, the use of steamships). After this defeat, the reforms of Alexander 2 began. In addition, the desire for revenge had been brewing in Russia for a long time, which resulted in another war with Turkey in 1877-1878. But this is a completely different story, and the Crimean War of 1853-1856 was completed and Russia was defeated in it.

The Eastern or Crimean direction (including also the territory of the Balkans) was a priority in the Russian foreign policy XVIII-XIX centuries Russia's main rival in this region was Türkiye, or the Ottoman Empire. In the 18th century, the government of Catherine II managed to achieve significant success in this region, Alexander I was also lucky, but their successor Nicholas I had to face great difficulties, since European powers became interested in Russia’s successes in this region.

They feared that if the empire's successful eastern foreign policy continued, then Western Europe will lose complete control over the Black Sea straits. How the Crimean War of 1853–1856 began and ended, briefly below.

Assessment of the political situation in the region for the Russian Empire

Before the war of 1853−1856. The Empire's policy in the East was quite successful.

With Russian support, Greece gains independence (1830).
Russia receives the right to freely use the Black Sea straits.
Russian diplomats are seeking autonomy for Serbia, and then a protectorate over the Danube principalities.
After the war between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, Russia, which supported the Sultanate, seeks from Turkey a promise to close the Black Sea straits to any ships other than Russian ones in the event of any military threat (the secret protocol was in force until 1941).

The Crimean or Eastern War, which broke out in last years The reign of Nicholas II became one of the first conflicts between Russia and a coalition of European countries. The main reason The war was a mutual desire of the opposing sides to strengthen themselves on the Balkan Peninsula and the Black Sea.

Basic information about the conflict

The Eastern War is a complex military conflict, in which all the leading powers of Western Europe were involved. Statistics are therefore very important. The prerequisites, causes and general reason for the conflict require detailed consideration, the progress of the conflict is rapid, while the fighting took place both on land and at sea.

Statistical data

Participants in the conflict		Numerical ratio		Geography of combat operations (map)
Russian empire	Ottoman Empire	Forces of the Russian Empire (army and navy) - 755 thousand people (+Bulgarian Legion, +Greek Legion)	Coalition forces (army and navy) - 700 thousand people	The fighting took place: on the territory of the Danube principalities (Balkans); in Crimea; on the Black, Azov, Baltic, White and Barents Seas; in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. Military operations also took place in the following waters: Black Sea; Azov Sea; Mediterranean Sea; Baltic Sea; Pacific Ocean.
Greece (until 1854)	French Empire
Megrelian Principality	British Empire
Abkhazian principality (part of the Abkhazians waged a guerrilla war against the coalition troops)	Sardinian Kingdom
	Austro-Hungarian Empire
	North Caucasian Imamate (until 1855)
	Abkhazian Principality
	Circassian Principality
Some of the leading countries in Western Europe, decided to refrain from direct participation in the conflict. But at the same time they took a position of armed neutrality against the Russian Empire.

Note! Historians and researchers of the military conflict noted that from a logistical point of view, the Russian army was significantly inferior to the coalition forces. The command staff was also inferior in training to the command staff of the combined enemy forces. Generals and officials Nicholas I did not want to accept this fact and was not even fully aware of it.

Prerequisites, reasons and reason for the start of the war

Prerequisites for war	Causes of the war	Reason for war
1.Weakening of the Ottoman Empire: liquidation of the Ottoman Janissary Corps (1826); liquidation of the Turkish fleet (1827, after the Battle of Navarino); occupation of Algeria by France (1830); Egypt's refusal of historical vassalage to the Ottomans (1831).	1. Britain needed to bring the weak Ottoman Empire under its control and through it control the operation of the straits.	The reason was the conflict around the Church of the Nativity of Christ located in Bethlehem, in which Orthodox monks conducted services. In fact, they were given the right to speak on behalf of Christians all over the world, which, naturally, Catholics did not like. The Vatican and French Emperor Napoleon III demanded that the keys be handed over to Catholic monks. The Sultan agreed, which infuriated Nicholas I. This event marked the beginning of an open military conflict.
2. Strengthening the positions of Britain and France in the Black and Mediterranean seas after the introduction of the provisions of the London Convention on the Straits and after the signing of trade agreements between London and Istanbul, which almost completely subordinated the economy of the Ottoman Empire to Britain.	2. France wanted to distract citizens from internal problems and refocus their attention on the war.
3. Strengthening the position of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus and, in connection with this, complicating relations with Britain, which has always sought to strengthen its influence in the Middle East.	3. Austria-Hungary did not want the situation in the Balkans to be undermined. This would lead to a crisis in the most multinational and multi-religious empire.
4. France, less interested in affairs in the Balkans than Austria, thirsted for revenge after the defeat in 1812-1814. This desire of France was not taken into account by Nikolai Pavlovich, who believed that the country would not go to war because of the internal crisis and revolutions.	4. Russia wanted further strengthening in the Balkans and in the Black and Mediterranean seas.
5. Austria did not want Russia to strengthen its position in the Balkans and, without entering into an open conflict, continuing to work together in the Holy Alliance, in every possible way prevented the formation of new, independent states in the region.
Each of the European states, including Russia, had its own reasons for unleashing and participating in the conflict. Everyone pursued their own specific goals and geopolitical interests. For European countries, the complete weakening of Russia was important, but this was only possible if it fought against several opponents at once (for some reason, European politicians did not take into account Russia’s experience in waging similar wars).

Note! To weaken Russia, the European powers, even before the start of the war, developed the so-called Palmerston Plan (Palmerston was the leader of British diplomacy) and provided for the actual separation of part of the lands from Russia:

Combat actions and reasons for defeat

Crimean War (table): date, events, outcome

Date (chronology)	Event/result ( summary events that unfolded in different territories and waters)
September 1853	Severance of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire. Entry of Russian troops into the Danube principalities; an attempt to reach an agreement with Turkey (the so-called Vienna Note).
October 1853	The Sultan's introduction of amendments to the Vienna Note (under pressure from England), Emperor Nicholas I's refusal to sign it, Turkey's declaration of war on Russia.
I period (stage) of the war - October 1853 - April 1854: opponents - Russia and the Ottoman Empire, without the intervention of European powers; fronts - Black Sea, Danube and Caucasus.
18 (30).11.1853	The defeat of the Turkish fleet in Sinop Bay. This defeat of Turkey became the formal reason for England and France to enter the war.
Late 1853 - early 1854	The landing of Russian troops on the right bank of the Danube, the beginning of the offensive on Silistria and Bucharest (the Danube campaign, in which Russia planned to win, as well as gain a foothold in the Balkans and indicate peace terms to the Sultanate).
February 1854	Nicholas I's attempt would turn to Austria and Prussia for help, who rejected his proposals (as well as the proposal for an alliance with England) and concluded a secret treaty against Russia. The goal is to weaken its position in the Balkans.
March 1854	England and France declare war on Russia (the war has ceased to be simply Russian-Turkish).
II period of the war - April 1854 - February 1856: opponents - Russia and the coalition; fronts - Crimean, Azov, Baltic, White Sea, Caucasian.
10. 04. 1854	The bombing of Odessa by coalition troops begins. The goal is to force Russia to withdraw troops from the territory of the Danube principalities. Unsuccessfully, the Allies were forced to transfer troops to Crimea and expand the Crimean Company.
09. 06. 1854	The entry of Austria-Hungary into the war and, as a consequence, the lifting of the siege from Silistria and the withdrawal of troops to the left bank of the Danube.
June 1854	The beginning of the siege of Sevastopol.
19 (31). 07. 1854	Take Russian troops Turkish fortress Bayazet in the Caucasus.
July 1854	Capture of Evpatoria by French troops.
July 1854	The British and French land on the territory of modern Bulgaria (the city of Varna). The goal is to force the Russian Empire to withdraw troops from Bessarabia. Failure due to the outbreak of a cholera epidemic in the army. Transfer of troops to Crimea.
July 1854	Battle of Kyuryuk-Dara. Anglo-Turkish troops tried to strengthen the position of the coalition in the Caucasus. Failure. Victory for Russia.
July 1854	The landing of the Anglo-French troops on the Åland Islands, the military garrison of which was attacked.
August 1854	Anglo-French landing on Kamchatka. The goal is to oust the Russian Empire from the Asian region. Siege of Petropavlovsk, Petropavlovsk defense. Failure of the coalition.
September 1854	Battle on the river Alma. Defeat of Russia. Complete blockade Sevastopol from land and sea.
September 1854	An attempt to capture the Ochakov fortress (Sea of Azov) by an Anglo-French landing party. Unsuccessful.
October 1854	Battle of Balaklava. An attempt to lift the siege from Sevastopol.
November 1854	Battle of Inkerman. The goal is to change the situation on the Crimean Front and help Sevastopol. A severe defeat for Russia.
Late 1854 - early 1855	Arctic Company of the British Empire. The goal is to weaken Russia’s position in the White and Barents Seas. An attempt to take Arkhangelsk and the Solovetsky Fortress. Failure. Successful actions of Russian naval commanders and defenders of the city and fortress.
February 1855	Attempt to liberate Yevpatoria.
May 1855	Capture of Kerch by Anglo-French troops.
May 1855	Provocations of the Anglo-French fleet at Kronstadt. The goal is to lure Russian fleet to the Baltic Sea. Unsuccessful.
July-November 1855	Siege of the Kars fortress by Russian troops. The goal is to weaken Turkey's position in the Caucasus. The capture of the fortress, but after the surrender of Sevastopol.
August 1855	Battle on the river Black. Another unsuccessful attempt by Russian troops to lift the siege from Sevastopol.
August 1855	Bombing of Sveaborg by coalition troops. Unsuccessful.
September 1855	Capture of Malakhov Kurgan by French troops. Surrender of Sevastopol (in fact, this event is the end of the war, it will end in just a month).
October 1855	Capture of the Kinburn fortress by coalition troops, attempts to capture Nikolaev. Unsuccessful.

Note! The most fierce battles of the Eastern War took place near Sevastopol. The city and strongholds around it were subjected to large-scale bombing 6 times:

The defeats of the Russian troops are not a sign that the commanders-in-chief, admirals and generals made mistakes. In the Danube direction, the troops were commanded by a talented commander - Prince M. D. Gorchakov, in the Caucasus - N. N. Muravyov, the Black Sea Fleet was led by Vice Admiral P. S. Nakhimov, and the defense of Petropavlovsk was led by V. S. Zavoiko. These are the heroes of the Crimean War(an interesting message or report can be made about them and their exploits), but even their enthusiasm and strategic genius did not help in the war against superior enemy forces.

The Sevastopol disaster led to the fact that the new Russian emperor, Alexander II, foreseeing an extremely negative result of further hostilities, decided to begin diplomatic negotiations for peace.

Alexander II, like no one else, understood the reasons for Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War):

foreign policy isolation;
a clear superiority of enemy forces on land and at sea;
backwardness of the empire in military-technical and strategic terms;
deep crisis in the economic sphere.

Results of the Crimean War 1853−1856

Treaty of Paris

The mission was headed by Prince A.F. Orlov, who was one of the outstanding diplomats of his time and believed that Russia could not lose in the diplomatic field. After long negotiations that took place in Paris, 18 (30).03. 1856 a peace treaty was signed between Russia on the one hand, and the Ottoman Empire, coalition forces, Austria and Prussia on the other. The terms of the peace treaty were as follows:

Foreign policy and domestic political consequences of defeat

The foreign policy and domestic political results of the war were also disastrous, although somewhat softened by the efforts of Russian diplomats. It was obvious that

Significance of the Crimean War

But, despite the severity of the political situation inside and outside the country, after the defeat, it was the Crimean War of 1853-1856. and the defense of Sevastopol became the catalysts that led to the reforms of the 60s of the 19th century, including the abolition of serfdom in Russia.

Crimean War.

Causes of the war: in 1850, a conflict began between France, the Ottoman Empire and Russia, the reason for which was disputes between the Catholic and Orthodox clergy regarding the rights to the Holy Places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nicholas I was counting on the support of England and Austria, but he miscalculated.

Progress of the war: in 1853, Russian troops were introduced into Moldova and Wallachia, met with a negative reaction from Austria, which took a position of unfriendly neutrality, demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops and moved its army to the border with Russia. In October 1853, the Turkish Sultan declared war on Russia.

The first stage of the war - November 1853 - April 1854: Russian-Turkish campaign. November 1853 – Battle of Sinop. Admiral Nakhimov defeated the Turkish fleet, and in parallel there were Russian actions in the Caucasus. England and France declared war on Russia. The Anglo-French squadron bombarded Russian territories (Kronstadt, Sveaborg, Solovetsky Monastery, Kamchatka).

Second stage: April 1854 - February 1856 Russia against the coalition of European powers. September 1854 - the allies began landing in the Evpatoria area. Battles on the river Alma in September 1854, the Russians lost. Under the command of Menshikov, the Russians approached Bakhchisarai. Sevastopol (Kornilov and Nakhimov) was preparing for defense. October 1854 - the defense of Sevastopol began. The main part of the Russian army undertook diversionary operations (the battle of Inkerman in November 1854, the offensive at Yevpatoriya in February 1855, the battle on the Black River in August 1855), but they were not successful. August 1855: Sevastopol was captured. At the same time, in Transcaucasia, Russian troops managed to take a strong Turkish fortress Kars. Negotiations began. March 1856 - Paris peace. Part of Bessarabia was torn away from Russia; it lost the right to patronize Serbia, Moldova and Wallachia. The most important thing is the neutralization of the Black Sea: both Russia and Turkey were prohibited from keeping a navy in the Black Sea.

There is an acute internal political crisis in Russia, due to which reforms have begun.

39. Economic, socio-political development of Russia at the turn of the 50-60s. XiX century Peasant reform of 1861, its content and significance.

In the 50s, the need and hardships of the masses noticeably worsened, this happened under the influence of the consequences of the Crimean War, the increasing frequency of natural disasters (epidemics, crop failures and, as a consequence, famine), as well as the increasing oppression from the landowners and the state in the pre-reform period. Recruitment, which reduced the number of workers by 10%, and requisitions of food, horses and fodder had a particularly severe impact on the economy of the Russian village. The situation was aggravated by the arbitrariness of the landowners, who systematically reduced the size of peasant plots, transferred peasants to households (and thus deprived them of land), and resettled serfs to worse lands. These acts assumed such proportions that the government, shortly before the reform, was forced to impose a ban on such actions by special decrees.

The response to the worsening situation of the masses was the peasant movement, which in its intensity, scale and forms was noticeably different from the protests of previous decades and caused great concern in St. Petersburg.

This period was characterized by mass escapes of landowner peasants who wanted to enlist in the militia and thus hoped to gain freedom (1854-1855), unauthorized resettlement to war-ravaged Crimea (1856), a “sober” movement directed against the feudal system of wine farming (1858-1859 ), unrest and escapes of workers during the construction of railways (Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod, Volga-Don, 1859-1860). It was also restless on the outskirts of the empire. In 1858, Estonian peasants took up arms in their hands (“Machtra War”). Major peasant unrest broke out in 1857 in Western Georgia.

After the defeat in the Crimean War, in the context of a growing revolutionary upsurge, the crisis at the top intensified, manifested, in particular, in the intensification of the liberal opposition movement among part of the nobility, dissatisfied with military failures, the backwardness of Russia, who understood the need for political and social change. “Sevastopol hit stagnant minds,” wrote the famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky about this time. The “censorship terror” introduced by Emperor Nicholas I after his death in February 1855 was virtually swept away by a wave of glasnost, which made it possible to openly discuss the most pressing problems facing the country.

There was no unity in government circles on the issue of the future fate of Russia. Two opposing groups formed here: the old conservative bureaucratic elite (head of the III department V.A. Dolgorukov, Minister of State Property M.N. Muravyov, etc.), which actively opposed the implementation of bourgeois reforms, and supporters of reforms (Minister of Internal Affairs S.S. Lanskoy, Ya.I. Rostovtsev, brothers N.A. and D.A. Milyutin).

The interests of the Russian peasantry were reflected in the ideology of the new generation of revolutionary intelligentsia.

In the 50s, two centers were formed that led the revolutionary democratic movement in the country. The first (emigrant) was headed by A.I. Herzen, who founded the “Free Russian Printing House” in London (1853). Since 1855, he began publishing the non-periodical collection “Polar Star”, and since 1857, together with N.P. Ogarev, the newspaper “Bell”, which enjoyed enormous popularity. Herzen's publications formulated a program of social transformation in Russia, which included the liberation of peasants from serfdom with land and for ransom. Initially, the publishers of Kolokol believed in the liberal intentions of the new Emperor Alexander II (1855-1881) and placed certain hopes on wisely carried out reforms “from above.” However, as projects for the abolition of serfdom were being prepared, illusions dissipated, and a call to fight for land and democracy was heard loudly on the pages of London publications.

The second center arose in St. Petersburg. It was headed by leading employees of the Sovremennik magazine N.G. Chernyshevsky and N.A. Dobrolyubov, around whom like-minded people from the revolutionary democratic camp rallied (M.L. Mikhailov, N.A. Serno-Solovyevich, N.V. Shelgunov and others). The censored articles of N.G. Chernyshevsky were not as frank as the publications of A.I. Herzen, but they were distinguished by their consistency. N.G. Chernyshevsky believed that when the peasants were liberated, the land should be transferred to them without ransom; the liquidation of autocracy in Russia would occur through revolutionary means.

On the eve of the abolition of serfdom, a demarcation emerged between the revolutionary-democratic and liberal camps. Liberals, who recognized the need for reforms “from above,” saw in them, first of all, an opportunity to prevent a revolutionary explosion in the country.

The Crimean War presented the government with a choice: either to preserve the serfdom that existed in the country and, as a consequence of this, ultimately, as a result of a political, financial and economic catastrophe, lose not only the prestige and position of a great power, but also threaten the existence of the autocracy in Russia, or to carry out bourgeois reforms, the primary of which was the abolition of serfdom.

Having chosen the second path, the government of Alexander II in January 1857 created a Secret Committee “to discuss measures to organize the life of the landowner peasants.” Somewhat earlier, in the summer of 1856, in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, comrade (deputy) minister A.I. Levshin developed a government program for peasant reform, which, although it gave serfs civil rights, retained all the land in the ownership of the landowner and provided the latter with patrimonial power on the estate. In this case, the peasants would receive allotment land for use, for which they would have to perform fixed duties. This program was set out in imperial rescripts (instructions), first addressed to the Vilna and St. Petersburg governors-general, and then sent to other provinces. In accordance with the rescripts, special committees began to be created in the provinces to consider the case locally, and the preparation of the reform became public. The Secret Committee was renamed the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs. The Zemstvo Department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (N.A. Milyutin) began to play a significant role in preparing the reform.

Within the provincial committees there was a struggle between liberals and conservatives over the forms and extent of concessions to the peasantry. Reform projects prepared by K.D. Kavelin, A.I. Koshelev, M.P. Posen. Yu.F. Samarin, A.M. Unkovsky, differed in the political views of the authors and economic conditions. Thus, the landowners of the black earth provinces, who owned expensive land and kept peasants in corvee labor, wanted to retain the maximum possible amount of land and retain workers. In the industrial non-black earth obroch provinces, during the reform, landowners wanted to receive significant funds to rebuild their farms in a bourgeois manner.

The prepared proposals and programs were submitted for discussion to the so-called Editorial Commissions. The struggle over these proposals took place both in these commissions and during the consideration of the project in the Main Committee and in the State Council. But, despite the existing differences of opinion, in all these projects it was about carrying out peasant reform in the interests of the landowners by maintaining landownership and political dominance in the hands of the Russian nobility, “Everything that could be done to protect the benefits of the landowners has been done,” - Alexander II stated in the State Council. The final version of the reform project, which had undergone a number of changes, was signed by the emperor on February 19, 1861, and on March 5, the most important documents regulating the implementation of the reform were published: “Manifesto” and “General Provisions on Peasants Emerging from Serfdom.”

In accordance with these documents, peasants received personal freedom and could now freely dispose of their property, engage in commercial and industrial activities, buy and sell real estate, enter the service, receive an education, and conduct their family affairs.

The landowner still owned all the land, but part of it, usually a reduced land plot and the so-called “estate settlement” (a plot with a hut, outbuildings, vegetable gardens, etc.), he was obliged to transfer to the peasants for use. Thus, Russian peasants received liberation with land, but they could use this land for a certain fixed rent or serving corvee. The peasants could not give up these plots for 9 years. For complete liberation, they could buy the estate and, by agreement with the landowner, the allotment, after which they became peasant owners. Until this time, a “temporarily obligated position” was established.

The new sizes of allotments and payments of peasants were recorded in special documents, “statutory charters”. which were compiled for each village over a two-year period. The amounts of these duties and allotment land were determined by “Local Regulations”. Thus, according to the “Great Russian” local situation, the territory of 35 provinces was distributed into 3 stripes: non-chernozem, chernozem and steppe, which were divided into “localities”. In the first two stripes, depending on local conditions, “higher” and “lower” (1/3 of the “highest”) allotment sizes were established, and in the steppe zone - one “decreed” allotment. If the pre-reform size of the allotment exceeded the “highest” one, then pieces of land could be produced, but if the allotment was less than the “lowest” one, then the landowner had to either cut off the land or reduce duties. Cut-offs were also made in some other cases, for example, when the owner, as a result of allocating land to the peasants, had less than 1/3 of the total land of the estate left. Among the cut-off lands there were often the most valuable areas (forest, meadows, arable land); in some cases, landowners could demand that peasant estates be moved to new locations. As a result of the post-reform land management, stripes became characteristic of the Russian village.

Statutory charters were usually concluded with an entire rural society, the “world” (community), which was supposed to ensure mutual responsibility for the payment of duties.

The “temporarily obligated” position of the peasants ceased after the transfer to redemption, which became mandatory only 20 years later (from 1883). The ransom was carried out with the assistance of the government. The basis for calculating redemption payments was not the market price of land, but the assessment of duties that were feudal in nature. When the deal was concluded, the peasants paid 20% of the amount, and the remaining 80% was paid to the landowners by the state. The peasants had to repay the loan provided by the state annually in the form of redemption payments for 49 years, while, of course, accrued interest was taken into account. Redemption payments placed a heavy burden on peasant farms. The cost of the purchased land significantly exceeded its market price. During the redemption operation, the government also tried to get back the huge sums that were provided to landowners in the pre-reform years on the security of land. If the estate was mortgaged, then the amount of the debt was deducted from the amounts provided to the landowner. The landowners received only a small part of the redemption amount in cash; special interest notes were issued for the rest.

It should be borne in mind that in modern historical literature, issues related to the implementation of the reform are not fully developed. There are different points of view about the degree of transformation during the reform of the system of peasant plots and payments (currently these studies are being carried out on a large scale using computers).

The reform of 1861 in the internal provinces was followed by the abolition of serfdom on the outskirts of the empire - in Georgia (1864-1871), Armenia and Azerbaijan (1870-1883), which was often carried out with even less consistency and with greater preservation of feudal remnants. Appanage peasants (owned royal family) received personal freedom based on decrees of 1858 and 1859. “By the Regulations of June 26, 1863.” the land structure and conditions for the transition to redemption in the appanage village were determined, which was carried out during 1863-1865. In 1866, a reform was carried out in the state village. The purchase of land by state peasants was completed only in 1886.

Thus, peasant reforms in Russia actually abolished serfdom and marked the beginning of the development of the capitalist formation in Russia. However, while maintaining landownership and feudal remnants in the countryside, they were unable to resolve all the contradictions, which ultimately led to a further intensification of the class struggle.

The response of the peasantry to the publication of the “Manifesto” was a massive explosion of discontent in the spring of 1861. The peasants protested against the continuation of the corvee system and the payment of dues and plots of land. The peasant movement acquired a particularly large scale in the Volga region, Ukraine and the central black earth provinces.

Russian society was shocked by the events in the villages of Bezdna (Kazan province) and Kandeevka (Penza province) that took place in April 1863. Peasants outraged by the reform were shot there by military teams. In total, over 1,100 peasant unrest occurred in 1861. Only by drowning the protests in blood did the government manage to reduce the intensity of the struggle. The disunited, spontaneous and devoid of political consciousness protest of the peasants was doomed to failure. Already in 1862-1863. the scope of the movement was significantly reduced. In the following years it declined sharply (in 1864 there were fewer than 100 performances).

In 1861-1863 During the period of intensification of the class struggle in the countryside, the activity of democratic forces in the country intensified. After the suppression of peasant uprisings, the government, feeling more confident, attacked the democratic camp with repression.

Peasant reform of 1861, its content and significance.

The peasant reform of 1861, which abolished serfdom, marked the beginning of the capitalist formation in the country.

Main reason Peasant reform resulted in a crisis of the feudal-serf system. Crimean War 1853–1856 revealed the rottenness and impotence of serf Russia. In the context of peasant unrest, which especially intensified during the war, tsarism moved to abolish serfdom.

In January 1857 A Secret Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Emperor Alexander II “to discuss measures to organize the life of the landowner peasants,” which at the beginning of 1858. was reorganized into the Main Committee for Peasant Affairs. At the same time, provincial committees were formed, which began developing projects for peasant reform, considered by the Editorial Commissions.

February 19, 1861 In St. Petersburg, Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the “Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom,” consisting of 17 legislative acts.

The main act is " General position about peasants emerging from serfdom" - contained the main conditions of the peasant reform:

1. peasants received personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property;

2. landowners retained ownership of all the lands they owned, but were obliged to provide the peasants with a “homestead residence” and a field allotment “to ensure their livelihood and to fulfill their duties to the government and the landowner”;

3. For the use of allotment land, peasants had to serve corvee or pay quitrent and did not have the right to refuse it for 9 years. The size of the field allotment and duties should have been recorded in the statutory charters of 1861, which were drawn up by landowners for each estate and verified by the peace intermediaries;

-peasants were given the right to buy out an estate and, by agreement with the landowner, a field allotment; until this was done, they were called temporarily obligated peasants.

The “general situation” determined the structure, rights and responsibilities of peasant public (rural and volost) government bodies and the court.

4 “Local Regulations” determined the size of land plots and the duties of peasants for their use in 44 provinces of European Russia. The first of them is “Great Russian”, for 29 Great Russian, 3 Novorossiysk (Ekaterinoslav, Tauride and Kherson), 2 Belarusian (Mogilev and part of Vitebsk) and part of Kharkov provinces. This entire territory was divided into three stripes (non-chernozem, chernozem and steppe), each of which consisted of “localities”.

In the first two bands, depending on the “locality,” the highest (from 3 to 7 dessiatines; from 2 3/4 to 6 dessiatines) and the lowest (1/3 of the highest) amounts of per capita taxes were established. For the steppe, one “decreed” allotment was determined (in the Great Russian provinces from 6 to 12 dessiatines; in Novorossiysk, from 3 to 6 1/5 dessiatines). The size of the government tithe was determined to be 1.09 hectares.

Allotment land was provided to the “rural community”, i.e. community, according to the number of souls (men only) at the time of drawing up the charter documents who had the right to the allotment.

From the land that was in the use of peasants before February 19, 1861, sections could be made if the per capita allotments of the peasants exceeded top size, established for a given “locality”, or if the landowners, while maintaining the existing peasant allotment, had less than 1/3 of the estate’s land left. Allotments could be reduced by special agreements between peasants and landowners, as well as upon receipt of a gift allotment.

If peasants had plots of less than a small size, the landowner was obliged to cut off the missing land or reduce duties. For the highest spiritual allotment, a quitrent was established from 8 to 12 rubles per year or corvee - 40 men's and 30 women's working days per year. If the allotment was less than the highest, then the duties were reduced, but not proportionally.

The rest of the “Local Provisions” basically repeated the “Great Russian Provisions”, but taking into account the specifics of their regions.

The features of the peasant reform for certain categories of peasants and specific areas were determined by 8 “Additional Rules”: “Arrangement of peasants settled on the estates of small-scale owners, and on benefits to these owners”; “People of the Ministry of Finance assigned to private mining plants”; “Peasants and workers serving work at Perm private mining plants and salt mines”; “Peasant peasants serving work in landowner factories”; "The peasants and courtyard people in the Land of the Don Army"; "Peasant peasants and courtyard people in the Stavropol province"; "Peasant peasants and courtyard people in Siberia"; "People who emerged from serfdom in the Bessarabian region."

The Manifesto and “Regulations” were published on March 5 in Moscow and from March 7 to April 2 in St. Petersburg. Fearing the dissatisfaction of the peasants with the conditions of the reform, the government took a number of precautions: it redeployed troops, sent members of the imperial retinue to places, issued an appeal from the Synod, etc. However, the peasants, dissatisfied with the enslaving conditions of the reform, responded to it with mass unrest. The largest of them were the Bezdnensky and Kandeevsky peasant uprisings of 1861.

As of January 1, 1863, peasants refused to sign about 60% of the charters. The purchase price of the land significantly exceeded its market value at that time, in some areas -

2–3 times. In many regions, peasants sought to receive gift plots, thereby reducing allotment land use: in the Saratov province by 42.4%, Samara - 41.3%, Poltava - 37.4%, Ekaterinoslav - by 37.3%, etc. The lands cut off by the landowners were a means of enslaving the peasants, since they were vitally necessary for the peasant economy: watering place, pasture, haymaking, etc.

The peasants' transition to ransom lasted for several decades, on December 28, 1881. a law on compulsory redemption was issued on January 1, 1883, the transfer to which was completed by 1895. In total, by January 1, 1895, 124 thousand redemption transactions were approved, according to which 9,159 thousand souls in areas with communal farming and 110 thousand households in areas with household farming were transferred to redemption. About 80% of buyouts were mandatory.

As a result of the peasant reform (according to 1878), in the provinces of European Russia, 9860 thousand souls of peasants received an allotment of 33728 thousand dessiatines of land (on average 3.4 dessiatines per capita). U115 thousand. landowners were left with 69 million dessiatines (an average of 600 dessiatines per owner).

What did these “average” indicators look like after 3.5 decades? The political and economic power of the tsar rested on the nobles and landowners. According to the 1897 census in Russia there were 1 million 220 thousand hereditary nobles and more than 600 thousand personal nobles, to whom the title of nobility was given, but not inherited. All of them were owners of land plots.

Of these: about 60 thousand were small-scale nobles, each had 100 acres; 25.5 thousand - average landowners, had from 100 to 500 acres; 8 thousand large nobles, who had from 500 to 1000 acres: 6.5 thousand - the largest nobles, who had from 1000 to 5000 acres.

At the same time, there were 102 families in Russia: princes Yusupov, Golitsyn, Dolgorukov, counts Bobrinsky, Orlov, etc., whose holdings amounted to more than 50 thousand dessiatines, that is, about 30% of the landowners' land fund in Russia.

The largest owner in Russia was Tsar Nicholas I. He owned huge tracts of so-called cabinet and appanage lands. Gold, silver, lead, copper, and timber were mined there. He rented out a significant part of the land. The king's property was managed by a special ministry of the imperial court.

When filling out the questionnaire for the census, Nicholas II wrote in the column about profession: “Master of the Russian land.”

As for peasants, the average allotment of a peasant family, according to the census, was 7.5 dessiatines.

The significance of the peasant reform of 1861 was that it abolished feudal ownership of workers and created a market for cheap work force. The peasants were declared personally free, that is, they had the right to buy land, houses, and enter into various transactions in their own name. The reform was based on the principle of gradualism: within two years, statutory charters were to be drawn up, defining the specific conditions for the liberation of peasants, then the peasants were transferred to the position of “temporarily obligated” until the transition to redemption and in the subsequent 49-year period, paying the debt to the state that bought the land for peasants from landowners. Only after this should land plots become the full property of the peasants.

For the liberation of peasants from serfdom, Emperor Alexander II was called the “LIBERER” by the people. Judge for yourself, what was more here - truth or hypocrisy? Note that from total number peasant unrest that occurred throughout the country in 1857–1861, 1340 out of 2165 (62%) protests occurred after the announcement of the reform of 1861.

Thus, the peasant reform of 1861 was a bourgeois reform carried out by serf owners. This was a step towards turning Russia into a bourgeois monarchy. However, the peasant reform did not solve the socio-economic contradictions in Russia, preserved landownership and a number of other feudal-serf remnants, led to a further aggravation of the class struggle, and served as one of the main reasons for the social explosion of 1905–1907. XX century.