The main stages of the enslavement of peasants in Russia. Stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia

First stage dates back to the end of the 15th - 16th centuries, when the offensive of feudal landowners and the state against the peasants began. The growth of local and patrimonial land ownership was accompanied by the subordination of peasants to the power of land owners. The peasants turned into serfs, i.e. tied to the earth and their master. Thus, the development of serfdom in Russia was associated with the formation of the local system and the increasing role of the state. The economic basis of serfdom was feudal ownership of land in all its forms - local, patrimonial, state.

Until the end of the 15th century, peasants could leave their masters and move to another landowner. Code of Law of Ivan III (1497) introduced "St. George's Day Rule", according to which peasants could leave their owners only once a year - a week before St. George’s Day (November 26) and during the week after it, with mandatory payment "elderly"- payment for living on the owner’s land. This was the first nationwide restriction of peasant freedom, but not yet enslavement.

In the Code of Laws of Ivan IV (1550) the norms of the peasant transition on St. George's Day were confirmed and clarified, the elderly increased, the master's power over the peasants strengthened: the owner was held responsible for the crimes of the peasants. Now the feudal lord was called the “sovereign” of the peasant, i.e. The legal status of the peasant was approaching the status of a serf, which was a step on the path to serfdom.

Second phase The enslavement of peasants in the country occurred from the end of the 16th century. until 1649, when the Council Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was published.

At the end of the 16th century. There was a radical change in the situation of the peasants, deprived of the right of exit from their owners. In the conditions of the ruin of the country and the flight of peasants, Ivan the Terrible 1581 introduced serfdom legislation - “reserved years”, when St. George’s Day was canceled and the transition of peasants was prohibited, which meant an important step towards the formalization of serfdom in Russia. IN 1592 – 1593 A decree was issued that forever abolished the right of peasants to cross on St. George's Day. Under Boris Godunov, a decree was issued in 1597, which ordered that all fugitive and forcibly removed peasants be searched for and returned to their former owners within a five-year period. The serfdom legislation of the late 16th century is the most important stage in the history of serfdom in Russia. Now farmers were attached to the land, and not to the owner.

During the Time of Troubles, in conditions of crisis of all power structures, it was increasingly difficult to keep the peasants from leaving. Vasily Shuisky, hoping for the support of the nobility, issued serfdom legislation that provided for an increase in the term lesson years. In 1606, a 10-year period was established, and in 1607, a 15-year period for searching for fugitive peasants.

The system of serfdom was legally formalized Cathedral Code of 1649 It assigned privately owned peasants to landowners, boyars, monasteries and other owners, and also established the dependence of privately owned peasants on the state. The Council Code abolished the “lesson years”, approved the right to an indefinite search and return of fugitives, secured the heredity of serfdom and the right of the landowner to dispose of the property of the serf.

Third stage The enslavement of peasants dates back to the middle of the 17th - 18th centuries, when serfdom was being strengthened and further developed. During this period, serious differences were observed in the right to dispose of peasants: the landowner could sell, exchange, or inherit them. During the reign of Peter I, the size of peasant duties increased and serf exploitation intensified. This was facilitated by the Decree on Single Inheritance of 1714, which turned noble estates into estates, the land and peasants became the full property of the landowner. In the 18th century Serfdom acquired its most severe forms. Corvee and quitrent grew, and with them the rights of landowners in relation to the property and personality of the peasant. The legislation consolidated a regime of unlimited landowner arbitrariness in relation to serfs.

Gradually at the end of the XVIII - XIX centuries. The process of decomposition of feudal relations intensifies, the feudal-serf system enters a period of crisis, and capitalist relations emerge.

Thus, serfdom is an important difference between Russian social development and Western European social development. The Russian state tied the peasants into feudal dependence, sacrificing the natural development of society.

With the emergence of classes in society and the emergence of social inequality, the stratification of any society into the elite and the poor occurs. Over time, the oppression of man by man becomes the norm: the rich cultivate contempt for hard physical labor, the poor earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Therefore, the phenomenon of serfdom cannot be considered a phenomenon in the full sense of the word. Medieval feudal lords also had servants and courtiers, and they also forced forced peasants to work. However, the West did not know serfdom in the form and extent that happened in Russia.

Reasons for the enslavement of peasants in Russia

The reasons for this phenomenon include the social inequality already mentioned above, as well as the desire of the authorities to protect themselves from possible popular discontent with the force of coercion. This also includes the psychological factor (some command, others obey meekly) and such a feature of the Russian national mentality as long-suffering.

Stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia

The history of the enslavement of peasants in Russia is easiest and most convenient to remember in stages, of which there are four. The first stage was associated with the introduction of the so-called. St. George's Day, which fell on November 26th. It was after the harvest that the peasants received the right to leave their owner for another. This right was enshrined in the Code of Laws of 1497. This happened during the reign of the king. The next stage was the Reserved (i.e., forbidden) summers. In 1581, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, peasants were forbidden to leave their landowners even on St. George’s Day. This is where the bitter saying comes from: “Here’s St. George’s Day for you, grandma.”

The third stage is the introduction to the era of the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich (and in fact, Boris Godunov). This event took place in 1597. The innovation meant that for five years the landowner received the right to look for his fugitive peasant everywhere. It was believed that if for five years a peasant not only manages to successfully hide, but also settle in a new place and take root, it is no longer economically feasible to return him to the old landowner - there will still be no benefit.

The last significant stage in the enslavement of peasants in Russia was in 1649. It was a set of laws adopted by the Zemsky Sobor. The tsar at that time was Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. The Council Code enshrined such provisions as the abolition of school years and the introduction of an indefinite search for fugitives. In addition, serfdom was established as a hereditary state. If the father is a serf, then the same share is destined for his children. If a free girl decided to throw in her lot with a serf, she also became someone’s property and fell into serfdom.

In the event of the death of the landowner, his entire fortune, together with the serfs, passed to his son or daughter, i.e. direct blood heirs. Serfs could be sold, exchanged, put up for auction, lost at cards, or left as collateral. In essence, serfdom became a form of legalized slavery. Consequences of the enslavement of peasants in Russia It is unnecessary to mention that slave psychology has the most negative impact on both the slave and his master. For the first, the feeling of complete lack of rights is formed almost at the genetic level and is even, in some sense, inherited. The second develops a feeling of complete impunity.

And although during the reign of the reign the landowner Daria Saltykova (Saltychikha) was put on trial for the cruel treatment and murder of her own serf girls, and then exiled to hard labor, this was, rather, not the rule, but the exception. Under the same empress, the path of fugitive serfs to the Zaporozhye Sich was finally blocked - the Cossack freemen came to an end, the Cossacks were also equated with serfs. By the beginning of the 19th century, even at the very top there was an understanding of the shamefulness of the continued existence of serfdom in the country. A manifesto was being prepared to abolish it.

However, the emperor ultimately did not have the courage to take this decisive step. It took more than half a century before the liberation of peasants from serfdom became a reality - in March 1861. And even though the peasant reform turned out to be in many ways half-hearted, the main thing was done.

• The slave psychology ate into the souls of the serfs so firmly that even after the longed-for liberation, many of them were in no hurry to part with their masters. Some even earlier refused the freedom granted to them. The motivation was simple: they say, wherever I go, this is my home. So, a nanny, Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva, remained with the Pushkins and their children. In many ways, she replaced both their mother and their nurse.
• Thus, the formal social status was erased over time, and kind-hearted human relations, feelings of sincere heartfelt affection of the masters for their serfs and mutual love of the serfs for the landowners came to the fore.

Municipal educational institution Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 8

Topic: Enslavement of peasants in Russia

Work completed by: history teacher

Krivolutsky Oleg Alexandrovich

Sharypovo 2016

LESSON OBJECTIVES:

I. Educational:

reveal the essence, show the origins and process of enslavement of peasants in Russia and its consequences;

II. Educational:

contribute to instilling in students a sense of high patriotism through glorious examples of the best traditions of Russian military art.

III. Educational:

continue to develop chronological skills;

contribute to the development of personal computer skills;

continue to develop skills in characterizing a historical figure, working with historical tables and documents.

EQUIPMENT:

computer

DURING THE CLASSES:

Organizational moment - 5 min.

Learning new material - 20 min.

Consolidation – 10 min.

Lesson summary; d/z - 10 min.

Organizing time:

At this stage, the main educational goal of the lesson is announced - to understand the origins and essence of the process of enslavement of peasants in Russia. Students are motivated by volitional methods, students are informed of the need to complete a task by the end of the lesson - filling out the table “Stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia.”

Learning new material.

Plan for learning new material:

1. Prerequisites for the enslavement of peasants

2. The main stages of enslavement.

3. Consequences of enslavement.

Consolidation.

Filling out the table

“Stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia”

ESTABLISHMENT OF PEASANTS IN RUSSIA

Prerequisites for the enslavement of peasants

Slide No. 1-2. The natural environment was the most important prerequisite for serfdom in Russia. The withdrawal of the surplus product necessary for the development of society in the climatic conditions of vast Russia required the creation of the most stringent mechanism of non-economic coercion.

Slide No. 3-4. The establishment of serfdom occurred in the process of confrontation between the community and the developing local land ownership. The peasants perceived arable land as God's and royal property, at the same time believing that it belonged to the one who worked on it. The spread of local land ownership, and especially the desire of service people to take direct control of part of the communal land (i.e., to create a “lordly plowing” that would guarantee the satisfaction of their needs, especially in military equipment, and most importantly, would make it possible to directly transfer this land to as an inheritance to his son and thereby secure his family practically on patrimonial right) met resistance from the community, which could only be overcome by completely subjugating the peasants.

In addition, the state was in dire need of guaranteed tax revenue. Given the weakness of the central administrative apparatus, tax collection was transferred to the hands of the landowners. But for this it was necessary to rewrite the peasants and attach them to the personality of the feudal lord.

The effect of these prerequisites began to manifest itself especially actively under the influence of disasters and destruction caused by the oprichnina and the Livonian War. As a result of the flight of the population from the devastated center to the outskirts, the problem of providing the service class with labor and the state with taxpayers sharply worsened.

In addition to the above reasons, enslavement was facilitated by the demoralization of the population caused by the horrors of the oprichnina, as well as peasant ideas about the landowner as a royal man sent from above to protect against external hostile forces.

According to the legislative acts of the XIV-XV centuries, all categories of peasant landowners are black, palace, boyar, patrimonial. The locals in relation to the landowners were divided into three unequal categories:

1. tax peasants, state-owned, subject to certain state taxes and duties, who did not have the right to transfer. They constituted the predominant mass of the state population;

2. privately owned peasants who lived on the land of their masters and paid them a surplus;

3. free peasant colonists on foreign lands, state and private, exempt from taxes and duties for a certain grace period, after which they were included in the category of black or privately owned peasants.

Main stages of enslavement

Slide No. 5-6. The process of enslaving peasants in Russia was quite long and went through several stages. The first stage is the end of the 15th - the end of the 16th century. Even in the era of Ancient Rus', part of the rural population lost personal freedom and turned into smerds and slaves. In conditions of fragmentation, peasants could leave the land on which they lived and move to another landowner. The Code of Law of 1497 streamlined this right, confirming the right of peasants after paying the “elderly” to the opportunity to “go out” on St. George’s Day in the autumn (the week before November 26 and the week after). At other times, peasants did not move to other lands - busy with agricultural work, autumn and spring thaw, and frosts interfered. But the fixation by law of a certain short period of transition testified, on the one hand, to the desire of the feudal lords and the state to limit the rights of the peasants, and on the other, to their weakness and inability to assign the peasants to the person of a certain feudal lord. In addition, this right forced landowners to take into account the interests of the peasants, which had a beneficial effect on the socio-economic development of the country.

Slide No. 7-8. This norm was also contained in the new Code of Laws of 1550. However, in 1581, in conditions of extreme devastation of the country and flight of the population, Ivan IV introduced “reserved years”, prohibiting peasant exit in the territories most affected by disasters. This measure was emergency and temporary. A new stage in the development of enslavement began at the end of the 16th century and ended with the publication of the Council Code of 1649. In 1592 (or in 1593), i.e. During the reign of Boris Godunov, a decree was issued (the text of which has not been preserved), prohibiting exit throughout the country and without any time restrictions. In 1592, the compilation of scribe books began (i.e., a population census was carried out, which made it possible to assign peasants to their place of residence and return them in case of escape and further capture to the old owners), the lordly land was “whitewashed” (i.e., exempted from taxes). smell.

The compilers of the decree of 1597 were guided by scribe books, establishing the so-called. “period years” (the period of search for fugitive peasants, defined as five years). After a five-year period, the escaped peasants were subject to enslavement in new places, which met the interests of large landowners and nobles of the southern and southwestern districts, where the main flows of fugitives were sent. The dispute over labor between the nobles of the center and the southern outskirts became one of the causes of the upheavals of the early 17th century.

At the second stage of enslavement, there was a sharp struggle between various groups of landowners and peasants on the issue of the period for searching for fugitives, until the Council Code of 1649 abolished the “lesson years”, introduced an indefinite search and finally enslaved the peasants.

At the third stage (from the middle of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century), serfdom developed along an ascending line. The peasants lost the remnants of their rights; for example, according to the law of 1675, they could be sold without land. In the 18th century landowners received full right to dispose of their person and property, including exile without trial to Siberia and hard labor. In their social and legal status, peasants came closer to slaves; they began to be treated as “talking cattle.”

At the fourth stage (end of the 18th century - 1861), serf relations entered the stage of their decomposition. The state began to implement measures that somewhat limited serfdom, and serfdom, as a result of the spread of humane and liberal ideas, was condemned by the leading part of the Russian nobility. As a result, for various reasons it was canceled by the Manifesto of Alexander 11 in February 1861.

3. Consequences of enslavement

Slide No. 9-10. Serfdom led to the establishment of an extremely ineffective form of feudal relations, preserving the backwardness of Russian society. Feudal exploitation deprived direct producers of interest in the results of their labor and undermined both the peasant and, ultimately, the landowner economy.

Having aggravated the social division of society, serfdom caused mass popular uprisings that shook Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Serfdom formed the basis of a despotic form of power and predetermined the lack of rights not only for the lower classes, but also for the upper ranks of society. The landowners served the tsar faithfully also because they became “hostages” of the serfdom system, because their safety and possession of “baptized property” could only be guaranteed by a strong central government.

Dooming the people to patriarchy and ignorance, serfdom prevented the penetration of cultural values ​​into the people's environment. It also affected the moral character of the people, giving rise to some slavish habits in them, as well as sharp transitions from extreme humility to all-destructive rebellion.

And yet, in the natural, social and cultural conditions of Russia, another form of organization of production and society probably did not exist.

IV.Consolidation

At the consolidation stage, the following techniques are used:

frontal conversation on issues

what were the prerequisites for the enslavement of peasants;

name the main stages of the enslavement of peasants;

eliminating gaps made during filling out the tables by jointly discussing the notes made;

filling out the table.

V. Lesson summary; d/z

Students are brought to the conclusion about the historical significance of serfdom in Russia;

Commented grading;

D/z; - completion of filling the table.

Appendix: approximate table “Stages of enslavement of peasants in Russia”

Briefly, the chronology of the enslavement of peasants in Russia can be presented as follows:

1. 1497 - Introduction of restrictions on the right to transfer from one landowner to another - St. George's Day.
2. 1581 - Cancellation of St. George's Day - “reserved summers”.
3. 1597 - The landowner’s right to search for a runaway peasant within 5 years and to return him to the owner - “prescribed years”.
4. 1607 - The period for searching for fugitive peasants was increased to 15 years.
5. 1649 - The Council Code abolished fixed-term summers, thus establishing an indefinite search for fugitive peasants.
6. XVIII century - gradual strengthening of serfdom in Russia.

ESTABLISHMENT OF PEASANTS IN RUSSIA

While in Western Europe the rural population was gradually freed from personal dependence, in Russia during the 2nd half. XVI-XVII centuries the reverse process took place - the peasants turned into serfs, i.e. attached to the land and personality of their feudal lord.

1. Prerequisites for the enslavement of peasants

The natural environment was the most important prerequisite for serfdom in Russia. The withdrawal of the surplus product necessary for the development of society in the climatic conditions of vast Russia required the creation of the most stringent mechanism of non-economic coercion. The establishment of serfdom occurred in the process of confrontation between the community and the developing local land ownership. The peasants perceived arable land as God's and royal property, at the same time believing that it belonged to the one who worked on it. The spread of local land ownership, and especially the desire of service people to take direct control of part of the communal land (i.e., to create a “lordly plowing” that would guarantee the satisfaction of their needs, especially in military equipment, and most importantly, would make it possible to directly transfer this land to as an inheritance to his son and thereby secure his family practically on patrimonial right) met resistance from the community, which could only be overcome by completely subjugating the peasants. In addition, the state was in dire need of guaranteed tax revenue. Given the weakness of the central administrative apparatus, tax collection was transferred to the hands of the landowners. But for this it was necessary to rewrite the peasants and attach them to the personality of the feudal lord. The effect of these prerequisites began to manifest itself especially actively under the influence of disasters and destruction caused by the oprichnina and the Livonian War. As a result of the flight of the population from the devastated center to the outskirts, the problem of providing the service class with labor and the state with taxpayers sharply worsened. In addition to the above reasons, enslavement was facilitated by the demoralization of the population caused by the horrors of the oprichnina, as well as peasant ideas about the landowner as a royal man sent from above to protect against external hostile forces.

2. Main stages of enslavement

The process of enslaving peasants in Russia was quite long and went through several stages.

The first stage is the end of the 15th - the end of the 16th century. Even in the era of Ancient Rus', part of the rural population lost personal freedom and turned into smerds and slaves. In conditions of fragmentation, peasants could leave the land on which they lived and move to another landowner. The Code of Law of 1497 streamlined this right, confirming the right of peasants after paying the “elderly” to the opportunity to “go out” on St. George’s Day in the autumn (the week before November 26 and the week after). At other times, peasants did not move to other lands - busy with agricultural work, autumn and spring thaw, and frosts interfered. But the fixation by law of a certain short period of transition testified, on the one hand, to the desire of the feudal lords and the state to limit the rights of the peasants, and on the other, to their weakness and inability to assign the peasants to the person of a certain feudal lord. In addition, this right forced landowners to take into account the interests of the peasants, which had a beneficial effect on the socio-economic development of the country. This norm was also contained in the new Code of Laws of 1550. However, in 1581, in conditions of extreme devastation of the country and the flight of the population, Ivan IV introduced “reserved years” prohibiting peasant exit in the territories most affected by disasters. This measure was emergency and temporary.

A new stage in the development of enslavement began at the end of the 16th century and ended with the publication of the Council Code of 1649. In 1592 (or 1593), i.e. During the reign of Boris Godunov, a decree was issued (the text of which has not been preserved), prohibiting exit throughout the country and without any time restrictions. In 1592, the compilation of scribe books began (i.e., a population census was carried out, which made it possible to assign peasants to their place of residence and return them in case of escape and further capture to the old owners), the lordly land was “whitewashed” (i.e., exempted from taxes). smell. The compilers of the decree of 1597 were guided by scribe books, establishing the so-called. “period years” (the period of search for fugitive peasants, defined as five years). After a five-year period, the escaped peasants were subject to enslavement in new places, which met the interests of large landowners and nobles of the southern and southwestern districts, where the main flows of fugitives were sent. The dispute over labor between the nobles of the center and the southern outskirts became one of the causes of the upheavals of the early 17th century. At the second stage of enslavement, there was a sharp struggle between various groups of landowners and peasants on the issue of the period for searching for fugitives, until the Council Code of 1649 abolished the “lesson years”, introduced an indefinite search and finally enslaved the peasants.

At the third stage (from the middle of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century), serfdom developed along an ascending line. The peasants lost the remnants of their rights; for example, according to the law of 1675, they could be sold without land. In the 18th century landowners received full right to dispose of their person and property, including exile without trial to Siberia and hard labor. In terms of their social and legal status, the peasants came closer to the slaves; they began to be treated as “talking cattle.”

At the fourth stage (end of the 18th century - 1861), serf relations entered the stage of their decomposition. The state began to implement measures that somewhat limited serfdom, and serfdom, as a result of the spread of humane and liberal ideas, was condemned by the leading part of the Russian nobility.

3. Consequences of enslavement

Serfdom led to the establishment of an extremely ineffective form of feudal relations, preserving the backwardness of Russian society. Feudal exploitation deprived direct producers of interest in the results of their labor and undermined both the peasant and, ultimately, the landowner economy. Having aggravated the social division of society, serfdom caused mass popular uprisings that shook Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries. Serfdom formed the basis of a despotic form of power and predetermined the lack of rights not only for the lower classes, but also for the upper ranks of society. The landowners served the tsar faithfully also because they became “hostages” of the serfdom system, because their safety and possession of “baptized property” could only be guaranteed by a strong central government. Dooming the people to patriarchy and ignorance, serfdom prevented the penetration of cultural values ​​into the people's environment. It also affected the moral character of the people, giving rise to some slavish habits in them, as well as sharp transitions from extreme humility to all-destructive rebellion. And yet, in the natural, social and cultural conditions of Russia, another form of organization of production and society probably did not exist.

No. 17 Centralizing reforms of Ivan 4 (1549-1560). "The Chosen Rada"

At the end of the 40s, a government was formed that took over leadership from the boyar duma; this body was called the “Elected Rada.” The “elected council” was a body that exercised direct executive power, formed a new administrative apparatus and directed it. The most authoritative politicians of the new government were Adashev and Sylvester. Expressing general sentiments, the Tsar and the Metropolitan convened councils of reconciliation. On February 27, 1549, a meeting was convened at which the Boyar Duma was present almost in its entirety; in fact, it was the first Zemsky Sobor. At this stage, the king ruled together with the “elected council.” The goals of the king's reforms: To curb popular unrest caused by the tyranny and bribery of the boyars. Strengthening the central government and its support - the serving nobility. Contents of the reforms: 1) Reform of central and local government: expansion of the boyar duma, convening of the Zemsky Sobor. The Zemsky Sobor is a type of parliament, an estate-representative body. Also, huts were replaced by orders (local order, discharge order, ambassadorial order, etc.). 2) Military reform: the creation of the Streltsy army, the “service code” was adopted, from every 150 hectares there was to be 1 warrior, mounted and armed. Every nobleman from the age of 15 had to serve the Tsar. 3) Financial reform: a) replacement of household taxation - land taxation (not from each yard, but depending on the land) b) Tax tax - monetary and in-kind duties in favor of the state (feedings were abolished) 4) Judicial reform: a) a code of law was adopted Ivan IV in 1550, he is called the second in the “Russian Truth”. Main provisions: the court is in the hands of those elected by the people: elders and jurors. b) the responsibility of feudal lords for their peasants was established. c) the peasants’ exit on St. George’s Day was confirmed, but the payment was increased. d) Introduction of punishment for bribery. 5) Church reform. 1551 – Hundred-Glavy Cathedral. a) restriction of monastic land ownership; b) a ban on giving money to monasteries on interest; c) Condemnation of the sale of church positions, extortion; d) Development of education through religious colleges and schools; e) strengthening the moral influence of the church on society; g) a single, all-Russian list of saints was created, two fingers were introduced. The reforms led Russia to major military and political successes.

17. Centralization reforms of Ivan IV (1549-1560). "The Chosen Rada"

Reforms

They considered the patrimonial boyars as supporters of the “appanage system” and, consequently, the fragmentation of Russia. In the fight against them, Ivan the Terrible relied on the noble landowners, who personified centralizing tendencies. In this regard, oprichnina terror, according to these authors, was the step that weakened the economic and political positions of the boyars, strengthening the position of service people and completing the centralization of Russia. In the 70–80s. XX century V.B. Kobrin showed that the boyars were not an aristocratic opposition to the centralizing activities of Ivan IV, since all the centralizing reforms of the tsar took place according to the “sentence”

ru of the Boyar Duma", i.e. were developed by Ivan the Terrible in alliance with the boyar elite.

Many Russian political reforms have a dual character: they begin with democratic reforms and end with counter-reforms. An example of this can be the events of the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible, namely the reforms of the Chosen Rada and the oprichnina.

An example of Russia's first experience of unsuccessful reforms was the transformation of Ivan IV the Terrible. At the initial, democratic stage of the reforms of the Elected Rada in the country, the first representative body of power was convened - the Zemsky Sobor, boyar feeding was abolished, and local government and the court were transferred to the hands of elders and judges elected by the population. During the reign of the Elected Rada, the first executive authorities appeared in the country - orders. Thus, an attempt was made to carry out reforms in Russia according to the European model, i.e. division of power into legislative, executive and judicial. However, Ivan the Terrible was unable to achieve effective governance of the country through democratic measures, since the weakening of centralization was perceived by the population as a signal for disorganization. The weakening of the country was manifested in the defeats of the Russian army in the Livonian War. The response to this was Ivan IV’s attempt to strengthen state power through the oprichnina policy, which led to the fall of the government of the Chosen Rada and terror against all classes of Russian society. Thus, Ivan the Terrible saw the reason for the unsuccessful reform of the country not in objective

the peculiarities of Russian civilization, which cannot be reformed according to the European model, as he tried to implement, but in the subjective actions of the Russian population, which, in the opinion of the tsar, abused the political freedoms granted to him.

Elected Rada.

Elected Rada is a term introduced by Prince A.M. Kurbsky to designate the circle of people who made up the informal government under Ivan the Terrible in 1549-1560. The term itself is found only in the work of Kurbsky, while Russian sources of that time do not give this circle of people any official name.

The formation of a select circle of people around the tsar occurs after the Moscow events of the summer of 1547: a fire and then an uprising of Muscovites.

The composition of the “Elected Rada” is the subject of debate. Definitely, the priest of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin, the confessor of the Tsar Sylvester, and a young figure from a not very noble family, A. F. Adashev, participated in the “Rada”.

On the other hand, some historians deny the existence of the Elected Rada as an institution led exclusively by the three above-mentioned persons.

N.M. Karamzin includes in the “holy union” Metropolitan Macarius, as well as “virtuous, experienced men, in venerable old age still zealous for the fatherland.” The participation of princes Kurbsky and Kurlyatev is also undoubtedly. In addition to these two, N.I. Kostomarov lists Vorotynsky, Serebryany, Gorbaty, Sheremetyev.

Soviet historian R. G. Skrynnikov emphasizes that the “Elected Rada” is not the Middle Duma, which included the boyars (princes Ivan Mstislavsky, Vladimir Vorotynsky and Dmitry Paletsky, Ivan Sheremetev, Mikhail Morozov, Dmitry Kurlyatev-Obolensky, Danila Romanov-Zakharyin and Vasily Yuryev-Zakharyin), boyar children in the Duma (Alexey Adashev and Ignatiy Veshnyakov), clerk (Ivan Viskovaty) and printer (Nikita Funikov).

The first one is this n (end of the 15th - end of the 16th centuries) The process of enslavement of peasants in Russia was quite long. Even in the era of Ancient Rus', part of the rural population lost personal freedom and turned into smerds and slaves. In conditions of fragmentation, peasants could leave the land on which they lived and move to another landowner.

Lawsuits. The Code of Law of 1497 streamlined this right, confirming the right of the landowner peasants after paying the “elderly” to the opportunity to “go out” on St. George’s Day (St. George’s Day) in the fall (the week before November 26 and the week after).

At other times, peasants did not move to other lands - busy with agricultural work, autumn and spring thaw, and frosts interfered. But the fixation by law of a certain short transition period testified, on the one hand, to the desire of the feudal lords and the state to limit the rights of the peasants, and on the other, to their weakness and inability to assign the peasants to the person of a certain feudal lord. In addition, this right forced landowners to take into account the interests of the peasants, which had a beneficial effect on the socio-economic development of the country. This norm was also contained in the new Code of Laws of 1550.

However, in 1581, in conditions of extreme devastation of the country and the flight of the population, Ivan IV introduced “reserved years”, prohibiting peasant exit in the territories most affected by disasters. This measure was emergency and temporary, “until the Tsar’s decree.”

Second phase. (end of the 16th century - 1649)

Decree on widespread enslavement. In 1592 (or 1593), i.e. During the reign of Boris Godunov, a decree was issued (the text of which has not been preserved), prohibiting exit throughout the country and without any time restrictions. The introduction of the regime of reserved years made it possible to begin compiling scribe books (i.e., to conduct a population census, which created conditions for attaching peasants to their place of residence and their return in case of escape and further capture to the old owners). In the same year, the lord’s arable land was “whitewashed” (i.e., exempted from taxes), which stimulated service people to increase its area.

"Lesson years". The compilers of the decree of 1597 were guided by scribe books, establishing the so-called. “period years” (the period of search for fugitive peasants, initially defined as five years). At the end of the five-year period, the escaped peasants were subject to enslavement in new places, which met the interests of large landowners, as well as nobles of the southern and southwestern districts, where the main flows of fugitives were sent. The dispute over labor between the nobles of the center and the southern outskirts became one of the causes of the upheavals of the early 17th century.

Final enslavement. At the second stage of the enslavement process, there was a sharp struggle between various groups of landowners and peasants on the issue of the period for searching for fugitives, until the Council Code of 1649 abolished the “lesson years”, introduced an indefinite search, and declared the “eternal and hereditary fortress” of the peasants. Thus the legal formalization of serfdom was completed.

At the third stage (from the middle of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century) serfdom developed along an ascending line. For example, according to the law of 1675, landowners could already be sold without land. Largely under the influence of the sociocultural split caused by the reforms of Peter 1, peasants began to lose the remnants of their rights and, in their social and legal status, approached slaves; they were treated as “talking cattle.” Serfs differed from slaves only in having their own farm on the landowner's land. In the 18th century landowners received full right to dispose of the personality and property of peasants, including exiling them without trial to Siberia and to hard labor.

At the fourth stage (end of the 18th century - 1861) serf relations entered the stage of decay. The state began to implement measures that somewhat limited the arbitrariness of the landowners; moreover, serfdom, as a result of the spread of humane and liberal ideas, was condemned by the leading part of the Russian nobility.

As a result, for various reasons it was canceled by the Manifesto of Alexander II in February 1861.

The reign of Fyodor Ioannovich. Formation of the preconditions for the Troubles.

The years from 1598 to 1613 are known in historical literature as the era of the Time of Troubles or the time of invasion of impostors. Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the last surviving son of Ivan the Terrible, died on January 7, 1598, childless. His death ended the Rurik dynasty, which ruled Russia for more than 700 years. On February 22, 1598, a representative of the boyar family, Boris Fedorovich Godunov, the brother of Tsarina Irina Feodorovna, the wife of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, ascended the Russian throne on February 22, 1598.

The Time of Troubles is a deep spiritual, economic, social, and foreign policy crisis that befell Russia in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It coincided with the dynastic crisis and the struggle of boyar groups for power, which brought the country to the brink of disaster. The main signs of unrest are considered to be anarchy (anarchy), imposture, civil war and intervention. According to a number of historians, the Time of Troubles can be considered the first civil war in Russian history.

Contemporaries spoke of the Troubles as a time of “shakyness,” “disorder,” and “confusion of minds,” which caused bloody clashes and conflicts. The term “troubles” was used in everyday speech of the 17th century and in the office work of Moscow orders.

The preconditions for the Troubles were the consequences of the oprichnina and the Livonian War of 1558 - 1583: the ruin of the economy, the growth of social tension.

The causes of the Time of Troubles as an era of anarchy, according to the historiography of the 19th and early 20th centuries, are rooted in the suppression of the Rurik dynasty and the intervention of neighboring states (especially united Lithuania and Poland, which is why the period was sometimes called the “Lithuanian or Moscow ruin”) in the affairs of the Muscovite kingdom. The combination of these events led to the appearance of adventurers and impostors on the Russian throne, claims to the throne from Cossacks, runaway peasants and slaves. Church historiography of the 19th – early 20th centuries. considered the Troubles a period of spiritual crisis in society, seeing the reasons in the distortion of moral and ethical values.

The first stage of the Time of Troubles began with a dynastic crisis caused by the murder of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible of his eldest son Ivan, the rise to power of his brother Fyodor Ivanovich and the death of their younger half-brother Dmitry (according to many, stabbed to death by the henchmen of the de facto ruler of the country, Boris Godunov). The throne lost the last heir from the Rurik dynasty.

The death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (1598) allowed Boris Godunov (1598–1605) to come to power, who ruled energetically and wisely, but was unable to stop the intrigues of disgruntled boyars.

The term “Time of Troubles”, adopted in pre-revolutionary historiography, referring to the turbulent events of the early 17th century, was decisively rejected in Soviet science as “noble-bourgeois” and was replaced by a long and even somewhat bureaucratic title: “The Peasant War and Foreign Intervention in Russia.” Today, the term “Time of Troubles” is gradually returning: apparently because it not only corresponds to the word usage of the era, but also quite accurately reflects historical reality.

Among the meanings of the word “turmoil” given by V.I. Dahl, we encounter “uprising, rebellion... general disobedience, discord between the people and the authorities [source 9]. However, in modern language, the adjective “vague” has a different meaning - unclear, indistinct. And in fact, the beginning of the 17th century. indeed the Time of Troubles: everything is in motion, everything fluctuates, the contours of people and events are blurred, kings change with incredible speed, often in different parts of the country and even in neighboring cities the power of different sovereigns is recognized at the same time, people sometimes change their political orientation: either yesterday's allies disperse into hostile camps, then yesterday's enemies act together... The Time of Troubles is a complex interweaving of various contradictions - class and national, intra-class and inter-class... And although there was a foreign intervention, it is impossible to reduce only to it the whole variety of events of this turbulent and truly a Time of Troubles.

Naturally, such a dynamic period was extremely rich not only in bright events, but also in a variety of development alternatives. In days of national upheaval, accidents can play a significant role in the direction of the course of history. Alas, the Time of Troubles turned out to be a time of lost opportunities, when those alternatives that promised a more favorable course of events for the country did not materialize.

The purpose of the course work is to reveal and reflect as fully as possible the essence of the Time of Troubles.

1. Consider the causes and prerequisites of the Time of Troubles.

2. Analyze the reign of contenders for the Russian throne and possible alternatives for the development of Russia.

3. Consider the results and consequences of the Troubles.