URGENT! What were the peasants reaction of the emancipation of the serfs in Russia?
The emancipated serfs were provided with land, but they resented having to pay for it. They remaied bound to the mir or commune, with a social and legal status inferior to other Russians. The spring and summer of 1861 saw disturbances in all but one of the provinces to which the emancipation Statute applied. Landowners felt that their interests had been ignored, though many of them were to benefit by selling land to their former serfs at a price higher than its market value. The state advanced the money for the transaction, and the peasants weer obliged to repay the loan over a period of 49 years. These redemption payments were burdensome. The government lacked the administrative machinery strictly to enforce payment and massive arreas developed.
