To what extent did the Russian failure in the Crimea account for the emancipation of the serfs?

By the time Alexander II had signed the Treaty of Paris in early 1856, ending the Crimean War, Russia had proven to be far less of a Great Power than their reputation presented. Russia had been defeated at sea (Anglo-French Navy blockaded Petrograd), on land (Sevastopol) and most crucially in technology and infrastructure. The European opposition were supplied with troops and resources by rail, travelling quickly across Europe and allowing the allies to pull off logistical feats to outmaneuver Russia. By contrast Russian reinforcements had to march across the harsh, vast landscape of Russia, taking up to a month to relieve those forces in the Crimea (by the end of the siege of Sevastopol 4000 soldiers a day were dying of hunger). Russia had fallen behind in terms of infrastructure and industrialisation, relying on the reputation of ‘The Great Russian Bear’ to maintain their status as a Great Power. For many Russian intellectuals, their failing was the continuation of serfdom. 

By 1860 over 40% of the Russian population were Serfs, workers tied to the land (slaves) used for farming and the preservation of the upper classes. Even though Serfs galvanised a large proportion of the population and provided huge amounts of food, they were a relatively unskilled work force and their farming was sporadic in results and unsophisticated. Whatsmore, the peasants were not being used in factories or building railways meaning that the infrastructure in Russia was medieval. It was due to this that nearly 400,000 Russian soldiers died of starvation and disease (most doctors in Russia were private and separate from the army meaning that many men did not have access to medicine) during the war. This alone called for a response to be made in abolishing Serfdom and using them to industrialise Russia.

The failure of the army also called for the Emancipation of the Serfs. Aside from guard regiments the million strong Russian military was predominately made out of Serfs. These soldiers were unpaid (unless they proved to be effective) and conscripted not personally but from the land that owned them. They were kept in order by incredibly harsh punishments such as marching naked, running the gauntlet and random whipping, and often were forcibly marched to battle exhausted. It is no surprise to learn that the Russian army had an incredibly low skill level, discipline and morale, so it is no surprise that in Crimea they were humiliated not only by Western Powers but by the Ottoman Turks as well. On top of this most regiments were still using Napoleonic weaponry as little military advancement or industrialisation had taken place due to serfdom. The failure of the military was crucial to the Emancipation as many Russian thinkers viewed that if the Serfs were freed the standard of the military would be higher as they would be paid and not forced. 

The main intellectuals putting pressure on the Tsarist regime to end Serfdom were the Slavophiles and Westernisers who recognised that the root of the failure in the Crimea was down to the continuation of Serfdom which innately caused Russia to be backwards in comparison to other European powers. They thought that having a large proportion of the population chained to plots of land could only stagnate the development of the state. The added support of intellectuals such as Milyutin who used the failure in Crimea as a reason for abolishing Serfdom, greatly encouraged Alexander II to instigate the ‘reform from above’ campaign. Though without the context of Crimea highlighting the flaws in Serfdom would there have been reform?

Alternatively, before Crimea there had been increasing pressure on Tsar Nicholas I to begin the Emancipation, and beginning in 1825 the Tsar continually expressed his desire for Emancipation but failed to implement this because he would lose the support of the nobility and landowners. This seems to insinuate that without the failure of the Crimean War the Tsar would not have the backing to emancipate the Serfs. However, it was 6 years after the Treaty of Paris (1856) that the Emancipation Edict (1861) was implemented. Possibly, the Emancipation was in fruition for a long period and Crimea was just an event that forced the process along. This can be juxtaposed by the fact that Serfdom underpinned Russian society so the logistical issues needed a lot of time for consideration and time for Alexander II to make concessions to the nobility.

Even if it was already in consideration and in the plans of Alexander II emancipate, the Crimean war brought the issue to the fore and helped persuade many who previously opposed emancipation. This was out of regard for the well being of the Serfs but for Russia’s preservation as a Great Power, which is the main argument that the Crimean War forced Emancipation as Crimea proved Russia to be a failing Great Power.