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Authors: Linda Himelstein
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antiquated forceâand bankrupted its treasury.
Tsar Nikolay I had not prepared his nation for the confrontation. He had been too preoccupied with maintaining his military, monitoring an array of international conflicts, and attending to the inner workings of his own bulging government. The Russian bureaucracy swelled by some 40,000 people during his reign. So the tsar never fully grasped the idea that his country, still dominated by an agrarian economy, had fallen behind the rest of the world. The Crimean War made it impossible to overlook any longer.
That realization, coupled with a regime change at the end of the war, offered the masses their first real hope of reform. Aleksander II, at age thirty-six, took control of Russia from his father in 1855. He was an educated, sensitive man who understood his country in a way Nikolay had not. He saw complacency among the gentry; he recognized an inadequate education system. He even observed the inability of millions of serfs to improve their own well-beingâor the nationâsâunder the status quo. Indeed, the restlessness of the underclasses had already bubbled to the surface, led by peasants who had volunteered for the army with the understanding that they would be granted freedom when the battles ended. When this did not happen, people took to the streets, and protests against the tsar and aristocracy erupted after the war. 5 They demanded better treatment and screamed for freedom.
Industrialization topped the stateâs agenda, along with another crucial matter: the abolition of serfdom. The tsar acknowledged his intentions when he spoke passionately to a leading group of the aristocracy in Moscow on March 30, 1856. He hoped to win the nobilityâs approval and support by famously stating the inevitable: âIt is much better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below.â Freedom, finally, was in the air.
All of this had been on the mind of Pyotrâs father, Arseniy. It had been some time since he had amassed enough reserves to pay off his master, but he had hesitated. Although Arseniy lacked the keen business mind that had served his brothers so well, he understood the art of good timing. Arseniy enjoyed a decent, productive relationship with his landowners and found little reason to uproot what remained of his family without a clear purpose. For him, as for many of the older generation, living under a master was secure and uncomplicated.
Patience served Arseniy well. His sons were flourishing in Moscow, and the money they contributed to the family coffers made it possible, now, for Arseniy to be free. He could pay off his master, go to Moscow, and still have enough money left to join the merchant ranks himself. Plus, his landowner, wary of the governmentâs reformist tendencies, was in the mood to pocket a payout from his serfs before the tsar could impose restrictions.
In 1857 Arseniy dipped into his savings, paid off his ransom, and said goodbye to the lands of Yaroslavl. The Smirnovs were free, now no longer anybodyâs property. And soon, thanks to the new tsarâs enlightened agenda and the Smirnovsâ own tenacity, they would be much more than that.
Chapter 3
The Land of Darkness
A rseniy could hardly wait to get a taste of the merchant life. He was a proud man who surely had felt more than a twinge of jealousy that his younger brothers had prospered years before him as free men while he, at age fifty-eight, was only now leaving behind his provincial roots and the burdens of serfdom.
The first order of business for Arseniy was to prove to officials in Moscow, beyond a doubt, his devotion to Christian Orthodoxy. It was a requirement for becoming a merchant. This would not be difficult since Arseniy had attended church throughout his life, according to historical church records, confessing his sins and taking communion as often as his religion demanded. He
Tsar Nikolay I had not prepared his nation for the confrontation. He had been too preoccupied with maintaining his military, monitoring an array of international conflicts, and attending to the inner workings of his own bulging government. The Russian bureaucracy swelled by some 40,000 people during his reign. So the tsar never fully grasped the idea that his country, still dominated by an agrarian economy, had fallen behind the rest of the world. The Crimean War made it impossible to overlook any longer.
That realization, coupled with a regime change at the end of the war, offered the masses their first real hope of reform. Aleksander II, at age thirty-six, took control of Russia from his father in 1855. He was an educated, sensitive man who understood his country in a way Nikolay had not. He saw complacency among the gentry; he recognized an inadequate education system. He even observed the inability of millions of serfs to improve their own well-beingâor the nationâsâunder the status quo. Indeed, the restlessness of the underclasses had already bubbled to the surface, led by peasants who had volunteered for the army with the understanding that they would be granted freedom when the battles ended. When this did not happen, people took to the streets, and protests against the tsar and aristocracy erupted after the war. 5 They demanded better treatment and screamed for freedom.
Industrialization topped the stateâs agenda, along with another crucial matter: the abolition of serfdom. The tsar acknowledged his intentions when he spoke passionately to a leading group of the aristocracy in Moscow on March 30, 1856. He hoped to win the nobilityâs approval and support by famously stating the inevitable: âIt is much better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below.â Freedom, finally, was in the air.
All of this had been on the mind of Pyotrâs father, Arseniy. It had been some time since he had amassed enough reserves to pay off his master, but he had hesitated. Although Arseniy lacked the keen business mind that had served his brothers so well, he understood the art of good timing. Arseniy enjoyed a decent, productive relationship with his landowners and found little reason to uproot what remained of his family without a clear purpose. For him, as for many of the older generation, living under a master was secure and uncomplicated.
Patience served Arseniy well. His sons were flourishing in Moscow, and the money they contributed to the family coffers made it possible, now, for Arseniy to be free. He could pay off his master, go to Moscow, and still have enough money left to join the merchant ranks himself. Plus, his landowner, wary of the governmentâs reformist tendencies, was in the mood to pocket a payout from his serfs before the tsar could impose restrictions.
In 1857 Arseniy dipped into his savings, paid off his ransom, and said goodbye to the lands of Yaroslavl. The Smirnovs were free, now no longer anybodyâs property. And soon, thanks to the new tsarâs enlightened agenda and the Smirnovsâ own tenacity, they would be much more than that.
Chapter 3
The Land of Darkness
A rseniy could hardly wait to get a taste of the merchant life. He was a proud man who surely had felt more than a twinge of jealousy that his younger brothers had prospered years before him as free men while he, at age fifty-eight, was only now leaving behind his provincial roots and the burdens of serfdom.
The first order of business for Arseniy was to prove to officials in Moscow, beyond a doubt, his devotion to Christian Orthodoxy. It was a requirement for becoming a merchant. This would not be difficult since Arseniy had attended church throughout his life, according to historical church records, confessing his sins and taking communion as often as his religion demanded. He
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