21. Russia’s Version of Slavery
Tsar Peter the Great officially ended chattel slavery in Russia in 1723, but for all intents and purposes, de facto slavery continued in Russia in the guise of serfdom. According to a 1719 census, four out of every five Russian peasants were serfs who could not leave the estates in which they toiled. They could also be legally bought and sold, so long as they were sold as part of a land sale. In practice, landowners could sell their serfs with or without a real estate transaction. Landowners could transfer serfs to other landowners, and keep their property and families.
Legally, only the Russian state and Russian aristocrats could own serfs, but in practice, commercial firms could sell serfs as slaves, both within Russia and abroad to Persia and the Ottoman Empire. In practice, Russian landowners had unlimited ownership over their serfs. Serfs could not be killed – at least not legally. In practice, landowners could flog them to death, outright murder, or otherwise mistreat them at will. Few examples better illustrate the absolute power Russian landowners exercised over their serfs than that of noblewoman Darya Saltykova, below.
