How did the serfs of the great Suvorov live, and to whom did the commander give the "father's capital"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When the surname Suvorov is pronounced, everyone remembers his feats of arms. Yes, Alexander Vasilyevich was a great commander - he did not have a single lost battle. But not everyone knows that the brilliant military man was also a large landowner who owned large territories with many serfs. Some researchers argue that Suvorov treated his peasants like slaves, others write that he took care of them. How did the peasants of the landlord commander live?

Two thousand serfs as an inheritance and a whole city as a gift from the empress

Alexander's father was Vasily Suvorov, who began his career in the secret office, and at a respectable age became a senator. The boy was lucky: the family was rich, his father knew how to save money and manage it. After Vasily's death, the son, the future Generalissimo Suvorov, received a decent inheritance, which included several estates with at least two thousand serfs living in them. During his life, Suvorov increased his wealth by buying several more estates.

Suvorov was deservedly ranked among the best generals of the Russian Empire. His merits were highly appreciated by Catherine II, who never spared money for gifts to worthy nobles and military leaders. Her gifts were sometimes striking in their high cost and volume. For example, for especially distinguished personalities, the empress chose lands and serfs.

As you know, Catherine carried out the distribution of the former Polish lands. This event took place in 1795, at the same time the empress presented Field Marshal Suvorov with the lands of Western Belarus, namely the city of Kobrin with the surrounding area, where seven thousand serfs lived. A truly generous royal gift, which the commander used wisely.

How Suvorov bought girls for his serfs

Some modern researchers have recently begun to claim that Suvorov was a slave trader, based on a letter from the commander to Captain Vereshchinsky, dated 1800. What is written there? Suvorov's letter contains a request - he wants to acquire young girls for male serfs, and not older than fourteen years. He explains this by the fact that he needs to marry the yard boys who have reached puberty, they say, he doesn't want to buy expensive peasant women at all.

However, it was not possible to prove the authenticity of the letter. Moreover, there are no serious historical studies that would talk about it, and for the first time the publication of this letter, allegedly written by the generalissimo, appeared in the Ukrainian newspaper "Echo" already in 2015. Apparently, you should still rely on more authoritative sources.

Were the serfs of Suvorov slaves?

You can briefly distract from the personality of the great Suvorov. Yes, he was a landowner, but does this mean that he was also a slave trader? It would be wrong to think so, because the Russian serf system had nothing to do with slavery. The slave had no movable and immovable property, he was forbidden to start a family. Serfs, on the other hand, worked on the land and fully supported their families. Most of the peasants independently solved their household and economic issues. They were even allowed to do business.

If we recall the first merchant and industrial dynasties of Russia, then many of them appeared after the peasant, who had accumulated a considerable fortune, bought himself and his family, that is, received a free one. The landowners were not particularly interested in interfering in the economic affairs of their serfs. It was more important that the corvee was worked out and the quitrent was paid. In addition, the master, the master, had a duty established by the state - to carefully monitor that there was order in the estates, and the population did not decrease.

Of course, there were always soulless and greedy landowners (especially during the reign of Catherine II) who used their position for nasty purposes. For example, they played cards for peasants or sold them to a profitable buyer. However, this was not a system, but rather related to exceptions. Returning to the commander Suvorov: evidence that he took part in such unworthy deeds does not exist at the moment.

"Father's capital" from a great commander to each and progressive economic measures

There are a lot of historical data that say that Alexander Suvorov not only did not offend his serfs, but also provided them with assistance and cared for. For example, if you read the works of the Soviet historian Joseph Kuperman, you can find mention of the fact that the commander made a decision to abolish the natural quitrent in their territories. The peasants began to pay tax in the form of money. It seems, what's wrong with that? However, the rent was minimal and amounted to about 3-4 rubles annually from each soul. But the peasants were given free use of land, forests and rivers, where people could work, fish, hunt, and so on. Isn't it a modern rental?

Suvorov was a good business executive. He was not alien to the problems of the peasants, their sorrows and concerns. In his notes entitled "The reasons for the decline of the peasant economy" and in letters to friends, you can find many references to the measures that were taken to support the peasants in difficult situations. Suvorov was very serious about such an indicator as the birth rate, and he paid special attention to the health of children. Few people know, but it was the great commander who introduced the practice of "father's capital". When the serf peasant got married, the landowner presented him ten rubles from his own savings. There are also Suvorov's orders to provide children with the necessary medical care. Such a progressive master was the commander.

The personality of the generalissimo was very bright. He did not eat dinner, and at the ball he punished Potemkin himself.