Autocratic Abolitionists: Tsarist Russian Anti-slavery Campaigns

Abstract

The history of anti-slavery politics in nineteenth-century Russia is intimately connected with the evolution of the Russian autocracy. The country’s history of abolitionism differs from the majority of other national case studies because the Russian autocracy did not permit an independent abolitionist movement or the establishment of related international networks. The drive to abolish serfdom in Russia and to eradicate the slave trade in the Caucasus and Central Asia came directly from the autocracy itself. Nineteenth-century Russian rulers carefully conferred rights upon subjects, fearing disorder associated with initiatives from below. Even though the autocracy restricted independent political movements in Russia, serfdom inspired heated debates among generations of educated Russians. These debates later furthered the patriotic fervour of Russian conservatives, who would champion the country’s obligation to liberate slaves across its expanding empire in the late nineteenth century.