Later Serfdom: Countries--Austrian Serfdom


Figure 1.-- Austria acquired areas of southern Poland as part of the Polish Partitions (18th century). The most important Polish area was sacquired was Galicia. The institution of serfdom was well established in POolabnd at the time it was acquired by Austria. The problem foir Austruia was that Poland also had a strong national spirit gared by both the aristocrscy and the serfs. This would eventually result in the Galacian Slaughter, also known as the Peasant Uprising of 1846 and the Szela Uprising. It was a 2-month uprising of Galician peasants, many of them landless fornmer serfs, supported by the Zlachta (Galacian Polish aristoceatrs). It was part of the wider Kraków Uprising. Thge Galician peasants killed some 1,000 noblemen and destroyed about 500 manors. The Austrian government moved in the Imperial Army to destroy the Zlachta and to attempt to supress Polish nattionalism in Galacia. The paunting was the wirk of Polish artist, Jan Lewicki, done sime time befire 1871.

The Austrian Hapsburg Empire was a multi-ethnic Empire streaching fron Austria east into the Czech lands, Hungary, Slovakia and parts of Poland and the Ukraine as well as south into Italy and the Balkans. This meant areas both within and outside the Holy Roman Empire. Austria is today a small German-speaking state. This has only been the case since 1918 and the end of World War I. For much of European history Austria-Hungary and earlier the Austrian Empire or the lands goverened by the Hapsburgs were one of the great powers of Europe. The Hapsburgs begun with a small principality in Austrian which they turned into a great empire. This included many small principalities, including the Netherlands and eventually spain, but the heartland was always Austria and the two criticl components of the Austrin empire in addition to Austria was the acquisition of Bohemia and Hungary. Bohemia had been severely weakened by the Husseite Wars. The Czech crown passed first to the Hungarian (Jagiello) monarchy. The Ottomans defeated and killed Hungarian King Ludwig/Louis at the Battle of Mohács, ending the Jagellon line (1526). As a result, the Austrian Hapsburgs inherited Bohemia and the other Czech Lands along with Hungary. The Habsburg Empire was never a unified, centralized state. The general pattern as the Empire grew was to accept the existing laws and soial structure in each province as they expabded and incorporate thst in the imperial structure. As a result the institution of serfdom and the laws which enforced it varied from provice to province. As serfdom began to decline in the West, feudal lords in the East including those in the Austrian Empire began to see the need to use coersive power to legally bind their serfs to the land, the same laws and regulations that had been estsblidshed in the West. The reason was the same reason as in the West. Land had no value without the serfs to work it. The history of enserfment and the laws and regulatiins enforcing it varied from province to proivince. Finally Austria began to emancipate the serfs. The key plsyers here were Emperess Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II. The key step was the Serfdom Patent of 1781. It at first affected Bohemia, but was gradually extended. Labor service was not immediately ended. And there was a conservative reaction to the French Revolution (1789). Labor service was fiunally ended with the Revolutions of 1848. The feudal lords, however, continued to be great labdowners and many of the former serfs cointinued to be landless okers on he great estates, especially in Hungary and Slovakia.

Austrian Empire (1526-1867)

The Austrian Hapsburg Empire was a multi-ethnic Empire streaching fron Austria east into the Czech lands, Hungary, Slovakia and parts of Poland and the Ukraine as well as south into Italy and the Balkans. This meant areas both within and outside the Holy Roman Empire. Austria is today a small German-speaking state. This has only been the case since 1918 and the end of World War I. For much of European history Austria-Hungary and earlier the Austrian Empire or the lands goverened by the Hapsburgs were one of the great powers of Europe. The Hapsburgs begun with a small principality in Austrian which they turned into a great empire. This included many small principalities, including the Netherlands and eventually spain, but the heartland was always Austria and the two criticl components of the Austrin empire in addition to Austria was the acquisition of Bohemia and Hungary. Bohemia had been severely weakened by the Husseite Wars. The Czech crown passed first to the Hungarian (Jagiello) monarchy. The Ottomans defeated and killed Hungarian King Ludwig/Louis at the Battle of Mohács, ending the Jagellon line (1526). As a result, the Austrian Hapsburgs inherited Bohemia and the other Czech Lands along with Hungary. They would rule the Czechs until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the wake of World War I. The Hapsburg lands were not for centuries formally called the Austrian Empire although that was in fact what they were. The Hapsburgs formally proclaimed the Austrian Empire (1804). After the Napoleonic was, Austria and Prussia vied for control of Germany.

Serfdom in the East and Autarky

Eastern Europe including the eastern areas of the Austrian Empire did not develop the same system of bonded labor which became so important in the West. It was not that the serfs were free, but the legal system bonding them was less pronounced. This may be misleading. The system in Eastern Europe was much more autarkic. And the peasantry here had fewer opportunities as the economy began to quicken in the West. The Western areas within the Empire tended to develop somewhat similar to the Western countries like France and England. The Habsburg Empire was never a unified, centralized state. The general pattern as the Empire grew was to accept the existing laws and soial structure in each province as they expabded and incorporate thst in the imperial structure. As a result the institution of serfdom and the laws which enforced it varied from provice to province. As serfdom began to decline in the West, feudal lords in the East began to see the need to use coersive power to legally bind their serfs to the land, the same laws and regulatioins that had been estsblidshed in the West. The reason was the same reason as in the West. Land had no value without the serfs to work it.

Austrian Enserfment: Provincial Trends

What is udeniable is the actions taken by authorities to legally bind the peasantry to the land or enserfment are nortable as the serfs in the West were moving toward more greater freedom. The quickening pace of the economy in gthe West, spread East. This mean that Eastern serfs now began to aquire more opportunities as in the West. And it mean that tghe Eastern lords saw a need yo lrgally bind tgheir serfs to bthe labd as was the case in the West. If they lost their serfs, the land would havbe no value. This process varied from province to province.

Hungary

Hungary was by far the largest and most important part of the Austrian Empire. It was much larger than Austria itself. The acquisition of Hungsry essentially is whst turned the Habsburg lands in toi an empire. Thus serfom in Hungary was of great importance to the Habsburgs. György Dózsa a peasant uprising in Hungary (1514). When it failed, the parliament strengthened the lord's right to land and introduced an obligatory corvée (lanor service) of one day per week. Hungarian lords increased their demesnes (land directly manged) (1530 and 1540).

Slovakia

The same process of enserfment occurred in Slovakia also largely controlled by Hungarian lords (1550s). Corvée was gradually extended to 3 days a week (second half of the 16th century).. It becme increasingly wiudespread (17th century). The Ottoman invasion which reached the gates of Vienna began to disrupt the enserfment process. There were major changes in agricuture which made it more difficult to coinyrol the peasantry.

Bohemia/Czech Lands

Feudal lords in Bohemia also began an enserfment process (15th century). Parliament limited the peasant's right to leave the village. Regulations followed to prevent peasant flight. The expanding demesne was notable (1530s). Landlords controlled the grain market, but could not export. They turned to brewing and fish fish aquaculture and increased the corvée to three days a week (second half of the 16th century). The Catholic imperial victory at White Mountain at the onset of the Thirty Years War resulted in enforced enserfment actions (1620) The corvée was set at 3 days a week from each allotment (laneus). This meant that the Western-style serf sysyem was firmly established.

Poland (Galicia)

Austria acquired areas of southern Poland as part of the Polish Partitions (18th century). The most important Polish area was sacquired was Galicia. The institution of serfdom was well established in Poland at the time it was acquired by Austria. The problem foir Austruia was that Poland also had a strong national spirit gared by both the aristocrscy and the serfs. This would eventually result in the Galacian Slaughter (Rzeź galicyjska), also known as the Peasant Uprising of 1846 and the Szela Uprising. It was a 2-month uprising of Galician peasants centered around Tarnów. Many of the insurgents were fornmer serfs, but supported by the Zlachta (Galacian Polish aristocrats). It was part of the wider Kraków Uprising. The Galician peasants killed some 1,000 noblemen and destroyed about 500 manors. [Berend, p. 212.] The Austrian Imperial regime moved in the Imperial Army to destroy the Zlachta and to attempt to supress Polish nattionalism in the Galacia. The Slaughter proved to be the the largest peasant uprising on Polish lands in the 19th century. Some historians call it 'the last jacquerie or peasant uprising in European history'. [Ertl, p. 352.]

Abolition of Serfdom

A peasant uprising occured (1775). Empress Maria Theresa (1765-80) began to liberalize the feudal system in the Austrian Empire. The royal July Decree granted the peasants the right to justice through royal officials rather than courts of feudal lords (1770). The Patent of 1772 even granted them the right to appeal to the sovereign, and limited the robot (cirvée labor) to 3 days a week and 12 hours a day. The October Decree limited the price of letters of release, which serfs could buy from their lords to gain their freedom (1773). Her son, Emperor Joseph II went much further. He decided to put an end to serfdom (1781). The Serfdom Patent abolished the serfdom (Leibeigenschaft) system in the Habsburg lands (1781). Serfs were granted basic civil liberties. The revolt may have been a factor. Economics was probanly more important. The Habsburg economy was based on agriculture (18th century). It was not evolving like the economies of Western Europe where manufactuiring was expanding. The nobles and clergy were legally exempt from taxes. The tax burden thus fell on the peasantry. But they were under the control of aritiocratic landlords who extracted so much revnue from them, the Imperial Government could obtain very little tax revenue. The abolishment of the feudal system allowed the Emperor to get a larger share of the wealth being created by the peasantry. There also seems to have been a moral objection. He abolished beatings. Serfs serfs were allowed to appeal court rulings to the emperor as part of a reorganization of the landlord judicial system. The corvée continued, however, until the Revolutions of 1848. Enforcenment varied within the Empire.

Enforcement

The Patent was enforced differently amongst all of the various Habsburg lands. The nobility in Bohemia refused to enact its provisions, while the Transylvanian nobles simply refused to notify the peasants in their region about this emancipation document. The Hungarian estates claimed that their peasants were not serfs, but “tenants in fee simple, who were fully informed as to their rights and duties by precise contracts” and continued to restrict these 'tenants'. In contrast, the peasants of the German-speaking provinces were actually aided by the Patent. The 1781 Serfdom Patent allowed the Bohemian serfs legal rights. It was applied to Hungary (1785). The document did not affect the financial dues and the physical corvée (unpaid labor) that the serfs legally owed to their landlords. Joseph II recognized the importance of these further reforms, continually attempting to destroy the economic subjugation through related laws, such as his Tax Decree (1789). This of course was when the French Revolutiuin was lunched. This new law would have finally realized Emperor Joseph II’s ambition to modernize Habsburg society, allowing for the end of corvée and the beginning of lesser tax obligations. Joseph’s latter reforms were withdrawn upon his death (1790). Then the conservstive reaction to the French Revolution set in. As a result, the personal freedom of serfs remained guaranteed through the first half of the 19th century -- all the impact the 1781 Serfdom Patent.

Sources

Berend, Iván T. History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century (University of California Press: 2003).

Ertl, Alan W. (August 2008). Toward an Understanding of Europe: A Political Economic Précis of Continental Integration (Universal-Publishers: 2008).







CIH







Navigate the Children in History Website:
[Return to the Main serfdom page]
[Return to the Main forced labor page]
[Return to the Main feudalism page]
[Return to the Main working page]
[Return to the Main activities page]
[Introduction] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Climatology] [Clothing] [Disease and Health] [Economics] [Geography] [History] [Human Nature] [Law]
[Nationalism] [Presidents] [Religion] [Royalty] [Science] [Social Class]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Children in History Home]





Created: 3:56 PM 7/23/2018
Last updated: 1:48 PM 7/24/2018