Colonel V. A. Pashkov and the Late Nineteenth-Century Protestant Movement in Russia, Jan M. Surer, 1999

he barshchina (compulsory labor instead of obrok payments) of their peasants. Thus, while the degree of involvement with and supervision of the peasants varied, in general landlords were themselves the law on their estates and in this capacity served as local representatives of the autocratic state. The era of reform: steps toward legal equality The processes of industrialization and bureaucratization and the reforms of Alexander II (1855-1881) brought major changes to this social system. Disastrous defeat in the Crimean War (1853-56) had painfully exposed Russia's need to modernize in order to compete economically and industrially with the West. In pursuit of this goal, through Emancipation 9 S. Pushkarev, The Emergence of Modern Russia. 1801-1917 . trans. by R. McNeal and T. Yedlin, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, 1963, p. 25. 17 and the reforms of the judiciary, local government, education, and the military in the 1860's and 1870's-, the government moved from legal privilege for nobles toward greater legal equality. The emancipation reform in particular had drastic economic implications for the gentry, although commentators disagree as to their magnitude. In Manning's view, because of their pre-emancipation debts, the depreciation of the compensating government bonds, and the lack of credit available (until the formation of the State Nobles' Land Bank in 1885) gentry faced a capital shortage. This was a significant blow now that they needed cash to procure services and equipment. 10 Agriculture struggled particularly under the price drops of the Long Depression (1876-1896) and the government's industrialization policies of taxes, import tariffs, and tight money of the 1890's. 11 Becker sees in many of these figures a different, more positive trend and disputes many of Manning's contentions. Becker claims instead that capital was not suddenly so essential to the gentry; they still had access to peasant labor and equipment through renting their land to the peasants or through sharecropping. Furthermore, they did receive 575 million rubles after covering their debts and allowing for bond depreciation. They also had sufficient credit access to 10 11 Manning, pp. 8-9. Ibid., pp. 9-10. 18 be 400 million rubles in debt by 1883. 12 He argues that the nobles were on the whole successfully adapting to. new economic and social conditions. They sold or mortgaged their lands in many cases because of the excellent gains high land prices made possible. 13 Whether by choice or necessity, during the period 1877- 1905, the nobility's share of the land in private hands declined from two thirds to 34.3%, 14 and many members of the higher nobility turned to alternative ventures. In 1910, of the 137,825 nobles living in St. Petersburg, 49% were living on the income from their securities. 15 The "magnates” continued their industrial involvement and investment, activities begun in