Free labour - the curriculum of nations
The backward Tsarist Russia began to approach the countries of Western Europe politically and economically only in the 19th century. The government was weakened by defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and peasant revolts, and was eventually forced to make some reforms. Peasant reform laid the foundation for the country's industrial development. Without free labour, no further progress would have been possible, and serfdom, in which 47 million people lived, could no longer be sustained.
On 19 February 1861, in the sixth year of Tsar Alexander II's reign, a tsarist order abolishing serfdom was passed.
The painting depicts a cold March morning in Moscow's Red Square in front of the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed. The Kremlin towers rise in the background to the sides. To the right of the temple - built in the 16th century by Russia's first tsar, Ivan the Terrible - is the round tribune from which the tsar's order abolishing serfdom was proclaimed on 5 March 1861. After the proclamation, officials left. The village and town folk remain in the square, and, as is evident from the expression on their faces, each understands the freedom won for his own. Some rejoice at the new opportunities, others do not know what to do.
The first rays of the sun, symbolizing dawn and freedom, are slowly breaking through the thick fog above the towers of the Church of Vassil the Blessed. Alfons Mucha painted this painting in 1914-1915, after returning from his study trip to Russia in 1913. He changed his original intention - to paint the Abolition of Serfdom in Russia as a glorious historical event - because he recognized the oppression of the simple Russian people and their real standard of living.
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