We all go to the cash desks of our management companies every month to pay our water, gas and electricity bills. Also, once every six months we visit the tax office in order to pay tribute (approximately from 100 rubles and more) to the state. In our time, this is commonly referred to as a "tax". And this obligation has existed for so long that it seems unrealistic to give the exact date of its origin. And no matter how much historians strain their learned heads, when the first collection from a person took place, we will no longer know. However, it is possible to consider earlier collections, starting with the first tsars and ending with the times of Kolchak.
When is the collection of the people most vividly mentioned in history?
The age of feudal lords was especially distinguished in this respect. Of course, ordinary people were “plucked” before, but they began to do it especially professionally at that time. Compulsory collection in kind or money from the peasants is, in other words, corvée and dues. In the first case (corvee) it was about the payment of tax in kind by the peasants to their master. It means labor. Heavy, long and unpaid. In the second case (tire), everything is much simpler - labor was paid for by the harvest, the proceeds from it, and the products obtained from it. But there was one "but" - all this had to be given to his landowner. The question is being imposed about what they themselves ate and what they lived on. By the way, historians also find it difficult to answer it. And this is no joke.
Towage
So, the forced natural or cash collection from the peasants had the first stage of its development during the feudal lords. It was a tribute. It consisted in paying money to the landowner for the opportunity to work on his land. The cost was calculated based on the location of the estate: from a quarter of a penny per acre and above. Naturally, not all peasants had money. Therefore, "caring" landowners accepted food instead of money. They either went to the master's table, or were sold at the market, and the proceeds received went into the master's pocket.
Do not forget that the forced tax in kind or in cash from the peasants, levied by the feudal lord, applied not only to the peasants, but also to the peoples captured during military campaigns. Thus, a feudal lord was appointed to their lands, to whom the tribes living there had to pay tribute for the opportunity to live and work further.
In general, the time of the feudal lords constrained the people and their masters. And the forced collection in kind or in cash from the peasants contributed most of all.
The corvée comes to replace
However, the high demands of the owners did not always allow the peasants to paytribute in money and food. In fact, it almost didn't work. At best, the tribute was not paid in full. At worst, in times of crop failure, the peasants took their families in fear and went on the run. Therefore, the feudal lords developed a new system.
Thus, the forced collection in kind or in cash from the peasants became simply forced and in kind. The landowner no longer demanded money or crops from the peasants. The farmer repaid him by working for free on the owner's land.
This system pleased the exploiters and lasted until the 19th century. And according to some sources - until the 20th.
The discontent of the peasants and the consequences of this
But the matter was not limited to constant requisitions. The attitude towards the peasants in those days was no better than towards the very land they plowed. Giving land on lease, the feudal lords gave along with it the peasants themselves. In other words, a peasant is nothing but a resource, a thing, a currency, but not a living soul. In addition, there was no sympathy from the authorities. Moreover, the decree of Catherine 2 completely deprived the people of faith in any kind of justice. And the decree was that the peasants did not have the right to complain about their landowners. There was no such estate where this or that crime would not occur in relation to the farmer or his family. And almost every one of these cases went unpunished.
At the same time, the landowners considered themselves fair, generous patrons, and forced collections in kind or in cash from the peasants were a response for their kindness. It is unlikely that any of the gentlemen at least once thought about the reality of fulfilling their conditions. The nobility did not consider it necessary to do this and closer to the 1970s.
Peasants in the Pugachev uprising
The situation in the country was worse than ever, due to the changing wars from one to another. In addition, there was a “Gallant Age” in the yard, which required large expenditures of feudal lords for their person. All this tightened the neck of the common man even more.
However, any patience comes to an end. Oppression, bullying, criminal acts, and forced collections in kind or cash collected from the peasants were answered in the form of constant strikes and uprisings. The most famous of them is the adjoining of a large number of peasants to Pugachev. It was the rebellious farmers who made up a large part of his army, which only contributed to the uprising growing to such unprecedented proportions.
Cancellation fees
Peasants who could afford to buy their land were few. The rest had no choice but to work for the landowner, subjected to constant requisitions. And no matter how prominent figures sympathizing with them struggled with it, the forced collection in kind or in cash from the peasants ended its existence only at the end of the 19th century.
