Russian serfs were not emancipated until 1861.
Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
Multiple reliable sources date the emancipation of Russia's serfs to the 1861 Emancipation Manifesto (19 February Julian / 3 March Gregorian), so serfdom was not ended before 1861. The post's garbled wording ('serfs until 18... from up until 1861') matches this reading, and the claim is a faithful paraphrase.
What was said
… There is, you know, 75 years of Bolshevik history. There is the Tsarist period, and the Tsars were at complete control of the country, and Russians were serfs until 18 you know, from up until 1861, without really a chance. I follow some people that are on Instagram that are probably born around 2005, that live in Moscow, that are having a pretty good time. Yeah, and but I don't know, I look at some of those people, and I'm like, wait a minute, I wish they were more cursed. …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Yale Law Library primary-source piece dates the emancipation of Russia's serfs to 19 February 1861, when Alexander II issued the governing documents.[1]
Supports. BBC In Our Time describes Alexander II's 1861 decree as legally freeing the serfs, after which serfdom ended.[2]
Supports. Britannica states the Emancipation Manifesto was issued on March 3, 1861, accompanied by 17 legislative acts that freed the serfs.[3]
Supports. Carnegie Endowment's 150th-anniversary essay describes the abolition of serfdom in 1861 as the marker of Russia's emancipation of its serfs.[4]
Context. Some sources note that state-owned serfs were freed later (1866) and that Georgia's emancipation came in 1864, but these are narrower exceptions that do not affect the claim about Russian serfs being emancipated in 1861.[5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 primary, 1 tier 1, 4 not rated
- 1Monuments of Imperial Russian Law: Emancipation of the Serfslibrary.law.yale.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2In Our Time, The Emancipation of the Serfsbbc.co.uk · tier 1 · cited for: supports
- 3Emancipation Manifesto | Tsar Alexander II, Russia [1861 ...britannica.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Ending Feudalism: The 150th Anniversary of ...carnegieendowment.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Abolition du servage de 1861 - Wikipediafr.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Emancipation reform of 1861 - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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