THE PEASANT REFORM OF 1861: PECULIARITIES OF ITS MULTIFACETED IMPLEMENTATION IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND PODILLIA PROVINCE

This article explores the multifaceted nature of the Peasant Reform of 1861, its diverse nature and challenges. It also lists the main participants in this event, their goals and objectives. We also extrapolated this reform to the territory of Podillia province, where we identified the details and nuances of its implementation. The reasons for this reform were diverse, and its implementation was only a matter of time. And the great clumsy empire was running out of time. Capitulation in the war, a depleted backward economy, and difficult financial conditions (almost a default) forced the tsar to take this risky step. Everyone in the empire saw the reform in their own way, and therefore the goals and objectives were different. Before and during the reform, there were various struggles at different levels of the Russian state. Everyone was well aware of what was at stake: freedom, labor, and land. And if the tsar, officials, and landlords (the so-called triangle) were in opposition at different social levels of the Russian Empire, then at the level of the Podillia province, the following were involved: officials, the tsarist government, Polish landlords, and Jews who «felt the benefits of this matter» (square).