Redemption Payments in Budgets of Voronezh Province Peasants in the Second Half of the XIX - at the Beginning of the XX Century
The paper aims to identify socio-economic status of the Voronezh province peasantry in the second half of the XIX - at the beginning of the XX century. The article considers processes of social stratification among the Voronezh province peasantry, analyses the peasants’ taxes and ascertains a place of redemption payments in the structure of their tax payments. The researcher reveals causes of arrears among the peasants and describes the measures taken by the state bodies to solve the peasants’ debt problems. The research findings are as follows: the author proves that due to low profitability from agriculture and frequent natural disasters, redemption payments were an intolerable burden for the peasants. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that the problem of redemption payments of the Voronezh province peasants, in particular, the place of these payments in the structure of their tax payments, is still poorly investigated.