Ömer Faruk Alişan: "Under Napoleonic Rule, in Germania": Under Napoleonic Rule, in Germania In 1807, serfdom was abolished. Since peasants frequently could not meet the compensation payments, their formal freedom in practice meant little. The main beneficiaries were in fact the nobles (and the legislation was in any case later modified by regulations unfavourable to the peasantry). Restrictions imposed by the notion of ‘estates’ as status groups defined by birth, rather than social classes, were lifted, so that nobles could now engage in middle-class occupations, while peasants and burghers could (at least in theory) buy noble lands. This transformation from a status to a class society created a potential mobility of labour, which formed a precondition for later capitalist economic development.

In 1807, serfdom was abolished. Since peasants frequently could not meet the compensation payments, their formal freedom in practice meant little. The main beneficiaries were in fact the nobles (and the legislation was in any case later modified by regulations unfavourable to the peasantry). Restrictions imposed by the notion of ‘estates’ as status groups defined by birth, rather than social classes, were lifted, so that nobles could now engage in middle-class occupations, while peasants and burghers could (at least in theory) buy noble lands. This transformation from a status to a class society created a potential mobility of labour, which formed a precondition for later capitalist economic development.

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Ömer Faruk Alişan