Context

• There was a stark divide between the privileged land-owning elite and the serf majority.
• Land-owning elite: clergy, nobility, military officials
• In addition to the serfs, there were some urban artisans, manufacturers and merchants
• The striking feature of mid-19th C. Russia was that there was no coherent middle class.
• There were a small number of professionals (doctors, teachers and lawyers) but these were often the sons of nobles.