Exile was also a common form of punishment in late Qing China, such as the exile of Ningguta and the enslavement of the armoured people. However, the exile in Siberia seems to have been even harsher in comparison. The climate in Siberia is extremely harsh, with icy winters most of the time. Covered with ice and snow, the land freezes all year round, making it unsuitable for farming, and it is an extremely cold place that is difficult for humans to live in. Tsarist Russia was able to incorporate this land into its territory thanks to the Yermak and his 840 Cossack cavalry sent by Tsar Ivan IV. Their conquest was surprisingly smooth, and they soon brought Siberia into the territory of Tsarist Russia. Compared to the purchase of Alaska by the United States, the cost of conquering Siberia by Tsarist Russia was lower.
The desolation and barrenness of Siberia made it easy for Tsarist Russia to later give Alaska to the United States. The vast expanse of Siberia is cold and barren, and few people want to develop it. Until 2016, Putin signed the Law on One Hectare of Land in the Far East, encouraging Russian citizens to move to Siberia and granting one hectare of land. However, even so, only a few people choose to go.
In 1591, the unexpected death of Dmitry, the heir of Ivan IV, sparked a rebellion. Eventually, the rebellion was suppressed, and many of the rebels were exiled to Siberia. Most notably, even the bronze bell of the Cathedral of Uglić was exiled, becoming the famous "Bronze Bell Exile" event in history. This event symbolized the tsar's treatment of opponents: not killing, but exile.
Tsarist Russia's policy of exile, although seen as a "kindness", implied profound social inequality. Under this system, even those who have committed capital crimes have the opportunity to escape the death penalty. But behind this "grace" is actually a torture of human nature and a distortion of social justice. In 1649, with the introduction of serfdom in Tsarist Russia, countless ordinary peasants were reduced to slavery and lost their basic human rights. Their fate is like being crushed by the giant wheel of the times, and they are powerless to resist. In this context, the introduction of the new exile law in 1760 in Tsarist Russia exacerbated this inequality. The law, which allows the perpetrators to be exiled to Siberia without trial, effectively opens the door to miscarriage of justice. Under this policy, a large number of serfs were exiled at will. Far from home, they face harsh natural conditions and harsh working conditions, and their lives become a constant misery.
At the same time, the nobles of high status and status were treated very differently. When they were exiled to Siberia for political reasons or other crimes, what they encountered was not a struggle for survival, but a relatively comfortable "life in exile". For example, after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, those exiled nobles, who were not forced to do heavy manual labor, enjoyed a certain degree of power and respect in the local area, and even had the opportunity to join the Siberian region**. This difference in treatment reflects the profound hierarchical division of Tsarist society.
Perhaps the most famous of these is Lenin's experience in exile. After being sentenced to three years of exile in Siberia, Lenin's life was not as hard as he had imagined. His mother even managed to secure more comfortable living conditions for him. During his exile, Lenin not only had good living conditions, but even had the freedom to read books and newspapers, which was almost a luxury in the ** society at that time. Even more surprising was the fact that Lenin met his partner during his exile and had a lavish wedding. In contrast, ordinary serfs experienced a very different kind of suffering in Siberia.
This difference in treatment based on status and status has a direct impact on the fate of exiles. For ordinary serfs, exile meant the ruin of their families and the hardships of life; And for the aristocracy, exile may be only a temporary adversity, or even the beginning of a new life. This unequal treatment, which was deeply entrenched in the ** society of the time, highlighted the importance of hierarchy and power.
Over time, many of the exiled serfs of the Tsarist era have become the main inhabitants of present-day Siberia. Their descendants continue to live and work in this cold and distant land. At the same time, most of the nobles who had been exiled had returned to Moscow or other major cities, and their exile may have been just an episode in their life story. This difference in fate, based on identity, is a profound reflection of the injustice and hierarchy of Tsarist Russian society.
The policy of exile in Siberia was not a single cruelty, but a reflection of complex social realities. It reveals the deep inequality and injustice of Tsarist Russia at that time, and at the same time reflects the possibilities of human nature in extreme circumstances.