Siberian freedom! Why did people go to Siberia? How free are modern Siberians? A big myth debunked

Siberian freedom! Why did people go to Siberia? How free are modern Siberians? A big myth debunked

No one lives in Siberia because they want to.  I’m Siberian in many generations and it strikes   me every time when I hear something like that.  Is it true both for those people who came here  

In the past and for modern Siberians? Is it a land  of exile or a land of freedom for most people who   end up being here? I’m Nina and I’m in Siberia  right now. It has been bitter cold for around  

Two weeks. We’ve got the coldest day in more than  two decades and the temperatures here in SIberia   have dropped below -40° C in most places where  people live. I’ll show you some today from Western   Siberia. And by the way where do most people  live here? And I have a big surprise for you  

Guys right now that would help you understand many  things about Siberia. So please check out the map   I’ve made for you. The biggest cities, economic  and industrial hubs where the vast majority of   Siberians live are in the south of Siberia. Along  the Trans Siberian railroad. I’ll be talking about  

That crucial infrastructure today too. So it’s  that cold even in the south. Why on Earth would   people come and live here? Let’s step back in  time and we’ll find some answers there. And I’ll  

Do my best to be as objective as possible and to  give you a bigger picture. I believe many of you,   maybe even most of you have that stereotype  about Siberia that people could be only sent   here. Nobody would come if they wanted to.  Let’s start with that group. People were  

Sent to Siberia for centuries. The conquest  of Siberia started by Russian cossacks at the   end of the 16th century and became a crucial  place of exile almost at once. There were two   big reasons for that – politics and money. There  were some political opponents among those people  

Who were sent to Siberia. And at the same time  the government wanted people to work for free   for example for industries and mining. That’s  why they sent many criminals to Siberia too.   But what’s important to understand. That exile  was not concentrated in Siberia only. But times  

When people were sent to Siberia… they were  sent not only to Siberia… are deep in history   now. Those Stalin labor camps were disbanded in  the 1950s after his death, around 70 years ago,   around three generations ago. But what happened  before that? If you take the time when the  

Conquest of Siberia started and Joseph Stalin’s  death there were almost four centuries between   them. So what happened there? How typical was  it? In fact those exiled made up a small part   in the Siberian population. If we take 20 guys,  20 Siberians who lived here over a century ago,  

Over two centuries ago. Only one of them could  be a prisoner or exiled. 19 others had nothing   to do with that, had nothing to do with life  behind bars. I’ve made a special video for you   about exile to Siberia and another video about the  strictest prison in Siberia. I’ve presented many  

Numbers and facts there so please check it out if  you’re interested. But today I’ll be talking about   these 19 guys, those who lived in Siberia, those  who came to Siberia because they wanted to. That’s   why my ancestors came here. Some over a century  ago. I’ll be talking a lot about that period,  

The beginning of the XXth century because that was  crucial for Siberia. Many people moved to Siberia   at the time. Some of my ancestors came several  centuries ago, some guys were already here at   the time. In that video I’m not talking that much  about indigenous Siberians, those guys who came  

Even earlier. Nobody lived in Siberia for ever.  I’m not talking that much about them because I   believe it’s worth making a special video about  them, maybe several videos. Please let me know   if you’re interested below in the comments. I  would really appreciate if all your questions,  

Ideas and even hate would be in English only. So  that was another story and I’m pretty sure most   of you would be surprised by that story too. Why  did people come to Siberia? There were two big  

Reasons. Politics and money once again but in that  case in a much more positive sence. Firstly people   came to get personal freedom. Why is that?  At the time farmers in Russia were property   of landlords. Here I’m talking about more or less  the European part of modern Russia in the Russian  

Empire. In the USSR the same rules were applied  everywhere, all around the country. The Russian   empire included many parts, not only Russia and  different rules were applied in different parts   of the country. Here I’m talking about more  or less the European part of modern Russia  

In the Russian empire. The vast majority of the  population there, around 90% till the very end   of the Russian empire, were just farmers. At the  time farmers in Russia were property of landlords.   Serfdom in many cases was very similar to slavery  and was abandoned in Russia only in 1861 but never  

Existed in Siberia. Never existed here. Moreover  that serfdom was officially abandoned in 1861   but in fact many people didn’t get that freedom  fully. Farmers became officially free but they   had to pay their landlords for those small pieces  of land they had. Those prices were really high  

And many people couldn’t afford that. At the same  time they couldn’t survive without them. That was   a huge problem. The government didn’t solve it in  several decades. Because of that they got several   huge riots and many historians believe that was  one of the main reasons why the Russian empire  

Collapsed in the end. It never existed in Siberia.  I’m reading an excellent book at the time about   that period in history. And I knew that but still  I was shocked. Landlords sold their farmers in   newspapers. They were just propert for them. And  many bad things happened to those farmers. When  

I read that I just felt happy that my ancestors,  many of them were farmers too, but they were in   Siberia at the time. It was challenging here, the  climate is harsher here but they were free. And   that’s what happened in SIberia. Siberians,  people who lived here, who were born here,  

Who came here were much freer than than those  people in the European part of Russia. And that’s   why Siberia used to be a land of freedom for mots  people who lived here. I’m pretty sure most of you   never thought about Siberia that way. Secondly.  Money. Many people escaped from the European part  

Of Russia because of hunger and poverty and they  came to Siberia to get land. The vast majority of   the population in the European part of Russia were  just farmers. They had big farmers families, many   kids, many sons. How would they divide that small  piece of land? The Russian empire was not really  

Industrialized. There were some factories but  agriculture was so much bigger and more important.   Even if you wanted to find a job for you or  for your kids you could hardly do that. That’s   why many people were struggling. The famous Trans  Siberian railroad was built for that goal too over  

A century ago and soon after that around  3 million people migrated to Siberia. I   believe migrating to Siberia from the European  part of Russia at the time was very similar to   migrating to America from Europe. Don’t forget to subscribe. If you  

Want to support my work you’ll find information  below how to do that. I would really appreciate   that. Please ask any questions you may  have about Siberia, about Russia and   the post-Soviet space. Stay warm and see you soon!

No one lives in Siberia because they want to! Is that true? What is Siberia like? Does anybody live there at all? Why people came to the place with such a harsh climate in the past? Why do modern Siberians live here?
Most people form a false impression of Siberia although this land is among the most beautiful, diverse and interesting regions anywhere on Earth. I’m going to share and debunk 5 myths about Siberia I’m getting the most from foreigners.

If you’d like to support my work
Buy me a coffee – https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fierysiberian

Time codes:
00:01 Who on Earth lives here?
01:43 People were sent to Siberia for centuries
03:02 How many Siberians were exiled?
04:53 Why people came here?
07:06 Siberians were much freer than you may think
07:35 Money in Siberia

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