Joseph II is plowing the field near Slawikowitz in rural southern Moravia on 19 August 1769.
Joseph II was one of the first rulers in Central Europe, who attempted to abolish serfdom but his plans met with resistance from the landholders. His Imperial Patent of 1785 abolished serfdom on some territories of the Empire but, under the pressure of the landlords, did not give the peasants ownership of the land or freedom from dues owed to the landowning nobles. It did give them personal freedom. The final emancipation reforms in the Habsburg Empire were introduced in 1848.
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