Russia's socio-economic history, for the most part, can be broken into two factions – the history of the nobility, and the history of the peasants. The hyperbolic splendor of the Russian courts tend to draw readers to biographies and narratives about royals, but it's possible to find information about the lower classes, on which the nobility depended for building cities, harvesting resources, and supplying armies.
Why Study Peasant Russia?
Russian peasant culture is tied up with – and many times responsible for – the course of Russian history. Serfs, bound to the land, worshipped God and Tsar, inspiring Slavophiles to mimic idealized folk traditions. Peasants also unwittingly gave Bolshevik idealogues fodder for their revolution by providing both the excuse for the overthrow of the monarchy and the manpower for the regime. Peasants appear in Russian art, their way of life is depicted musically and theatrically, and peasant characters play important roles in Russian literature.
Peasant Russia's History
Peasant history centers around rural village life on the estates of landowners. While the peasants were emancipated by the tsar in 1861, their dependency upon land and community continued into the 20th century. Peasants were typically religious and illiterate. Cruel landowners or land managers saw the peasants beaten for infractions; other peasants became cherished family members in estate households. Childbirth and child-rearing were difficult tasks – the level of effort undertaken to raise offspring was comparable to labor undertaken in the fields during harvest.
Undermining Peasant Life
During the Soviets' dekulakization efforts, Russian peasant life was turned upside down, which was precisely the intention of government officials. Families and communities were torn apart and sent to labor camps in remote areas of the country – some to their deaths. Established peasants, or peasants with authority in their communities, were often found guilty of political crimes if their behavior defied elements of the greater plan. For example, because the Soviets were so anti-religion, those who continued practicing religion in protest could be severely punished.
Reading about Peasant Russia
Because the peasants are inextricably linked to aspects of Russian history, no Russian history book will be complete without mention of the peasants, peasant reforms, and the peasants' plight. However, some books are dedicated to the history of the peasants and describe their lives in detail. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, by Olga Semyonova Tian-Shanskaia and Village Mothers: Three Generations of Chane in Russia and Tartaria, by David L. Ransel are two such books. The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Stalin's Special Settlements, by Lynne Viola, details the process of dekulakization and its devastating affects.
Kerry Kubilius - A graduate of Ohio State University, Kerry has a BA in Russian and a BA in History of Art with a focus on Eastern European art. She also ...
