Basics of Russian Peasant Life
Understanding Russian History Requires Understanding Serf Existence
Having basic knowledge about Russian peasant life is important to understanding how this class of people fit into, and influenced, Russian History.
The peasant class - formerly the serfs - in Russian history existed in direct contrast to the nobility. Peasant life and traditions not only played a large role in Russian history and its events, but also inspired artwork, literature, and lifestyle changes (as in the case of Russian author Lev Tolstoy, who desired to live like the peasants who worked on his estate). In order to understand Russian history, it is important to understand the basics of Russian peasant life.
Basics of Russian Peasant Life – Peasant Houses in Russian History
Russian peasant houses were often unhygienic, stuffy, cramped, and prone to fire. Extended families lived in Russian peasant houses, including the wives of any sons and their children. Two main features of the Russian peasant house included the stove, which was used for heating and cooking, and the icon corner, which was significant to Orthodox Russian peasants (who were also highly superstitious).
Basics of Russian Peasant Life – Domestic Violence in Peasant Russia
Domestic violence was an integral part of Russian peasant life. Wives expected to be beaten by their husbands, and husbands had little qualms about beating their wives. Animals and children were also beaten. Offspring were indoctrinated into the belief that domestic violence was a normal part of life and continued the cycle of abuse when they reached adulthood.
Basics of Russian Peasant Life – Life in Lower Class Russia
The peasant class was the lowest class of citizen in Russian history, and before emancipation, peasants were owned by wealthy landowners and tied to estates. Even after their emancipation in the latter half of the 1800s, members of the peasant class found it difficult to survive. Unskilled, uneducated, illiterate, and used to village life, peasants regularly took the lowest paying jobs, worked long hours in unfavorable conditions, and were subject to nature's whims concerning harvests and weather.
Basics of Russian Peasant Life – Kulaks
The word “kulak” originally referred to wealthy peasants who had improved their status within their communities through capitalist means. In Stalinist times, these peasants were the first to be sent to the Gulag. Eventually, the term began to be used more loosely to refer to any peasant that was disagreeable to Soviet authorities. The process of “dekulakization” was meant to systematically destroy the peasant class.
Overall, Russian peasants lived difficult, unpleasant, oppressed lives for centuries. After the Russian Revolution, it was possible for some peasants to travel to cities to gain skills, education, and a sense of independence. However, for many peasants, it was not easy to leave behind the traditional life generations of their families had lead in Russian rural villages.
