Life in Lower Class Russia
History Tells of Hardship for Slaves, Servants, Serfs, and Peasants
Life for the lower classes in Russian history was one of hard work, poverty, and subordinance from medieval Russia to the period of Revolution.
Throughout Russian history, life for the lower classes has been one marked by hard work, survival dependent upon factors out of individuals' control, poverty, and general hardship. The lower classes in early Russia were made up of serfs and slaves; after emancipation in the 19th century, peasants and former peasants created the lower class population.
Life in Lower Class Russia - Households
In lower class Russia, houses were dark, claustrophobic, and smelly. Stoves may not have had chimneys, in which case the smoke from burning hay would gather in the ceiling of a peasant house. Peasants slept on hay, or in times of famine, in their own clothing, and rarely washed. This contributed to unhygienic conditions and the sour, unpleasant odor that has often been documented by non-peasants who visited peasant dwellings for one reason or another.
While upper class households utilized servants or slaves, the wom en of lower class households were expected to complete chores themselves. In early Russia, women were segregated from men in separate parts of the house, but this practice could not be afforded by peasants, who depended upon the cooperation of everyone in the household and from different individuals in the village for survival.
Life in Lower Class Russia - Survival
Members of lower class Russia have historically had to take the hardest, lowest-paying jobs. Peasants worked the fields for landowners; slaves hauled water if wells or plumbing were not available; members of the lower classes were involuntarily rounded up for demanding construction projects (think of the founding of St. Petersburg).
In addition, peasants had to feed themselves from their own garden plots as well as harvest food for their superiors, and their own survival depended heavily on nature's whim. Years of healthy harvests meant that everyone ate well at reasonable prices. Years of famine meant that the poorest went without food, whereas wealthier folk could purchase produce at increased prices.
Life in Lower Class Russia - Literacy
In medieval Russia, almost no one besides religious officials or members of the chancery were literate. Upper class individuals as well as members of the lower class had little use for reading or writing. However, in the early 20th century, literacy became a way for lower class individuals to separate themselves from their peasant heritage and acquire new information - which in turn, gave them a basis for new ideas, new awareness of themselves and their environment, and the ability to associate with other thinkers.
References
Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.
Figes, Orlando. Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia. New York: Picador, 2002.
Pouncy, Carolyn Johnston. The Domostroi: Rules for Russian Households in the Time of Ivan the Terrible. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Semyonovova Tian-Shanskaia, Olga. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, ed. David L. Ransel, trans. David L. Ransel and Micahel Levine. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993
