Peasant Revolution In Russia

Register to read the introduction… At this time the peasants were rising up against their feudal overlords protesting the growing economic oppression under the nobles and clergy. In 1861 the serfs were freed and issued with small amounts of land, but in return they had to pay back a sum to the government, and the result ended in a mass of small farms deeply in debt. Their life was a sharp contrast to the rich landowners, who held 20% of the land in large estates. Until 1861 they belonged to their masters, who could buy and sell them like cattle. They demanded the abolishment of serfdom and feudal dues. The inefficiency of peasant-based agriculture was one of the chief indications of "backwardness" in pre-revolutionary Russia and a problem that the Bolsheviks, upon coming to power, were dedicated to overcoming. The Provisional Government had failed to address the land issue and because of that, “Most Russian peasants, numbering some twenty- three million, were still landless by the turn of the twentieth century, as most land remained in the hands of the rich landlords.” ("Peasants and Peasantry.") If one looks back in Russian history years prior to the revolution, it is immediately clear that the issue of land had been at the forefront of debate for peasants stemming all the way to the Emancipation of Serfs by Alexander II. Knowing that there had been issues with peasant land reform in the past, it’s not surprising that the peasants continued to express hostility at the notion of private land ownership. The result was, by 1917, a central mass of angry peasants increased attempts to control land by the government, and at people who profited from the land without even working it. The Russian peasants did not concern themselves overly with the political conflicts in the cities; they just wanted …show more content…
The war sped things up, but a revolution would have occurred anyway because of the unfair conditions peasants had to live in for years. At the end of the day, the working class lived their days filled with endless hours of work that wasn’t worth their wages. They could not afford to keep their families alive and since they could not own their own land their homes were cramped and drafty. They also were not able to own their own land, they had landlords who they owed too much money . Furthermore, even though World War I was a major setback in Russian civilization, Russia was not doing well at all to begin with. This brings up a question of why do revolutions even occur in the first place? The simple answer is that revolution all ties back to the working class. Revolution is in the hands of the working class. Since the working class of any society is the majority of the people, they’re the ones to please. If they are not pleased, they are the ones who have the power and dominance to make the change they wanted to