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-r
