Poor Conditions Of The Peasants As Being example essay topic

DB- The Russian Peasantry Keith Jacobs Per 1 Mr. Rodriguez From the day serfdom was abolished to the start of World War I, the conditions of the Russian peasantry was perceived differently by many different citizens of Russia. The poor conditions sought change and many Russians had different ideas on how to change these conditions. Although the peasants / serfs were free, not all was well in the big bear-like heart of Russia. Many Russians shared the views of revolutionary non- Marxists. Some non-Marxists believed that the emancipation of the peasants had caused village life to crumble and fall apart (Doc 3). They saw how the serfs had what they initially wanted yet no social order.

The lives of the freed peasants were still bad and nobody cared about others private interests. Although the peasants didn't physically revolt (Doc 1), the thought was surely in their poor minds. These non-Marxists didn't believe in the theories of Karl Marx, yet would surely support one who did. Known as Intellectuals, These non-Marxists were a big part of the Russian population and shared the view points of many others (Doc 7), (Doc 8), (Doc 3).

Others such as Anarchists saw the conditions in Russia as being wrong and un-just. Most believed that all the emancipation brought was disease, starvation and no crops (Doc 4) (Doc 5). The peasants land was striped making it impossible to grow a sufficient amount of crops to survive, thus many peasants died. The land that they did have to grow crops was taken from the poor to raise cattle for the rich (Doc 4), (Doc 2). Once again the peasants didn't respond to these conditions until the late 18 and early 1900's (Doc 1). Although the anarchists were against the government, they did see the poor conditions of the peasants as being wrong.

The strongest opinions came from the mouths of the peasantry. Throughout this time in Russia, (1861-1914), many of the peasants were illiterate (Doc 12) (Doc 11). In fact an average of 14% of the entire population during these years was literate. The remaining 86% couldn't read or write thus they had to look to those who could to get their point across to the Czar.

Many times the peasants couldn't reach as far as the Czar so they had to look to the DUMA. They begged the Duma to help with the land laws (Doc 10), civil rights (Doc 11) and freedom. Most peasants didn't only want land and freedom but also an education (Doc 6). The lack of education caused the majority of the peasant population to be illiterate (Doc 12). The peasants wanted equality yet only had the words, "Land, Bread and Peace" to hold on to.

To most", it wasn't enough to free the peasants from the serf owner" (Doc 8), but from the restrictions by society. The peasants knew what they wanted and would go to any length to get it. First the peasants were promised freedom in return for their services in the Crimean war. When they didn't get it, 50 of the 51 provinces in Russia were affected by peasant revolts (Doc 1). When they were finally emancipated in 1966 the number of riots went down until 1891 when they gradually jumped up. This number skyrocketed as a result of Bloody Sunday.

Czar Nicholas II knew strikes would occur yet saw past that (Doc 8). As a result the peasants were very unhappy. although the peasants were ruthlessly rioting, Most of Russia understood the cause of their actions. The peasants lives, although free, were very difficult. They had to go through many hardships and discrimination from the upper class and the Czar, yet got their point across very well.

Although they stole, committed arson, and embezzled, most of the Russian population heard the cry of the peasantry and were sensitive to the conditions they faced (Doc 7).