Russia's Peasants in Revolution and Civil War: Citizenship, Identity, and the Creation of the Soviet State, 1914-1922
2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: CXXIV; Issue: 511 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/ehr/cep330
ISSN1477-4534
Autores Tópico(s)Soviet and Russian History
ResumoDuring the past decade, a spate of dissertations, articles, and monographs by Sarah Badcock, Mark Baker, Peter Fraunholtz, Michael Hickey, Peter Holquist, Erik Landis, Igor’ Narskii, Alexander Rabinowitch, and this reviewer have revitalised study of the Russian Revolution and Civil War. Based on extensive work in local and central Russian archives and (mostly) privileging the experiences of ordinary people, this new research has complicated our understanding of 1917 by giving serious attention to the provinces, and has forced a re-evaluation of the Civil War, the story of which had for long remained remarkably underdeveloped. Aaron B. Retish's serious first book is therefore to be welcomed, for it takes within its purview Russia's entire period of crisis, beginning with the Great War in 1914 and ending with military victory, famine, and the introduction of conciliatory measures, known as the New Economic Policy, in 1921. Moreover, Retish's work focuses on Russia's peasants in the north-east province of Viatka, who, unlike those in the better-studied Black Earth region, did not experience a landlord economy or suffer from severe land hunger. With the second largest peasant population of all of Russia's provinces, Viatka had a sizeable minority population (23 per cent), comprising Tatars and Finno-Ugric speaking Udmurts and Maris. It also had the highest percentage of privately-owned land in Russia. In making his case about Viatka's peasants, Retish rejects Orlando Figes’ assumption that peasants longed only for autonomy and had a narrow political vision.
Referência(s)