To what extent do the sources agree that Russian government policy on agriculture consistently failed and that peasants resisted it under both Tsarist and Communist rule?

The first 200 words of this essay...

6/12/2002

Unit 5c: The making of Modern Russia, 1856-1964

PART A

To what extent do the sources agree that Russian government policy on agriculture consistently failed and that peasants resisted it under both Tsarist and Communist rule?

Source A deals with the emancipation edict of 1861. It agrees that the policy failed stating 'serfs resented receiving too little land for their needs'. This provides evidence of how the introduction of redemption payments undermined the fundamental aims of the policy. It also mentions how the peasants were 'bound in various ways to their village communes'. This is referring to how the Mir was in charge of paying the redemption payments for the whole village, leaving peasants trapped in their villages until the payments were received. Source A also agrees that the peasants resisted the policy by mentioning 'the flogging of recalcitrant peasants'. This provides evidence of rebellion by the peasants, mainly due to the fact they were in a poorer position after emancipation than they were before the policy was introduced. This source does show that agricultural policies did fail, and caused peasant rebellion, due to the hope the emancipation edict gave peasants of being free.