4.1.7 Life in the Soviet Union Read more...

Before Russia became communist, nearly 80% of people in the Soviet Union were peasant farmers. Russia was one of the last nations in Europe to abolish serfdom. Under the feudal
system, serfs farmed land that they did not own and paid the landowner or the state a large portion of what they earned from farming. Serfs were essentially "owned" by the landowner; they could not own property or their own businesses, nor could they marry without the landowner's permission.

In Russia, half of these serfs lived on state-owned land, while the other half farmed private estates. Serfs lived in mir, or collective communities. Land was divided up for each family to farm. Decisions were made by elders and clerks appointed by the community. Serfs on private estates paid the landowner generally about a third of what they produced; that left very little for their own families.

In the mid 1800s, the czar and other Russian leaders realized that serfdom was not productive. Under the liberal emancipation act of 1861, serfs were freed. They were allowed to buy the land they farmed, but almost all had to borrow money to buy their land. Loans were available from the government with a 49-year repayment period. Most peasants remained in their collective communities in which all the workers shared the farming and the profits from their work. Some were able to obtain large parcels of land and formed a new and wealthier land-owning class of peasants called kulaks. However, the land others were given was not enough to support them, and the repayment schedule meant that they had to repay nearly everything they earned, leaving nothing to live on.

The peasants requested that more land be redistributed so they could make a living, but that did not happen. During World War I, the farming collectives became a powerful source of opposition against the Provisional Government. When Lenin returned to Russia in 1917, he campaigned with the slogan "Bread, Peace, Land", appealing to the desire for land redistribution.

Under Lenin's New Economic Policy, farmers had to submit specified amounts (a quota) to the government. The remainder could be sold for a profit. However, by the late 1920s, Russian farmers were not producing enough grain. The government began to requisition grain from the farmers and then began to enforce collective farms, transporting some of the kulaks to work camps and farms far away. Factory workers from the cities were brought in to work the land using advanced equipment. The grain produced had to be sold back to the government for a set price. People were not even allowed to grow their own vegetables in their yards for private use. Farmers responded by slaughtering their animals and burning their crops. Others refused to plant crops. Poor land management, coupled with resistance from the farmers, resulted in massive food shortages and starvation.

Stalin admitted that at least ten million men, women, and children died because of collectivization.