peasantry

The article exploresthe dailylife of peasants of the Saratov Volga region on the eve of collectivization, associated with the implementation of the policy of the Soviet leadership on a large-scale “pumping out” food resources and “fighting the kulak” from the village. on the one hand, they were caused by a shortage of food for the cities and the army, on the other, they were the consequence of a ripening in the central government of the USSR decisions on accelerated collectivization.

 The article examines the features of the life of individual peasants in the Saratov Volga region in the conditions of the dominance of collective farms. On the basis of archival documents, the direction and content of state policy in relation to individuals is revealed. Having survived the nightmare of the first years of collectivization, individual farmers began to gradually adapt to new conditions and show their resilience in an unfavorable environment. As a result, instead of joining the collective system, they discredited it by their example.