Peasantry In Russia

A plethora of factors have to be considered when deciding how well the peasantry were treated under both the Tsarist regime and communist government. These include land, taxation, famine and oppression. Once theses factors have been examined it is clear that the peasantry were mistreated under the Tsarist regime as well as the communist government. It can be argued that although the communist government did make changes that were vital to improving the peasants livelihoods such as the New Economic Policy devised by Lenin, it was the Tsarist regime that sought to amend the welfare of the peasantry. This can be shown by key individuals such as Alexander II who introduced the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 which provided peasants with much