Village life in the later years of tsarist Russia was very different from the life of the poor in many other parts of the world at that time. It was full of hardship that many in the industrializing world would never have to face (mostly because Russia didn’t start to industrialize heavily until around 1880). Even though Olga Semyonova Tian-Shanskaia’s study takes place after the emancipation of the Russian serfs in 1861 these former peasants lives were quite similar to how they would have looked before their emancipation. To have a better understanding of what that life was like there are three aspects that should be focused on: the family, what daily life looked like, and their attitudes toward society. These factors impacted the likelihood of the peasants being a source of change at the end of the imperial period and will be discussed as well.
To first get an idea of what village life was like we need to look at the family structure. When it came to how families functioned it did not consist of just husband and wife, but their parents and extended relatives as well. Overall women were valued in this society for the work they could provide and that was about it. In the family the males had the final and most important say in matters. An example of how men were in control in this society was the commonplaceness of wife beating. “The peasants consider it a man’s duty to beat his wife… A drunken husband sometimes beats his wife when she refuses to carry out some order of his, for example, to pull off his boots or put him to bed” (Pg. 21). However when it came to the successfulness of the household in matters of marriage women were actually the more important family member. Matchmaking was the duty of a female relative in the family and she only provided this service for her kin. This shows how extended family, especially women, played a very crucial role in the family dynamic. “The mother of the groom, accompanied by his grandmother, aunt or godmother comes to the prospective bride’s house to propose” (Pg. 75). Although at the time this wasn’t seen as women having power in society it was a way that they could exert some control over how village played out.
To first get an idea of what village life was like we need to look at the family structure. When it came to how families functioned it did not consist of just husband and wife, but their parents and extended relatives as well. Overall women were valued in this society for the work they could provide and that was about it. In the family the males had the final and most important say in matters. An example of how men were in control in this society was the commonplaceness of wife beating. “The peasants consider it a man’s duty to beat his wife… A drunken husband sometimes beats his wife when she refuses to carry out some order of his, for example, to pull off his boots or put him to bed” (Pg. 21). However when it came to the successfulness of the household in matters of marriage women were actually the more important family member. Matchmaking was the duty of a female relative in the family and she only provided this service for her kin. This shows how extended family, especially women, played a very crucial role in the family dynamic. “The mother of the groom, accompanied by his grandmother, aunt or godmother comes to the prospective bride’s house to propose” (Pg. 75). Although at the time this wasn’t seen as women having power in society it was a way that they could exert some control over how village life played out.
Daily life was not easy in late tsarist Russia. Both men and women had jobs to preform so most of the time kids were left on their own. Unless the child was very young and needed to be with the mother to feed the older children, those who were around the ages of 12 to 14, were put in charge of the younger ones. Semyonova tells of how sometimes the older children would decide to go play with their friends and either leave their younger siblings to fend for themselves or put the ones around 6 years old in charge of watching the infants. This led to many injuries and even death in some cases of the very young. Women’s trades are normally both tending to the house and working in the fields. Most men are farmers and some along with this know a craft. These include brickmaking, carpentry, flaying and ditch digging. As Semyonova states, “In some counties, the entire male population of certain villages hire themselves out as ditch diggers” (132). Semyonova also discusses the peasant’s values. Being very poor they do not value savings (this is likely because they don’t make enough to save). They like to spend whatever extra they have and normally that was on alcohol. Because life was so difficult that was something they valued greatly; throughout the whole book she explains how drinking is incorporated in many aspects of their lives such as finishing work for the day, summer parties, and weddings.