Russia's Peasants in Revolution and Civil War: Citizenship, Identity, and the Creation of the Soviet State, 1914–1922 - Hardcover

Retish, Aaron B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521896894 ISBN 13: 9780521896894

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

How did peasants experience and help guide Russia's war, revolution, and civil war? Why in the end did most agree to live as part of the Bolshevik regime? Taking the First World War to the end of the Civil War as a unified era of revolution, this book shows how peasant society and peasants' conceptions of themselves as citizens in the nation evolved in a period of total war, mass revolutionary politics, and civil breakdown. Aaron Retish reveals that the fateful decision by individuals to join the Revolution or to accommodate their lifestyle within it gave the Bolsheviks the resources and philosophical foundation on which to build the Soviet experiment and reshape international politics. He argues that peasants wanted more than land from the Revolution; they wanted to be active citizens. This is an important contribution to our understanding of the nature of the Russian Revolution and peasant-state relations.

About this title

Book Description

How did peasants experience and help guide Russia's war, revolution, and civil war? In this book, Aaron Retish reveals that the fateful decision by individuals to join the Revolution gave the Bolsheviks the resources and philosophical foundation on which to build the Soviet experiment and reshape international politics.

About the Author

Aaron B. Retish is Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Wayne State University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521896894
• ISBN 13: 9780521896894
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 310