• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Russian Best

Russian Life & People Digest

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Questions and Answers
    • History and Politics
    • Culture and Science
    • People and Language
    • Lifestyle and Attributes
    • Russian Sports
    • Food and Drinks
    • Traveling Russia
    • Economy and Geography
    • Russian Military
    • Books & Movies
Browse: Home / History and Politics

What Were the Poor Peasants of Russia Called?

Question by Taylor: What were the poor peasant farmers of Russia called?
only answer if you actually know. If possible, add a source so I can make sure. don’t say something silly like “poor peasant farmers of Russia” THANK YOU!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Amber
Serfs

Answer by Bob
Poorest of the Soviet 3 Peasant Classes {1) Bednyaks, 2) Serednyaki, 3. Kulak)}.
Individuals who were forced to sell their labour to others to survive and were thus regarded as natural allies of the new Soviet regime

Russian peasants mowing the grass

Answer by Lucky C
Well, the Soviets called the poorest class of peasants -bednyaks, but that’s pretty much an inside baseball deal these days.

So, I think you mean the Kulaks that Stalin obliterated in the 1920s. The whole serf-peasant thing is confusing because not all peasants were serfs. Serfdom was not too far, and sometimes indistinguishable, from slavery, but it was abolished in 1861.

The peasants were simply any small farmer, whether serf or free, though many peasants even after the end of serfdom never owned any land. However, after the end of serfdom some peasants turned out to be good farmers and businessmen and they became successful. They tended to support the czar, or at least not support the most radical communist ideas, and the USSR quickly made them state enemies.

Answer by Neil T
I believe they were serfs. Try this link:
wikipedia.org/Russian_peasant

Answer by Rico
крепостных that’s what serfs translate to in Russian Cyrillic. In Latin text its krepostnyh

What do you think? Answer below!

See other posts in History and Politics, People and Language, Questions and Answers

Reader Interactions

Comments ( 7 )

  1. Alex says

    In Russian they were called «холопы» (kholopi). Which I do think is an equivalent of a serf.

    Reply
  2. Bob says

    The comment has been moved into the body of the post.

    Reply
  3. Tony says

    Serfs.

    Reply
  4. Piltdown Man says

    Serfs.

    Reply
  5. Tim says

    Proletariots
    Peasants
    Comrads

    Reply
  6. Royally Rousseau says

    Stinky

    Reply
  7. Clo says

    Serfs is the term for the poor farmers of any region .

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Popular Posts

Pushkin's Tatiana writing a letter to Onegin

Onegin’s Tatiana Was Only Thirteen?

Russian shashlik

My Favorite Russian Food

Dacha – Home Away From Home

Subway Dog

Subway Dogs of Moscow

Cape Cod on the Rocks

What is a cocktail with vodka and cranberry juice called?

Categories

Recent Comments

  • Pat on What does Nazdrovia actually mean?
  • Ted on Where can i send free SMS messages to Russian mobiles?
  • PutinPow on What does Nazdrovia actually mean?
  • bigdogg on What does Nazdrovia actually mean?
  • HAMISH A McDONALD on What Russia would be like today if Nicholas II had not been executed?

Copyright RussianBest.com © 2025 · About · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer: RussianBest.com is an informational website, and its content does not constitute professional advice of any kind.