Ten Days That Shook the World · Question
How does Ten Days That Shook the World develop the theme of Peasant Question and Land Reform?
Answer
Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed develops Peasant Question and Land Reform across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The narrative highlights the critical role of the peasantry, who constituted the majority of Russia's population, and the Bolsheviks' efforts to win their support through land decrees, peasant congresses, and emissaries, despite initial political backwardness.
Peasants seized land and burned manor houses, frustrated by the government's failure to implement land reform, while Land Committees were jailed.
Passage of the Land Decree and debates over deserters' land rights reflect the centrality of peasant issues.
The central issue of the Congress: the Land decree and its implementation, with debates over confiscation and distribution.
Evidence in the book
- Background
Peasants seized land and burned manor houses, frustrated by the government's failure to implement land reform, while Land Committees were jailed.
- V: Plunging Ahead
Passage of the Land Decree and debates over deserters' land rights reflect the centrality of peasant issues.
- XII: The Peasants’ Congress
The central issue of the Congress: the Land decree and its implementation, with debates over confiscation and distribution.
- Appendix to Chapter II
Lenin cites the peasant uprising in Tambov Government and the forced release of hoarded grain as evidence of the revolutionary potential of the peasantry.
- Lenin's "Letter to the Comrades"
Lenin highlights the peasant revolution in Tambov as a key factor, with land seizures and bread deliveries.
- Appendix to Chapter V
The Land Decree and Peasants' Nakaz detail the abolition of private land ownership, confiscation without compensation, and equalized distribution to working peasants, addressing the central agrarian issue.
- Land Decree—Peasants’ Nakaz
The entire chapter is devoted to the Peasants' Nakaz, which abolishes private land ownership and mandates equalized distribution to working peasants, directly addressing the central agrarian issue.
- The Land and Deserters
The chapter touches on the rights of deserters to land, highlighting the centrality of land reform to the peasantry and the revolutionary process.
