Peasant Revolts, Agrarian Resistance, and Social Upheaval in Revolutionary and Post-Imperial Contexts

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The collapse of empires in the early 20th century unleashed waves of social and political upheaval, particularly in rural societies. This panel explores the intersections of peasant agency, agrarian conflict, and revolutionary change across Eastern Europe, with a focus on the Ukrainian Revolution (1917–1921) and broader post-imperial contexts.
Panelists will examine the diverse forms of peasant resistance, from estate burnings and anti-landlord violence to the forced requisition of grain and armed confrontations with state and occupying forces. These rural movements were shaped by overlapping dynamics of class struggle, national aspirations, and resistance against imperial legacies. Our discussion will interrogate how peasants articulated grievances, mobilized against state and elite power, and contributed to the remaking of social and political orders in the wake of empire.

Sub Unit

• History: 1900-1945

Chair

• Matthew Pauly, Michigan State U

Papers

• Fire and Rebellion: Peasant Uprisings and Estate Burnings in Revolutionary Ukraine (1917-1920) - Larysa Bilous, U of Alberta (Canada)

• Upheaval and Instability from Below in Belarus, 1917 - 1925 - Aleksandra Pomiecko, King's College London (UK)

• A Grain of Contention: Colonial Expansion, National Self-Determination, and the Quest for Calories in Ukraine, 1918 - Oksana Dudko, U of Toronto (Canada)

Discussant

• Matthew Pauly, Michigan State U