| Abstract: | This study re-evaluates the 17 June Uprising, the first in theCommunist bloc, in light of protest in the countryside. Theexperience of state violence in the years before 1953 compelledmany in the countryside to avoid public expressions of oppositionbut did not eliminate peasant protest. Villagers directed theircomplaints against communist leaders and policies, especiallyagricultural collectivization, and thereby played a significantrole in the events leading up to the uprising as well as therebellion itself. In analysing this opposition, this essay concludesthat rural modes of resistance varied by region but were generallyless overt than strikes and demonstrations employed by workers.Instead, peasants, especially in purely agrarian regions, employedtraditional village forms of opposition, which emphasized reclaimingpublic space by cowing local representatives of power. In theend, this protest lasted throughout the summer—much longerthan those in the cities—and compelled communist leadersto postpone the collectivization of agriculture until 1959–60. |
