Russian Famine

I am reading "A People's Tragedy...The Russian Revolution 1891-1924" by Orlando Figes, a fascinating book filled with research on the movement towards socialism. My current knowledge of Russia can be summed up as the Tsars ruled Russia, they had great Fabrege eggs and interesting architecture, there was a revolution (Dr Zhivago), the Tsar and family were executed, Communists took over and the rest is bad.

As I read, I am learning that the last Tsar wasn't that great and Russia could easily have developed into a democracy except for some fatal errors by the Tsarist government. A key event was the Great Famine of 1891. The Ukraine area, particularly along the Volga river, was prime agriculture land. Due to lack of rain and snow, the crops failed, causing the famine. The Tsarist government responded very poorly, resulting in the people of Russia working together to feed everyone.

http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_famine_of_1891-2

A big player in organizing the people's effort during the Famine was Leo Tolstoy ("War and Peace"; "Anna Karenina"). "Anna Karenina" is one of my favorite books, I have read it at least 5 times. The character Prince Levin is apparently a very realistic description of the class struggle between the landed estates and peasants. I will have to re-read it.

I bought "War and Peace" several years ago, but haven't yet tackled it. I was feeling very literary when I bought it, but that faded quickly. Looks good on the bookshelf, though.

There was a lot going on in Russia in the late 19th century. Peasants were heading to the cities to get jobs in factories, college students (always the first group, I think) were becoming active, peasants were starting to get a little education and Populist groups were popping up.

From what I am reading, the Russian Empire was vast and encompassed many different cultures, languages, conflicts and classes. So a broad statement like "Grandpa left because of the Revolution" may be accurate, but it would be like saying someone left the United States in 1866 because of the Civil War. To guess a motive, it would make a difference if the American was living in Atlanta or New York.

Was Grandpa a landowner or a peasant? Was he a soldier or a student? Living in the Ukraine would be a different evironment than Poland or St. Petersburg. Maybe members of his family died in the Famine and the ensuing cholera epidemic. This makes it all the more important to track down his town of origin and his family's occupation. Also his correct age. During the Famine he was either 2 or 13.

Linda is sending me some documents that I should get today. I will post them this weekend.