Potato riots in Russia, or Why the peasants were afraid of the root crop more than the enemy

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Today no family can do without potatoes. It is eaten as a daily dish, prepared for a holiday, and used for medicinal purposes. This is a familiar and beloved vegetable by many. But there were times when the potato was not only not recognized by the people, but also led to terrible unrest. How did it happen that the hated "damn apple" became mega-popular in Russia? Read about how potatoes appeared in our country, what path it had to go, and what trick the authorities used to force the peasants to plant this root crop.

How potatoes got to Russia

There are many versions of how the potato got to Russia. There is a very popular story about Peter I, who was in Holland and tried potato dishes there. The tsar was struck by the new, incredibly pleasant taste of this vegetable and immediately decided that the potatoes should be cultivated immediately in Russia. A whole bag of potatoes was sent to Count Sheremetev along with instructions to start distributing this vegetable everywhere. I liked potatoes and Catherine II. In 1765, by her decree, about 8 tons of "earth apples", that is, potatoes, were purchased in Ireland.

The vegetable was put into barrels, wrapped in straw, and his journey to St. Petersburg began. Since all this happened at the end of autumn, when it was already cold, the tubers froze on the way. About 100 kilograms survived, and they were planted in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, near Riga, in the Moscow region, near Novgorod. The Pugachev revolt distracted the empress from the potatoes. The next attempt was already undertaken by Nicholas I. During the famine of 1840, the emperor issued a decree on the establishment of sowing potatoes in all state-owned villages. Nicholas I ordered to reward the owners who achieved good results in the cultivation of crops. And also an instruction was published on how to cultivate, store and how to cook this vegetable.

Why potatoes were called a damn apple

And although Peter I, and Catherine II, and Nicholas I tried to make potatoes popular and save the peasants from crop failure and hunger, they flatly refused to grow this crop and eat it. There were many reasons. For example, in the first half of the 18th century, a cholera epidemic was raging in Russia. The illiterate peasants decided that the cause of this horror was the potato, which was just beginning to gain fame. The legend passed from mouth to mouth that for the first time potato shoots could be seen on the grave of a famous harlot who violated all moral norms. Therefore, the one who eats even a small piece of potatoes must be ready for various troubles and even go to hell.

The peasants began to call potatoes the devil's apple. In fact, they had no idea how to plant the crop, when to harvest, how to cook. They tried to eat the potatoes raw, but it was very tasteless. When eating unripe green vegetables, people received severe poisoning and even died. It is clear why the people hated potatoes so much and categorically did not want to recognize it as a tasty and healthy product.

Potatoes - a delicacy that is served to the king's table

While the peasants were perplexed about the decrees on the cultivation of potatoes, at the palace of the emperor, this vegetable gradually took the position of a delicacy. It was prepared in a variety of ways: boiled, fried, made desserts with sugar, casseroles and even porridge from it. The population, which did not see these delights, continued to protest against the potatoes and refused to eat them. The church, by the way, did not support the authorities in this matter, but on the contrary, argued that this vegetable should not be eaten, since it is supposedly the fruit that seduced Adam and Eve. And the one who dares to taste it can forget about the kingdom of heaven.

By the way, potatoes were not accepted in other countries either. For example, in Europe, the population was also against it. In the 16th century, the vegetable came to Spain and the local population refused to recognize it. For some time this culture was used as a flower. Louis XVI decorated his costume with potato flowers, and Marie Antoinette pinned them to his hair. The farthest in measures to popularize the potato went the Prussian king Frederick II. By his order, peasants who did not want to plant potatoes were deprived of their ears and noses.

The negative attitude of the population, and why it arose

After the decree of Nicholas I, issued in 1840, which spoke of an increase in the planting of potatoes in rural areas, the discontent of the peasants increased. Moreover, it was so strong that they had to use the help of the military. These measures caused even more discontent, riots broke out in Saratov, Perm, Orenburg, Vladimir and Tobolsk provinces. But the tsarist troops brutally suppressed the riots, and the spread of potatoes continued. Gradually, it began to be used not only as food for people, but also as feed for livestock, used for the manufacture of molasses, starch, and alcohol.

Of course, the peasants were much more accustomed to such crops as turnip and rye, since at first no one explained what to do with this new root crop. People planted it wrong, ate it raw, and so on. But there was one more thing that explained such resistance: the state ordered the cultivation of the vegetable. Most of the rebellious peasants were officially considered free, but were attached to state land. The issued decrees were perceived as the return of serfdom, this could not but stir up the population.

Potato riots in Russia, and how peasants burned fields and beat officials

The potato riots took place from 1840 to 1844. The peasants went to extreme measures - the potato fields were set on fire, and the officials were beaten. According to historians, at least half a million people took part in the potato riots, while the total population of Russia at that time was 40 million. It came to the use of military force, in some provinces even artillery was used. There were many victims, and hundreds and thousands of rebels were convicted, exiled to Siberia, or shaved into soldiers. I had to do something, and the solution was found.

They used such a property of the people as innocence and the bad habit of appropriating state property. The authorities made, as they say, a knight's move - they forbade the peasants to plant potatoes, and the fields and state warehouses began to be guarded by the military. But this was done only in the daytime. The trick worked. The peasants became interested, they decided that they would not start such measures just like that, which means that potatoes are really something very valuable. Night thefts began, people dug up tubers and planted in their gardens. Russia has entered the era of the potato, which continues to this day.

There were other riots in Russia as well. In particular, when for one reason or another, the authorities introduced a dry law.