Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Peasant's House in the 1920s.

Ryabova Ol'ga Vyacheslavovna ORCID: 0000-0001-9017-0983 PhD in History Associate Professor, Department of Service and Tourism, Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship, N.I. Lobachevsky National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University 603022, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Lenin Ave., 27 orabova034@gmail.com Other publications by this author     Kochkurova Elena Adol'fovna ORCID: 0000-0001-6316-1192 PhD in Economics Associate Professor, Department of Service and Tourism, Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship, National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky 603022, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Lenin Ave., 27 elenakochkurova@iee.unn.ru Other publications by this author

Zykova Tat'yana Valentinovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6952-8546 PhD in Economics Associate Professor, Department of Service and Tourism, Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship, National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky 603022, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Prospekt Lenina str., 27 zykovatv@iee.unn.ru Other publications by this author

After the end of the civil war in 1921, the Soviet government was faced with the question of immediately raising the productive forces of the peasantry, through which it would be possible to improve the situation of the workers, strengthen the bond between the workers and the peasants and strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat. Not limited to patronage of the village, but for direct assistance to the peasants, peasant Houses began to be opened in the cities, where the peasant could receive assistance, both on political, economic and life issues, and in the promotion of affairs in institutions.

The process of formation and development of Peasant Houses in the USSR in the 1920s is devoted to the works of both Soviet historians such as Ya. Burov ^[1], M. I. Bakhtin ^[2], and modern ones.

Among modern historians, the works of A. V. Filimonov ^[3], Y. Orlov ^[4], V. V. Kulachkov ^[5], E. V. Dianova ^[6], V. A. Chernov ^[7] can be distinguished.   

The activities of regional Peasant Houses during this period can only be studied through careful work with the funds of local archives. The materials presented in this article make it possible to involve the data of the Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (hereinafter – TSANO) in scientific circulation.

By a resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Council of Workers and Peasants' Deputies dated March 18, 1920, it was proposed to all provincial executive committees in all major cities under local executive committees to organize peasant houses, the purpose of which was "to give visiting peasants the opportunity to find and receive an answer and resolution of their needs and requests for local peasant life, to receive a warm and tolerable shelter during their stay in the city and to receive clarifications concerning them on issues of a political nature" ^[8].

Following the capital, Peasant Houses began to open in other cities of the republic. The need for temporary accommodation among the peasant walkers of that period was great. Peasants came to the city to receive explanations from representatives of the Soviet government on the imposition of labor duties, the allocation of land for rent, taxation, etc.

On November 24, 1924, the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Executive Committee at its meeting decided to organize a "Provincial Peasant's House" in Nizhny Novgorod, which was supposed to implement the slogan of the Communist Party "Linking the city with the countryside." To bring this slogan to life, the regulation on the "Provincial Peasant's House" was approved with the following tasks:

"1) to assist visiting peasants in resolving all issues in state institutions and public organizations;

2) to acquaint peasants with the legislation and measures of the Soviet government aimed at raising agriculture and improving the life and way of life of the village;

3) to spread agricultural knowledge;

4) conduct political and educational work, agronomic and legal propaganda;

5) organize free legal and agronomic consultation;

6) to get acquainted with the life and needs of the village" ^[9].

 In January 1925, the Gubkommunotdel allocated a 2-storey stone building at the corner of Alekseevskaya and Osypnaya Streets for a peasant's House ^{[10, l. 1]}. The building was dilapidated in its condition. The roof, facade, and outbuildings have not been repaired for ten years. Cold retail premises with basements used to be located on the lower floor of the building. According to its layout, the rear was poorly adapted for living, had "many dark corners, long semi-dark corridors, up to 1.30 meters wide with semi-dark stairwells, dark toilets, lack of utility sanitary installations (laundry, shower, dezkamera), complete lack of ventilation and through ventilation. The living quarters were poorly lit and damp, as the basements of the building were periodically flooded with sewage" ^[11].

The peasant's House had 37 separate rooms equipped with 110 beds/places. On average, each room was designed from 2 to 5 beds ^{[12, L. 1]}.

Table 1. The number of visitors to the peasant's House ^[13].

Based on the data in the table, we see that, despite the low level of accommodation services provided, the number of guests is steadily growing. The explanation for this is the fact that in Nizhny Novgorod in the 1920s there were very few enterprises of the hotel industry ^[14].

On the ground floor of the Peasant's House there was a tea-dining room, a lecture hall (with a capacity of 125 people), a library-reading room, an agricultural museum and an agro-combine. In addition, premises for an inn and a bakery were additionally rented. The staff of the peasant's House was 45 people ^{[12, l. 102]}.

According to the instructions for charging for overnight accommodation in a peasant's House (Order No. 60 of 06/17/1925), all guests were divided into 4 categories:

Category 1 – these are peasant walkers sent on public and personal business. The fee per day for a bed/place was 25 kopecks.;

Category 2 – Soviet employees seconded from rural, volost, district and cooperative institutions. The fee per day for a bed/place is 50 kopecks.;

Category 3 – seconded from institutions of the volost scale. The fee per day is 75 kopecks.;

Category 4 – all other citizens not listed in the first three categories. The fee per day is 1 rub. ^{[10, L. 26]}.

Women were not allowed to spend the night in rooms with men, regardless of their family ties. Separate rooms were allocated for women. Drunk citizens were not provided with places in the hostel.

There was a dining room and a buffet at the peasant's House. The capacity of the canteen in 1925 was 300 lunches and dinners per day. Along with paid lunches, the cost of which reached 60 kopecks. for a lunch of 2 meat dishes, the distribution of free lunches for peasant walkers who fell into "misfortune and extreme poverty" was practiced, the number of which reached up to 30 people. per day ^{[12, l.1]}.

            From the first days of work, the task was set in front of the peasant's House to switch to a full self-financing of his activities. The peasant's House received its main income from the operation of a hostel, an inn, a tea-canteen and from renting out retail and warehouse premises.  After the opening of its bakery in 1926, the Peasant's House began selling bread.

            Table 2. Income and expenses of a peasant's House in 1925-1926 (in rubles) ^{[12, l. 102]}.

            Thus, we see that already in the first year of its operation, the Peasant's House received a profit, which was spent on current expenses.

            In 1927, a new enterprise "Association of subsidiary enterprises of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Peasant House" was established on the basis of the Peasant's House. In addition to the existing enterprises, the new association includes a county inn and a feed store. According to the protocol of the local economy section of the Gubplan dated January 4, 1927 and paragraphs 7 and 8 of the Regulations on the Provincial Peasant's House, approved by the Presidium of the Provincial Executive Committee on January 31, 1927, financial life was structured as follows:  "a) political and educational work is carried out according to budget allocations; b) the economic and commercial part is fully self-financed" ^{[9, L. 9]}.

            Summing up the results of the work for 1927, the Nizhny Novgorod Gubernatorial Executive Committee was forced to state the fact that the leadership of the Peasant's House was systematically reducing the volume of political and educational work, and directing the saved funds to the current repair of the hostel and the inn, which, according to the authorities themselves, were in dire need of it ^{[9, l. 28]}. But ideological work was recognized as the most important part of the activity of the Peasant's House. About the tasks of the Peasant's House, the All-Russian "starosta" M. I. Kalinin, addressing the People's Commissariat, said the following: "Manage to make the lamp burn brighter in our "Peasant's House" than in the inn of a private speculator-kulak. In our house, the peasant must find a cheaper and much better bed and snack. A peasant must find his newspaper in our house. Our "red innkeeper" must be a sensible person to give advice and clarification to every guest."^[15] 

            To improve the financial situation of the Peasant's House, it was decided that part of the subsidiary enterprises would be leased, and the funds received would be used to repair the hostel, the inn and political and educational work ^{[9, L. 28]}.

            Table 3. Income and expenses of a peasant's House in 1928-1929. (in rubles) ^[16].

            Based on the data in the table, it can be concluded that the peasant's House received more profit after the reform than in 1925-1926, but its profitability fell. This was due to the fact that the cost of services rendered was almost equal to their selling price. Thus, the cost of a 2-course lunch in 1928-1929 was expressed in the amount of 63.9 kopecks. The selling price of a full lunch was 68 kopecks. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the Peasant's House continued to serve the poorest peasants free of charge ^{[16, l. 4]}.

            In addition to providing overnight accommodation and meals, the Peasant's House conducts political and educational work among peasant walkers. The main task was to provide legal and agronomic advice.

Legal advice in the Peasant's House begins its work from the moment it was opened in 1925. Since 1926, 2 full-time lawyers have already worked at the Peasant's House. In addition, work was carried out daily in the evenings to provide free legal assistance by members of the College of Defenders of Nizhny Novgorod. This work was expressed primarily in giving oral advice, consulting on writing applications and complaints, and responding to written requests.

Table 4. The work of legal advice ^[17].

The main issues raised by the peasants concerned land management, land leases, taxes, and disputed lands. If in the first two years of work, lawyers accepted all those in need of legal assistance, then starting in 1927, urban residents were denied free assistance.

The work of the agronomic consultation in 1925 consisted of conducting talks and lectures for peasant walkers. The main topics were the transition to a multi-field, improvement of animal husbandry, clover seed production, agricultural cooperation, sanitation and hygiene, and general political issues. Lectures and talks were conducted by both full-time employees of the Peasant's House and students of the agronomic, medical and working faculties of local universities attached to it. Thus, the sanitary exhibition, equipped in 1925, which hosted more than 300 people every month, was serviced by the students of the NSU medical faculty.

Since 1926, the agricultural museum has been operating under the guidance of a full-time agronomist with students of the NSU Faculty of Agronomy on daily duty. The exhibits for the exhibition "Corner of the peasant-cultural worker" were sent by the Simbilaevskaya experimental station, a number of state farms of the Nizhny Novgorod province and cultural peasants.

Table 5. The work of the agronomic consultation ^[17].

The equipment of the premises for a lecture hall, a library-reading room and an agricultural museum made it possible for the staff of the Peasant's House to conduct daily lectures and conversations among the guests. Moreover, the lack of desire among the latter to attend these events was not an obstacle to cultural and educational work. Since these talks and lectures were accompanied by the device of so–called "loud readings" of newspapers, articles, etc. So, if in 1925 the number of visitors to the reading room was 150 people, then in 1926 it was 2424 people ^{[12, L. 4]}.

The library-reading room in the Peasant's House was supplied in 1925 with books in the amount of 747 units, half of which revealed the socio-political structure of the country. Only 20% of the book collection, i.e. about 150 books, were on agriculture. In addition to books, the library subscribed to newspapers and magazines such as Izvestia, Pravda, Bednota, etc. ^{[12, l. 4]}.

Some of the newspapers and magazines subscribed to by the Peasant's House, as well as propaganda materials received from Soviet institutions, were sent to the peasant's volost Houses and reading huts at collective farms. Thus, 53 thousand 022 copies of such material were distributed in 1926 alone. ^{[12, l. 104]}.  In addition, the Provincial Peasant's House provided them with other assistance. On a regular basis, lecturers were sent to conduct thematic talks and lectures among the peasants. The College of Defenders of Nizhny Novgorod and representatives of the prosecutor's office gave oral and written answers to the requested questions.

Another important area of cultural and educational work of the Peasant's House was the organization of visits to the Nizhny Novgorod theater. The organizers of trips to the theater called them "excursions", tickets for performances were given to peasants in 1925/26 for free, therefore they were very popular among the guests. So, in 1925, 4 excursions to the theater were organized, in which 620 people took part, and in 1926 "535 people were served with excursions to the theater" ^{[12, L. 103]}. Since the end of 1926, the issuance of free tickets has been declining, so the popularity of "excursions" is falling.

            In November 1931, the Decree of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee "On the work of peasant houses" was issued, which noted a number of shortcomings in their work. Thus, it was pointed out the low sanitary condition of the peasant's Houses and the lack of room stock. All this was the result of the use of the premises of the peasant's Houses not for their intended purpose. The situation developed similarly in Nizhny Novgorod.

            In the 1920s Nizhny Novgorod was experiencing an acute housing crisis. In 1929, the Nizhny Novgorod Peasant's House had at its disposal rooms for 300 beds. This meant that only 10-15% of all peasants coming to the city could stay here for the night ^{[19, l. 43]}. The rest of the peasants either went to private inns or spent the night on the street.

            Regional organizations and institutions sent all business travelers to the Nizhny Novgorod Peasant's House who could not be accommodated in other hotels. In addition, several rooms were occupied for a long time by cadets of the Nizhny Novgorod Communications Office and the Labor Faculty ^{[19, l. 5]}. All this led to the fact that the overload of the peasant's House was 100%.

            A survey of the Peasant's House in 1930 showed that the sanitary condition of only the upper floor, consisting of separate rooms, was satisfactory. The first and second floors, where the dormitory was located, had cold, dirty and damp rooms. The bunks were cramped, the blankets were torn and dirty, and the linen was practically unchanged. Peasants usually lay down on the bed in outerwear and dirty bast shoes. "At night, the hostel was overloaded by more than 100%, with peasants accepted for overnight accommodation. For lack of beds, they slept on the floor. All the gaps in the floor between the beds and the middle of the room are closely filled with peasants and their belongings, since they did not receive any bed linen" ^[20]. The restrooms were cold and dirty, and there were few washbasins. The result is a large number of lice, bedbugs and cockroaches, which, with such crowding, could become a breeding ground for infectious diseases.

            Recognizing the complete unsuitability of the building of the Peasant's House to provide reception and accommodation services for guests, as well as the impossibility in these conditions to carry out normal political and educational work, the Presidium of the Nizhkraikom in October 1930 decided to build a new building, which will be commissioned in 1932 ^[21].

            Summing up, we can say that in the 1920s the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Peasant's House was engaged, in addition to providing overnight accommodation and meals, in political, educational and cultural work. He played an important role in the field of agronomic and legal assistance to peasants. But his activities were not effective enough due to the fact that the allocated resources could not fully cover the necessary costs. The provided building was poorly adapted to accommodate an inn and a hostel. Therefore, the authorities decide to build a new building, which was completed in 1932.

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