The Relations between Power and the Peasantry on the Terek in the Conditions of the NEP Folding (1926–1927)

The article is devoted to the identification of the initial state and trends in the development of relations between the authorities and Terek farmers in the conditions of the folding of the NEP (1926–1927). The factores of this condition are: the consequences of the grain procurement crisis in 1925, the insufficient strength of the Communist party and Soviet authorities in the agricultural region. The authorities declared an alliance with the middle peasant masses and the involvement of the Cossacks in the work of Soviets and public organizations, but the turn to tighten tax, land, and election policies undermined these intentions. In the conditions of the NEP folding (March 1926–1927), the policy of the authorities shifted to using the egalitarian sentiments of the poorest peasantry. The prosperous and middle stratas of the Cossacks regarded the government as weak and intensified opposition activities.
The “military threat” of 1927 made the conflict in the Terek village, as well as throughout the country, more radical. The denouement of the confrontation came later, in conditions of mass collectivization.