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Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by pandaman on Sunday September 01, 2013 @06:03PM (#6312349)
Do you have any citations about the USSR's industrialization at gun point? From what I know it was opposite - the peasants had been bound to their "kolhoz" (collective farm) and could not leave. It was implemented through internal passports[1], which were not issued to peasants.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolhoz#Kolkhoz_life_under_Stali...

Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by coldtea on Monday September 02, 2013 @07:44AM (#6314665)
From Wikipedia:

>The first Five-Year plan focused on the mobilization of natural resources to build up the country's heavy industrial base by increasing output of coal, iron, and other vital resources. Despite approximately 1,000,000 deaths this process was largely successful, and caused long-term industrial growth more rapid than any country in history.

>From 1921 until 1954, during the period of state-guided, forced industrialization, it is claimed 3.7 million people were sentenced for alleged counter-revolutionary crimes, including 0.6 million sentenced to death, 2.4 million sentenced to labor camps, and 0.7 million sentenced to expatriation.

>While undoubtedly marking a massive leap in industrial capacity, the first Five Year Plan was extremely harsh on industrial workers; quotas were difficult to fulfill, requiring that miners put in 16 to 18-hour workdays. Failure to fulfill the quotas could result in treason charges. Working conditions were poor, even hazardous. By some estimates, 127,000 workers died during the four years (from 1928 to 1932).

But you can find material on the forced industrialization in all historical books on the USSR.

Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by googleitdude on Sunday September 01, 2013 @08:21PM (#6312812)
Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by pandaman on Sunday September 01, 2013 @08:43PM (#6312873)
This what I said, peasants were forced to work in agriculture. They were not forced to work in factories, quite the opposite, they had been prevented from working in factories or anywhere else.
Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by smsm42 on Sunday September 01, 2013 @10:52PM (#6313238)
First of all, there was a big Gulag-supplied industry (google White Sea – Baltic Canal, also known as Belomorkanal, not to be confused with popular - in the USSR - brand of cigarettes). Second, even outside of Gulag, you couldn't just choose what you'd be doing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitism_(social_offense) If you're not engaging in "socially productive" work, you're going to be relocated to unhospitable areas in the north or in Siberia.
Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by coldtea on Monday September 02, 2013 @10:16AM (#6315242)
USSR needed both (agriculture expansion and industrilization).

So, apart from peasants, million other Russians were forced to work in industry, in horrible conditions, and millions died (and thousands were executed) in the process of increasing industrial production.

Re:Why a medieval peasant got more vacation time than you by pandaman on Monday September 02, 2013 @02:02PM (#6316286)
The topic of this discussion "if a peasant's life was so sweet why did they run to factories?". You proposed they were forced to do so at gun point. I presented a contradictory fact - peasants were forced to stay peasants at gun point. You go off topic. I concede, there is no way we could persuade each other so you win as you can downvote my posts.