I. M. VOLKOV. Soviet Collective-Farm Peasantry in the Early Postwar Years (1946 - 1950) The first postwar five-year period marks an important stage in the history of the Soviet peasantry. It witnessed significant changes in the letter's numerical strength, composition, material and cultural level. The return of demobilized soldiers to peaceful pursuits in 1945 - 1948 did much to render the manpower problem in the collective farms less acute, though this was accompanied by an outflow of the peasant population to the towns to seek employment in industry and construction. A series of important measures were carried out in the early postwar period to train experienced collective-farm managers and to raise the cultural level and professional skill of the farmers. The peasants' material position improved substantially as a result of higher payment for labour in the collective farms and increased satisfaction of the material and cultural requirements of the rural population from the public consumption funds. True, the rate of improvement of the farmers' standard of living in the various regions differed widely. The collective-farm peasantry in the postwar years displayed a keen understanding of its patriotic duty and worked selflessly to rebuild agriculture and increase farm output. The attainment of the prewar level of agricultural production is the main result of the labour effort made by Soviet farmers in 1946 - 1950. B. N. KAZANTSEV. The Tsarist Legislation Regulating the Peasants' Seasonal Work in Russia in the 17th - 19th Centuries Drawing on a careful analysis of extensive legislative material, the author shows the principal stages of the policy pursued by the tsarist government with regard to the peasants' seasonal employment in private industrial and handicraft enterprises, the inconsistency and vacillation manifested by the feudal state in the question of hiring the peasants for seasonal work, the class causes of the amendments and c ... Read more