KULAKS

KULAKS, the adopted in the historical literature name of the wealthy villagers in Russia, who emerged as a result of social differentiation of peasantry in the 2nd half of the 19th century. K. had peasant land plots, production resources and used hired labour. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 35 thous. kulak farms (7.9% of all farms) in Ufa Guberniya. During the First World War, the proportion of K. decreased to 4.9%. Since the end of the 1920s, the USSR conducted a policy of liquidation of K.: they were settled in forest areas within the BASSR, deprived of the civil rights, and subjected to confiscation of property. In total, approx. 25.5 thous. K. farms were dispossessed in the Republic. In 1991, the Law of the Russian Federation On Recovery of Victims of Political Repressions was adopted.