Agrarianism
M. Thomas Inge defined agrarianism through a set of core tenets that place the farmer above all other social roles. He argued that farming is the only occupation offering total independence and self-sufficiency. Urban life, capitalism, and technology were seen as destroyers of human dignity. These forces foster vice and weakness instead of virtue. The agricultural community serves as the model society because it relies on fellowship and cooperation. A farmer holds a solid position in the world order with a deep sense of identity. They feel belonging to a concrete family, place, and region. This connection provides psychological and cultural benefits missing from modern cities. Cultivation of the soil contains positive spiritual good for those who work it. Farmers acquire virtues like honor, manliness, self-reliance, courage, moral integrity, and hospitality. These traits result from direct contact with nature and a closer relationship to God. The agrarian follows the example of God by creating order out of chaos.
Chinese Agriculturalism advocated peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism centuries before European thinkers arrived. Confucian societies viewed humans as innately good and considered farmers esteemed productive members. Merchants who made money were looked down upon by these communities. François Quesnay studied Chinese policies closely as an avid Confucianist. He used these observations to form French physiocracy during the eighteenth century. John Locke and Romantic Era ideas later joined this mix to shape modern Western thought. The Green International functioned primarily as an information center spreading agrarian ideas across Europe between 1920 and 1930. It operated based on peasant parties in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Serbia. No significant activities were launched by this international body despite its existence.
Thomas Jefferson believed farmers were the most valuable citizens for the budding American democracy. His supporters saw themselves as true republicans opposing monarchy, aristocracy, clericalism, and corruption. They prioritized morality and virtue exemplified by yeoman farmers and plain folk. Financiers, bankers, and industrialists created cesspools of corruption in cities that needed avoiding. Jefferson feared over-industrialization would create wage slaves relying on employers for income. These workers could cease being independent voters if manipulated by their bosses. A graduated income tax served as a disincentive to vast wealth accumulation. Tariffs on imported articles targeted goods mainly purchased by the wealthy. In 1811, Jefferson explained that revenues from these taxes would be levied entirely on the rich. Poor men paid no farthing of tax to the general government except on salt. Land grants offered thousands of gifts to veterans during the nineteenth century. This federal policy had a positive impact on economic development according to historians.
Peasant parties first appeared across Eastern Europe between 1860 and 1910. Commercialized agriculture and world market forces disrupted traditional rural society during this period. Railways and growing literacy facilitated the work of roving organizers. The Bulgarian Agrarian National Union organized in 1899 to resist taxes and build cooperatives. It came to power in 1919 introducing many economic, social, and legal reforms. Conservative forces crushed BZNS in a 1923 coup and assassinated its leader Aleksandar Stamboliyski. He lived from 1879 until his death in 1923. The Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People shared power in Czechoslovakian parliament. Antonín Švehla served as prime minister several times between 1873 and 1933. It was consistently the strongest party forming coalitions until banned after World War II. Clann na Talmhan formed part of governing coalitions in Ireland during the thirteenth and fifteenth Dáil sessions. They disbanded in 1965 following economic improvement that shifted farmer votes elsewhere.
Economic desperation in Kansas spurred creation of The People's Party in 1890. This group gained control of the governor's office in 1892 before buckling from internal conflict. Populists permanently lost power in 1898 due to disputes over unlimited coinage of silver. Oklahoma farmers considered their political activity driven by war outbreaks and depressed crop prices. Tenancy reached as high as 55% in Oklahoma by 1910. Agrarian counties supported Socialist policies proposing a Renters and Farmer's Program. The platform insisted upon measures putting land into hands of actual tillers of soil. State banks, mortgage agencies, crop insurance, elevators, and warehouses were proposed for essential services. This agrarian-backed Socialist party won numerous offices causing panic within local Democratic parties. Peak power arrived in 1914 before voter suppression laws reduced participation of voters of color. The United States Democrats adopted co-optive responses incorporating rural constituencies into New Deal coalitions. Canada saw mainstream parties adopt coercive responses leaving these groups politically excluded.
Mao launched the Great Leap Forward in 1958 altering many aspects of rural Chinese life. Mandatory collective farming forced peasants into communal living units called people's communes. These communes averaged 5,000 people expected to meet high production quotas. Wages and money were replaced by work points within cooperative systems. Peasants criticizing this system faced persecution as rightists or counter-revolutionaries. Leaving communes was forbidden while escaping proved difficult or impossible. Public struggle sessions intimidated peasants into obeying local officials often devolving into beatings. Experiments with planting crops failed to produce results despite massive scale irrigation efforts. Untrained peasants attempted producing good quality steel from scrap iron without engineering consultation. Four Pests Campaign encouraged destruction of sparrows leading to vermin population explosions. Bad weather combined with failed techniques led to the Great Chinese Famine beginning in 1959. An estimated 15 to 30 million Chinese people died over three years. Mao later launched Down to the Countryside Movement sending urban youths to remote villages. Ten percent of 1970 urban population moved to Inner Mongolia where resources were scarce. Many sent-down youth died due to unskilled labor and harsh lifestyles.
The Khmer Rouge created Maha Lout Ploh modeled after China's Great Leap Forward. They forcibly relocated 100,000 people from cities into newly created communes. Pol Pot sought to purify Cambodia by setting it back to Year Zero. Wearing glasses became grounds for execution under this regime targeting bourgeois influences. Ethnic minorities were slaughtered alongside anyone suspected of being reactionary or bourgeoisie. Vietnam invaded Cambodia ending killings but plunging society into renewed famine. Vast food shortages caused international journalists to report on the situation globally. Massive relief efforts followed as images reached audiences worldwide. The Green International functioned primarily as an information center spreading ideas across Europe between 1920 and 1930. It operated based on peasant parties in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Serbia. No significant activities were launched by this international body despite its existence.
Common questions
What is agrarianism according to M. Thomas Inge?
M. Thomas Inge defined agrarianism as a philosophy placing the farmer above all other social roles because farming offers total independence and self-sufficiency. He argued that urban life, capitalism, and technology destroy human dignity while fostering vice instead of virtue.
When did the Green International operate and where was it active?
The Green International functioned primarily as an information center spreading agrarian ideas across Europe between 1920 and 1930. It operated based on peasant parties in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Serbia but launched no significant activities despite its existence.
Why did Thomas Jefferson support farmers over industrialists?
Thomas Jefferson believed farmers were the most valuable citizens for the budding American democracy because they exemplified morality and virtue. He feared over-industrialization would create wage slaves relying on employers for income who could cease being independent voters if manipulated by their bosses.
How many people died during the Great Chinese Famine starting in 1959?
An estimated 15 to 30 million Chinese people died over three years following bad weather combined with failed techniques during the Great Leap Forward. This famine began in 1959 after experiments with planting crops failed to produce results despite massive scale irrigation efforts.
What happened to the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union leader Aleksandar Stamboliyski?
Conservative forces crushed the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union in a 1923 coup and assassinated its leader Aleksandar Stamboliyski. He lived from 1879 until his death in 1923 while serving as prime minister of Bulgaria.