Scientific Analysis of the Struggles of Peasants in the Medieval Times

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"The history of the feudal society can be said to be that of bloody struggles of peasants against the ruling classes."

In the past, peasants and other oppressed people in the feudal society were subjected to subhuman maltreatment and contempt and were forced to wander in hunger and poverty. Therefore, the oppressed people fought stubbornly against the feudal ruling classes who imposed contempt and poverty on them.

With a profound insight into history more than anyone else and on a Juche-based stand, Kim Jong Il gave a scientific explanation of the struggle of the peasants in the medieval times in his talk with students of Kim Il Sung University on July 18, 1963, titled, "Some Problems Arising in Correctly Understanding the Struggles of the Peasants in Our Country Against the Feudal Ruling Classes in the Medieval Times".

First of all, he explained why the struggles of the peasants in our country often swept the whole country in the medieval times unlike in the European countries.

The feudal society in Europe was a decentralized society dominated by lords, but the successive feudal states that existed in our country were mostly centralized states irrespective of the difference in power according to the times. The feudal states in our country were the greatest oppressors and exploiters as well as the representative and advocate of the interests of the feudal landlord class. Through the centralistic ruling machinery that swept the whole country, they oppressed the peasants and artisans and imposed heavy burdens of the state upon them. Their oppression and exploitation, as well as the tyrannical oppression and plunder committed by the individual landlords with the backing of state power, reached every nook and cranny of the country, giving a surge to the people's will to fight against them. Thus, though the feudal natural economy was dominated in society and there was no one capable of organizing and commanding a struggle in a unified way on a nationwide scale, the flames of struggle, once flared up in one place, quickly spread like a wild fire across the country.

Next, Kim Jong Il gave a clear answer to how to distinguish a peasant uprising and a peasant war in the Middle Ages.

In general, a war is an organized armed struggle waged by a state or class to meet its demands. In this sense, a peasant war can be viewed as a struggle more organized and violent than a peasant uprising. In other words, a peasant war in those days can be described as a struggle waged by peasants in formations and with weapons like to a regular army.

Noting the need to correctly understand the military system of the feudal society in our country in order to have a good understanding of a peasant uprising and a peasant war, he went on:

The soldiers of our country in the Middle Ages were law-abiding persons, and they were obliged to serve in the army at a certain age and took turns in the army with arms like bows and spears. They were peasants when they were farming at home, but once in the army, they were soldiers. Therefore, it is not by accident that when they rose up in the struggle against the feudal ruling class with their bows and spears prepared, there was no great difference between them and the government forces in arms. In the second half of the 12th century, many peasant army units fought large-scale battles with military formations and arms similar to those of the government forces. From this point of view, the peasants' struggle in the second half of the 12th century could be called a peasant war.

Kim Jong Il also clarified how to see why a large-scale peasant war or peasant uprising did not break out in the latter half of the days of the state of Koryo.

Feudal oppression and exploitation were intensified in those days than in the first half, but a large-scale peasant war seen in the 12th century did not break out. This can be related with the fierce anti-aggression struggle waged in those days. These days can be characterized by the struggle for defending the sovereignty of the nation. In the 13th and 14th centuries the people of Koryo had to fight arduous wars to defend the sovereignty of their nation against the invasion of foreign forces from north and south.

The people knew that when they failed to repulse the foreign invasion and were downtrodden by foreign aggressors, they would be subjected to national pressure and contempt by foreigners as well as class oppression. It is by no accident that they concentrated their efforts on the anti-aggression struggle once the foreign enemies attempted to invade their country. It is a well-known fact that when foreign aggressors attacked their country, the peasants, who had risen up against the feudal government, volunteered to fight in the government forces and fought bravely against the foreign aggressors. The reason why large-scale peasant wars or uprisings did not break out despite the intensified feudal oppression and exploitation in the latter half of the days of Koryo should be viewed in relation with the fact that the struggle to defend national sovereignty came to the fore.

Next, Kim Jong Il clarified the cause of the failure and the historical significance of the peasant wars and uprisings in the medieval times on the basis of the Juche outlook on social history.

First, he explained why the peasant wars and uprisings in the medieval times failed.

As they did not realize that the root cause of their sufferings and misfortunes lay in the feudal system itself, their struggle often ended in defeating individual officials or landlords who had been harassing them, and not a few of them gave up arms, falling prey to the misleading propaganda by the king. They harboured an illusion that their livelihoods would be improved if a "benevolent" king or a "kind-hearted" official were appointed, so even though they occupied a large area and overthrew the feudal rulers and their ruling machinery, they failed to build there a country, where they could live well and prevent new feudal lords from emerging.

The peasants failed to fight in an organized way. Even they fought across the country, the peasant army units in various parts of the country fought in isolation in many cases without any organizational ties, so they could not but fail though they shed blood in the struggle because of this serious weakness.

Kim Jong Il also clarified the historic significance of the peasant wars and uprisings in the mediaeval times.

The peasant wars and uprisings failed to bear fruit, but the people never shed their blood in vain. They dealt a heavy blow to the feudal rulers and steadily advanced society, raising their position step by step. The strength of the people grew day by day in the bloody struggle in these days and, based on it, the struggle of the oppressed people steadily developed.

The scientific and original analysis of the struggle of the peasants in the medieval times clarified by Kim Jong Il is of great theoretical and practical significance.

It provided the strict guideline for correctly defining the forms of the anti-feudal struggle of the peasants in those days.

It also provided a Juche-oriented methodology for scientifically solving the problems arising in studying the struggle of the peasants in conformity with the historical conditions and specific realities.

As Kim Jong Il gave scientific clarification to the fundamental problems arising in correctly understanding the anti-feudal struggle of the peasants in the medieval times, a broader avenue was opened for putting the study of the history of the anti-feudal struggle of the Korean people, one of the main contents of the study of the national history, on a new scientific basis.