Contribution of soviet historians to the development of domestic people's studies

The article is devoted to the contribution of Soviet domestic science to the study of the peasant class inthe second half of the XVIII century. in the Russian Empire. The position of the peasantry in state policy is analyzed,and the scientific schools of the Soviet period specializing in the study of the system of serfdom are considered. Thequestion is raised about the scientific achievements of Soviet historical science in the complex of using the existingapproaches, scientific schools, and the system of knowledge about the development of the peasantry in the RussianEmpire in the second half of the XVIII century. The study of social and economic processes of development of the peasant class during the evolution of feudalrelations was the most popular topic of scientific research in Soviet historiography. The problems related to the condition of dependent peasants during the period of serfdom in tsarist Russiadeserve careful study and continue to arouse interest in the works of Russian researchers.