Stolypin's reform causes progress results. The beginning of the Stolypin agrarian reform

As the first Russian revolution clearly showed, the main problem of Russian society remained the agrarian question, which escalated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the future, the dissatisfied peasantry, which constituted the majority of the country's population, could go further than defeating 2,000 burned in 1905-1907. landlord estates.

In addition, without the development of agriculture, Russia could not develop as a great power, which was well understood by P.A. Stolypin.

1. Goals of the reform

1.1. Socio-political goals.

1.1.1. the main objective consisted in enlisting broad strata of the peasantry on the side of the regime and preventing a new agrarian war. To do this, it was supposed to contribute to the transformation of the majority of the inhabitants of the Russian village into strong, wealthy peasantry imbued with the idea of property, which, according to Stolypin, serves everywhere as the best bulwark of order and tranquility.

Previously, there was a widespread point of view about the orientation of the Stolypin reform to attract the existing narrow layer of kulaks.

1.1.3. Through agrarian reform, the government sought to not affect the interests of the landowners. In the post-reform period and at the beginning of the 20th century, the government was unable to protect the noble landownership from reduction, but the large and small landed nobility continued to make up the most reliable support autocracy. To push him away would be suicidal for the regime.

In addition, noble class organizations, including the Council of the United Nobility, had a great influence on Nicholas II and his entourage. A member of the government, and even more so a prime minister, who raises the question of the alienation of landowners' lands, could not remain in his place, much less organize the implementation of such a reform. The reformers also took into account the fact that the landowners' farms produced a significant part of marketable grain, which is also.

1.1.2. Another goal was destruction of the rural community. Keeping in mind the participation of the community in the struggle of 1905-1907, the reformers understood that the main issue in the peasant movement was the issue of land and did not seek to immediately destroy the administrative organization of the community.

1.2. Socio-economic goals were closely related to the socio-political. It was planned to liquidate the land community, its economic land distribution mechanism, on the one hand, which formed the basis of the social unity of the community, and on the other hand, restrained the development of agricultural technology.

Ultimate economic purpose reforms was supposed to be a general rise in the country's agriculture, the transformation of the agricultural sector into the economic base of the new Great Russia.

2. Preparation of the reform.

2.1. Preparation of reform projects before the revolution. actually started Conference on the needs of the agricultural industry under the direction of S.Yu. Witte in 1902-1903 In 1905-1907. the conclusions formulated by the meeting, primarily the idea of the need to destroy the land community and turn the peasants into land owners, were reflected in a number of projects of state officials ( N.N. Kutler, V.I. Gurko).

2.2. With the start of the revolution and the active participation of peasants in the destruction of landlord estates, Nicholas II, frightened by agrarian uprisings, changed his attitude towards the landed peasant community. The Peasant Bank was allowed to issue loans for peasant plots (November 1905), which in fact meant the possibility of alienating communal lands. P.A. Stolypin in 1906, having become prime minister, supported the Gurko project, which formed the basis Decree of November 9, 1906 that initiated the agrarian reform.

3. Main directions of the reform

3.1. Change of ownership on peasant land, turning them into full-fledged owners of their allotments was supposed to be carried out by the law of 1910 primarily by strengthening the allotments into private property. In addition, by law of 1911 . it was allowed to carry out land management (reduction of land into farms and cuts) without strengthening, after which the peasants also became landowners. At the same time, a peasant could only sell an allotment to a peasant, which limited the right to land ownership.

3.2. Organization of farms and cuts (land management). Without land management, technical improvement, the economic development of agriculture was impossible in the conditions of a peasant stripes(2/3 of the peasants in the central regions had allotments divided into 6 or more lanes in various places in the communal field) and far lands(40% of the peasants of the Center had to walk daily from their estates to allotments of 5 or more miles). In economic terms, according to Gurko's plan, strengthening without land management did not make sense.

Therefore, the work of state land management commissions was planned to reduce the strips of the peasant allotment into a single plot - cut. If such a cut was outside the village, the estate was transferred there, which meant the formation farms.

3.3 . Resettlement of peasants to free lands. To solve the problem of the peasant lack of land and decrease agricultural overpopulation resettlement policy intensified in the Central regions. Funds were allocated to transport those wishing to new places, primarily to Siberia. Special (so-called Stolypin) passenger cars were built for the settlers. Beyond the Urals, the peasants were given lands free of charge, loans were issued to improve the economy and improve the land.

3.4. Selling land to peasants in installments through Peasant Bank was also needed to reduce land shortages. On the security of allotment land, loans were issued for the purchase of state land transferred to the Bank's fund, and land that was sold by landlords.

3.5. Development of agricultural cooperation, Both trade and credit were given an impetus by the publication in 1908 of an exemplary charter. Credit partnerships received some benefits.

5. The progress of the reform

5.1. Legal basis, stages and terms of the reform. The legislative basis for the reform was Decree of November 9, 1906 ., after the adoption of which the implementation of the reform began. The main provisions of the Decree were enshrined in Law of 1910., approved by the Duma and the State Council. Serious clarifications in the course of the reform were introduced law 1911., reflecting a change in the emphasis of government policy and signifying the beginning of the second stage of the reform.

In 1915-1916, due to the war, the reform actually stopped. In June 1917 the reform was officially terminated by the Provisional Government.

The reform was carried out through the efforts Main Directorate of Land Management and Agriculture headed A.V. Krivoshein and the Stolypin Ministry of the Interior.

5.2. The transformation of peasants into landowners at the first stage (1907-1910) in accordance with the Decree of November 9, it went in several ways.

5 .2.1. At fastening of striped sections to the property. Over the years, 2 million plots have been strengthened. When the pressure of local authorities ceased, the strengthening process was sharply reduced. In addition, most of the peasants, who only wanted to sell their allotment, without returning to independent agriculture, have already done this. After 1911, only those who wanted to sell their plot applied. In total in 1907-1915. 2.5 million people became fortifiers. - 26% of the peasants of European Russia (excluding the Western provinces and the Trans-Urals), but almost 40% of them sold their plots, most of them moving beyond the Urals, leaving for the city or replenishing the stratum of the rural proletariat.

5 .2.2. land management at the second stage (1911-1916) under the laws of 1910 and 1911. made it possible to obtain ownership of the allotment automatically - after the creation cuts And farms, without filing an application for strengthening the property.

5 .2.3. In old communities(communities where there had been no redistribution since 1861), according to the law of 1910, peasants were automatically recognized as owners of allotments. Such communities accounted for 30% of their total number. At the same time, only 600,000 of the 3.5 million members of unrestricted communities requested documents certifying their property.

5 .2.4. Yard holdings. Peasants Western provinces and some areas of the South where communities did not exist also automatically became owners. To do this, they did not need to submit special applications. Beyond the Urals the reform was not formally carried out, but even there the peasants did not know communal property.

5.3. Land management. Organization of farms and cuts. In 1907-1910. only 1/10 of the peasants, who strengthened their allotments, formed farms and cuts.

After 1910, the government realized that a strong peasantry could not emerge on multi-lane sections. For this, it was necessary not to formally strengthen the property, but the economic transformation of allotments. The local authorities, who sometimes resorted to coercion of the community members, were no longer recommended to artificially encourage the strengthening process. The main direction of the reform was land management, which now in itself turned the land into the private property of the peasants.

Now the process has accelerated. In total, by 1916, 1.6 million individual farms (farms and cuts) were formed on approximately 1/3 of the peasant allotment (communal and household) land purchased by the peasants from the bank.

It was the beginning. It is important that in reality the potential scope of the movement turned out to be wider: another 20% of the peasants of European Russia filed applications for land management, but land management work was suspended by the war (May 1915) and interrupted by the revolution.

5.4. Resettlement beyond the Urals. Having received a loan from the government, 3.3 million people moved to the new lands in Stolypin wagons, 2/3 of which were landless or land-poor peasants. 0.5 million returned, many replenished the population of Siberian cities or became agricultural workers. Only a small part of the peasants became farmers in the new place. This direction of the reform, having a focus on the resettlement of the poor, turned out to be the least effective, although it played an important role in the development of Siberia.

5.4. Buying land peasants with with the help of the Peasants' Bank acquired significant proportions. The bank sold 15 million state and landowner lands, of which 90% were bought by installments by peasants. At the same time, special benefits were provided to the owners of farms and cuts, who, unlike others, received a loan in the amount of 100% of the value of the acquired land at 5% per annum.

5.5. developed rapidly cooperative movement. In 1905-1915. the number of rural credit partnerships increased from 1680 to 15.5 thousand. The number of production and consumer cooperatives in the countryside increased from 3 thousand in 1908 to 10 thousand in 1915. Many economists of various political orientations came to the conclusion that it was precisely cooperation is the most promising direction for the development of the Russian countryside, meeting the needs of modernizing the peasant economy.

At the same time, in the absence of a state loan to agriculture, the level of development of cooperation remained insufficient for the Russian countryside.

6. Main economic results of the reform

6.1. The peasant sector of the Russian agro-economy experienced serious progress. Harvest years and the growth of world grain prices played a big role in this. But cut-off and farm enterprises especially progressed, where in more new technologies were applied. The yield in them exceeded similar indicators of communal fields by 30-50%.

6.2. Much increased marketability peasant economy, also largely at the expense of farms and cuts. New farming systems and crops were introduced. From a third to a half of individual farmers participated in credit partnerships, which gave them funds for modernization. Over 1.6 million peasants attended agricultural courses.

6.2. On the whole a revolution in agroeconomics and agricultural technology did not occur However, when evaluating economic results, it is important to take into account that the reform, designed for decades, only managed to clarify the direction and gain momentum in a few years. Without large loans, land reclamation and other measures, the reform was not able to give great results, and such measures could not be carried out without the allocation of significant funds by the state.

7. Major social and political

results of the reform

In socio-political terms, the reform was a relative success.

7.1. social outcomes. The fate of the community

7.1.1. The destruction of the land community. The community, as a body of self-government in the Russian village, was not affected by the reform, but the socio-economic organism of the community began to collapse. The number of land communities decreased from 135,000 to 110,000. The process was especially fast in the most developed northwestern, southern, and southeastern regions, where the community was historically weaker.

Some historians believed that the reform failed, since only 26% of the peasants allegedly left the community, and the process of exit began to fade from 1910. But only peasants who strengthened their striped plots in property were taken into account.

After 1910, there were fewer and fewer statements about strengthening the ownership of allotments and, accordingly, leaving the landed community. But land management processes have developed ever faster since that time. Landowners also became owners.

More than a third of its members have left the community, but the process has not yet been completed. Evidence of the growth of this trend is a significant number of applications for land management, most of which the land surveyors did not have time to complete by May 1915.

As a result, in the center of the country, together with members of the old-minded communities, at least 2/3 of the former communal peasantry was involved in the destruction of the land community. Taking into account the West and South of Russia, the Baltic states, Siberia, where land communities did not exist, by 1917 the majority of the country's peasantry were actually outside the land community.

It is also important to take into account that the reform, designed for at least two decades, had just begun, and only in 1910-1911 was the right direction for its deployment found.

7.1.2. The issue of community viability. At the same time, almost no disintegration of the community was observed in the central non-chernozem regions. It was here that cases of arson of farms were more numerous, and peasants who wanted to leave the community often did not receive the consent of the village assembly. In the non-chernozem center, communal traditions were the strongest, and Agriculture the most backward in socio-economic terms. The low standard of living determined the desire of the peasants, who were not engaged in crafts here, to preserve the old leveling mechanism and the body of social protection.

The borderless communities, mainly located in Ukraine, for a number of other reasons also largely retained their integrity.

At the same time, the reform beneficial effect to surviving communities. It revealed some viability of the community organization. Freed from potential proletarians who sold their allotments, the communities also gradually turned to the use of progressive methods of management. Over 2.5 million land use applications have been submitted by communities. Rural societies increasingly used multi-field and grass-sowing, which, however, did not become the predominant form of agrarian technology here.

7.2. Socio-political results of the reform.

7.2.1. Partial success. Cessation of peasant uprisings. At the first stage in 1907-1909. with the strengthening of allotments in property, often under pressure from zemstvo chiefs, the number of peasant protests (mainly against the arbitrariness of the authorities) began to grow, reaching almost 1 thousand in 1910. But after the shift in government policy to land management, the rejection of coercion and some economic successes peasant unrest almost ceased, decreasing in 1913 to 128.

7.2.2. Prevention of a general peasant uprising and a general redistribution. However, the main political goal was not achieved. As 1917 showed, the peasantry retained the ability of the whole world to oppose the landlords (and the regime that protected them), under the influence not so much of economic necessity as of the historical memory of centuries of serf oppression and hatred of bars.

In 1917 it became obvious that agrarian reform late for 50 years, but the main reason for its relative failure was the socio-political half-heartedness of the transformations, manifested in the preservation of the landowners' lands intact

The essence of Stolypin's agrarian reform was an attempt to solve the agrarian problem without affecting the lands of the landlords. Stolypin saw the way out in the replacement of communal peasant land ownership by individual, private. This measure was laid down in the draft reform of 1861, however, was not implemented. The immediate predecessor of the Stolypin projects was S.Yu. Witte, who proposed in 1902-1903. start liquidating the community. The basis for the Stolypin reform was created by the decree of 1905 on the abolition of redemption payments, according to which the peasants (so far within the community) became the owners of their land. In October 1906, the poll tax and mutual responsibility were finally abolished, the power of zemstvo chiefs and district authorities over the peasantry was limited, the rights of peasants in zemstvo elections were increased, and freedom of movement and choice of place of residence by peasants was expanded. On November 9, 1906, a decree was adopted giving the peasants the right to freely leave the community with the transfer of his part of the land to private ownership (on June 14, 1910, this decree was approved by the Duma and became law). At the request of the selected individual, separate strips of his land could be brought together in one area - a cut. A peasant who separated from the community could move his yard from the village with all the outbuildings and residential buildings - in this case, a farm arose, in many ways reminiscent of American farms. The private ownership of the land by the peasant allowed him to farm much more efficiently. In addition, the kulaks could buy plots from their poor neighbors, which partly solved the problem of peasant land shortages in central Russia. The Stolypin reform also included the sale to the peasants of part of the specific and state-owned lands through the Peasants' Bank, whose task was to regulate land use, which provided barriers to monopolism and land speculation. Along with this, the bank was supposed to buy up landlords' estates for resale to peasants, to issue loans for the purchase of land by peasants. An important point of the reform was the organization of the resettlement business. The state provided assistance with transport, loans for the construction of houses, the purchase of cars, livestock and household property, preliminary land management of sites for immigrants (hundreds of thousands of peasants moved from the central regions to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, where there was a huge free land fund). By this measure, the authors of the reform sought to prevent the excessive proletarianization of the peasantry.

In rural areas, road construction, cooperative activities, insurance coverage, medical and veterinary care, agronomic consultation, construction of schools and rural temples were organized. In Siberia, state-owned warehouses of agricultural machinery were set up to serve farmers at low prices.

As a result of these measures, stable and highly developed agriculture was created in Russia. Productivity for 1906 - 1913 increased by 14%. Shortly after the beginning of the reforms, surpluses of free grain began to amount to hundreds of millions of poods, and foreign exchange earnings associated with the export of grain increased sharply. Only in 1908-1910. it increased by 3.5 times. Russia provided 50% of world egg exports, 80% of world flax production. The number of horses increased by 37%, cattle - by 63.5%. Peasant land ownership was constantly growing: by 1914, almost 100% of arable land in Asian Russia and about 90% in European Russia belonged to peasants on the basis of ownership and lease. People's savings, and especially peasant savings, increased rapidly: the amount of deposits in savings banks for the years 1906-1914 increased almost tenfold. On the basis of the growth in the prosperity of the population and the strengthening of the state budget, expenditures on education and culture were constantly increasing: for example, the number of rural students in 1906-1913 increased 33 times.

Stolypin's government program also included a whole range of measures to restructure local government, public education and religion. Stolypin provided for the restoration of the non-estate principle and the reduction of property qualifications in elections to zemstvos, as well as the liquidation of the volost court of peasants, which was supposed to equalize their civil rights with the rest of the population. He considered it necessary to introduce universal primary education. This would meet the needs of the country's industrial development and allow the peasant to increase his educational qualification, which is necessary for representation in the zemstvo self-government bodies. Freedom of conscience and religious tolerance were called upon to carry out the reform of the church.

There are several opinions about what social goals were pursued by the Stolypin reform. Some historians believe that the prime minister sought to split the peasantry, to single out a prosperous group from it. The rural bourgeoisie would have become a new pillar of power, would have made it possible "to surround the landowners' estates with a protective rampart of kulak farms." Others dispute this version: they point out that the government was afraid of a large concentration of land in the hands of the rich elite (under the terms of the reform, it was forbidden to buy more than six peasant plots within one county). This fact is explained by the fact that Stolypin cared not only for the interests of the wealthy stratum, but for the bulk of the peasantry and sought to prevent its proletarianization. His task was to instill in every peasant a "feeling of a master, an owner."

The Stolypin reform lasted about seven years - until the outbreak of the First World War. The post-revolutionary years were marked by a noticeable rise in the standard of living of the masses: the consumption of foodstuffs and industrial goods increased, and deposits in savings institutions increased. The "Golden Age" was experienced by cooperation: the number of consumer societies increased in 1906-1912. six times (the number of rural cooperatives - 12 times). The cooperative associations included hundreds of societies and millions of members, their turnover reached millions of rubles. Siberia and Altai were rising, vigorously mastered by settlers; increased literacy in the countryside.

The success of agrarian reforms was possible only under the condition of internal political stability in the country. Stolypin, a firm supporter of Russian statehood, took steps to curb leftist terror and social demagogy. Stolypin's statement is well-known: “The opponents of statehood want to free themselves from Russia's historical past. We are offered, among other strong and strong peoples, to turn Russia into ruins ... They need great upheavals, we need a great Russia! Worried about the success of the Stolypin reform, the revolutionaries understood that stabilization in the country would deprive them of all ground, and their life, given up on the altar of revolutionary destruction, would be lived in vain. At the Socialist-Revolutionary Congress in 1908, it was noted with alarm: "Any success of the government in agrarian reform causes serious damage to the cause of the revolution." P. A. Stolypin said: “Give the state 20 years of peace, internal and external, and you will not recognize today's Russia!” But the radical left sought to have time to raise a new revolutionary wave. The terrorists made fourteen attempts on Stolypin. In September 1911, he was mortally wounded.

Early 20th century in Russia heyday of anarchy, terror, popular unrest. The empire demanded decisive steps and immediate action from statesmen. Significant transformations took place, Stolypin's reforms became widely known - let us briefly dwell on his main undertakings. After the dissolution of the first Duma, the government was headed by a man who was ready to change the situation. What was the essence of Stolypin's agrarian reform.

In contact with

Initial stages of activity

Stolypin Petr Arkadyevich (1862-1911) - comes from a noble family. Graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the St. Petersburg Imperial University. He entered the service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he worked for 3 years. Moved to the Department of Rural Industry and Agriculture. Since 1902, he served as governor of the Grodno province. A year later, he was transferred to the post of governor of the Saratov province. Grodno formed the main principles of the Stolypin agrarian reform.

Occupying high positions, Pyotr Arkadievich devoted most of his time and energy to solving the problems of educating peasants and farming. This caused irritation and misunderstanding among many contemporaries. He was a fierce opponent. During the rallies, which resulted in Civil War 1905 - 1907, took to the streets, spoke to the rebels.

Important! Stolypin's methods of government led to a sharp reduction in the uprisings in Saratov.

The efforts and talent of the steward attracted the attention of Nicholas II. In 1906, the emperor appointed the Saratov governor Minister of the Interior. Soon he becomes chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire.

These events determine the initial period of the first measures of agrarian reform: October 9, 1906, the day the decree was issued on the free exit of peasants from landlord farms, went down in history.

In new positions, Pyotr Stolypin unfolds a tough policy of combating crime and terrorism.

In the midst of the revolution, he proposes a number of bills, but speaks of the need to calm the unrest before the reforms begin.

Entrepreneurship development

In the economy, attempts were made to give freedom to enterprising peasants, and a large role in the implementation of this undertaking was played by agrarian reform Stolypin.

Prerequisites

The basis for the transformation of the state was the economic and political situation that developed at the beginning of the 20th century. High-ranking officials saw Russia's development paths too differently. After the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, the crisis reached a critical point. One-time uprisings turned into massive revolutionary movement. It interfered. It was necessary to urgently carry out a number of economic, administrative, legal, agrarian reforms in the country, which became the main task of Pyotr Stolypin.

There were a number of problems:

remnants of relations between landowners and peasants have been preserved;
workers' dissatisfaction with working and leisure conditions grew;
demanded a solution to the national question;
most of the peasants were illiterate;
general anarchy reigned within the country;
violent extremist organizations have become active.

All reforms pursued one goal - gradually make Russia a powerful power, and the agrarian revolution was supposed to help in this. He made the increase in the number of prosperous peasants in the territory of the state the main tool for implementing his plan.

Solving the land issue

The village has developed quite difficult situation in the agricultural sector, which could not but cause concern for the government of the country:

the complete decline of agriculture in the countryside;
total poverty of the population;
a decrease in the number of peasant lands, as some peasants lost their allotments;
the peasant communities denied the landlords' property rights to the land.

After the community became the key form of peasant self-government. The land belonged to the community, and allotments were provided to peasant families. In fact, these were landed estates of landowners. The owner of the dress could be changed if he lost his solvency. Human relations within societies prevailed, the redistribution of land took place by agreement. But the idea that today I am the owner of the land, and tomorrow - someone else, did not leave the farmers. This caused growing discontent.

At the turn of the century, the birth rate increased sharply, especially among rural residents. Between 1861 and 1913 the population of the state increased by 2.5 times. The peasants needed land more and more, and there was less and less of it. On average, in the Russian Empire, by 1900, the provision of allotments was halved. Along with the reduction of land holdings per capita, the number of households increased. By 1905, this figure had increased by 3.5 million. Attempts by the authorities to deal with family divisions did not bring positive results.

The economic reforms that took place under Alexander II involved several investment programs.

Most people chose the minimum package. It included free donation, in the amount of ¼ of the standard and could not provide for his family. Inequality worsened. Successful peasants bought up landowners' lands.

Insufficient land and lack of property rights were the main reasons for the aggravation of conflicts. This formed the basis of the goals that the agrarian reform of Stolypin, who then held the post of prime minister, was designed to achieve.

The situation was complicated by the phenomenon of striped land - the plots of landlords and peasants were on the same field across the strip. There was no proper distribution of sowing, forest, meadow areas.

The essence of change in agriculture

The agrarian policy of Pyotr Stolypin pursued two main goals:

Short-term - the cessation of unrest that arose due to land conflicts.
Long-term - stable development of the peasantry and agriculture.

Their achievement involved a set of measures:

major event - transfer of ownership of land individual householders;
eradication of vestiges of class relations within communities;
development of a credit system;
preferential resale of purchased landowners' farms and lands;
development of educational, consulting agronomic programs;
support for peasant associations and cooperatives.

There are also more specific goals of agrarian reform:

preservation of the landlord economy;
addressing the issue of lack of land;
the eradication of the herd feeling of farmers;
instilling a sense of ownership in farmers;
creation of a solid foundation of supreme power in the countryside;
increase in the rate of development of agricultural production.

Collectives of communities formed turmoil. It was necessary to get rid of them. The prime minister hoped for an improvement in the condition of the peasants. He talked about the power that is at the bottom of society, tried to support the autocracy.

Stolypin's agrarian reform did not apply to Bashkir and Cossack land holdings.

The reform made it possible for anyone who wished to leave the community. A person applied, and the land was assigned to him. Given the population of European Russia, land areas were allocated in Siberia.

Of the 3.5 million peasants who wished to move, about five hundred thousand refused, due to the difficulty of developing a new space. Peak activity of petitions occurred in 1909-1910, then went into decline.

What has been done

What were the results of Stolypin's agrarian reform. The easiest way to get acquainted with the data of 1916:

more than 6 million households declared their desire to acquire land as property;
almost 1.5 million people became sole proprietors;
to overall size allotments increased by 8.1% of the area (9.65 million acres);
25.2 million acres were issued;
peasant holdings accounted for 89.3% of the land and 94% livestock; the need for large-scale landlord lands disappeared.

This is an important transformation organized by Peter Arkadyevich. But it failed. The author hoped for a comprehensive implementation of the reform, spoke of the need to maintain calm within the country. These two factors in twenty years could have a positive impact on the development of the state. The ill-conceived employment of the peasants who moved to the city also played a role. Stolypin's agrarian reform was suspended by a decree of the Provisional Government of June 28 (July 11, new style), 1917.

Other changes

The measures of the Stolypin reform, in short, assumed complete transformation of the state touched absolutely all spheres of life.

Local government

Part of the western provinces was governed by volost gatherings, so Stolypin's activities in this direction are determined as an attempt to introduce zemstvo institutions. This would help the regions realize their agricultural potential.

Like all the reforms that Stolypin tried to carry out, this bill found its opponents and supporters. But the main - it was against the law.

The Poles who inhabited the Kiev, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Podolsk provinces could not be allowed to power. On this basis, the State Council rejected the initiative.

Countering terrorism

The reasons for resorting to the Stolypin reforms of the judicial process were weighty - mass terrorist attacks, robberies, robberies. On August 12, 1906, terrorists attacked the dacha of Pyotr Arkadyevich. His children and about a hundred other people suffered, 30 of whom died. The emperor introduces a provision on courts-martial. They were given the right to consider cases as soon as possible. Two days were allocated for trials, 24 hours for bringing the sentence into effect. The Prime Minister determined innovation as a necessity in the current situation.

Power structures and legal proceedings

Bill " On the transformation of the local court” included a number of measures to reduce the cost and accessibility of services for the population. The goal was to revive the magistrates' courts. Emphasis was placed on the independence of the authority from the volost, peasant, zemstvo authorities. It was an attempt to exclude legal proceedings from random decisions, to lead to a rationalization of the process. It was proposed to introduce the responsibility of high-ranking officials for illegal actions and bureaucracy, determine the rights of the person under investigation.

Reform measures that Stolypin managed to carry out.

Table 1

date of	Economic reforms
19.08.06	Anti-terror law comes into force
August 1906	Empowering the Peasants' Bank to resell lands
05.10.06	The rights of peasants and other estates are partially equalized
14 — 15.10.06	Launch of a broad lending system
9.11.06	Decree on free exit from the community
December 1907	Accelerating the resettlement of peasants to and in Siberia, through incentives
10.04.08	Introduction of a compulsory primary education program
31.05.09	Adoption of the law on the Russification of Finland
14.06.10	Expansion of opportunities to get out of the landed estates
14.03.11	The emergence of zemstvos in the western provinces

The more a person is able to respond to the historical and universal, the wider his nature, the richer his life and the more capable such a person is of progress and development.
F. M. Dostoevsky

Stolypin's agrarian reform, which began in 1906, was conditioned by the realities that were taking place in the Russian Empire. The country was faced with massive popular unrest, during which it became absolutely obvious that the people did not want to live as before. Moreover, the state itself could not govern the country, based on the old principles. The economic component of the development of the empire was in decline. This was especially true in the agrarian complex, where there was a clear decline. As a result, political events, as well as economic events, prompted Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin to start implementing reforms.

Background and reasons

One of the main reasons that prompted the Russian Empire to start a massive change in the state structure was based on the fact that a large number ordinary people expressed their dissatisfaction with the authorities. If until that time the expression of dissatisfaction was reduced to one-time peaceful actions, then by 1906 these actions became much larger and bloody. As a result, it became clear that Russia was struggling not only with obvious economic problems, but also with an obvious revolutionary upsurge.

Obviously, any victory of the state over the revolution is not based on physical strength but on spiritual strength. A strong-willed state itself should stand at the head of the reforms.
Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin

One of the landmark events that prompted the Russian government to start reforms as soon as possible happened on August 12, 1906. On this day in St. Petersburg on Aptekarsky Island there was a terrorist attack. In this place of the capital lived Stolypin, who by this time served as chairman of the government. As a result of the thundering explosion, 27 people were killed and 32 people were injured. Among the wounded were Stolypin's daughter and son. The Prime Minister himself miraculously did not suffer. As a result, the country adopted a law on courts-martial, where all cases relating to terrorist attacks were considered in an expedited manner, within 48 hours.

The explosion once again showed Stolypin that the people wanted fundamental changes within the country. These changes had to be given to people in the shortest possible time. That is why Stolypin's agrarian reform was accelerated, a project that began to advance with giant strides.

The essence of the reform

The first block called on the citizens of the country to calm down, and also informed about the state of emergency in many parts of the country. Because of the terrorist attacks in a number of regions of Russia, a state of emergency and courts-martial were forced to be introduced.
The second block announced the convocation of the State Duma, during which it was planned to create and implement a set of agrarian reforms within the country.

Stolypin clearly understood that the implementation of agrarian reforms alone would not make it possible to calm the population and would not allow the Russian Empire to make a qualitative leap in its development. Therefore, along with changes in agriculture, the Prime Minister spoke about the need to adopt laws on religion, equality among citizens, reforming the system of local self-government, on the rights and life of workers, the need to introduce compulsory primary education, the introduction income tax, increasing teachers' salaries and so on. In a word, everything that was subsequently implemented by Soviet power was one of the stages of the Stolypin reform.

Of course, it is extremely difficult to start changes of this magnitude in the country. That is why Stolypin decided to start with agrarian reform. This was due to a number of factors:

The main driving force of evolution is the peasant. So it was always and in all countries, so it was in those days in the Russian Empire. Therefore, in order to remove the revolutionary heat, it was necessary to turn to the bulk of the dissatisfied, offering them qualitative changes in the country.
The peasants actively expressed their position that the landed estates should be redistributed. Often the landowners kept the best lands for themselves, allocating unfertile plots to the peasants.

The first stage of the reform

Stolypin's agrarian reform began with an attempt to destroy the community. Until that moment, the peasants in the villages lived in communities. These were special territorial formations where people lived as a single team, performing common collective tasks. If you try to give a simpler definition, then the communities are very similar to the collective farms, which were later implemented by the Soviet government. The problem of the communities was that the peasants lived in a close-knit group. They worked for a single purpose for the landlords. The peasants, as a rule, did not have their own large allotments, and they were not particularly worried about the final result of their work.

On November 9, 1906, the Government of the Russian Empire issued a decree that allowed peasants to freely leave the community. Leaving the community was free. At the same time, the peasant retained all his property, as well as the lands that were allocated to him. At the same time, if the lands were allocated in different areas, then the peasant could demand that the lands be combined into a single allotment. Leaving the community, the peasant received land in the form of a cut or farm.

Stolypin's agrarian reform map.

Cut this is a plot of land that was allocated to a peasant leaving the community, with the peasant retaining his yard in the village.

Farm this land plot, which was allocated to a peasant leaving the community, with the resettlement of this peasant from the village to his own plot.

On the one hand, this approach made it possible to implement reforms within the country aimed at changing the peasant economy. However, on the other hand, the landlord economy remained untouched.

The essence of Stolypin's agrarian reform, as conceived by the creator himself, boiled down to the following advantages that the country received:

The peasants who lived in the community were massively influenced by the revolutionaries. Peasants who live on separate farms are much less accessible to revolutionaries.
A person who has received the land at his disposal, and who depends on this land, is directly interested in the final result. As a result, a person will think not about revolution, but about how to increase his harvest and his profit.
Divert attention from the desire of ordinary people to divide the landlords' land. Stolypin advocated the inviolability of private property, therefore, with the help of his reforms, he tried not only to preserve the landowners' lands, but also to provide the peasants with what they really needed.

To some extent, Stolypin's agrarian reform was similar to the creation of advanced farms. A huge number of small and medium landowners should have appeared in the country, who would not depend directly on the state, but independently sought to develop their sector. This approach found expression in the words of Stolypin himself, who often confirmed that the country in its development focuses on "strong" and "strong" landowners.

At the initial stage of the development of the reform, few people enjoyed the right to leave the community. In fact, only wealthy peasants and the poor left the community. Wealthy peasants came out because they had everything for independent work and they could now work not for the community, but for themselves. The poor, on the other hand, went out in order to receive compensation money, thereby raising their financial situation. The poor, as a rule, having lived for some time away from the community and having lost their money, returned back to the community. That is why, at the initial stage of development, very few people left the community for advanced agricultural holdings.

Official statistics show that only 10% of all the resulting agricultural holdings could claim the title of a successful farm. Only these 10% of households used modern technology, fertilizer, modern ways ground work and so on. In the end, only these 10% of farms worked economically profitable. All other farms that were formed in the course of Stolypin's agrarian reform turned out to be unprofitable. This is due to the fact that the vast majority of people leaving the community were poor, who were not interested in the development of the agrarian complex. These figures characterize the first months of the work of Stolypin's plans.

Resettlement policy as an important stage of reform

One of the significant problems of the Russian Empire at that time was the so-called land famine. This concept means that the eastern part of Russia was extremely little developed. As a result, the vast majority of land in these regions was undeveloped. Therefore, Stolypin's agrarian reform set one of the tasks of resettling peasants from the western provinces to the eastern ones. In particular, it was said that the peasants should move beyond the Urals. First of all, these changes were to affect those peasants who did not own their own land.

The so-called landless were to move beyond the Urals, where they were to establish their own farms. This process was absolutely voluntary and the government did not force any of the peasants to move to the eastern regions of the forced. Moreover, the resettlement policy was based on providing the peasants who decide to move beyond the Urals with maximum benefits and good conditions for living. As a result, a person who agreed to such a resettlement received the following concessions from the government:

Peasant farming was exempted from any taxes for 5 years.
The peasant received land as his property. Land was provided at the rate of: 15 hectares for a farm, as well as 45 hectares for each family member.
Each migrant received a cash loan on a preferential basis. The value of this court depended on the region of resettlement, and in some regions reached up to 400 rubles. This is a huge amount of money for the Russian Empire. In any region, 200 rubles were given out free of charge, and the rest of the money was in the form of a loan.
All men of the resulting farm were exempted from military service.

The significant advantages that the state guaranteed to the peasants led to the fact that in the first years of the implementation of the agrarian reform, a large number of people moved from the western provinces to the eastern ones. However, despite such interest of the population in this program, the number of immigrants decreased every year. Moreover, every year the percentage of people who returned back to the southern and western provinces increased. The most striking example is the indicators of the resettlement of people in Siberia. In the period from 1906 to 1914, more than 3 million people moved to Siberia. However, the problem was that the government was not ready for such a mass resettlement and did not have time to prepare normal conditions for people to live in a particular region. As a result, people came to a new place of residence without any amenities and no devices for a comfortable stay. As a result, about 17% of people returned to their former place of residence only from Siberia.

Despite this, Stolypin's agrarian reform in terms of resettling people gave positive results. Here, positive results should not be seen in terms of the number of people who have moved and returned. The main indicator of the effectiveness of this reform is the development of new lands. If we talk about the same Siberia, the resettlement of people led to the fact that 30 million acres of land, which had previously been empty, was developed in this region. An even more important advantage was that the new farms were completely cut off from the communities. A person independently came with his family and independently raised his farm. He had no public interests, no neighboring interests. He knew that there was a specific piece of land that belonged to him and that should feed him. That is why indicators of the effectiveness of agrarian reform in eastern regions Russia is slightly higher than in the western regions. And this is despite the fact that the western regions and western provinces are traditionally more funded and traditionally more fertile with cultivated land. It was in the east that it was possible to achieve the creation of strong farms.

The main results of the reform

Stolypin's agrarian reform was of great importance for the Russian Empire. This is the first time a country has begun to implement such a scale of change within the country. Positive shifts were evident, but in order for the historical process to give positive dynamics, it needs time. It is no coincidence that Stolypin himself said:

Give the country 20 years of inner and outer peace and you will not recognize Russia.
Stolypin Pyotr Arkadievich

It really was so, but, unfortunately, Russia did not have 20 years of silence.

If we talk about the results of the agrarian reform, then its main results, which were achieved by the state over 7 years, can be summarized as follows:

The sown areas throughout the country were increased by 10%.
In some regions, where peasants left the community en masse, the area under crops was increased up to 150%.
Grain exports have been increased, accounting for 25% of all world grain exports. In harvest years, this figure increased to 35 - 40%.
The purchase of agricultural equipment has increased 3.5 times over the years of reforms.
The volume of fertilizers used increased by 2.5 times.
The growth of industry in the country was taking colossal steps + 8.8% per year, the Russian Empire in this regard came out on top in the world.

These are far from complete indicators of the reform in the Russian Empire in terms of agriculture, but even these figures show that the reform had a clear positive trend and a clear positive result for the country. At the same time, it was not possible to achieve the full implementation of the tasks that Stolypin set for the country. The country failed to fully implement farms. This was due to the fact that the traditions of collective farming among the peasants were very strong. And the peasants found a way out for themselves in the creation of cooperatives. In addition, artels were created everywhere. The first artel was created in 1907.

Artel this is an association of a group of persons who characterize one profession, for the joint work of these persons with the achievement of common results, with the achievement of common income and with a common responsibility for the final result.

As a result, we can say that Stolypin's agrarian reform was one of the stages in the mass reform of Russia. This reform was supposed to radically change the country, transferring it to the ranks of one of the leading world powers, not only in the military sense, but also in the economic sense. The main task of these reforms was to destroy the peasant communities by creating powerful farms. The government wanted to see strong owners of the land, in which not only landowners, but also private farms would be expressed.

Stolypin's agrarian reform had a great historical meaning For Russia.

It cannot be called entirely positive, but it was necessary.

Apart from the statesman Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin himself, few people understood this.

The reasons for the agrarian reform of P. A. Stolypin

Disagreements between landowners and peasants over land ownership reached a boiling point. The peasants literally began to fight for the land. Discontent was accompanied by the destruction of landowners' estates. But how did it all start?

The essence of the conflict was disagreements over land ownership. The peasants believed that all land was common. Therefore, it must be divided equally among all. If a family has many children, it is given a large plot, if there are few, a smaller plot.

Until 1905, the peasant community existed without any oppression, supported by the authorities. But the landowners did not like the situation. They advocated private property.

Gradually, the conflict began to flare up until it turned into a real rebellion.

This can be briefly summarized reasons why Stolypin decided to carry out agrarian reform:

Lack of land. Gradually, the land of the peasants became less and less. At the same time, the population increased.
backwardness of the village. The communal system impeded development.
Social tension. Not in every village the peasants decided to go against the landlords, but the tension was felt everywhere. This could not continue for long.

The tasks of transformations included the resolution of the current situation.

The goal of the Stolypin agrarian reform

The main task of the ongoing reform was the elimination of the community and landownership. Stolypin believed that this was the key to the problem, and that this would solve all other issues.

Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin - statesman of the Russian Empire, State Secretary of His Imperial Majesty, Acting State Councilor, Chamberlain. Governor of Grodno and Saratov, Minister of the Interior and Chairman of the Council of Ministers, member of the State Council

The transformations were carried out to solve the lack of land of the peasants and overcome social tensions. Stolypin also sought to smooth out the existing conflict between peasants and landlords.

The essence of Stolypin's land reform

The main condition was the exit from the community of peasants with the subsequent assignment of land to them in private ownership. Since most peasants could not afford it, they had to apply to the Peasants' Bank.

The landlords' lands were bought up and sold on credit to the peasants.

It is important to note: the central idea was not aimed at fighting the peasant community. The essence of the struggle was to eliminate peasant poverty and unemployment.

Reform Methods

The reform was introduced through pressure from the police and officials. In a difficult time of executions and gallows, it was impossible to do otherwise. The right of the authorities to interfere in economic relations was approved by Stolypin.

As for the peasants, assistance to them included the provision of natural things necessary for housekeeping. This was done in order to provide the peasants with work.

The beginning of the agrarian reform

The procedure for the exit of peasants from the community and the assignment of land to them in private ownership began on November 9, 1906 after a decree was issued. According to other sources, the date of issue of the decree is November 22.

The first action was to provide peasants with equal rights with other estates. Later, the most important event was the resettlement of peasants beyond the Urals.

Exit from the community and the creation of farms and cuts

The land plots that the peasants received into their possession had to meet the requirements of rational management. In practice, this idea was not so easy to implement. That's why It was supposed to divide the villages into farms and cuts.

This made it possible to form a layer of peasants whose economy met the requirements as much as possible. Rational management was necessary to eliminate the backwardness of the villages.

Prosperous peasants left the community most actively. It was unprofitable for the poor, the community protected them. When they left, they lost support, and they had to cope on their own, which did not always work out.

Resettlement policy as the most important stage of the reform

At first, the exit of peasants from the communities was difficult. Stolypin tried to focus on the quality of property rights and economic freedoms. But the documents on processing were considered by the Duma for too long.

The problem was that the activities of the communities were aimed at blocking the path to independence for the peasants. The Reform Amendment Act was not passed until July 14, 1910.

Stolypin sought to bring the peasants out of densely populated areas to Siberia and Central Asia, as well as to the Far East, and give them independence.

The main provisions and results of the resettlement company are reflected in the table:

Thanks to this, a huge leap in the development of the economy and the economy took place in Siberia. In terms of animal husbandry, the region even began to overtake the European part of Russia.

Results and results of the Stolypin agrarian policy

The results and consequences of Stolypin's reform cannot be given an unambiguous assessment. They were both positive and negative. On the one hand, agriculture has received greater development.

On the other hand, it affected many people badly. The landowners were unhappy with the fact that Stolypin was destroying centuries-old foundations. The peasants did not want to leave the community, to settle in farms where no one would protect them, to move to no one knows where.

It is possible that the result of this discontent was the attempt on the life of Pyotr Arkadyevich in August 1911. Stolypin was mortally wounded and died in September of the same year.