Peter Stolypin Essay
Position Paper on
Stolypin and land reform
by: Ingrid Hardcastle and Ashley Dick
Ingrid Hardcastle
P.A. Stolypin was a pivotal political figure in the 1906-11 period. He was one of the last
major statesmen of Imperial Russia with a clearly defined political programme and
determination to undertake major reforms. Peter Waldron claims that after the "near
downfall of the tsarist regime in 1905" Stolypin's reforms could "have changed the face
of politics and society, yet they left the unreformed autocracy to face the onslaught of the
First World War and it's attendant social and economic strains".(1) Despite the latter, it
seems erroneous to attribute total failure to Stolypin's reforms. His land reforms
undeniably greatly increased the efficiency of Russia's farming sector and agricultural
production between 1911 and 1913 was on average 47% higher than the period between
1901-1905. It is thus more appropriate to say that the majority of Stolypin's aims were
not achieved, as he was a modern politician in a traditional state.
Witte's policy of agrarian reform in 1905 had failed and Stolypin's new administration in
1906 moved towards a policy of peasant land reform. There was a rapid change in the
Russian Countryside between 1906 and 1917 which went from communal to personal
tenure and from interstripped fields to consolidated farms. He reorganised landholdings
allowing peasant communes the right to dissolve themselves. His main goal in the
agrarian reforms was to make the peasant a hereditary owner of a consolidated parcel of
land instead of a temporary holder ( as was the case for the bulk of peasants who lived in
repartitional communes. This reform also aimed at making the peasant a law-abiding
citizen . If the peasant became owner of his own property it was expected he would
respect noble estates and in this way, law and order would be established in the
countryside. Stolypin intended to gradually transform the peasants into landowners
without hurting the interests of large noble landowners.
The leftist majority in the First Duma opposed Stolypin as they were in favour of
extensive appropriation of the land. The first and second Dumas were dissolved and
Stolypin obtained a conservative majority in the third Duma by altering the 1907 election
laws. Stolypins' reforms, namely consolidation and enclosure combined with agronomic
assistance, loans and cooperatives for purchase of machinery and livestock and the
continued purchase of additional land through the peasant land bank would have
benefited some peasants and led to the elimination of marginal farmers. However, giving
the peasants more land was not the answer to social unrest.The stolypin administration set
up local resettlement boards with instructions to facilitate credit sales of gentry and state
lands to peasants who were freed between 1906 and 1907 from redemption dues.
However the land distribution to poor peasants through the land bank proved infeasible
and many peasants decamped for Siberia. For the others the threat of establishing private
property so upset patterns of land use that from 1907 onwards , whole villages began
demanding land consolidation.
Stolypin was the first Russian statesman who found the courage to defy tradition and
allow the peasant commune to be broken up thus taking the risk of relying on the Kulak
to meet the country's agricultural needs. He unlike others had attempted to treat the
peasants as citizens on a footing of equality with the emperor's other subjects. His policy
might have been successful as a social development and not just economic if the domestic
conditions had been more stable.
Note
1. P. Waldron, Between two revolutions: Stolypin and the politics of renewal in
Russia (Northern Illinois Press, 1993)
***
Ashley Dick
Peter Stolypin became Minister of Internal Affairs in Russia from the spring of 1906. He
combined this position with Russian Premier (Prime Minister) from 23rd July 1906 until
his assassination in September 1911.
Two perceptions of Stolypin have been developed. One view is that Stolypin exploited
and misused his position of power merely to increase his status within the Russian
government. This can be seen through his alteration of the Fundamental Laws and Article
87.
Yet, perhaps Stolypin merely made slight alterations to these articles to ease the
escalating revolutionary situation. It is clear his legislation did delay the downfall of the
Tsarist state, and so perhaps these changes were a necessity for improvement of Russia's
backward society.
The first Duma was a failure. The demands made by Duma representatives would surely
have led to the overthrow of the Tsar, thus Nicholas II ended it in July 1906.
Following the collapse of the first Duma, Stolypin was appointed Prime Minister. He
presented the second Duma with a series of reforms intended to remove major areas of
social discontent. He was convinced that for the Tsar to respond negatively to the failure
of the fist Duma, and to the terrorism which aggravated the empire would be fatal to the
Tsar's power and may lead to him being overthrown. The peasant revolts of 1902 and
risings of 1905 and 1906 showed where major areas of discontent lay. Thus, Stolypin
planned to present reforms which would gain the support of the peasants who made up
the majority of the Russian population. He hoped this would ensure the safety of the
Tsar's rule.
As well as reform of other areas of society, Stolypin placed focus on the agrarian problem.
Stolypin brought about a series of reforms through the second and third Dumas that
greatly improved the lives of the peasants. Peasants now had greater involvement in
deciding upon their zemstvo representatives and had increased power in legal affairs.
Despite the abolition of serfdom by the 1861 Emancipation Edict, serfs did not have real
freedom. Instead of land being allocated to individual peasants, it was given to the
peasant commune and thus the mir and peasant commune were retained despite serfs
having supposed freedom. Behind these was the idea of shared communal land. Also,
serfs were not yet officially free as they were still bound to the land until they had repaid
redemption payments to their previous landlords which were to be paid over a 49 year
period.
Despite being a firm conservative, Stolypin recognised these restrictions upon the peasant
class and their lack of individuality. He saw the peasant commune as ineffective and
economically unproductive. Not surprisingly, this typically traditional Russian system
was favoured by the Slavophiles and was clearly very different from the more advanced
and modern Western Europe.
Stolypin eased the situation with new legislation passed through the Dumas. In
November 1905 redemption payments were abolished. With Stolypin's help this came
into being from 1st January 1907. This enabled peasants to move around freely and so
they now had the opportunity to seek work in the increasingly industrialising cities.
A reduction of power was seen within the peasant commune and the mir. Peasants were
now able to leave the communal system and become independent landholders. Peasants
were given ownership of land if it had not been redistributed since 1882. This made many
peasants private landowners and so was a success for Stolypin as he gained their favour
through helping them to raise their status in society. Also, land could now be passed
down from father to son.
Stolypin also helped to create financial aid to peasants with the formation of the Peasant
Land Bank, thus providing funds for peasants and their new land.
It was Stolypin's aim to create a new type of peasant class. He did much to improve their
situation and did contribute greatly to delaying the downfall of the Tsarist state. He did
not solve problems but attempted to alleviate them. However, his land reforms were
perhaps not enough to secure the continuation of Tsarist autocracy in Russia.