Problems in Agriculture after 1881
In the last years of the 19th century, Russia experienced a period of rapid and forced
industrialisation under the direction of Sergei Witte. The success of this process prior
to the outbreak of war can be seen in the table that follows. However, what these
figures also highlight is the sharp contrast that had emerged between
Russian industry and agriculture.
INDEX OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
(1861=100)
1861
1871
1881
1891
1896
1901
1906
1913
Industrial
Production
100
149
252
399
533
750
810
1165
Agricultural
Production
100
111
112
117
196
181
189
309
Total
Population
100
116
136
162
170
183
199
232
Urban
Population
100
212
425
696
Grain
Exports
100
242
359
504
647
740
725
783
Railways
(Length)
100
618
1050
1395
1795
2564
2891
3191
Source: adapted from D. Christian, 1997
Witte’s progressive policies contrasted sharply with the conservatism adopted with
regard to agriculture. This meant that the Russian economy was being
dragged in two directions at once in the 1880’s and 1890’s. The
government maintained an unshakable faith in the peasant commune and was
largely unresponsive to new and unforeseen pressures in Russian agriculture.
Problems in agriculture
There was inadequate land provision for the peasants in the 1861 settlement and the
terms on which peasants might acquire further land were poor. This essential
problem of land hunger was then exacerbated further by a rural population
explosion. During the period 1861-1913, Russia’s rural population more than
doubled (from 74 million to 164 million). Clearly developments in industry could
siphon off some of the surplus, but full-scale industrialisation was slow in coming.
From the peasant’s point of view there was a simple solution: to be given the land
(usually the best land) still held by the landowner. The Russian peasant had a hazy
idea of the legal concept of private property, especially when applied to land – the
notion was that the land belonged to those that worked it –the peasantry. The
nobility were themselves struggling to make agriculture pay. By 1879 cheap
US grain imports had hit European markets, causing a world depression in
agricultural prices. Russia’s one major marketable export – grain – was badly
affected by this new American competition.
In the short term the government looked to provide credit to keep the system afloat
by founding the Noble’s Land Bank in 1882 and a Peasant’s Land Bank in
1885. These did little to alleviate the pressure. The situation in the countryside grew
even more dire when between 1891-2 Russia experienced its worst famine of the
nineteenth century. It cost 1.5 – 2 million lives and the relief provided by the
government was poor.
To ease the pressure on land attempts were made to encourage the peasantry
to move from the overpopulated central and southern areas to Western Siberia.
However, the numbers to make this transition were too few to make a sufficient
impact. Approximately 850,000 emigrated to Western Siberia from 1895 to 1905.
The simple fact is that peasant population growth was too explosive
to be contained, even by a combination of industrialisation and internal
migration. In 1900 the net growth of population in European Russia was fourteen
times greater than the population loss through migration. From 1900 to 1914 rural
population growth averaged one million per year.
The consequence of population growth was an explosion of rural unrest in the
early years of the twentieth century. After a serious crop failure in 1901, 1902 saw
the Russian Empire suffer its worse outbreak of rural lawlessness since the 1860’s.
The unrest was the most serious in the provinces of Poltava, Kharkov and Saratov. It
took the form of arson attacks and looting on landowners’ houses and barns. The
government responded in two ways. First it used force to restore order.
Second it began a complete overhaul of its agricultural policies by setting up a
Commission on Agriculture in 1902. The most important member of this
Commission was the Governor of Saratov, Peter Stolypin.
Tasks
1. Use the figures provided to demonstrate the contrast between the agricultural
and industrial sectors of the Russian economy.
2. Give two reasons why land hunger was such a problem after 1861.
3. How did the peasantry feel the problem of land hunger should be resolved?
4. Why were the nobles struggling to make agriculture pay?
5. Provide two solutions introduced by the government prior to 1905 to aid
agriculture. Were they successful? Explain.
6. What happened between 1891-2 to make conditions in the countryside more
difficult?
7. When did the worst cases of rural disorder break out?
8. Why did Stolypin emerge as a figure of influence after 1902?