Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin was appointed to the top managerial post in the Saratov province at the insistence of the Minister of the Interior V.K. Pleve. In parting with his protege, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich expressed the hope that an exemplary order would be brought in a difficult province.
On the threshold of the twentieth century
By 1900, the future patrimony occupied an area of 85 thousand km 2 with a population of about 2.5 million people. In addition to the Saratov district, the province included:
- Atkarsky, Balashovsky, Volsky;
- Kamyshinsky, Kuznetsk, Petrovsky;
- Serdobsky, Khvalynsky and Tsaritsynsky districts.
The most acute socio-economic and socio-political crisis that hit autocratic Russia did not pass over the city and village of the Saratov province. Petrovsky and Atkarsky districts, headed by liberal governments, were swept by peasant unrest.
The general discontent of the population, caused by a powerful decline in industrial production, grew. The closure of the metalworking, flour milling, cement plants, processing enterprises left several thousand workers without means of subsistence.
The radical representatives of the intelligentsia sharply intensified. The provincial Zemstvo assembly for a third consisted of the liberal opposition.
Despite the fact that from an economic point of view, the Saratov province always belonged to the category of prosperous and rich regions, the situation became critical.
New governor
Assessing the state of affairs, Stolypin proposed a number of measures to rectify the situation. Actively applying forceful methods of calming the peasantry, Pyotr Arkadievich took practical steps to increase the land allotments of the poorest layers by leasing the lands of a public fund.
The staffing of zemstvo employees was revised: 10 people were laid off, 38 were suspended. According to the new governor, officials of the Zemstvo of the Saratov province should be engaged exclusively in cultural and economic activities, and not propaganda of their political ideas.
Implementing the government policy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Stolypin saw his task in strengthening the existing regime and its main support - the nobility. Emperor Nicholas II, who traveled to Kuznetsk Uyezd in 1904, praised the governor.
1905 revolution
Failures in the Russo-Japanese War exacerbated the national crisis, giving it a large-scale character. Saratov province did not stand aside. Counties with new force embraced peasant uprisings. By the fall, 293 landowners' estates were plundered (6 times the national level), and the labor movement grew.
P. A. Stolypin saw a way out only in toughening extrajudicial killings and involving government troops. The governor has repeatedly personally led the military to restore order in the countryside. The first attempts at attempts on the life of an official (four episodes) also date back to this time. Stolypin, according to contemporaries, showed rare composure and courage. A case in point in Balashov district, when Pyotr Arkadevich himself came to the rescue with the Cossack doctors, came to the rescue with an escort of Cossacks, is indicative.
As preventive measures, arrests, detention and expulsion of unreliable persons without any formal charges were used. The actions of the governor were supported by the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the emperor himself. To restore order, Pyotr Arkadevich was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree.
Stolypin and Saratov province
Life has returned to normal. An active improvement of the city and the strengthening of the social sphere began. The Saratov province received a huge loan of 965 thousand rubles for paving city streets, developing a water supply network, creating a gas lighting system, and modernizing telephone communications.
The number of city hospitals, housing establishments, and educational institutions grew. The first students were accepted at the Mariinsky Gymnasium and Aviation College. Already as prime minister, Stolypin insisted on the creation of the Saratov Imperial University. The first in 1909 opened a medical faculty.
In 1906, P. A. Stolypin left Saratov, receiving the post of Minister of the Interior.
From grateful descendants
The memory of the legendary statesman is kept in the hearts of the Saratovites. In the regional center, the first monument to the great reformer, the leading university, the Volga Academy of Civil Service, was unveiled in his name.
The Saratov Museum of Local Lore has a permanent exhibition dedicated to P. A. Stolypin. The exposition (693 items) contains unique items, including the uniform and military overcoat of Pyotr Arkadievich, his personal signatures on archival documents, a series of photographs of the period of governorship and in senior government posts.
Saratov province played an important role in the life of Stolypin. It was here that the program of his innovative reforms was finally formed, the political and economic worldview was strengthened.