In short, the Stolypin reform in the agrarian sector was a complex of certain measures that were carried out with the aim of improving the situation of peasants in the country, as well as reviving the economic life of the state.
On the premises of reforms (briefly)
Stolypin’s reform implied a comprehensive modernization of public ,
political and economic life of the state. The fact is that already at the end of the nineteenth and first decade of the twentieth century, the lag of the Russian empire from the developed states of Europe was clearly revealed. And although the royal court continued to shine with magnificent balls and revealing luxury, a painful crisis was brewing in the country. Commodity-economic relations developed poorly, the formation of the bourgeoisie and the working class hopelessly lagged behind the Western
world in their pace
, agriculture, like centuries ago, relied on primitive manual labor, which contrasted sharply with the results of the
industrial revolution in England, France and even Germany. Moreover, the aristocracy in Russia, for the most part, was in no hurry to transfer the economy of their farms into a capitalist rut, continuing to squeeze juice from the peasants. What can we say about the latter. Serfdom was abolished half a century ago, but its relic, the rural community, was never liquidated. An empire weakening from the inside ran the risk of repeating the sad path of Iran or Turkey, which to
this time turned into semi-dependent raw materials appendages of Europe.
The agrarian reform of Stolypin (we will talk about it briefly below), as well as transformations in other sectors of the state economy, were clearly brewing. The head of government himself came to power in the turbulent 1906, when the throne for the first time staggered under Nikolai Romanov.
Stolypin reforms: summary
Transformations of Peter Arkadievich concerned several state spheres at once. In particular, the Zemstvo reform implied a wider distribution of Zemstvo self-government bodies throughout the country, which were supposed to replace the reactionary nobility and gentry (in Ukraine) authorities. Industrial reform introduced new rules in labor relations, which was extremely necessary in the context of the emerging classes of capitalist industrialists and workers. However, the most important in the activities of the tsarist government were transformations in agriculture.
On the goals and implementation of agrarian reform (briefly)
Stolypin's reform in agriculture was aimed at creating a strong class of independent peasant farms (following the example of American farmers), as well as at exploiting the vast expanses of Siberia. For the first purpose, with the support of the state, a credit bank issued loans to everyone who wanted to leave the community for the peasants to create their own economy. To the credit of the government, it is worth noting that the percentage was very low and strong. However, if this loan is not repaid, the purchased land was selected and put up for sale again. Thus
economic activity was additionally stimulated. In Siberia, the land was allocated by the government and completely free of charge to everyone, according to the second reform program. The Cabinet of Ministers in every way stimulated the movement of peasants to the east of the country and the development of infrastructure there. For these purposes, the so-called "Stolypin cars" were created.
On the results of agrarian reform (briefly)
Reform Stolypin actually began to give positive results. However, it was slowed down by the death of Peter Arkadevich in 1911, and then completely interrupted by the First World War. At the same time, slightly more than 10% of the peasant class left the communities, having launched independent economic activity oriented to the market. In modern historiography, the activities of Peter Stolypin are generally evaluated positively.