Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich (1862 - 1911) was the governor of the Saratov province during the period of peasant unrest. Within 3 years, he became head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since July 1906, Stolypin successfully combined this position with the position of head of the Council of Ministers. By that time, Stolypin's activities had earned him fame in all levels of society. Surprisingly, the attempt on his life by the Socialist-Revolutionaries - Mensheviks (August 12, 1906) only increased the popularity of this man. However, most of his bills were not accepted by the tsarist government.
Stolypin’s idea, expressed by him at the height of the revolutionary movement, that the country needed calm first and then reform, formed the basis of the government’s program. One of the most serious problems of that time was the agrarian question. It was he who largely provoked the revolutionary events of 1905–1907.
Stolypin’s agrarian reform, begun in 1906, provided for:
- elimination of many class and legal restrictions that hindered development economic activity peasantry;
- the gradual introduction of private ownership of land plots by peasants;
- increasing the efficiency of peasant labor;
- the reform encouraged the purchase of land by peasants, including landowners' lands;
- The reform also included support for the activities of peasant partnerships and cooperative farms.
These measures soon yielded noticeable results. The result of P. A. Stolypin’s agrarian reform was an increase in the area of cultivated land and an increase in grain exports. Also, this reform led to the final departure from feudal remnants and an increase in productive forces in the villages. According to statistical data, up to 35% of peasants left the communities, 10% of them organized farmsteads. The differentiation of types of agricultural production by region has increased.
Stolypin's land reform and the problem of overpopulation in the central regions of Russia were taken into account. It was supposed to solve the problem of lack of land by relocating some of the peasants to other areas, for example, beyond the Urals. The government allocated considerable sums for settling the settlers, laying roads, and providing medical care. However, the results of this reform, which was certainly progressive for Russia at that time, were insufficient to radically change the situation. The fact is that the growth of agricultural production occurred not due to the intensification of production, but due to an increase in the intensity of peasant farming. manual labor. The Stolypin reform briefly described above could not completely solve the problem of hunger and agrarian overpopulation in the central regions of the country. It is worth noting that modern experts, although they put forward many different assessments of the Stolypin agrarian reform, generally give it a positive assessment.
Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, April 2 (14), 1862 – September 5 (18), 1911, was the largest Russian reformer, head of government in 1906-1911. According to A.I. Solzhenitsyn, he is the greatest figure Russian history XX century.
Stolypin's opinion on the peasant community
Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin came from a noble family noble family. He graduated from St. Petersburg University and began public service in the Department of Agriculture. In 1902, Stolypin became the youngest governor of Russia (Grodno). Since February 1903, he was the governor of Saratov and after the outbreak of bloody revolutionary unrest in 1905, he bravely fought against anarchy, surviving several assassination attempts.
The tsar, who did not understand the scale of Stolypin’s personality and reforms, did not change after the shots on September 1 holiday program celebrations, did not meet with the wounded man in the hospital in his last days and did not stay for his funeral, having gone on vacation to Crimea. The court circle rejoiced that the inconvenient figure who had disturbed everyone with his energy and talents had left the stage. The official pygmies did not realize that along with Stolypin the most reliable support of the Russian state and throne had disappeared. According to the figurative expression of A.I. Solzhenitsyn (The Red Wheel, Chapter 65), Bogrov’s bullets became the first from Ekaterinburg(we are talking about execution of the royal family in Yekaterinburg).
Revolution 1905 - 1907
Reasons, objectives, driving forces. The causes of the revolution were rooted in the economic and socio-political system of Russia. The unresolved agrarian-peasant question, the preservation of landownership and peasant land shortages, high degree exploitation of the working people of all nations, the autocratic system, complete political lack of rights and lack of democratic freedoms, police and bureaucratic arbitrariness and accumulated social protest - all this could not but give rise to a revolutionary explosion. The catalyst that accelerated the emergence of the revolution was the deterioration of the financial situation of workers due to the economic crisis of 1900-1903. and a shameful defeat for tsarism in Russian-Japanese war 1904-1905
The objectives of the revolution are the overthrow of the autocracy, the convening of the Constituent Assembly to establish a democratic system, the elimination of class inequality; introduction of freedom of speech, assembly, parties and associations; the destruction of landownership and the distribution of land to peasants; reducing the working day to 8 hours, recognizing the right of workers to strike and creating trade unions; achieving equality of rights for the peoples of Russia. Wide sections of the population were interested in the implementation of these tasks.
Participants in the revolution were: workers and peasants, soldiers and sailors, most of the middle and petty bourgeoisie, intelligentsia and office workers. Therefore, in terms of the goals and composition of the participants, it was nationwide and had a bourgeois-democratic character.
Stages of the revolution. The revolution lasted 2.5 years (from January 9, 1905 to June 3, 1907). It went through several stages in its development. The prologue to the revolution was the events in St. Petersburg - the general strike and Bloody Sunday. On January 9, workers who went to the Tsar with a petition were shot. It was compiled by participants in the “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg” under the leadership of G. A. Gapon. The petition contained a request from workers to improve their financial situation and political demands - the convening of a Constituent Assembly on the basis of universal, equal and secret suffrage, the introduction of democratic freedoms. This was the reason for the execution, as a result of which more than 1,200 people were killed and about 5 thousand were wounded. In response, the workers took up arms and began building barricades.
First stage. From January 9 to the end of September 1905 - the beginning and development of the revolution along an ascending line, its expansion in depth and breadth. More and more masses of the population were drawn into it. It gradually covered all regions of Russia. Main events: January-February strikes and protest demonstrations in response to Bloody Sunday under the slogan “Down with autocracy!”; spring-summer demonstrations of workers in Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Lodz, Riga and Baku (more than 800 thousand); the creation in Ivanovo-Voznesensk of a new body of workers' power - the Council of Authorized Deputies; uprising of sailors on the battleship "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky"; mass movement of peasants and agricultural workers in 1/5 of the districts of Central Russia, Georgia and Latvia; the creation of the Peasant Union, which made political demands. During this period, part of the bourgeoisie financially and morally supported popular uprisings. Under the pressure of the revolution, the government made its first concession and promised to convene the State Duma. (It was named Bulyginskaya after the Minister of Internal Affairs.) An attempt to create a legislative advisory body with significantly limited voting rights of the population in the context of the development of the revolution.
Second stage. October - December 1905 - the highest rise of the revolution. Main events: the general All-Russian October political strike (more than 2 million participants) and as a result the publication of the Manifesto on October 17 “On the improvement public order", in which the Tsar promised to introduce some political freedoms and convene a legislative State Duma on the basis of a new electoral law; peasant riots that led to the abolition of redemption payments; performances in the army and navy (uprising in Sevastopol under the leadership of Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt); December strikes and uprisings in Moscow, Kharkov, Chita, Krasnoyarsk and other cities. The government suppressed all armed uprisings. At the height of the uprising in Moscow, which caused a special political resonance in the country, on December 11, 1905, a decree “On changing the regulations on elections to the State Duma” was published and preparations for elections were announced. This act allowed the government to reduce the intensity of revolutionary passions. The bourgeois-liberal strata, frightened by the scale of the movement, recoiled from the revolution. They welcomed the publication of the Manifesto and the new electoral law, believing that this meant the weakening of autocracy and the beginning of parliamentarism in Russia. Taking advantage of the promised freedoms, they began to create their own political parties.
In October 1905, on the basis of the Liberation Union and the Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists, the Constitutional Democratic Party was formed (cadets). Its members expressed the interests of the average urban bourgeoisie and intelligentsia. Their leader was the historian P. N. Milyukov. The program included the demand for the establishment of a parliamentary democratic system in the form of a constitutional monarchy, universal suffrage, and the introduction of broad political freedoms, an 8-hour working day, the right to strike and trade unions. The Cadets spoke out for the preservation of a united and indivisible Russia with the granting of autonomy to Poland and Finland. The cadet program implied modernization political system Russia according to the Western European model. The Cadets became a party in opposition to the tsarist government.
In November 1905 it was created "Union October 17". The Octobrists expressed the interests of large industrialists, the financial bourgeoisie, liberal landowners and wealthy intelligentsia. The leader of the party was businessman A.I. Guchkov. The Octobrist program provided for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy with a strong executive power of the Tsar and a legislative Duma, the preservation of a united and indivisible Russia (with the granting of autonomy to Finland). They were willing to cooperate with the government, although they recognized the need for some reforms. They proposed solving the agrarian question without affecting landownership (dissolving the community, returning the plots to the peasants, and reducing land hunger in the center of Russia by relocating peasants to the outskirts).
Conservative-monarchist circles organized in November 1905 "Union of the Russian People" and in 1908 "Union of Michael the Archangel"(Black Hundreds). Their leaders were Dr. A. I. Dubrovin, large landowners N. E. Markov and V. M. Purishkevich. They fought against any revolutionary and democratic protests, insisted on strengthening the autocracy, the integrity and indivisibility of Russia, preserving the dominant position of the Russians and strengthening their positions Orthodox Church. Third stage. From January 1906 to June 3, 1907 - the sweetness and retreat of the revolution. Main events: “rearguard battles of the proletariat”, which had an offensive, political nature (1.1 million workers took part in strikes in 1906, 740 thousand in 1907); a new scope of the peasant movement (half of the landowners' estates in the center of Russia burned); sailors' uprisings (Kronstadt and Svea-borg); national liberation movement (Poland, Finland, Baltic states, Ukraine).
Gradually the wave of popular protests weakened. Center of gravity at social movement moved to polling stations and the State Duma. Elections to it were not universal (farmers, women, soldiers, sailors, students and workers employed in small enterprises did not participate in them). Each class had its own standards of representation: the vote of 1 landowner was equal to 3 votes of the bourgeoisie, 15 votes of peasants and 45 votes of workers. The outcome of the election was determined by the ratio of the number of electors. The government still counted on the monarchical commitment and Duma illusions of the peasants, so a relatively high standard of representation was established for them. The elections were not direct: for peasants - four degrees, for workers - three degrees, for nobles and the bourgeoisie - two degrees. An age limit (25 years) and a high property qualification for city residents was introduced to ensure the advantage of the big bourgeoisie in the elections. I State Duma (April - June 1906). Among its Deputies were 34% Cadets, 14% Octobrists, 23% Trudoviks (a faction close to the Socialist Revolutionaries and expressing the interests of the peasantry). The Social Democrats were represented by the Mensheviks (about 4% of the seats). The Black Hundreds did not enter the Duma. The Bolsheviks boycotted the elections. Contemporaries called the First State Duma “the Duma of people’s hopes for a peaceful path.” However, her legislative rights were cut even before convocation. In February 1906, the advisory State Council was transformed into an upper legislative chamber. The new “Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire, published in April before the opening of the Duma, preserved the formula of the supreme autocratic power of the emperor and reserved for the tsar the right to issue decrees without her approval, which contradicted the promises of the Manifesto of October 17. Nevertheless, some limitation of autocracy was achieved, since the State Duma received the right of legislative initiative; new laws could not be adopted without its participation. The Duma had the right to send requests to the government, express no confidence in it, and approved the state budget. The Duma proposed a program for the democratization of Russia. It provided for: the introduction of ministerial responsibility to the Duma; guarantee of all civil liberties; establishment of universal free education; carrying out agrarian reform; meeting the demands of national minorities; cancellation death penalty and complete political amnesty. The government did not accept this program, which intensified its confrontation with the Duma. The main issue in the Duma was the agrarian question. The bottom line of the bill was discussed: the Cadets and the Trudoviks. Both of them stood for the creation of a “state land fund” from state, monastic, appanage and part of landowners’ lands. However, the cadets recommended not to touch the profitable landowners' estates. They proposed to buy back the seized part of the landowners’ land from the owners “at a fair valuation” at the expense of the state. The Trudoviks’ project provided for the alienation of all privately owned lands free of charge, leaving their owners with only a “labor standard.” During the discussion, some of the Trudoviks put forward an even more radical project - the complete abolition of private ownership of land, the declaration natural resources and mineral resources are a national property. The government, supported by all conservative forces in the country, rejected all projects. 72 days after the opening of the Duma, the Tsar dissolved it, saying that it did not calm the people, but inflamed passions. Repressions were intensified: military courts and punitive detachments operated.
In April 1906, P. A. Stolypin was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, who became Chairman of the Council of Ministers in July of the same year (created in October 1905). P. A. Stolypin (1862-1911) - from a family of large landowners, quickly made a successful career in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was the governor of a number of provinces. He received the personal gratitude of the tsar for the suppression of peasant unrest in the Saratov province in 1905. Possessing a broad political outlook and a decisive character, he became the central political figure in Russia at the final stage of the revolution and in subsequent years. He took an active part in the development and implementation of agrarian reform. Home political idea P. A. Stolypin was that reforms can be successfully implemented only if there is a strong state power. Therefore, his policy of reforming Russia was combined with an intensification of the fight against revolutionary movement, police repression and punitive actions. In September 1911 he died as a result of a terrorist attack. II State Duma (February - June 1907). During the elections of the new Duma, the right of workers and peasants to participate in them was curtailed. Propaganda of radical parties was prohibited, their rallies were dispersed. The Tsar wanted to get an obedient Duma, but he miscalculated. The Second State Duma turned out to be even more left-wing than the first. The Cadet Center “melted” (19% of places). The right flank strengthened - 10% of the Black Hundreds, 15% of the Octobrists and bourgeois-nationalist deputies entered the Duma. Trudoviki, Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats formed a left bloc with 222 seats (43%). As before, the agrarian question was central. The Black Hundreds demanded that the landowners' property be preserved intact, and that allotment peasant lands be withdrawn from the community and divided into cuts among the peasants. This project coincided with the government's agrarian reform program. The cadets abandoned the idea of creating a state fund. They proposed to buy part of the land from the landowners and transfer it to the peasants, dividing the costs equally between them and the state. The Trudoviks again put forward their project for the gratuitous alienation of all privately owned lands and their distribution according to the “labor norm”. Social Democrats demanded the complete confiscation of landowners' land and the creation of local committees to distribute it among the peasants. Projects for the forced alienation of landowners' land frightened the government. The decision was made to disperse the Duma. It lasted 102 days. The pretext for dissolution was the accusation of deputies of the Social Democratic faction of preparing a coup d'etat. In fact, the coup was carried out by the government. On June 3, 1907, simultaneously with the Manifesto on the dissolution of the Second State Duma, a new electoral law was published. This act was a direct violation of Article 86 of the “Basic Laws of the Russian Empire”, according to which no new law could not be adopted without the approval of the State Council and the State Duma. June 3 is considered the last day of the revolution of 1905-1907.
The meaning of revolution. Main result was that the supreme power was forced to change the socio-political system of Russia. It has developed new government agencies, indicating the beginning of the development of parliamentarism. Some limitation of autocracy was achieved, although the tsar still had the opportunity to make legislative decisions and the fullness of executive branch. The socio-political situation of Russian citizens has changed; Democratic freedoms were introduced, censorship was abolished, and the organization of trade unions and legal political parties was allowed. The bourgeoisie received a wide opportunity to participate in political life countries. The financial situation of workers has improved. In a number of industries there has been an increase wages and the working day was reduced to 9-10 hours. The peasants achieved the abolition of redemption payments. The freedom of movement of peasants was expanded and the power of zemstvo chiefs was limited. Agrarian reform began, destroying the community and strengthening the rights of peasants as landowners, which contributed to further capitalist evolution agriculture. The end of the revolution led to the establishment of temporary internal political stabilization
Stolypin's reforms (briefly)
Stolypin carried out his reforms from 1906, when he was appointed prime minister, until his death on September 5, caused by assassins' bullets.
Briefly speaking, the main goal of Stolypin's agrarian reform was to create a wide stratum of rich peasants. Unlike the 1861 reform, the emphasis was on the individual owner rather than the community. The previous communal form fettered the initiative of the hard-working peasants, but now, freed from the community and not looking back at the “poor and drunk,” they could dramatically increase the efficiency of their farming. The law of June 14, 1910 stated that from now on, “every householder who owns an allotment of land on a communal basis may at any time demand that the part due to him from the said land be strengthened as his personal property.” Stolypin believed that the wealthy peasantry would become the real support of the autocracy. An important part of the Stolypin agrarian reform was the activity credit bank. This institution sold land to peasants on credit, either state-owned or purchased from landowners. Moreover interest rate on loans for independent peasants was twice as low as for communities. Through a credit bank, peasants acquired in 1905-1914. about 9 and a half million hectares of land. However, measures against defaulters were harsh: the land was taken away from them and put back on sale. Thus, the reforms not only made it possible to acquire land, but also encouraged people to actively work on it. Another important part of Stolypin's reform was the resettlement of peasants to free lands. A bill prepared by the government provided for the transfer of state lands in Siberia to private hands without redemption. However, there were also difficulties: there were not enough funds or surveyors to carry out land survey work. But despite this, resettlement to Siberia, as well as Far East, Central Asia And North Caucasus picked up pace. The move was free, and specially equipped “Stolypin” cars made it possible to transport railway livestock The state tried to improve life in the resettlement areas: schools, medical centers, etc. were built.
Zemstvo
Being a supporter of zemstvo administration, Stolypin extended zemstvo institutions to some provinces where they had not existed before. It was not always politically simple. For example, the implementation of zemstvo reform in the western provinces, historically dependent on the gentry, was approved by the Duma, which supported the improvement of the situation of the Belarusian and Russian population, which constituted the majority in these territories, but was met with sharp rebuff in the State Council, which supported the gentry.
Industry reform
The main stage in resolving the labor issue during the years of Stolypin's premiership was the work of the Special Meeting in 1906 and 1907, which prepared ten bills that affected the main aspects of labor in industrial enterprises. These were questions about rules for hiring workers, insurance for accidents and illnesses, working hours, etc. Unfortunately, the positions of industrialists and workers (as well as those who incited the latter to disobedience and rebellion) were too far from each other and the compromises found did not suit either one or the other (which was readily used by all kinds of revolutionaries).
National question
Stolypin perfectly understood the importance of this issue in such a multinational country like Russia. He was a supporter of unification, not disunity, of the peoples of the country. He proposed creating a special ministry of nationalities that would study the characteristics of each nation: history, traditions, culture, social life, religion, etc. - so that they flow into our great power with the greatest mutual benefit. Stolypin believed that all peoples should have equal rights and responsibilities and be loyal to Russia. Also, the task of the new ministry was to counter the internal and external enemies of the country who sought to sow ethnic and religious discord.
When P. A. Stolypin came to power, life in the state changed significantly. New leader tried to boost the country's economy and promote its further development as a whole, so he immediately issued a series of reforms, one of which was Agrarian. The main goals of this reform were:
transfer of allotment lands into the ownership of peasants;
the gradual abolition of the rural community as a collective owner of land;
widespread lending to peasants;
purchasing landowners' lands for resale to peasants on preferential terms;
land management, which allows optimizing peasant farming by eliminating striping.
As we see, the reform pursued both long-term and short-term goals.
Short-term: resolution of the “agrarian question” as a source of mass discontent (primarily the cessation of agrarian unrest). Long-term: sustainable prosperity and development of agriculture and the peasantry, integration of the peasantry into the market economy.
Stolypin's agrarian reform briefly states that the document is aimed at improving peasant allotment land use and has little impact on private land ownership. It was carried out in 47 provinces of European Russia; Cossack land ownership and Bashkir land ownership were not affected. The idea of agrarian reform arose as a result of the revolution of 1905-1907, when agrarian unrest intensified, and the activities of the first three State Dumas. Agrarian unrest reached a particular scale in 1905, and the government barely had time to suppress them. Stolypin at this time was the governor of the Saratov province, where the unrest was especially strong due to crop failure. In April 1906, P. A. Stolypin was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs. The government project on the forced alienation of part of the landowners' lands was not adopted, the Duma was dissolved, and Stolypin was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers. Due to the fact that the situation with the agrarian issue remained uncertain, Stolypin decided to adopt all the necessary legislation without waiting for the convening of the Second Duma. On August 27, a decree was issued on the sale of state lands to peasants. On October 14 and 15, decrees were issued expanding the activities of the Peasant Land Bank and facilitating the conditions for the purchase of land by peasants on credit.
On November 9, 1906, the main legislative act of the reform was issued - the decree “On supplementing some provisions of the current law relating to peasant land ownership and land use,” proclaiming the right of peasants to secure ownership of their allotment lands.
Thanks to Stolypin's bold step, the reform became irreversible. The Second Duma expressed an even more negative attitude towards any government initiatives. It was disbanded after 102 days. There was no compromise between the Duma and the government.
The Third Duma, without rejecting the government course, adopted all government bills for an extremely long time. As a result, since 1907 the government has abandoned active legislative activity in agricultural policy and moves on to expanding the activities of government agencies, increasing the volume of distributed loans and subsidies. Since 1907, peasants' applications for land ownership have been satisfied with great delays (there is not enough staff for land management commissions). Therefore, the government's main efforts were aimed at training personnel (primarily land surveyors). But they are also increasing cash, allocated for reform, in the form of funding the Peasant Land Bank, subsidizing agronomic assistance measures, and direct benefits to peasants.
Since 1910, the government policy has changed somewhat - more attention begins to be paid to supporting the cooperative movement.
On September 5, 1911, P. A. Stolypin was killed, and Finance Minister V. N. Kokovtsov became prime minister. Kokovtsov, who showed less initiative than Stolypin, followed the planned course without introducing anything new into the agrarian reform. The volume of land management work to clear up land, the amount of land assigned to peasant ownership, the amount of land sold to peasants through the Peasant Bank, and the volume of loans to peasants grew steadily until the outbreak of the First World War.
During 1906-1911 decrees were issued, as a result of which peasants had the opportunity:
take ownership of a plot of land;
freely leave the community and choose another place of residence;
move to the Urals to get land (about 15 hectares) and money from the state to boost the economy;
the settlers received tax benefits, were exempted from military service.
This is a rhetorical question when assessing the activities of reformers; it does not have a clear answer. Each generation will give its own answer to it.
Stolypin stopped the revolution and began deep reforms. At the same time, he fell victim to an assassination attempt, was unable to complete his reforms and did not achieve his main goal: to create a great Russia in 20 peaceful years.
During his reign the following changes occurred:
1. The cooperative movement developed.
2. The number of wealthy peasants has increased.
3. In terms of gross grain harvest, Russia was in first place in the world.
4. The number of livestock has increased 2.5 times.
5. About 2.5 million people moved to new lands.
Every schoolchild, even those who are not interested in history, has heard about Stolypin reforms. The agricultural sector was especially sensational, but besides it there were others that you need to know about for successful passing the Unified State Exam.
A little biography
First, let's figure out who Stolypin is and why he ended up on the pages of Russian history. Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin - reformer and statesman of Tsarist Russia. He took the post of Prime Minister of Internal Affairs of the Empire on July 8, 1906. He implemented a chain of bills that were called the “Stolypin agrarian reform.”
Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin
Thanks to them, the peasants received land for private ownership, which had not previously been even considered by the government. Historians and contemporaries of Stolypin describe him as a fearless person, an excellent orator (“You won’t be intimidated!”, “First calm, then reforms” - the minister’s phrases that became catchphrases). There were 11 attempts on Pyotr Arkadyevich’s life throughout his life (most of them during his career as prime minister).
A high-ranking official was killed on September 1 (14) in Kyiv by Dmitry Bagrov, shot twice: one bullet hit the arm, the second - the stomach and liver. He was buried in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Reasons for reforms
Before delving into the essence of the reforms, it is worth briefly considering their reasons. The first Russian revolution (1905-1907) became the impetus for the people and government to become enlightened about the problems of the state. The main thing: economic stagnation prevented the Russian Empire from becoming a capitalist state.
The Russians, realizing this, blamed tsarism for everything, which is why the ideas of anarchism appeared among the broad masses. Alas, the majority in power were large landowners; their views on the development of the country differed sharply from those of the people. Of course, such a situation in the state was too tense and required immediate decisive action, which is what P. Stolypin took up.
Stolypin's reforms
The Prime Minister had two important reforms:
Litigation;
Agrarian.
The first reform was enshrined in the “Regulations of the Council of Ministers on Military Courts” of 1906, which stated that any violation of the law could be considered in an accelerated manner. We are talking about constant robberies, terrorist acts and banditry on ships. The fact is that at the beginning of the twentieth century Russia was experiencing hard times. Much of the population was poor, so breaking laws in search of food or money became common.
After the reform, any suspect began to be tried for closed doors, without the participation of a prosecutor, a witness, or even a lawyer. Of course, it was impossible to leave the trial innocent. Within 24 hours, the sentence (most often death) was carried into effect. Thus, 683 out of 1102 citizens were deprived of their lives. The results were not long in coming.
On the one hand, people, fearing death, stopped committing robberies and terror in the navy. In general, the task was completed, but ill-wishers raised riots against Stolypin and their consequences affected even the official. The reformer found himself in a difficult situation: in the circles of power, except for Nicholas II, he had no supporters and the people hated him too.
The agrarian reform of November 9, 1906 made people talk about Pyotr Stolypin. Its goal was to improve agricultural activity, to eliminate landownership for further development capitalism. What did he do? The official allocated land plots to the peasants and minimum set democratic rights.
The trick was that the lands were issued under a state pledge for 55.5 years. Of course, a person who does not have money for bread will not be able to repay the loan. Then the minister decided to populate the “empty” corners of Russia with the working class.
The bills provided for the free distribution of land and their implementation in the North Caucasus, the Urals, and Siberia. Stolypin’s actions did not entirely justify themselves, since out of a million displaced people, 800 thousand returned.
Stolypin carriages
On May 29, 1911, a decree was issued to expand the rights of commissions on issues of cuts (a plot of land that peasants received) to move from communities to farms or small private landholdings. Unfortunately, only 2.3% of new landowners founded farmsteads; for the rest it was beyond their means.
Nevertheless, today reforms have been recognized as the right path to the development of the country. Their results even then led to an increase in production in the agricultural sector and the appearance of the first signs of capitalist trade relations. The reform was a step in the evolution of the country's development and also eradicated feudalism. Moreover, already in 1909 Russia took first place in grain production.
Results
Stolypin devoted all the years of his life to improving the Russian economy. Thus, the achievements of his works were great, although they were not appreciated by the reformer’s contemporaries:
In 1916, among peasants, 26% had their own land, and 3.1% formed farms;
In sparsely populated parts of the state, the population increased by 2.8 times more people, which should have led to the acceleration of industrialization of these regions. Of course, this approach was progressive;
Peasants were interested in working the cuts, which increased the level of exports and domestic trade;
As the demand for agricultural machinery increased, its sales increased and the treasury was replenished.
All the results of the reforms were a step towards capitalism, which was so demanded Russian Empire. Unfortunately, their significance and achievements sank into the abyss, the reason was the state into which the state was drawn!