Land Reform

What were Stolypin's land reforms?

Prime Minister Stolypin introduced a series of land reforms which tried to change the way the peasants farmed.

When did Stolypin's land reforms happen?

Stolypin introduced his agrarian (farming) reforms between 1906 and 1911.

Why were Stolypin's land reforms introduced?

There were 4 main reasons Stolypin brought in land reforms:

• ❖ To win the support of the peasants and prevent revolution by reducing support for the left.
• ❖ To modernise farming in Russia, which was incredibly backward.
• ❖ To encourage peasants to leave their communes and farm independently.
• ❖ To increase production and prosperity, which would in turn help to prevent revolution and free up labour for industrialisation. He referred to this policy as a 'wager on the strong'.

What did Stolypin's land reforms change?

There were 3 main changes as a result of the land reforms:

• ❖ A Peasants' Land Bank was introduced to replace redemption payments, which were loans from the state. This gave loans to peasants to buy land.
• ❖ From November 1906, peasants could now leave their communes to farm their own land independently. Communes were peasant communities that owned all the land.
• ❖ There were financial incentives to move to Siberia where there was plenty of land.

What were the results of Stolypin's land reforms?

There were 3 main consequences of the land reforms:

• ❖ By 1917, about 15% of peasants had begun farming independently.
• ❖ About 5 million peasants moved to Siberia between 1900 and 1913. However, about 750,000 came back again.
• ❖ Grain production increased by about 16 tonnes from 1906 to 1913.

What were the problems of Stolypin's land reforms?

There were 3 key issues with the land reforms:

• ❖ Stolypin said it might take 20 years for them to be successful, but he was assassinated after only 5 years.
• ❖ Land reform was not simple. Some peasants may have left the mir (commune) but did not change the way in which they farmed. They still had strips of land scattered across the village and did not use modern methods.
• ❖ By 1917, peasant unrest increased again.