Agricultural growth and change 1894-1914 Flashcards
Why was agricultural reform necessary under the opinion of Stolypin?
Prosperous peasantry would be a loyal and supportive of the autocracy.
Prosperous peasantry would most likely be achieved by making them individual, private farmers who had full civil rights with the freedom to experiment with modern techniques.
Reducing the powers of the mir was essential - the mir was backwards and prevented growth
Dismantling mir would help solve land hunger without having to expropriate land from the nobility.
What were Stolypin’s aims?
To put an end to communal farming
To consolidate each peasant’s land into a single plot
To break the domination of the mir, which was conservative and an obstacle to progress.
To increase agricultural output.
What was the reform in 1903?
The mir responsible for collecting and paying taxes of behalf of all villages were abolished.
What was the reform in 1906?
Peasants granted greater rights within their local administration.
What was the reform on the 9th November 1909 under Imperial Decree?
Peasants given the right to leave the mir and set up consolidated farms, if 2/3rds of commune agreed
Collective ownership of land by family abolished, normally went to the eldest son.
This individual was then allowed to withdraw their land from the mir to create a consolidated farm.
When were redemption payments meant to be abolished?
January 1907, had been previously promised under the revolution of 1905.
What reform was there in June 1910?
Any mir which had not been repartitioned its land since emancipation was immediately dissolved.
How was the progress of infiltrating Stolypin’s reforms?
Very complex and slow, by May 1913 only 1.3 million of 5 million applicants to consolidate had been processed.
How did the development of larger farms help?
Lead to a wider use of machinery and fertilizers - investment in farm machinery rose 9% per year between 1891 and 1913.
Evidence the success of the reforms regarding higher production?
A run of good harvests helped higher production - gain production was expanding at 2.1 per year.
Were did peasants migrate to after the reforms were enacted?
Western Siberia, between 1905-15, 3.5 million peasants migrates to Siberia.
Siberia became one of Russia’s main agricultural areas especially in dairy areas, butter but also cereals.
What were the limitations of Stolypin’s agricultural policies? (1917 revolution)
Many of these Stolypin separators returned to the mir following the 1917 revolution.
What were the limitations of Stolypin’s agricultural policies? (Consolidated farms)
Out of the 1.3 million consolidated farms, only 32,000 were Khutor (Stolypin preferred totally separate from the mir)
What were the limitations of Stolypin’s agricultural policies? (private ownership)
Only about 14% of communal allotment land passed into private ownership by May 1915
What were the limitations of Stolypin’s agricultural policies? (strip farming)
By 1914 only 10% of peasant land had moved beyond traditional strip farming.
