Who was Stolypin and why did he act?
Pyotr Stolypin (1862–1911) was a governor, then Minister of the Interior and, from July 1906, Prime Minister (Chairman of the Council of Ministers). The revolution of 1905–06 had shaken the country, and peasants had burnt or seized many landlord estates.
Stolypin used two tools. First, force: field courts-martial punished rebels fast in 1906–07. Second, reform: he wanted to create a class of strong, property-owning peasants who would support order and make farming more productive. This idea is often called the "wager on the strong".
The land reform: ending the commune
In a commune the village shared the land and gave each family many thin strips that were redivided from time to time. Peasants could not leave freely, and nobody had a reason to improve the strips.
The decree of 9 November 1906 (later made a law in 1910) allowed each peasant to leave the commune and ask for his share as private property, as one compact plot: a khutor (farmstead outside the village) or an otrub (a plot while living in the village). The Peasants' Land Bank gave loans to buy land. Redemption payments were cancelled from 1907.
The result: by about 1915 roughly a quarter of peasant households had left the commune. In most villages the commune lived on.
Resettlement to the east
The state also helped peasants from crowded central areas to move to the thinly populated east: Siberia, the Steppe and Central Asia. It offered cheap or free travel (special railway wagons), loans and larger plots. In 1906–1914 about 3 million people moved. Many succeeded and Siberian farming and dairy trade grew. But some settlers found poor land or no help, and about one in five came back.
The 3 June 1907 law and the III and IV Dumas
The Manifesto of 17 October 1905 had created the State Duma. The I Duma (1906) and the II Duma (1907) criticised the government and were dissolved after only a few months. On 3 June 1907 the tsar dissolved the II Duma and changed the voting law without asking the Duma. This is called the Third of June system.
Under the new law the vote was unequal. Voters chose electors, who chose the deputies. One elector stood for about 230 landowners, but for about 60 000 peasants and 125 000 workers. Non-Russian regions got fewer seats.
- The III Duma (1907–1912) was the only one that served its full five years. It was led by the moderate Octobrists and backed Stolypin's land reform and army reforms.
- The IV Duma (1912–1917) was also dominated by the right and the centre, but it clashed more with the government, especially in the war. It lasted until the revolution of 1917.
Results and the end of the reforms
Gains: farming grew, harvests and grain exports rose, and a layer of richer peasant farmers appeared. Siberia filled with new farms.
Limits: most peasants stayed in communes, poor peasants often sold their plots and became landless, and the big estates of nobles were not touched. Many peasants still wanted that land. The reform needed peace and time.
On 1 September 1911 Stolypin was shot in Kyiv and died four days later. The tsar did not keep his course, and in 1914 the First World War began. The reforms stopped. Historians still debate whether they could have prevented revolution.
Key formulas and definitions
- Stolypin: Prime Minister July 1906 – shot 1 Sept 1911 (died 5 Sept)
- Decree of 9 Nov 1906: peasants may leave the commune and own a compact plot (khutor / otrub)
- Redemption payments cancelled from 1907; Peasants' Land Bank gives loans
- Resettlement 1906–14: about 3 million people moved east (about 1 in 5 returned)
- 3 June 1907: new voting law; III Duma 1907–12 (full term); IV Duma 1912–17
Worked examples
1. About 1 in 4 of 9 million communal households left the commune. About how many is that?
9 million ÷ 4 = about 2.25 million households (the real figure was a little above 2 million).
2. Why did the 1906 law help farming?
A peasant with one compact plot of his own could improve the soil, try new crops and borrow money, because he would keep the benefit. In a commune the strips changed hands.
3. Why was the III Duma able to finish its term but the first two could not?
The 1907 voting law gave landowners many more votes. The III Duma was moderate and mostly supported the government, so it was not dissolved.
4. Give two reasons why the reforms did not solve the land problem.
Most peasants stayed in communes, and the big noble estates were not touched, so land hunger remained. Also the reforms were stopped by Stolypin's death and the war.
5. Why is 3 June 1907 called a "coup" by some historians?
The tsar changed the voting law by his own decree. The October Manifesto had said that no law may pass without the Duma, so many saw this as breaking the promise.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Stolypin made peasants leave the commune by force. The law let them leave if they chose; many chose to stay.
- Saying the commune was destroyed. Only about a quarter of households left it by 1915.
- Mixing up the Dumas. I and II were dissolved quickly; III (1907–12) was the only one to finish its term; IV ran 1912–17.
- Thinking the resettlement was a failure only. Most settlers stayed and farming in Siberia grew, though about 1 in 5 returned.