Why was Stolypin important, 1906-11

Question 1

Who was Stolypin?

Answer 1

Prime Minister of Russia between 1906-11

Question 2

What were his political views?

Answer 2

• opposed revolutionary groups e.g. Bolsheviks

- Supported Agrarian Reforms

Question 3

What are Agrarian Reforms?

Answer 3

Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures

Question 4

What was Stolypins theory of stopping peasants supporting Socialist Revolutionaries?

Answer 4

making peasants small landowners would prevent them supporting anti-tsar groups - this would furthermore help modernize Russian agriculture, make it more productive

Question 5

What reforms did Stolypin introduce to improve the lives of peasants?

Answer 5

• Nov 1906, law passed that made it easier for peasants to break from communes - no longer needed permission from members
• Nov 1906, Peasant Land Bank encouraged to give more loans to peasants
• 1910 all Mirs dissolved where no land distribution had taken place after emancipation of serfs in 1861

Question 6

What is a Mir?

Answer 6

Commune where peasants worked the land collectively. The elders of the Mir ran the commune. If land needed to be redistributed this would be done by the elders, peasants could not leave the Mir without elders permission

Question 7

Why did Stolypin provide incentives and government loans for peasants to move to Siberia?

Answer 7

• fewer Russian peasants needed to farm land - efficiency increased
• Peasants would have to move to cities to find employment - help meet the increasing demand for workers in the cities

Question 8

What were the impacts of Stolypin’s reforms?

Answer 8

• 1905-1915, 20%-50% of peasants owned land
• 45.9m-61.7m tonnes increase in agricultural production from 1906-1913
• Outbreak of WW1 prevented further improvements
• Little was done to improve living conditions for workers in the cities

Question 9

Did political unrest decrease under Stolypin?

Answer 9

no - Lena Goldfield massacre of 1912 in Siberia, Tsars police killed strikers - however, could be argued he was assassinated, not his fault

• Stolypin regularly used death penalty to maintain order
• June 1914 general strike declared in Moscow - strikes showed Stolypins policies failed to resolve economic and social tensions

Question 10

What were the successes of Stolypin’s reforms?

Answer 10

• 1906-7, 15% peasants accepted new opportunities offered by Stolypin
• 1906-14, 25% peasants left the Mirs
• some peasants who owned land became more loyal to the tsar
• 3rd, 4th dumas did not threaten the tsar
• Lenin saw Stolypin’s reforms as a threat to gaining support of peasants in any future revolution

Question 11

What were the failures of Stolypin’s reforms?

Answer 11

• majority of peasants who accepted Stolypin’s reforms were located in more prosperous areas of Russia e.g. South, Ukraine - did not utilise free space in Siberia
• land reforms had limited impact in the cities
• Stolypin weakened the Dumas