On the issue of stereotypes in the assessments of Stolypin agrarian reform

Abstract

The article, based on speeches, circulars and personal correspondence of P. A. Stolypin, as well as other materials, reveals the goals, content and methods of large – scale agrarian reforms of the beginning of the 20th century, which went down in history as the Stolypin agrarian reform. Despite more than a century of study and a huge historiography, P. A. Stolypin’s agrarian transformations continue to be the subject of acute scientific and political discussions. At the same time, P. A. Stolypin’s agrarian transformations have always been and still remain one of the most politicized topics in Russian history, and this has fully affected their study. This study shows the inconsistency of a number of stereotypical ideas that prevent an unbiased approach in evaluating the reform.

Keywords

• stolypin agrarian reform
• agrarian legislation
• agriculture
• peasantry
• rural community
• land use
• land management