Land reform in Russia, 1906-1917 : peasant responses to Stolypin's project of rural transformation

Since the collapse of the USSR there has been a growing interest in the Stolypin Land Reform as a possible model for post-Communist agrarian development. Using recent theoretical and empirical advances in Anglo-American research, Dr Pallot examines how peasants throughout Russia received, interpreted, and acted upon the government's attempts to persuade them to quit the commune and set up independent farms. She shows how a majority of peasants failed to interpret the Reform in the way its authors had expected, with outcomes that varied both temporally and geographically. The result challenges existing texts which either concentrate on the policy side of the Reform or, if they engage with its results, use aggregated, official statistics which, this text argues, are unreliable indicators of the pre-revolutionary peasants reception of the Reform. Title Page Acknowledgements Contents Plates Figures Tables A Note on Archives Glossary of Terms INTRODUCTION Modernization from above Reform Theory and Practice The 'New History' of the Russian Peasantry Towards a Model of Peasant Interaction with the Stolypin Reform The Structure of this Book THE LAND REFORM AS ADMINISTRATIVE UTOPIA The Institutional and Legal Setting 'A Liking for Squares' Diverging Views at the Centre Exhibiting the Reform Post-1910 Reinterpretations of the Reform OPEN FIELDS, SCATTERED STRIPS, AND REPARTITIONS The Economic Utility of Fragmentation and Repartition in Russia's Land Communes Repartition in Russia's Land Communes Strip Widening and Land Consolidation in the Commune Differentiation in the Commune FREE RIDERS AND VILLAGE- WIDE CONSOLIDATIONS The Reform takes off Title Changes: Fixing Inequality in the Commune 'Pioneer Husbandmen' - Individual Separations from the Commune The 'Free-Rider Problem' and the Development of Community-wide Enclosures 'THE GOVERNMENT IS FOR US, Otrubniki' Land Settlement Officials in the Provinces Capturing Peasants for the Reform Over-Zealousness at the Local Level Intimidation and Force Land Settlement Commissions and the Quality of Enclosed Farms EVERYDAY FORMS OF RESISTANCE TO THE STOLYPIN REFORM Resistance in the Middle Ground Everyday Means of Resisting Individual Separations Peasant Collective Institutions and Resistance to Enclosure Revealing the Hidden Transcript Heroes and Villains PEASANT MODIFICATION AND ADAPTATION OF THE REFORM The Numerical Results The Impact of Title Changes in the Commune The Impact of Land Settlement Projects on Land-Holding Practices in the Commune Fictitious Khutora The Stability of the New Land-Holding Forms FARMING IN THE IMMEDIATE POST-ENCLOSURE YEARS The Costs of Consolidating Allotment Land The Pasture Question. Lessons from Pre-1906 Khutora Arable Husbandry on Stolypin's Farms Agricultural Aid to Enclosed Farmers Conclusion Index