Agrarnye traditsii i novatsii v doreformennoi Rossii (tsentral'no-nechernozemnye gubernii) (review)

Sergei Kozlov's extensive monograph provides an overview of the development of Russian rational agriculture from the establishment of the Free Economic Society in 1765 to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. As Kozlov presents it, Russian rational agriculture was characterized by the adaptation of Western agrarian innovations to native Russian conditions. Kozlov focuses on the non-black earth region, and particularly on the provinces of Moscow, Iaroslavl', Kostroma, Vladimir, and Tver'. Using an impressive range of published and archival sources, Kozlov gives the reader a glimpse of a provincial intellectual and scientific life far more vibrant than previously imagined. He paints a picture of a world in which conservative and liberal, Westernizer and Slavophile, old and new were not separated by clear lines but instead formed a complex spectrum of thought and action. Kozlov's mastery of the vast source base and his sensitivity to ambiguity make this work a significant contribution to the study of pre-reform intellectual and agrarian history.

One of the most pressing motivations of the study is Kozlov's belief that the wholesale importation of foreign models--whether in pre-reform or post-Soviet Russia--is doomed to fail if it does not take into account Russian reality. Perhaps the best statement of his point of view is a quote from an 1847 article by Kh. P. Kozlov: "You, enlightened European sirs, look on us still in the old way.... We seem to you half-wild barbarians, Asiatics, and you, with your high civilizing achievements, make many wrong judgments, often exaggerating and reproaching us wrongly. It is time for you to understand that we are not Scythians.... It would be better for you to learn our language and read our newspapers, journals, and other publications than to allow your own hand to write about things of which you know nothing" (253). This cri de coeur is shared by today's Kozlov as well, who is interested in placing Russia within the European spectrum while retaining a sense of Russia's uniqueness. This mix of old and new is visible in his definition of innovation as "Western European agro-technical or technological innovations, as well as the improvements made on the basis of many centuries of national agrarian experience" (9).

The book covers a wide array of topics related to the introduction of rational agriculture into Russia. Divided into two main parts--the first of which deals with the structures of peasant agriculture, the second with the rationalizers' attempts to transform that agriculture--the book is insightful but often repetitive. The first chapter outlines the collective nature of peasant mentalité and defends paternalism as a viable source of social cohesion. The second chapter discusses the obstacles to rational agriculture, chief among which was the peasant commune, together with the lack of grazing land, livestock, and manure that could have fertilized the already-exhausted soil. In his third chapter, Kozlov outlines the many attempts, first by voluntary associations, later by the state, to institute a system of agricultural education for the peasants.

The fourth chapter outlines the ebb and flow of European influences on Russian agriculture; between 1765 and 1812, according to Kozlov, English agriculture was all the mode. After the Napoleonic Wars, in which Russian officers had seen German agriculture, particularly in Saxony, German agricultural theory and practice had a dominant influence. Following the Crimean War, English agricultural technology enjoyed a renaissance. The fifth chapter provides another periodization of Russian agrarian thought in general. Between 1765 and 1812, the Free Economic Society promoted innovation without change to the social hierarchy. Between 1812 and the early 1840s, the Moscow Agricultural Society, established in 1820, continued the emphasis on new agricultural technology while characterizing peasants as...