The History of Liberalism in Russia

Chapter 14

164 Even before the outbreak of the 1905 revolution, the government had taken several measures that have to be seen as making some progress in a liberal direction. At the end of 1902, Witte had raised the issue of the abolition of the krugovaia poruka, the system of mutual guarantees, as well as reductions in direct taxes and redemption payments that weighed heavily on the peasants. In an understanding with the minister of the interior, Pleve, Witte laid draft legislation regarding these matters before the State Council.1 It is an open question as to whether Pleve himself was convinced of the necessity of ending this demoralizing arrangement or whether he had to give way to Witte. What seems to confirm the former possibility is probably the fact that the intention to abolish the krugovaia poruka first appeared in the Manifesto of February 26, 1903 (P.S.Z. 22581), that is, in a manifesto that Witte did not help draft and that bears all the hallmarks of Pobedonostsev’s and Pleve’s thinking.2 In fact, shortly afterward, on March 12, 1903, the “Opinion” of the State Council recommending the abolition of the krugovaia poruka was ratified (P.S.Z. 22629) and a decree (P.S.Z. 22627) issued abolishing the krugovaia poruka. One of the first measures of Prince Sviatopolk-Mirsky, the liberal successor to Pleve who was assassinated on July 15, 1904, was the abolition of corporal punishment in the volost’ courts, following the Manifesto of August 11, 1904, proclaimed on the baptism of the heir to the throne. chapter 14 The Peasant Question after 1905 Liberal legislation in the field of peasant law, especially the Stolypin decrees of october 5 and november 9, 1906—conversion of the decree of november 9 into the law of June 14, 1910; the law of may 29, 1911—debates on the Stolypin agrarian reforms in the Third duma the peasant question after 1905 • 165 On the other hand, other measures that are also evidence of a liberal course fall into the period after October 17, 1905. On November 3, 1905, that is, when Witte was chairman of the Council of Ministers, came the abolition of redemption payments, effective from January 1, 1907 (P.S.Z. 26872). On the very same day, another decree was issued giving the agricultural bank new powers, making it easier to increase the amount of land available to the peasants, who were suffering from a shortage of land (P.S.Z. 26873). Both decrees were preceded by a manifesto announcing these measures (P.S.Z. 26871). The decree of March 4, 1906 (P.S.Z. 27478), established the Committee for Rural Affairs in St. Petersburg and similar bodies at provincial and district levels that were later the main agencies implementing Stolypin’s agrarian reforms. On August 27, 1906, by which time Stolypin was already chairman of the Council of Ministers, an order was issued to transfer part of the state-owned domains to peasant ownership (P.S.Z. 28315). In essence, this decree aimed at improving the economic situation of the peasants. Insofar as this measure was about transferring state property to private ownership , it has moreover to be seen as a liberal measure. At the end of 1906, the ban on the use of allotment land as collateral was relaxed, although not the ban on pledging such assets to private individuals or enterprises. On the other hand, peasants were permitted to borrow money from the agricultural bank by taking out a mortgage on their plots (P.S.Z. 28547). This decree was preceded by two other important decrees: the decree of November 9, 1906, that set in motion the Stolypin agrarian reform as narrowly defined and the decree of October 5, 1906, closely linked to it. This largely did away with the special situation of the peasantry as an estate set apart from the rest of the population. The Stolypin agrarian reforms envisaged the implementation of an extremely wide-ranging program. A series of measures was meant to improve the economic situation of the peasantry and to transform existing farmsteads into viable agricultural concerns. We can pass over this aspect, especially as the economic problems of the Stolypin reforms have been brilliantly elucidated in a German-language study.3 The reforms were intended to solve the peasant question in line with liberal ideas and marked a significant step forward in Russia’s progress toward liberalism. We must therefore highlight here those provisions of Stolypin’s agrarian...