Witte’s Peasant Reform Thought And Practice

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,Russian society was in a critical period of modernisation and the Witte reforms had a profound impact on Russian society.However,the rapid industrialisation of Witte had a huge impact on agriculture.Under the ’tilted policy’ of industry-led agriculture,the gap between industrial and agricultural development widened,and the backwardness of agriculture hindered industrial progress,forcing Witte to re-examine his agricultural policy: he proposed the destruction of village communities,the granting of civil rights to peasants,the transformation of public ownership of land use and ownership into private ownership by peasants,and the reform of the local judicial and administrative system.A number of ideas were put forward.In order to gain the support of the state,he repeatedly presented his reform ideas in state budget reports and in personal letters to the Tsar,stressing the importance of the peasant issue.As a result of Witte’s efforts,the State approved the establishment of a special conference on agricultural needs to address the problems of the peasantry.During his work,Witte systematised his reform ideas into a complete reform programme.Witte’s programme was widely discussed by various government departments and local committees.At the same time,the Ministry of the Interior also initiated discussions on the peasant question,which were pitted against the Ministry of Finance’s programme.Following the assassination of the Minister of the Interior and the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War,Witte was again instructed by the Tsar to work on revising the peasant legislation.With the 1905 revolution,Witte further developed the idea of "compulsory transfer" of landowners’ land,and introduced the Miguelin and Kutler agrarian reform programme.Due to the easing of the situation,the Migurin and Kutrell programmes were rejected one after another.At the behest of the Tsar,Witte once again looked at the peasant problem and finally formulated a comprehensive plan to solve it.Just as the reforms were being implemented,Witte was defeated in a power struggle and the reforms were inherited by his successor,Stolypin.Stolypin was attacked by Witte as a ’policeman’s approach’ because he advocated the forced suppression of the peasant movement and the top-down promotion of agrarian reform.It was from his liberal point of view that Witte’s criticism was directed,and thus why he was ultimately unable to lead the peasant reforms.