Petr Arkadyevich Stolypin, being the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, developed and began to carry out unique reforms in the country that could bring the state to a leading position in the world economy.
In school textbooks of the Soviet era, one paragraph was allocated to P. A. Stolypin and his reforms. Dry formulations of facts, strictly filtered by the censorship and presented from the point of view of communist ideology, caused rather a negative reaction. It was impossible to appreciate the scale of the genius and sagacity of this great reformer.
In the troubled revolutionary years, Stolypin Petr Arkadyevich accepted the offer of the last monarch of Russia, and in April 1906 he became Minister of Internal Affairs. And after the dissolution of the first State Duma, he was immediately appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire.
Stolypin "accepted" the country in a dire situation. The war with Japan, shameful for Russia, had just ended, there was disorder and chaos all around: the estates of the nobles and landowners were burned out and destroyed; grandiose crime has led to the annual murder of nearly twenty thousand innocent civilians; the duration of the office of police (as well as their life) averaged 35 days; the revolutionary movement was gaining dangerous strength; there was a bloody uprising in Moscow and strikes in many cities of the country; the budget was empty.
Trying to restore order, the tsar issues a decree on courts-martial, according to which both the investigation and the execution of the sentence could be carried out within 24 hours. Peace in the country was then achieved with the help of the so-called "ties" - the criminals were simply hanged. More than once, Pyotr Arkadyevich was accused of these "ties", but rarely did anyone recall that it was he who had achieved an amendment to the decree on its ratification every six months. And if a little more than a thousand criminals had not been executed, there would not have been an opportunity to start reforms. And they were truly grandiose.
The main activity of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers was the reform of local self-government. For the first time, citizens of any class, even those who do not have material wealth, but have a profession, the ability to manage, who are able to convince people, were able to get into power.
The educational reform was especially relevant for the dark peasantry. Schools were built everywhere, and libraries were opened.
For the development of agriculture, a reform of economic freedoms was launched, when the peasant, and this was the most massive part of the population of Russia - more than 2/3 - was able to leave the community. Its essence consisted in the development of capitalism in the countryside and the creation of a new class - a strong master (kulak). Not everyone understood and benefited from the death of the peasant community, so there were many excesses and opposition in the localities.
Peasants from land-poor areas were offered to move to the vast expanses of Siberia and develop agriculture in the Tyumen, Tomsk, Novosibirsk regions, in Altai. In this case, colossal benefits are provided. In addition to loans and local assistance, a separate carriage was allocated to move the family with all its property, the necessary tools, and livestock. (The famous "Stolypin" cars were intended precisely for this, and not for transporting criminals). In the same carriages, the settlers could live, before acquiring their own housing and buildings.
The issue of interaction with small nationalities was not overlooked either. Muslims took advantage of their right to self-determination and began building mosques. Stolypin proposed to the sovereign to abolish the "Pale of Settlement" for the Jewish population.
If Stolypin had at his disposal those 20 years, about which he spoke more than once, he would be able to bring Russia to an unattainable high level of development. Even with his short ministry, the reforms proved to be very effective. Judge for yourself: 1.5 million hardworking and strong Russian peasants became masters on their land; by 1914, 93% of agricultural products were produced by them; The Russian Empire sold more grain for export than the United States, Argentina and Canada combined; the share of the country's agricultural products in the entire world turnover was 1/4; due to the saturation of cities with food, industry began to develop rapidly, the growth spurt was more than 50%.
Many people disliked Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin: the leftist forces had brought order to the country and practically prevented the revolution; right - the fact that changes in the economy have shaken the rights of large landowners, the top authorities were dissatisfied with the receipt of rights by the have-nots.
That is why shots were fired in Kiev in September 1911.
