Stolypin Peter Arkadievich (born April 14, 1862 - death September 18, 1911) - Russian statesman. 1903-1906 - was the governor of Grodno and Saratov provinces. 1906, April - Minister of Internal Affairs, since July - also Chairman of the Council of Ministers. He led the suppression of the Revolution of 1905-1907, encouraged the activities of military courts and the use of the death penalty.
Initiator and leader of the agrarian reform. Mortally wounded by the Socialist-Revolutionary D. G. Bogrov.
Origin. early years
Peter Arkadyevich was born in Dresden (Germany), came from an old and noble noble family. The first known document about the Stolypin family is dated 1566. His grandfather was the governor of Poland, and his father was the commandant of the Kremlin. 1884 - after graduating from St. Petersburg University goes to work as a lawyer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Public service
1899 - appointed leader of the local nobility (Kovno, now Kaunas, Lithuania) 1903 - on the recommendation of the Minister of Internal Affairs V. Pleve, he was appointed governor of the Saratov province, which at that time was engulfed in peasant riots. The new governor was able to suppress the riots with harsh measures. 1906 - after the resignation of S. Witte and his cabinet, he was appointed minister of the interior and soon chairman of the Council of Ministers.
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Stolypen's appointment by court circles was met with restraint. Despite belonging to an old noble family, he was alien to the highest aristocracy of that era. Petr Arkadievich stood out sharply among the capital's bureaucracy. He began to wage a decisive and uncompromising struggle against the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries, in turn, declared war on him.
1907-1911 - defined government policy. 1906 - he proclaimed a course of social and political reforms. He began to carry out an agrarian reform, with the aim of eliminating the shortage of land while maintaining landlordism and creating an additional social support for the autocracy in the person of the kulaks.
Under the leadership of Petr Arkadievich, several major bills were developed, including on the reform of local self-government, the introduction of universal primary education, and on religious tolerance. 1906 - after the explosion on the Aptekarsky Island, he initiated the introduction of military field courts. Now the trial of the "rioters" began to be completed within 48 hours, and the sentence began to be executed at 24 hours by order of the district commander. 1907 - he was able to achieve the dissolution of the II State Duma and the introduction of a new electoral law, thereby significantly strengthening the position of representatives of right-wing parties in the Duma.
Stolypin's agrarian reform (briefly)
One of the most serious problems of those times was the agrarian question. It was he who provoked in many ways the revolutionary events of 1905-1907.
Stolypin's agrarian reform, which began in 1906, provided for:
• Removal of many class and legal restrictions that hindered the development of economic activities of the peasantry;
• Gradual introduction of private ownership of land by the peasantry;
• Increased efficiency of peasant labor;
• The reform encouraged the purchase of land by peasants, including landowners;
• The reform also provided for support for the activities of peasant associations and cooperative farms.
Such measures soon gave noticeable results. The result of the Stolypin agrarian reform was an increase in the area of sown land, an increase in grain exports. Moreover, this reform led to the final departure from feudal vestiges, an increase in the productive forces in the villages. According to statistics, up to 35% of peasants left the communities, 10% of them organized farms. The differentiation of types of agricultural production by regions has increased.
The problem of overpopulation in the central regions of Russia was also taken into account in Stolypin's land reform. It was supposed to solve the problem of the lack of land by relocating some of the peasants to other regions, for example, beyond the Urals. The government allocated significant sums for the settlement of settlers, road construction, and medical care. But, the results of this reform, which was certainly progressive for Russia at that time, were insufficient to radically change the situation.
The fact is that the growth of agricultural production did not occur due to the intensification of production, but due to an increase in the intensity of manual labor of the peasants. This reform of Stolypin could not completely solve the problems of hunger and agrarian overpopulation in the central regions of the state. It should be noted that, although modern specialists put forward many different assessments of Stolypin's agrarian reform, on the whole, it is given a positive assessment.
Personal life
PA Stolypin married early, and turned out to be almost the only married student at the university. Olga Borisovna, his wife, was previously the bride of his older brother, who was killed in a duel. The future politician also fought with the murderer of his brother, having been wounded in his right hand, which then acted badly.
Assassination attempts
Petr Arkadievich Stolypin's life was attempted 11 times. The hunt for one of the most influential politicians in Russia has been going on for 5 years. Armed revolutionaries broke into his house, shot at him, threw stones. Once at a rally, a bomb fell at the feet of the governor. The explosion killed several people who were nearby. After the explosion, the prime minister calmly brushed himself off and said: "Go home and hope for the power to protect you." There was also such a case, a peasant aimed a pistol at Stolypin's chest, to which the politician opened his jacket and calmly said: "Shoot." His fearlessness invariably shocked the attackers, they were speechless and quick to react.
The most terrible attempt was on August 12, 1906, a month after his appointment as prime minister, to blow up the prime minister's villa on Aptekarsky Island in St. Petersburg. An explosion thundered when visitors were received - 27 people were killed and 32 were injured, including members of the politician's family: he himself was wounded, 14-year-old youngest daughter Natasha's leg bones were crushed, 3-year-old son Arkady got off lightly wounds.
Last years. Death
In the last year of his life, Pyotr Stolypin personally supervised the preparation of a special report on the activities of Russian Masonic organizations and their ties with international Jewish and Masonic centers on the Tsar's instructions. A special meeting on the Masonic question was scheduled for the fall of 1911. But on September 1, 1911 in Kiev during the performance of the opera by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" Pyotr Stolypin was mortally wounded during the intermission by a student D. G. Bogrov in the presence of the royal family and died in hospital.
Buried on the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Interesting Facts
• People began to call the rope “Stolypin's tie” by the name of Stolypin.
• Special carriages for transportation of persons under investigation and convicts began to be called “Stolypin cars”.
• The future prime minister graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of St. Petersburg University with brilliance. At the same time, DI Mendeleev himself took one of the final exams. The famous scientist was amazed at the brilliant knowledge of the graduate. A brilliant scientific career was opening before PA Stolypin, but he chose the civil service.