Discuss the view that the economic modernisation of Tsarist Russia hinged on agrarian reform

In this essay I will attempt to determine whether reforms in agriculture, such as the emancipation of
the serfs in 1861 and Stolypin’s land reforms in 1906, were the crucial factor in the modernisation
and industrialisation of the Russian economy in the late Tsarist period, and the extent to which they
marked key turning points in this process.
In the mid 19th century Russia’s economy was largely based on agriculture, with the vast
majority of people living and working in the countryside. Although at this time Russia was one of the
biggest exporters of agricultural produce such as grain and wheat its economy was backward in
comparison to more industrially advanced European nations such as Britain and Prussia. The
economy was based on serfdom, a system where the agricultural labour force were bound to their
landlords estates, which restricted mobility of labour and private entrepreneurship. New
technologies such as canals and railways were being built on a modest scale, but a more radical
change to the system was required before rapid modernisation could take place. 1 In order for an
industrial revolution like that of Britain’s to take place in Russia an agricultural revolution was
required. The fundamental weakness of the economy was the low productivity agriculture, which
perpetuated a low level of income and provided inadequate purchasing power for the stimulation of
industrial growth.2 The need for modernisation was further highlighted by Russia’s defeat in the
Crimean War, which laid bare the underdevelopment of a state system based on serfdom and forced
the Tsarist government to embark on a series of reforms. 3
The Russian serfs gained their personal liberty with the publication of the Emancipation
Statue on March 5th 1861, and through it receive rights of property and private activity. 4 Peasants, as
they were now known, were granted the land that they had worked for their former masters and
became small landowners in their own right. In theory these reforms allowed the peasants to buy
land and engage in private enterprise, or to sell their land and move to the cities to become
industrial workers. However, several factors prevented this from happening on a large scale. In order
to compensate the landlords for the loss of their serfs and land a system of redemption payments
was introduced whereby the peasants had to pay dues to their former masters for a period of 49
years. This had the effect of keeping their agricultural profits low so there was less money available
to invest in improved farming techniques. Also, when land was given to the peasants they often
received smaller plots of land than they had previously worked under serfdom, and they lost the use
of the common land (which had been given to the lords). In other countries a pattern of
emancipation where a peasant received less land and high rents would have encouraged him to sell
up, creating a mobile workforce which was necessary for the process of industrialisation, but in
Russia this was rarely possible as the peasants were attached to the village commune or mir and
could only leave under special circumstances. 5

1
Milward & Saul, The Development of The Economies of Continental Europe 1850 – 1914, (Unwin, London:
1977) pp. 350
2
Milward & Saul, pp. 369
3
Zaionchovsky, P.A., The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia (Academic International Press, Moscow: 1968) pp. 1
4
Milward & Saul, pp. 365
5
Milward & Saul, pp. 368