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Birthday anniversary of Pyotr A. Stolypin, Head of Government of the Russian Empire
“Statehood opponents would like
to choose the radical way,
the way of neglecting the historical past of Russia,
neglecting cultural traditions.
They want great shocks,
we want Great Russia!”
P. A. Stolypin, from “The speech on the peasants’ everyday life
and the property” (May, 1907)
2 (14) April 1862, in the capital of Saxony, Dresden (Germany), was born Pyotr A. Stolypin, the governor of Grodno Province (1902-1903) and Saratov Province (1903-1906), Interior Minister and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (1906-1911).
Pyotr Stolypin belonged to an ancient noble family. His father, Arkady D. Stolypin, was the Hero of the Crimean War of 1853-1856, Major-General of the suite of His Imperial Majesty; his mother, Natalia (nee Princess Gorchakov), was a niece of Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov. Until 1869 Stolypin family lived in Serednikovo, suburban estate of the Moscow Province, then - in Kolnoberzhe, the Kovno Province.In 1874-1879 Stolypin studied in the Vilnius school, then - in the Orel classical school. Having graduated from it in 1881, he was admitted to the St. Petersburg Imperial University, the Natural Sciences Department of Physics and Mathematics Faculty, where he studied with enthusiasm chemistry, geology, botany, zoology, agronomy. After graduation (1886), Stolypin served at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Two years later he was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Industry of the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property, where he was appointed assistant-manager.
In 1889 Stolypin was appointed the Marshal of the Nobility of the Kovno county and the chairman of the Kovno Congress of conciliators. In 1899 he occupied the post of Marshal of the Nobility of the Kovno Province, and in 1902 was appointed the governor of Grodno. During these years he had managed to hold a series of important events across the county, and then the province. On his initiative, in Grodno were opened: a Jewish two-year public college, a trade school, as well as female parish school of special type. He produced a number of important analytical notes of nationwide and regional character, which contained innovative proposals to reform the important spheres of public and social life.
In 1903 Pyotr Stolypin was transferred to the position of the head the Saratov Province. His appointment as a Governor of the Saratov Province was an advancement and evidence of the recognition of his services in various positions in Kovno and Grodno. Under Stolypin, in Saratov was founded the Mary Girls' High School, a doss house, new schools, hospitals were built, the paving of Saratov’s streets began, as well as the construction of water supply, the gas lighting, the telephone network modernization. As governor, Stolypin clearly manifested such qualities as a strong will and determination to suppress all sorts of extremist excesses, as well as personal courage shown by him in difficult political situations.
Stolypin's administrative talent was spotted by Emperor Nicholas II, who had twice expressed his personal thanks for Stolypin’s diligence. In April 1906, Stolypin was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs. From 8 (21) July 1906, he had been combining this post with the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire.
As head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Stolypin proclaimed a policy of social and political reforms. He began his initiatives in the area of peasant land tenure and land use with the signing in August 1906 a decree on the transfer of a part of state lands to the Peasant Bank for sale to peasants. In October the same year was signed the decree on the final abolition of the poll tax and mutual responsibility in the community: were removed restrictions on freedom of movement of peasants, the selection of residence; the law prohibiting family divisions was repealed; an attempt was made to reduce the arbitrariness of rural superintendents and district authorities; the rights of peasants at the Zemstvo elections were expanded. The decree of 9 (22) November 1906 dealt with land tenure and land administration. These acts constituted the legal basis for action, known in history as the beginning of the agrarian ("Stolypin’s") reform.
In addition to agrarian reform, Stolypin planned to implement the state insurance of workers, to modernize the legislation on the societies of the Old Believers, on the rights of Jews; he began reforming the Naval General Staff. Under his leadership, a number of major bills had been developed, including the reform of local government, the introduction of universal primary education, on religious tolerance. In 1907, the government headed by Stolypin, achieved the dissolution of the 2nd State Duma, having enacted a new electoral law which significantly strengthened the position of right-wing parties in the Duma. Prime Minister believed that by changing the electoral law in Russia it would be possible to make Duma less radical, to stop the political extremism and avoid new revolutions.
In a short time, Stolypin was marked by a number of the imperial awards. Apart from a few imperial rescripts of appreciation, in 1906 Stolypin was granted the rank of chamberlain, 1 (14) January 1907 - appointed a member of the State Council, and in 1908 - Secretary of State.
In the summer of 1911, Stolypin was working on a project to create eight new ministries (of labor, of local government, of ethnic groups, of social security, of faiths, on exploitation of natural resources, of health, of migration), and thought about increasing the budget by taxes, and lowering of Zemstvo qualification for the elections.
In connection with the activities of Stolypin, within a short period of time, from 1905 to 1911, more than 10 attempts on his life were committed. The bloodiest one was an explosion on the Apothecary island, St. Petersburg, 12 (25) August 1906, which killed several dozen people. Stolypin himself was not injured, but his daughter Natalie and his son were wounded.
At the end of August 1911, in Kiev, was held the grand opening of the monument to Alexander II marking the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation reform of 1861. 1 (13) September, the last day of celebrations, the Kiev Opera House was giving "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. During the second intermission, a young man in a frock coat came up to Stolypin and fired two shots at him, fatally wounding the Prime Minister. Stolypin was placed in one of Kiev's clinic, where 5 (18) September 1911, he died from wounds. Four days later, 9 (22) September 1911, Pyotr Stolypin was solemnly buried at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
7 (20) September 1911, some State Duma deputies and members of the local Zemstvo proposed to raise a monument to Stolypin in Kiev at the expense of the donations. Two weeks after the beginning of the February Revolution, 16 (29) March 1917, the monument to the reformer was demolished.
July 13, 2011 in Moscow, near the Russian Government House, was laid a foundation stone of the monument to Pyotr Stolypin. By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, the year of 2012 has been declared the Year of Stolypin.
Lit.: Аврех А. Я. П. А. Столыпин и судьбы реформ в России. М., 1991; Он же. Столыпин и третья Дума. М., 1968; Бок М. П. П. А. Столыпин: Воспоминания о моем отце. М., 1992; Бородин А. П. Столыпин. Реформы во имя России. М., 2004; Государственная деятельность П. А. Столыпина. Сборник статей. М., 1994; Зырянов П. Н. Пётр Столыпин: Политический портрет. М., 1992; Изгоев А. П. А. Столыпин. Очерк жизни и деятельности. М., 1912; Могилевский К. И. Столыпинские реформы и местная элита: Совет по делам местного хозяйства (1908-1910). М., 2008; Пожигайло П. А., Шелохаев В. В. Пётр Аркадьевич Столыпин: Интеллект и воля. М., 2011; Пожигайло П. А. Столыпинская программа преобразования России (1906-1911). М., 2007; Сидельников С. М. Аграрная реформа Столыпина. М., 1973; Сидоровнин Г. П. А. Столыпин. Жизнь за Отечество. Саратов, 2002; Степанов С. А. Загадка убийства Столыпина. М., 1995; П. А. Столыпин. Программа реформ. Документы и материалы. В 2 т. М., 2003; П. А. Столыпин: Грани таланта политика. М., 2006; Струков Д. Б. Столыпин. М., 2012; Фёдоров Б. Пётр Столыпин: «Я верю в Россию». СПб., 2002.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: