№1-2023-09

№1-2023-09

DOI: 10.22281/2413-9912-2023-07-01-84-90

Krivchenkov G. V.

PREPARATION OF THE PEASANT REFORM IN THE SMOLENSK PROVINCE:
THE PROBLEM OF PEASANT SELF-GOVERNMENT

The article discusses the preparation of the peasant reform in the Smolensk province. The main attention is paid to the work of the provincial committee on drafting the Regulations on improving the life of landlord peasants in the Smolensk province. Serious differences are shown in the content of the local Regulations and the draft General Regulations drawn up by the Editorial Commissions. Members of the provincial committee in the project for the liberation of the peasants advocated the establishment of an all-class volost headed by a volost trustee, who was elected from among the landowning nobles. The Smolensk Statute endowed the local nobility with great powers in the volost administration, which gave them the opportunity to freely intervene in the affairs of rural communities. The editorial commissions, on the contrary, advocated the establishment of a class volost, which ensured the independence of peasant self-government bodies in resolving administrative and economic issues of the peasant community. The author comes to the conclusion that the Smolensk Regulations were less in line with the interests of the peasants, in contrast to the General Regulations drawn up by the Editorial Commissions. In this regard, there were contradictions between the provincial committee and the editorial commissions regarding the implementation of the peasant reform and the legal status of the peasants after the abolition of serfdom.

Keywords: Smolensk provincial committee, peasant reform, volost, peasant self-government, volost gathering, volost court, tsarist bureaucracy, Smolensk province.

Smolensk State University (Russia)

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