ABSTRACT
Russia is undergoing its third great land reform this century. Previous land reforms were associated with significant political and economic transformation. The first Russian land reforms of the 20th century, called the Stolypin reforms, were designed to facilitate the movement of peasants out of the communal mir, and were linked to Russia's attempt to industrialize and to introduce limited democracy in the early 20th century. 1 The mir was characterized by its egalitarian land distribution system which stifled both labor productivity and crop production. These reforms, marked by a series of governmental decrees between 1906 and 1911, were intended to address the backwardness of the Russian economy compared to Western nations and the low level of agricultural productivity which acted as a brake on industrial development. This goal was pursued by canceling peasant redemption payments, allowing the consolidation of land strips, encouraging the break-up of communes, and facilitating the creation of individual farms based on private land ownership through the distribution of land deeds. The Stolypin reforms aimed to replace the communal system of land distribution and use with a new class of prosperous peasants, the socalled 'kulaks.'
