Regional land resettlement organization: causes of creation and main consequences of its activity (1908–1918 years)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the agrarian migrations of Ukrainians, caused by the agrarian crisis at the end of the 19th century, the agrarian policy, which since April 1906 in the Russian Empire was entrusted to the new Prime Minister P. Stolypin. In order to prevent social conflicts, the local administration and self-governing bodies of the Ukrainian provinces of the Dnipro region offered his government their help in organizing mass migrations from the European part of the empire to the territory of the eastern outskirts of the empire, in particular to Siberia, the Far East and the steppes of Central Asia.It reviews the activities of the Regional Zemstvo resettlement organization in the field of peasant resettlement from Poltava and other provinces of the Dnipro region. Attention is drawn to the fact that, in addition to the regional resettlement organization created in June 1908, in fact, there are several other independent bodies dealing with resettlement issues, such as: peasant institutions represented by land chiefs; land management commissions; Zemstvo. Regional Zemstvo resettlement organization in 1911 p. was renamed the South Russian Regional Zemstvo Resettlement Organization. The resettlement policy of the Zemstvos is assessed as disappointing, if only because they had no administrative power, acting, as a rule, in the role of beggars. In the case of the Zemstvo participating in the organization of mass resettlement of Ukrainians, the situation in this area would be even worse, which gives grounds for a positive assessment of the desire of the Zemstvos, which were part of the Regional Zemstvo Resettlement Organization, to provide assistance, both on the road and, especially, in colonization areas.Emphasis is placed on the excessively high price that Ukrainians paid for the development of new lands at the beginning of the 20th century, because it turned out to be similar to the price of the industrialization of the USSR in the 30s of the 20th century, which was accompanied by millions of victims.