This is the first comprehensive biography in any language of
Russia’s leading statesman in the period following the Revolution
of 1905. Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 1906
to 1911 (when he was assassinated), P. A. Stolypin aroused deep
passions among his contemporaries as well as subsequent historians.
In the twilight of Nicholas II’s reign he was virtually the only
man who seemed to have a clear notion of how to reform the
socioeconomic and political system of the empire. His efforts in
that direction—in agriculture, local administration, religious
freedom, social legislation, the legal system—were radically new
departures for the Russian state. His detractors disdained him as a
power-hungry, coldhearted politician who was unscrupulous in
pursuing his own career and would use any means to restore the
tsarist autocracy following the frightening turbulence of 1905.
Stolypin’s admirers, however, argued that he was a man of vision
who pursued policies that would have transformed the country into a
modern state with social and political institutions comparable to
those of the West. Lenin’s celebrated denunciation of Stolypin as
“hangman-in-chief” set the tone for official Soviet work on his
career. In the West, some historians and émigré writers, most
notably Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, erred in the opposite direction. By
contrast, this book—on the basis of extensive Russian archival
documentation only recently available to historians—seeks to
provide a balanced portrait of Stolypin that encompasses the
complex, even divergent, impulses that motivated him. Although
Stolypin did not shrink from the use of force to stamp out unrest,
he lamented the shedding of blood and much preferred nonviolent
means to curb the opposition. In foreign affairs, he was
uncompromising in his insistence that Russia should avoid
entanglements that could lead to military conflict. To be sure, he
was deeply committed to monarchical rule, but he did not consider
it advisable to abolish the elected legislature or to deprive it of
its authority. Stolypin’s program, a blend of reformism,
authoritarianism, and nationalism, was more likely than any other
to lead Russia toward social and political stability. But Tsar
Nicholas II, his entourage, and ultra-conservatives could not bring
themselves to yield a portion of their privileges and prerogatives
in return for a reduced, though still significant, role in a
changed Russia. They succeeded in undermining the Prime
Minister’s attempts at fundamental reform and thus scuttled
Imperial Russia’s last such attempt before its demise.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
