Bajorų žemėvalda XIX a. 8-ajame dešimtmetyje - 1905 m. : Kauno ir Vilniaus gubernijos

LTStraipsnyje, nagrinėjant bajorų žemėvaldos padėtį XIX a. 8-ajame deš. – 1905 m. Vilniaus ir Kauno gubernijose, pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas imperijos politikai, reguliavusiai rusų ir lenkų žemėvaldos santykį. Daroma išvada, kad draudimas „lenkų kilmės“ bajorams įsigyti žemę devyniose Vakarų gubernijose, palietė žemesnius visuomenės sluoksnius, kuriuos valdžia laikė potencialiais bajorų sąjungininkais kovoje dėl žemės. Bandymai reformuoti imperijos valdymą nepanaikino „lenkų“ ir „rusų“ žemėvaldos priešpriešos. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Rusijos imperija (Russian Empire); Agrarinė politika; Bajorų žemėvalda; Russian Empire; Agrarian policy; Land-ownership.

ENThe article dwells on the situation in the noblemen’s land-ownership in Vilnius and Kaunas governorates (gubernias) in the period from the 1870s to 1905. The main focus lies on the policy of the Empire regulating the relationship between Russian and Polish land-ownership and its results. The law which came into force on December 10, 1865 provided against the purchase of land by the Polish in the nine Western governorates, thus in a way limiting the bureaucrats’ possibilities to reconsider the general strategy of the agrarian policy. The land-ownership reform, however, was an unsuccessful administration project. Hence, the government was forced to amend the obvious gaps impeding the pursuit of the most important goal, namely the creation of the enclave of Russian landlords in the Western governorates able to rival the elite of local land owners and influence peasants. However, the employment of Russian land-ownership in the de-Polonization of the territories looked rather vague. Infrequent initiatives of governorate administrators to reinforce Russian land-ownership were lost in the bureaucratic jungle (e. g. the project of I. Kachanov, the Governor-General of Vilnius, to trade the estates of the Western governorates’ nobles off against the majorats of the Kingdom of Poland). Measures employed by the authorities pursuing to turn land-ownership into an instrument of Russification constrained the rights of landlords of both Polish and Russian origins who were unable to feel at ease in the land market and administrate their property without restrictions. Laws on the tenancy of estates and the new issuing procedure of "nationality" documents passed in the 1880s (January 27, 1884 and November 1, 1886 respectively) were prompted by the fear of the decay of Russian land-ownership. However, the problem of changing the ratio of land-ownership in favour of Russian landlords remained unsolved.Discriminatory laws impeded the extension of local noblemen’s land-ownership. Sometimes major landlords and middle-class nobles would opt for circumvention of the legislation, yet it was not a common practice. Restrictions implemented in the struggle for land could have borne fruit if the authorities had not found the possible allies of "Polish" noble landlords, namely the so called szlachta and Catholic peasantry. In the late 19th – early 20th century the demand for land in the abovementioned groups of society was notably increasing. Szlachta and peasants who normally purchased small plots of estate land were the most sought-after purchasers by landlords who avoided selling or assigning estates to Russians. Peasants were also a resort to Russian landlords who were eager to offload problematic property. However, the officials of the Western governorates, who were apt to apply political categories to land-ownership, perceived the above-mentioned situation as menace to the "Russian cause". A Catholic peasant who made good or a szlachta was attributed by local bureaucrats to the undefined "class of minor landlords" which modeled their life following the pattern of Polish noblemen. Thus restrictions to noblemen’s landownership also applied to Catholic peasants and szlachta’s land-ownership. In the beginning of the 20th century all restrictions for peasants were lifted. However, even quite liberal attempts to implement reforms in the government of the Empire were unable to erase the contraposition between "Polish" and "Russian" land-ownership. The regulation issued on May 1, 1905 provided that Poles can only purchase land from Poles. [From the publication]