The peasant land bank and the liquidation of the German's landownership in the Don Cossack oblast (1915–1916)

This article is based on little-known documents from the State Archive of the Rostov oblast. For the first time in historiography, the author analyzes the activities of the Peasant Land Bank during the anti-German campaign during World War I. The author focuses on the implementation of “liquidation” laws in the Don Cossack Oblast, the involvement of the Don branch of the Bank in the liquidation of the German landownership, and on the pricing and sale of the German colonists' land. It is concluded that the Peasant Land Bank had a low working efficiency and played an insignificant role in the Russian government's fight against “German domination” in the agrarian sector.