Land ownership in the history of monarchist Russia: a political and legal review

This article examines the main trends in the development of land ownership in Russia during the monarchical period, that is, before 1917, from the perspective of the specific social relations at various stages of Russian history, in relation to the legal acts regulating the objects and subjects of land ownership. Relevant documents, imperial decrees, and scholarly works addressing the issue under study are analyzed. It is noted that land ownership as a legal category originated in customary law (during the period of the Old Russian state), after which corresponding legal acts began to emerge. Landowners came to be represented by members of the upper and other privileged classes, giving rise to a class of peasants, including serfs, who in the vast majority of cases were granted land only for use. Forms of land ownership included patrimonial estates, manors, urban land, zemstvo land, and others. After the abolition of serfdom (1861), the composition of land ownership changed (communes and individual farmers were added), but the expected results were never achieved. The same applies to the Stolypin reform of the early 20th century. Overall, the evolution of land ownership in monarchical Russia was contradictory, and this continues in modern Russia, demonstrating the great complexity of this category.