Part 2: Chapter 17 Summary and Analysis

Peter Stolypin was the prime minister of Russia in 1906, having been appointed by the Tsar. Stolypin tried to deal with the problems that Russia was experiencing. When terrorist attacks occurred they were dealt with and the culprits being brought to justice with many of them being hanged. His own villa was the target of a terrorist bomb a month after he took office with the attack being a response to government repression. Russia was basically an agricultural economy at this time with more than three quarters of the population involved in farming in some aspect. It was Stolypin who did away with communal farming and introduced the concept of private property. A peasant who withdrew from the commune could receive his share of the land. The Tsar even sold four million acres to the government for sale to the...