Land committees in Ukraine in 1917-1918: a new vision (on the materials of the Podil province)

Abstract

Introduction. Land issue and agrarian reform in the Ukrainian history of the twentieth century. is of
exceptional importance. On July 1, 2021, a law came into force in Ukraine, which launched the opening of the land
market and allowed individuals - citizens of the country to sell or buy it. Land reform was one of the longest, as it
began on March 15, 1991. The problem of reforming the agricultural sector became the most signifi cant during
the Ukrainian Revolution, when it became the focus of various political forces and civil society, and its solution
depended not only on the level of public confi dence in the government, but ultimately - the fate of the Ukrainian
people. . The 100th anniversary of the revolution of 1917-1921 gives an occasion to return once again to that time,
to rethink the experience of past agrarian reform in the context of current changes in agrarian policy.
Purpose. The purpose of the study is to analyze of the establishment and operation of land committees in
Ukraine. On the example of materials of the Podolsk province the basic directions of work of these bodies on
preparation of agrarian reform during March, 1917 - April, 1918, interaction are covered. land committees with
the government and the peasantry, their achievements, miscalculations and signifi cance for the adoption of new
land legislation and solving the land problem.
Methods. In the study of this topic were used general and special-historical principles, methods and
approaches. In particular, the following principles were applied: historicism, scientifi city, objectivity, systematics;
general scientifi c methods - statistical, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction; special-historical -
historical-comparative, problem-chronological, historical-legal; approaches - modernization, complex, regional.
Results. On the basis of the analysis of documents of Central State Archive of the highest authorities and
administration of Ukraine, State Archives of Vinnytsia Region the basic directions of work of land committees
directed on carrying out agrarian reform in Ukraine in the absence of the clear legislation on a land question
are comprehensively investigated. An example for the study of this problem was the development of the Podolsk
province, which had certain features in the formation of land relations of this period.
Originality. Originality lies in rethinking the current problem of solving the land issue in the years of the
Central Council in accordance with modern approaches to historical science. With the help of published and
unpublished sources, the activities of land committees during their existence were comprehensively studied on the
example of Podolsk province.
Conclusion. The Ukrainian peasantry has long believed that land is its main value and main means of
subsistence, so the resolution of the land issue has become a cornerstone in any liberation struggle of the Ukrainian
people throughout its history. With the revolution of 1917 began a new era in the settlement of the agrarian problem.
The aggravation of land relations after the overthrow of the autocracy led to the adoption by the Provisional
Government of a number of resolutions relating to the solution of agricultural problems and the adoption of land
law. The preparation of materials for future transformations was entrusted to the land committees, which, in
addition to outlining the draft reform, were to solve pressing problems of agriculture, consider complaints, and
resolve confl icts. As a result of censuses and polls conducted by local committees, it can be concluded that the
aspirations of the peasants were aimed at the destruction of private land ownership, the introduction of equal land
use. Land committees had the exclusive right to dispose of land on the ground, but given the constant evolution of
Ukrainian-era legislation on private land ownership, they could not do so on their own. The law proposed in the
end failed to solve the main problem - the problem of land and led to an open confrontation between the peasant
masses and the authorities.