Shevchuk A. Peasant reform 1861: sense and influence on agrarian relations in Volyn province

Basing itself on the wide range of archive sources this work determines the specificity of internal political situation and the backwardness of agriculture in Volyn on the eve of the reforms of 1861. It investigates the progress and the consequences of the peasant reform of 1861 in the region. It proves the fact that the political situation after the Polish revolt of 1863 affected positively on the conditions of Ukrainian peasants: to obtain their support, Government provided them with lands on favorable terms. Tenant farmers, share-croppers and free people of the II rank found themselves in painful situation – some of them lost their estates. The policy of spreading of Russian landownership («economic russification») caused the growth of demand for land and kept Volyn backward. The peasantry suffered from land shortage under the conditions of fast population growth while the state aid was insignificant.