The evolution of land legislation in Ukrainian lands of the Russian empire (late 18th – early 20th century).

The article examines the evolution of land legislation on Ukrainian territories within the Russian Empire from the late 18th to the early 20th century, tracing its development from the preservation of pre-existing Polish-Lithuanian land relations to the radical transformations introduced by imperial reforms, culminating in the Decree on Land (1917). Special attention is devoted to the impact of key legislative acts on Ukrainian lands, including the Emancipation Reform of 1861, which abolished serfdom via the Manifesto of February 19, 1861, and associated «General Provisions» and «Local Regulations». These acts granted peasants personal freedom and land allotments (averaging 3–6 desiatinas per household in Ukraine), but imposed redemption payments significantly exceeding market land values, temporary obligated status, and preserved noble ownership of most land, leading to strip-farming, inferior land allocation to peasants, and retention of monopolies over pastures, forests, and water resources by landowners. The study analyzes subsequent adjustments, such as the reduction of redemption payments under Alexander III (1881) and their complete abolition (1906–1907), as well as laws equalizing state and former private peasants (1863, 1866). It highlights persistent issues of land shortage, overpopulation, excessive fragmentation of holdings due to demographic growth, and the state's strategy to avoid compulsory expropriation of noble estates by promoting voluntary resettlement to Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan (facilitated by the 1904 Temporary Rules and intensified under Stolypin). The core of the analysis focuses on the Stolypin agrarian reform (1906–1911), initiated by the Decree of November 9, 1906, which enabled peasants to exit the commune, consolidate scattered strips into private hereditary plots (otrub) or independent farmsteads (khutir), sell allotment land during relocation, and transition toward individual private ownership. Supplementary laws (June 14, 1910; May 29, 1911) accelerated land reorganization, introduced automatic conversion of old communes to private tenure in certain cases, set regional limits on land acquisition, and established land settlement commissions. In Ukrainian губернії, the reform achieved uneven results: approximately 25% of communal households exited (up to 48% on the Right Bank, 42% in the Steppe), with significant growth of khutir and otrub farms in steppe and Volhynia regions; about 225,500 households consolidated 1.8 million desiatinas (1907–1911), supported partly by the Peasant Land Bank, though high prices and long-term payments limited access for poorer peasants. The article substantiates that imperial land legislation remained fragmented, scattered across the Digest of Laws, and evolved gradually toward recognizing peasant private property rights, dismantling communal tenure, and fostering a class of individual proprietors as a monarchical pillar. However, it failed to fully resolve land hunger, exacerbated inter-peasant conflicts, and preserved noble land dominance. By 1917, land law was still in formative stages, lacking systematic codification. The findings demonstrate causal links between imperial policies, socio-economic pressures (malоземелля, demographic growth), and the preconditions for revolutionary upheavals, including the 1917 Decree on Land. The research underscores the complex, transitional nature of land regulation under imperial domination and calls for further systematization of sources on Ukrainian land law history.