Otrezki

land that the peasants of Russia lost as a result of the Peasant Reform of 1861.

The otrezki could be taken from allotment land used by manorial peasants prior to Feb. 19, 1861, if the peasant per capita allotments exceeded the maximum size established for a given locality or if the existing peasant allotments left landlords with less than one-third (in steppe regions, one-half) of the estate’s good agricultural land. Allotments could be decreased by special agreements between the peasants and the landowners. In a number of chernozem provinces, landlords acquired large otrezki when peasants took reduced redemption-free land allotments. The otrezki generally included such essential tracts as hayfields and pastures, which the peasants were then obliged to rent from the landowners, often on disadvantageous terms.

When the government carried out reforms affecting the appanage (1863) and state (1866) peasants, otrezki were also taken, but they were much smaller than those of manorial peasants. The peasantry called for the return of the otrezki, and their demand was included in the program of the RSDLP at its Second Congress in 1903. At the RSDLP’s Third Congress in 1905, the demand for the return of otrezki was replaced by the demand for the confiscation of all landlord land.