LEGAL REGULATION OF LAND RELATIONS IN UKRAINE (1906–1922): HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the transformation of land legislation on Ukrainian lands from 1906 to the early 1920s. The author analyzes the evolution of legal norms, starting from the Stolypin agrarian reform, which aimed to dissolve the village community and establish private peasant landownership through a system of “otruhy” and “khutory”. The paper examines in detail the legislative activities of the governments during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, specifically the Central Rada, the Hetmanate of Pavlo Skoropadskyi, and the Directorate of the UNR. Diametrically opposed approaches to solving the agrarian issue are highlighted: from socialization and the abolition of private property to its restoration and attempts to create a strong middle class in the countryside. Particular attention is paid to the transitional stage of the establishment of Soviet power, marked by the adoption of the Decree on Land and the first Land Code of the Ukrainian SSR in 1922. The process of nationalizing the land fund, the introduction of the principle of exclusive state ownership, and the legal regulation of socialist land management are studied. It was found that this period was characterized by high dynamics of legal changes, codification attempts, and the gradual restriction of the rights of individual republics in favor of the union center. The conclusions emphasize that the legislation of this era laid the foundation for further collectivization and formed a specific model of the Soviet land legal order, which significantly differed from previous imperial and national-democratic practices.