a! a 
Le 
Pre-revolutionary Russia appeared in the world 
market primarily as an exporter of agricultural prod- 
ucts. This position was not the result of a high level 
of development of the productive forces of the country, 
—the necessary prerequisite for the export of a mar- 
ketable surplus from a producing country. The 
export of farm products from pre-war Russia was 
based on the rule of the large land-owner, which com- 
pelled the mass of small farmers to turn over to the 
market, domestic and foreign, the fruits of their labor, 
even at the expense of satisfyirg their own most ele- 
mentary needs. 
Agriculture in pre-revolutionary Russia was char- 
acterized by a considerable concentration of farm 
property in the hands of the wealthy landlords, by the 
great predominance of small producers among the 
masses of peasants and, together with this, by the 
semi-feudal dependence on the landlords existing among 
the bulk of the peasants. If we divide the land-holdings 
of pre-revolutionary Russia into four groups accord- 
ing to size of holding, that is, up to 16.6 hectares, 
from 16.6 to 22 hectares, from 22 to 550, and those 
above 550 hectares, the relation between the various 
groups will be shown in the following table, which gives 
the data for 1905, when the census on which it is based 
was taken: 
4