什麼是土地改革

審慎改進農地持有制度、耕作形式和農業與其他經濟間的關係。土地改革最普遍的政治目標是廢除封建或殖民地主土地所有制，通常是取走大地主的土地再重新分配給沒有土地的農民。其他目標則包括改善農民的社會地位和將農業產出與工業化計畫整合。土地改革的最早記錄出現於西元前6世紀的雅典，當時梭倫廢除了迫使農民抵押土地和勞務的借貸系統。然而在古代的世界，土地集中在大地主的手中成爲一種慣例，並持續至中世紀和文藝復興時代。法國大革命替法國帶來土地改革並建立起成爲法國民主基石的小型家庭農場。19世紀時大多數的歐洲國家都廢除了農奴制。俄國的農奴在1861年被解放，1917年俄國革命後實行農業集體化，隨之而來的是資本的喪失和毀滅性的饑荒。土地改革實行於其他共產黨掌權的國家，尤其是中國。土地改革至今仍然是世界上許多國家的潛在政治議題。亦請參閱absentee ownership。

land reform

Deliberate change in the way agricultural land is held or owned, the methods of its cultivation, or the relation of agriculture to the rest of the economy. The most common political objective of land reform is to abolish feudal or colonial forms of landownership, often by taking land away from large landowners and redistributing it to landless peasants. Other goals include improving the social status of peasants and coordinating agricultural production with industrialization programs. The earliest record of land reform is from 6th-century-BC Athens, where Solon abolished the debt system that forced peasants to mortgage their land and labor. The concentration of land in the hands of large landowners became the rule in the ancient world, however, and remained so through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The French Revolution brought land reform to France and established the small family farm as the cornerstone of French democracy. Serfdom was abolished throughout most of Europe in the 19th century. The Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 introduced collectivization of agriculture, attended by loss of capital and devastating famines. Land reform was instituted in a number of other countries where communists came to power, notably China. It remains a potent political issue in many parts of the world. See also absentee ownership.