P. A. Stolypin and the Renaissance of Rhetoric

This thesis analyses Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin’s rhetorical talent: the persuasive skills of his speeches and the peculiarities of his performances. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the period between the two revolutions, the Prime Minister’s unusual political figure and his nonviolent and impartial rhetoric have been counter current. Stolypin’s primary aims were collaboration, peace and order. He convinced his audience about the importance of his main values through literary and historical quotations, metaphors, everyday examples, personal experiences and through the confrontation of two different attitudes within the country: the will of his policy represented the good and the revolutionists’ purposes the evil. Stolypin tried to reach his audience’s patriotic feelings: all of his speeches defended the country’s interest.