To enact the necessary and proper reforms to best benefit all parties in the Empire, we must adopt a policy of incremental adaptation, which will maintain the practice and power of the autocracy while conceding minor battles to pacify the peasants. In the wake of numerous labor strikes, for example, Nicholas might yield legislation banning forced overtime labor, which will appease the citizens without sacrificing autocratic power or position. Over time, incremental adaptation of reforms will quell the revolutionary tendencies of the populace in favor of a united Russian people under the crown. Anyone considering the reforms to slowly be actualized must seriously consider and scrutinize the true needs of Russia. Allotting more political power will only serve to empower the masses in the worst connotation possible, and industrial reforms will encourage more strikes and protests.

In context, the word “quell” most likely means which of the following?

(A) slow
(B) stop
(C) reinforce
(D) resume