Section 7 - Industrial Development + The Land Question

• Russia did not possess a middle class.
• Von Reutern believed Russia needed economic change and he introduced reforms.
• Tax-farming was abolished which meant companies could no longer collect taxes.
• The Treasury was reformed under Von Reutern and auditing and budgeting systems were established.
• Credit facilities were made available from banks.
• Subsidies were offered to private railway companies.
• Annual dividends were guaranteed by the government for foreign investors.
• Tariffs were lowered on trade and trade treaties were negotiated.
• The cotton and mining industries expanded because of Von Reutern and there was an improvement in agriculture.
• Mobility remained limited in the transport and labour fields and growth was slow.
• The Russian currency was very unstable in the economy and a lot of income went towards paying off debts.
• Russia remained underdeveloped compared to Western Europe.
• Vyshnegradsky tried to build up industry.
• Import tariffs were increased by 30%.
• Grain imports were increased by 18% between 1881 and 1891 to make peasants sell to the state
• Russia got a loan from France in 1888.
• Peasants suffered from high taxes, high good prices and grain requisitions under Vyshnegradsky.
• A famine took place in 1891-92 under Vyshnegradsky and 350,000 people died.
• Witte wanted loans from abroad and he increased investment in mining, oil and banking.
• Witte encouraged European experts to oversee development and he wanted advice on planning.
• Witte achieved a huge expansion of the railway network.
• Emancipation brought little change to agriculture for peasants because they had too little land to become prosperous.
• The Mir failed to bring agricultural success because of their backwards farming practices favoured by the elders.
• The nobles were the biggest landowners but many of them sold their land to pay debts.
• Some landowners abandoned farming to learn professions with some of them starting up businesses.
• Kulaks bought land through loans from the Peasant Land Bank and they employed lower peasants.
• The poorer peasants became landless labourers.
• Most peasants were unable to do military service because they were unfit and the average life expectancy for a Russian peasant was 28.
• Orlando Figes said the "partitions made little economic sense".