The economic development of Russia to 1914

• • From mid 1890s Russia's economy underwent a transformation, with an annual growth rate of 8% annually from 1894 to 1913.
  • This is thanks to Witte
  • Rail trackage doubled, cola output in Southern Russia increased from 183 million puds in 1890 to 671 million in 19000
  • Foreign investment increased: France supplying a third of the capital, Britain 23%, Germany 20% and the rest Belgium and USA. 


  Industrial transformation of Russia
• • Purposefully encouraged state-managed industrial growth so capital, technical advisers, managers and skilled workers from abroad could be brought back to Russia.
  • Introduced new rouble with the value of gold from January 1987, in order to strengthen the currency and encourage foreign confidence and investment.
  • Although foreign investment actually decreased, there were more Russia entrepreneurs
  • This capital was used to fund public works and develop infrastructure such as railways and electrical plants. 


  Witte
• • State controlled 70% of Russia's railways and the growth in the 'heavy industry plant'
  • State was buying 2/3 of all Russia's metallurgical production
  • 1903-1913 the government received more more than 25% of its income from its industrial investments.
  • Late 1890s 'the great spurt' due to the progression of the economy at this time. 


  Russia by the early 20th century
• • State continued to buy out smaller private railway companies, extending lines, so by 1905 Russia had 59,500~km of railways and 66% were state-owned
  • This was still limited compared to the size of Russia
  • But they did help to open up Russian interior and allowed more extensive exploitation of Russian raw materials.
  • Growing areas such as Black Sea Ports reinforcing export drive.

  Railways
• • Development of iron and coal industries and new industries alongside
  • Transport costs fell, bringing down the cost of goods but the gov still made money form freight charges and passenger fees.

  Railway and raw materials
• Rate of growth slowed: By 1913 Russia had the 2nd largest railway network in the world, with 62,200km which fell short of the 411,000 km that the US had. The most impressive line was the Trans Siberian Railway. 


  Railways 1908-1913
• • Built between 1891-1902 (with extensions in 1914) a railway that connected central European Russia and Moscow with the Pacific Ocean.
  • It ran to Vlavivostock with the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria with a distance of 7,000 km
  • It opened up western Siberia for emigration and farming 


  Trans Siberian Railway
• • In early stages, the light industry had lead the way such as textiles
  • Witte developed large factory units of over 1000 or more workers, big increase in heavy goods production could be achieved

  Heavy industry
• • St Petersburg and Baltic cost (4)
  • Moscow (1)
  • Ukraine (6)
  • Caspian Sea (5)
  • Poland (3) 


  Main areas of industrial development
• • Allowed for growth further
  • Russian oil production x3 from 153 million pudds to almost 570 million between 1885-1913
  • This means that not only did Russia become self-sufficient but can compete with the US.
  • Russia took second place in oil production after Texas and ranked 4th in gold mining.

  Caspian Sea Port
• • Overtook as the Industrial centre due to its position as the hub of the entire rail network and main link between Europe and the East
  • It also grew in the engineering sector

  St Petersburg
• • Retired naval officers bought former state ironworks in 1867 to develop a railway factory
  • By 1885, the company provided nearly 1/4 of all state orders for locomotives, wagons and rails
  • The company specialised in machinery, artillery and steel
  • Between 1891 and 1894 workforce grew to 2,000 and by 1903 it devoted itself to armaments production supporting Russia through WW2. 


  Putilov Iron Works
• 1887: 31,000~ factories and 1.3 million workers

  1908: 40,000~ factories and 2.6 million workers


  Factories and workers 1887-1908
• Coal: 1890 5.9 million tons and 25.4 mil in 1910

  Crude oil: 1890: 3.9 mil tons and 12.1 in 1910 


  Industrial production
• • expanded due to a growth in internal demand
  • Textiles still accounted for 40% of total industrial output in 1910
  • Growth rate was still 8.5% per year
  • By 1914, Russia had become 5th largest industrial power (after UK, USA, France and Germany).
  • One of the reasons why Germany called war of Russia in 1914 is because they feared that if they waited longer and allowed Russia to industrialise, they would outstrip the German economy.

  Light industry
• Number of factories: 22,600 in 1908 and 24,900 in 1914

  Growth of railway: 50,000 km in 1900 and 70,000 km in 1913

  Number of banks: 1150 in 1908 and 2400 in 1914

  Grain production in million tons: 1900 56, 1910 74 and 1913 90

  Stats to show how strong the economy was by 1914:
• • Balance of Trade: imports: 550 million in roubles in 1891-1900 vs 875 mil in 1901-10, exports 625 million 1891-1900 in 1901-10 1,100 million
  • Population in St Petersburg: 1.4 million in 1900, 1.9 million in 1910 and 2.2 million in 1914
  • Population in Moscow: 1.3 million in 1900, 1.6 million in 1910 and 1.8 million in 1914

  Trade and population
• • Growth in national income 1894-1913: Russia 50%, Germany 58%, France 52%, Britain 70% and Italy 121%
  • Foreign trade in 1913: Russia £190 mil, France £424 mil, Germany £1,030 mil and £1,223 mil Britian. 


  National income and foreign trade
• Although the rural economy provided the livelihood of aorund 80-90% of all Russian population, it was largely neglected and scarificed to support industrial expansion until 1906 


  Rural situation
• • most framing was small-scale, in hands of formers serfs, state peasants who were tied to their local mir by redemption payments due, heavy taxes and exploitation by the state.
  • Population grew so the land available declined and subdivision of estates caused the average holding of land to fall from 35 acres in 1877 to 28 acres by 1905.
  • There was opportunity to emigrate to Siberia by the Trans' Siberian railway but ultimately, this didn't work and put pressure of growing population resources. 


  Situation with agriculture before 1906
• • For the most part, traditional practices continued and this was perpetuated by the mir
  • The solcha/wooden plough was still widely used as well as medieval rotation system which left fallow land each year.
  • Grain output from American farms was 1.5 times more than Russian and British was 4 times.
  • Some peasants did manage to improve themself after the emancipation, buying u land and farming more efficiently.

  Agricultural practices
• • He wanted to create more kulaks who he described as 'sturdy and strong'.
  • He want to win their (kulaks) loyalty to tsardom and develop the economy by improving agriculture, and creating an internal market for products of industry.

  What was Stolypin's aims
• • He wanted peasants to have land held in one piece rather than strips that are scattered across the village and that they should have the freedom to do whatever they wished with the land, without the interference on the mir.
  • Began in 1903 were the responsibility of the mir to collect and pay taxes on behalf of everyone in the village was removed.
  • It was not until after 1905 that Stolypin made any real changes.

  Stolypin's land reforms
• • More state and crown land is available for the peasants to buy
  • Government subsidies to encourage migration and settlement in Siberia are increased
  • Land Organisation Committee overseas these changes 


  September 1906 land reforms
• Peasants are granted equal rights in their local administration.

  October 1906 land reforms
• • Peasants are given the right to leave their commune and the collective ownership of land by a family is abolished
  • A peasant can withdraw and consolidate the scattered strips into one compact farm
  • This makes the land the personal property of an individual (usually eldest male)
  • Land Organisation Commissions are set up which consists of elected individual by peasants to oversea this procedure

  November 1906 land reforms
• • Jan: redemption payments are abolished as promised in 1905 but in reality people stopped paying them in full a while ago
  • June: all communes which had not redistributed land since 1861 are dissolved. 


  January 1907 and June 1910
• Due to the WW1 breakout. He claimed he needed 20 years of peace for his reforms to fully succeed. Overall, legislation did encourage land transfers, development of larger farms as poorer peasants began to sell out to the better off ones. 


  How were Stolypin's reforms hindered
• • heredity ownership of land by peasant increased from 20% in 1905 to nearly 50% by 1915
  • Grain production rose annually from 56 million ton in 1900 to 90 million by 1914.
  • By 1909, Russia was the leading cereal exporter
  • Stolypin's emigration did take 3.5 million peasants away from the over-populated rural districts of the south and west to Siberia and helped it to become a major agricultural region that specialised in dairy and cereal by 1915. 


  Peasants and land
• • By 1913, only 1.3 million out of 5 million applications for the consolidation and hereditary tenure of individual farms had been dealt with
  • By 1914, only around 10% of land had been transferred from communal to private ownership.
  • By 1914, 90% of peasant holdings were still in traditional strips, with conservative peasants reluctant to give up traditional practices 


  Stolypin's measures weren't entirely successful
• • Landowners were reluctant to give up land and difficulties of dividing common land brought legal battles and 50% of the land remained in the hands of the nobility
  • Fewer than 1% achieved kulak status and many of the others left were forced to leave their farms and join migrant labourers looking for either industrial employment or seasonal farming work. 


  Problems with Stolypin's reforms continued