economic developments 1855-1917

Question 1

Reutern

Answer 1

-A2 (1862-78)

Question 2

Russo-Turkish War

Answer 2

-1877-78
-expenditures caused irreparable damage to the economy, led to chronic deficits, and a growth in debt
-reiterated the failings of the economy that were highlighted by the Crimean war

Question 3

limitations of Reutern

Answer 3

-little reform to government’s taxation policies,peasants still had heavy burden of poll tax, gentry exempt from
-66% of gov. revenue came from indirect taxation and reductions in tariffs meant a decline in gov. revenues, so tariffs had to be increased again in 1878
-1/3 of gov. expenditure went on paying debts
-rouble subject to variations due to grain exports
-major cities expanded fast,but so did urban strikes
-no significant agricultural reforms

Question 4

successes of Reutern

Answer 4

-railway system developed from 1,600km 1861 to 22,000 in 1878, still small internationally tho
-considerable increases in oil extraction, new iron works set up in Donetsk (1872) mining iron fields in Krivoi Rog region
-coal production and new industrial areas emerging, though this was mainly dependent on foreign investment
-steady population growth led to growing market in the countryside for manufactured goods
-annual growth rate of 6%

Question 5

Reutern’s reforms

Answer 5

-treasury:new arrangements for collecting taxes,auditing accounts,budgets published to encourage foreign investment
-tax farming on vodka abolished 1863 more indirect taxation to increase government revenue
-bring state spending under control
-established state bank 1860,municipal banks 1862&savings banks 1869
-reduction of tariffs from 1863
-subsidies offered to private individuals to develop railways
-foreign investment encouraged with government guaranteed annual dividend

Question 6

Reutern’s plan

Answer 6

-impressed by a visit to the US and lamented the fact that enterprise had not yet swept through Russia
-planned to implement reforms so Russia would have a balanced budget,new taxation system and stable currency
-state debt had reached 566 million roubles by 1857, and the Crimean war caused a deficit of 64 million roubles

Question 7

reasons for A2 to modernise economy

Answer 7

-crimean war and russo-turkish war showed Russia’s industrial backwardness
-agriculture was backward
-western european competition,western nations experiencing an industrial revolution, needed to encourage one
-to curb social unrest and revolutionary activity
-to create an entrepreneurial class and productive workforce

Question 8

Vyshnegradsky

Answer 8

-A3
-1887-92

Question 9

Vyshnegradsky’s plan

Answer 9

-‘we shall not ourselves eat, but we shall export’

Question 10

Vyshnegradsky’s policies

Answer 10

-increased indirect taxation on consumer goods,raised tariffs on products like coal&oil(33%-Import Duties Act 1891),pushed collection of redemption payments, increase in tariffs increased revenue by 50%,used to expand rail network and increase oil production
-encouraged foreign investments
-secured french loans 1888,gold reserves almost doubled
-1881-91 grain exports increased by 18%, surplus for government

Question 11

1891 harvest

Answer 11

-many peasants sold their grain for concumer goods,left with insufficient amounts for survival
-famine in 39 provinces,estimated 3mil dead
-gov. provided aid to 13mil peasants,out of 35mil affected
-grain production may have increased 2.1% each year, human cost was expensive
-led to his resignation

Question 12

Bunge

Answer 12

-A3
-1881-87

Question 13

Bunge’s plan

Answer 13

-the route to success lay in making the peasants better producers of crops and wealth, as well as turning them into consumers to stimulate the economy
-terrified by socialism, and believed workers would become revolutionary due to state repression and capitalist exploitation

Question 14

Bunge’s reforms

Answer 14

-abolition of salt tax 1881 and abolition of poll tax 1886
-creation of peasants land bank 1883 to encourage peasants to borrow money to grow their land, but this only helped in 20% of peasant land purchases
-reduced redemption fees in 1881
-introduces nobles land bank in 1885
-by his time of resignation there was 27,000+km of track

Question 15

Bunge’s successes

Answer 15

-increase in rail track
-1882-85 legislation improving working conditions for women and children
-legalisation of trade unions
-abolition of salt and poll tax

Question 16

Bunge’s limitations

Answer 16

-peasants land bank only helped out 20% of peasant land purchases
-factory inspectors mistrusted by owners and workers, only 267 in all of Russia by 1897
-pressure from conservatives caused his resignation

Question 17

strip farming

Answer 17

-this practice saw little change in the second half of the 19th century
-20-30 strips to each hut in a village,amount of land depended on amount of people in hut
-every hut received some land that was far from the hut and some of poor fertility
-most peasants used a wooden plough and barely scratched the surface of the soil in poor agricultural regions
-Russian peasants in the 1870s looked almost the same as British ones in the 1300s

Question 18

hinderances of strip farming

Answer 18

-difficult for landowner to implement new ideas
-elders who ran the mir imposed conformity
-no hedges separating strips of land,took up around 7% of arable land
-peasants grew the same crop at the same time in a three crop rotation,rigid system and 1/3 of the time `arable land not used
-emancipation changed the status of the peasants but not the practices

Question 19

organisations created to promote better agricultural techniques

Answer 19

-Free Economic Society:after 1861 it compiled statistical evidence to compare different regions,map soils,and debate the influence of the Mir,organisation deemed too liberal and closed in 1905
-new ministry of agriculture:set up following 1891 famine,designed to improve agricultural techniques,but only got 2% of state budget,much of its work was lost with the imposition of the hated Land Captains

Question 20

agricultural situation by 1917

Answer 20

-exports increased due to the stepping up of industrialisation
-1893-1913 20-33% of Russia’s wheat was exported
-Russia was worlds largest exporter of grain by 1913
-war chaos cut exports and damaged grain distribution
-peasants began to hoard their stocks as it became more expensive to live
-such little grain that troops even struggle to maintain supplies

Question 21

crimean war

Answer 21

-defeat exposed the underdevelopment and need for industrialisation
-very little technological advancements in Russia, railway system was just inadequate
-war took 45% expenditure in 1854, and first reaction to the conflict had been to print more money to cover the states expenditure (a miscalculation)
-debts to the bank grew to 441 million by 1860, and foreign debts to 360 million roubles

Question 22

agricultural position by 1850s

Answer 22

-90% of the population lived in rural areas,majority peasants
-farming based on communes (Mir), operated in strip farming and crop rotation,preventing any investment from peasants,discouraged new agricultural techniques and was hugely inefficient
-grain production per hectare was less than half of that of british farms
-the economy needed reform as it still relied heavily on grain exports when grain was decreasing in value

Question 23

industry and transport by 1850s

Answer 23

-start of 19th century, Russia worlds biggest producer of pig iron,by 1855 Britain had overtaken,producing 10x more
-mainly due to Russia’s underdeveloped banking system,unable to supply investment for modern technology
-nearly 1/2 value of Russian exports came from grain trade
-lacked a developed railway system,by late 1850s,only 1600km track compared to 15,000km in Britain

Question 24

finances by 1850s

Answer 24

-nobles exempt from most tax,90% revenue from peasants
-Poll tax placed on all Russians
-taxes on vodka and salt
-tariffs also contributed to gov. revenue
-45% expenditure went to the army, 31% to bureaucracy of government, and 7% to the tsar’s palaces, court and entertainment

Question 25

financial impact of ww1 on workers

Answer 25

-only 3.5mil industrial workers in a population of 115mil
-80% of factories taken over by state
-difficult for agriculturally prominent economy to cope with military demands

Question 26

cost of ww1

Answer 26

-cost fifteen times as much as Russo-Japanese war, so expenditure increased significantly
-part of the issue was the loss of foreign trade
-dependency on foreign loans before the war left a huge gap in the economy
-war effort began poorly and exposed critical problems in the army
-Russia only had 1.1km of railway for every 10.6km of german

Question 27

railways

Answer 27

-many saw this as the key to modernise Russia
-centerpiece was Trans-Siberian railway, linked Russia to far east
-by 1905 2/3 of railway owned by state

Question 28

industrialisation in 1890s

Answer 28

-combination of foreign investment and bank loans,rapid industrialisation was a success under Witte
-by 1900, Russia was producing 5% of global manufacturing output, ranking close to France (4th globally)

Question 29

witte

Answer 29

-N2
-1892-1903

Question 30

witte’s plan

Answer 30

-prior to being finance minister, he was minister of ways and communications,began construction of Trans-Siberian Railway
-Russian government invested 3.5 billion roubles in railroad building, significant stimulus for metallurgy industry, production of coal,iron&oil almost trebled 1885-1900
-growth rate stood at around 8% annually in the 1890s

Question 31

witte’s reforms

Answer 31

-1896,currency reform to place rouble on gold standard(fixing currency to specific quantity,value,of gold creating stability and trust from foreign investment)
-foreign loans from France,increased debt by 1 billion roubles 1895-1900
-high import duties 1887&1891 benefitted Moscow textile industry and metal industries, higher tariffs increased gov. revenue
-indirect taxation to achieve reserve of gold
-railways grew to 56,400km by 1901

Question 32

economic impact of russo-japanese war

Answer 32

-Trans-Siberian railway disrupted by military priorities
-shortages of raw materials led to factory closures, and job losses
-essential price of goods increased in 1904, as well as this typical wages dropped 20%, this created a winter of discontent 1904-05
-consequence of treaty of portsmouth meant Russia had to concede land to Japan, including port arthur and pay reparations to Japan

Question 33

stolypin

Answer 33

-N2
-1906-11
-PM

Question 34

stolypin’s policies

Answer 34

-peasants given right to leave Mir
-peasants could now become sole owners of land they worked on
-amount of state and crown land for peasants to buy increased
-favourable loans and mortgage terms came alongside peasant land bank
-jan 1907, redemption payments officially abolished
-encouragement of migration to Serbia to reduce Land Hunger

Question 35

stolypin’s achievements

Answer 35

-authority of Mir reduced,2.6mil left
-financial burden on peasants reduced with abolition of redemption dues
-land ownership of peasants grew
-increased production due to bigger more productive farms
-grain production rose annually from 56mil tons in 1900 to 90mil tons by 1914
-by 1909,Russia was worlds leading cereal exporter

Question 36

limitations of stolypin

Answer 36

-mir not broken,many still lived there
-still land shortages
-poor landless peasants forced to sell their land to kulaks
-siberia proved difficult terrain for those who relocated there
-key issues of redistribution of land and hunger remained
-Stolypin suggested his proposals needed 20 years to work but they were cut short by the war in 1914