the industrial 'take-off' under Vyshnegradsky and Witte

Question 1

what were raised in the 1880s?

Answer 1

tarrifs (a tax on imported goods that is designed to make them more expensive for consumers )

Question 2

under Ivan Vyshnegradsky , who took over in 1887, what was introduced?

Answer 2

a prohibitive import tariff of 30% of the value of raw materials was introduced

Question 3

what was the prohibitive import tariff introduced to do?

Answer 3

boost home production and considerably helped the iron industry of southern Russia as well as the development of industrial machinery

Question 4

what did Vyshnegradsky need to do?

Answer 4

balance the budget while financing enterprise

Question 5

what did Vyshnegradsky do alongside negotiating some valuable loans(e.g from the French in 1888)?

Answer 5

he also increased indirect taxes and mounted a drive to swell grain exports

Question 6

on the surface, grain exports appeared very successful why?

Answer 6

between 1881 and 1891 grain exports increased by 18%, as a percentage of total Russian exports
-by 1892 the Russian budget was in surplus

Question 7

this remarkable export drive was achieved at the expense of?

Answer 7

the peasants
-peasants paid the teaxes and saw their grain requestioned by the state

Question 8

result of the policy introduced

Answer 8

-in 1891-92 when bad harvests brought widespread famine, in which many thousands died

Question 9

Ivan vyshnegradsky

Answer 9

-began life as priest, his entrepreneurial skills enabled him to accumulate wealth through investments
-1884 made a member of the council of ministers
-in 1886 he joined the council of state
-1887-92 was head of the ministry of finance
-her he successfully reduced the budget deficit

Question 10

when was Vyshnegradsky dismissed and why?

Answer 10

dismissed in 1892 because of a famine disaster which made worse by his own policy

Question 11

who was Vyshnegradsky’s successor?

Answer 11

Sergei Witte was committed to economic modernisation as a means to curbing revolutionary activity

Question 12

what did Witte believe?

Answer 12

he believed the only way forward was to continue with protective tariffs, heavy taxation and forced exports to generate capital

Question 13

Witte also sought additional loans from?

Answer 13

abroad
1880- 98 million roubles
1890- 215 million roubles
1895- 280 million roubles

Question 14

much of the investments went into

Answer 14

mining, the metal trades, oil and banking

Question 15

the great famine of 1891-92

Answer 15

affected 17 of Russia’s 39 provinces
-early winter + long,hot,dry summer which ruined crops
-population weakened by hunger susceptible to disease
-over 350,000 died from starvation or disease
-government failed to organise adequate relief

Question 16

by 1897 Russia became

Answer 16

the world’s fourth-largest industrial economy

Question 17

this growth helped to increase?

Answer 17

Russian exports and foreign trade

Question 18

a line linking St Petersburg and Moscow had opened in?

Answer 18

1851

Question 19

by the mid 1890s how much of the whole Russian railway system was owned by the state?

Answer 19

60%