Economic change up to 1914
- Created by: finn moffat
- Created on: 14-06-17 16:36
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- To what extent was Russia's economy transformed in the years leading up to 1914?
- Stolypin
- Brutally supressed opposition with capital punishment and marshall law.
- Stolypin introduced a number of significant land reforms, which allowed peasants to own land individually, rather than it being owned by the collective communities.
- The aim of this was to create a class of moderately wealthy conservative small farmers who would support the autocracy.
- Land reforms were however relatively unsuccessful, and by the end of 1916, no more than 20% of peasant households held title to their land, and they did not create the bulwark of support that the autocracy needed to survive, before its collapse in 1917.
- The aim of this was to create a class of moderately wealthy conservative small farmers who would support the autocracy.
- Witte
- Known for major economic reforms and liberal political outlook.
- Introduced the gold standard. This essentially meant that the value of the ruble was now directly linked to a given amount of gold, which was the case with most world currencies.
- This encouraged foreign investment and made Russia look like a more respectable and trustworthy economic power on the world stage.
- Consumers in Russia were penalised as they had to pay higher prices which were introduced by traders in order to keep up with the increased value of the rouble.
- Was minister of finance when the Trans-Siberian railway was built.
- This was a big step for Russia given the fact that the country is very large and that there was no effective transport system.
- Witte's economic reforms paved the way for industrialisation and economic growth in Russia.
- Witte also introduced a number of protectionist policies by raising tariffs on imports.
- This safeguarded Russia's young domestic industries and discouraged importers from bringing foreign goods into the country
- It did result in a rise in prices of goods, which made them scarcer.
- Industrialisation
- While Russia was attempting to industrialise herself during this period, her economy was mainly focused on agriculture, but it was slow and outdated.
- Witte attempted to increase agricultural and industrial output, but this meant that workers in factories were working longer hours in poor conditions for no more pay.
- Stolypin
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