NICHOLAS II ECONOMY

Question 1

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

Annual growth rate per annum from 1894-1913 ?

Answer 1

> 8%

Question 2

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

Witte, minister of finance from

Answer 2

1892-1903.

Question 3

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

witte reforms impact

railways + income

Answer 3

• By the early 1900s the state controlled 70% of railways and held extensive holdings in the growing heavy industrial plant.
• 1903-13 the government received more than 25% of its income from its industrial investment.

Question 3

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

what did witte do that became known as the great spurt?

(industrial econ improved more in a decade than in the last century.) 3

Answer 3

• Witte deliberately sought to manage industrial growth, seeking capital, managers, and skilled workers from overseas.
• Introduced a new rouble, backed by gold in 1987 to strengthen the currency and encourage foreign investment.
• The capital was used to fund public works and develop Russia’s infrastructure, mines, oilfields.

Question 4

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

• Railway trackage doubled, coal output jumped from 183 million puds to 671 million in 10 years, and foreign investment soared with France supplying a third of all foreign capital – foreign investment went up from

Answer 4

280 in 1895 to 2000 million roubles in 1914.

Question 5

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

• The state continued to buy out private railway companies which led to

Answer 5

60% of Russia’s railways were owned by the state by 1905.

Question 6

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

• The railways helped open up Russian interior and allowed more extensive exploitation of raw materials, as well as linking grain-growing areas to Black Sea ports, reinforcing the export drive.
• They also stimulated the development of

Answer 6

the iron and coal industries and permitted the development of new industries.

Question 7

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

railways impact

Answer 7

• Transport costs fell, bringing down the pries of good, and the government made money from passenger fees.
• By 1913, Russia had the second largest railway network in the world.
• The trans-Siberian railway was constructed by Witte, linking the central European Russia and Moscow with the Pacific Ocean. It brought economic benefits through its construction and by opening up western Siberia for emigration and farming.

Question 8

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

Moscow overtook St. Petersburg as the industrial centre, which also grew in the engineering sector with the expansion of Putilov iron works.
* Number of factory workers increased from

Answer 8

1.3 million in 1887 to 2.6 million in 1908.

Question 8

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

Witte believed that by concentrating on production in key areas and by developing large factory units, big increases in heavy goods production could be achieved so set the pattern for industrial development.

2 regions, what he did, impact

Answer 8

• The Donbas region was supplying 87% of all Russian coal and 74% of pig iron by 1913.
• By 1914, Russia was the 4th largest producer of coal, iron, and steel.
• The Caspian Sea port in Baku grew tremendously - Russian oil production trebled from 153 million puds to 570 million between 1885-1913. Russia became self-sufficient and was also able to compete with the US on the international market.
• It took second place in oil production in the world.

Question 9

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

DEVELOPMENTS IN AGRICULTURE
Agriculture was largely ignored / sacrificed at the expense of industrialisation until 1906 when

Answer 9

Stolypin was appointed minister of internal affairs.

Question 9

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

Fuelled by a growing internal demand, there was also a growth in light industry and textiles (which still accounted for 40% of the total industrial output in 1910).
* Between 1908-13, Russia experienced an industrial growth rate of ???
* By 1914, Russia was the world’s ???

Answer 9

8.5% every year.
5th largest industrial power.

Question 10

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

• Before 1906 most farming small scale in the hands of the former serfs and state peasants, tied to the local mir and heavily taxed (exploited) by the state.

what were the problems caused by this?

Answer 10

• The subdivision of estates caused the average land holding to fell from 35 acres to 28 by 1905.
• Although there was a government initiative to sponsor emigration to new agricultural settlements in Siberia, it was insufficient to alleviate the pressure of a growing population on resources.
• Traditional agricultural practices continued – he wooden plough was still widely used and medieval rotation systems left land untouched each year.

Question 11

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

• Some peasants had managed to improve themselves since the edict by buying up land and farming more efficiently - Stolypin sought to

Answer 11

produce more of these kulaks, as he aimed to both win their loyalty to tsardom and creating an internal market for the products of industry.

Question 12

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

STOLYPIN’S LAND REFORMS
Stolypin wanted the peasants to become the permanent owners of their land.

He intended that each peasant’s land should be held in one piece, and without interference by the mir.

This programme began in 1903 when

Answer 12

the mir’s responsibility to pay taxes on behalf of all the peasants in the village was removed, but the major changes were undertaken after the events of 1905.

Question 13

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

STOLYPIN LEGISLATIONS
September 1906
October 1906
November 1906
January 1907
June 1910

Answer 13

September 1906
* More state and crown land available to buy.
* Government subsidies to encourage migration to Siberia increased.
October 1906
* Peasants granted equal rights in their local administration.
November 1906
* Peasants are given right to leave the commune.
* Collective ownership of land by a family abolished.
* A peasant can withdraw from the commune and consolidate the strips into one compact farm.
* Peasant’s land bank established to fund peasant’s land ownership.
January 1907
* Redemption payments officially abolished
* June 1910
* All communes which had not distributed land since 1861 dissolved.

Question 14

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

Stolypin claimed that he needed 20 years of peace for his reforms to have an effect - the war prevented this, but the legislation encouraged

Answer 14

land transfers and the development of larger farms, as poorer peasants sold out to the more prosperous ones.

Question 15

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

STOLYPIN SUCCESSES

5 points

Answer 15

• Land ownership by peasants increased from 20 to 50% by 1915.
• Grain production rose annually from 56 million tonnes to 90 million by 1914.
• By 1909, Russia was the world’s leading cereal exporter.
• A run of good harvests also significantly increased production.
• In addition, Stolypin’s encouragement to emigration toom 3.5 million peasants away from the over-populated rural districts to Siberia, helping it to develop into a major agricultural region.

Question 16

8 . Economic developments to 1914:

stolypin failures

4 points

Answer 16

• 1914 – only 10% of the land had been transferred from communal to private ownership.
• 1914 – 90% of peasant holdings were still in traditional strips, with conservative peasants reluctant to give up on traditional practice and the security provided by the mir.
• Landowners were reluctant to give up land and difficulties of dividing common land brought protracted legal battles – 51% of the land remained in the hands of the nobility.
• Fewer than 1% achieved kulak status – many of the rest were forced to leave their farms and join the bands of migrant labourers looking for either seasonal farming work or industrial employment.

Question 17

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

MILITARY ISSUES
Soldiers, mainly conscript peasants were sent to fight without suitable weaponry and basic fitting clothing / footwear.

what were the issues with the weaponry?

3 points

Answer 17

• 1914 - the infantry only had 2 rifles for every 3 soldiers.
• 1915 - Russian artillery limited to 2-3 shells a day.
• The soldiers had to rely on the weapons of fallen comrades in order to fight.

Question 18

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

By the end of 1916, morale had plummeted – heavy casualties and the deteriorating economic situation within Russia led to

Answer 18

1.5 million desertions in that year.

Question 19

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

• Spending on the war rose from 1,500 million roubles in 1914 to

Answer 19

14,500 million roubles in 1918.

Question 20

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

• The rural and industrial workforce was severely affected -

Answer 20

although women and children took on some of the men’s work, production slumped at a time when the country needed to be producing more, not less, to feed and supply its armies.

Question 21

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

how did the war affect the industry and trade?

2 points

Answer 21

• Poland, and other parts of western Russia, were overrun by the Germans, removing important industrial capacity.
• Naval blockades of the Baltic and Black Sea ports, together with the loss of overland routes to Europe, brought Russian trade to a virtual standstill.

Question 22

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

In the countryside, some did well out of the war as conscription helped to relieve some of the population pressure, and those with horses or surplus grain could make money by supplying the military.
however

Answer 22

• However, in general, the prices offered by the government were low, tools and equipment were in short supply, and it was hard to find essential household goods - some hoarded what grain and foodstuffs they produced, exacerbating an already difficult situation.
• Even when the grain was released for the market, inefficiencies of distribution meant that it did not always reach the town workers who desperately needed it

Question 23

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

• Railways had been taken over to transport men and goods to the front line -railway locomotive production halved between 1913 and 1916 and there were acute fuel shortages.

what did this lead to

Answer 23

• Foodstuffs that should have found their way to the cities were left to rot beside railway sidings and huge cargoes of grain would be sent to the front line, leaving none for the desperate townsfolk.
• This made life hard for the for the town populations, which swelled as factories sought more workers for essential war industries.

Question 24

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

• The recruitment drive meant that though armament manufacture improved in 1916, when

Answer 24

rifle production doubled and heavy artillery production quadrupled, this was all at the expense of civilian needs.

Question 25

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

what were the problems in towns and cities?

2

Answer 25

• In urban centres, particularly in Petrograd and Moscow, unemployment soared as non-military factories, deprived of vital supplies, were forced to close.
• Lock-outs and strikes, (some directly encouraged by the German government in a deliberate attempt to foster industrial unrest and undermine the Russian war effort) financially crippled what little industry survived.

Question 26

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

what problems left thousands living on the brink of starvation?

Answer 26

• A 300 per cent rise in the cost of living,
• rising death rates because of the worker’ insanitary lodgings and the inadequacies of their diets

Question 27

11 . Russia in wartime: economic problems of wartime

• January 1917 - how many workers striked in the 2 major cities?

Answer 27

30,000 workers went on strike in Moscow and 145,000 in Petrograd.