section 1:chapter 6

Question 1

what reforms did Reutern produce

Answer 1

• state bank set up 1860
• tariffs reduced to promote trade
• foreign investment encouraged
• gov support offered for development of cotton/mining industry

Question 2

what was Von Reuterns role in economic change

Answer 2

• following emancipation
• minister of finance (1862-78)
• aimed to boost economy and drive industrial growth

Question 3

strengths of Reuterns reforms

Answer 3

• encouraged investment + enterprise
• railway network expanded
  annual average growth rate of 6% during Reuterns time in office

Question 4

Vyshnegradsky

Answer 4

• finance minister (87-92)
• wanted to raise capital , reduce budget deficit + boost home production

Question 5

weaknesses of Reuterns reforms

Answer 5

• eco remained comparatively weak
• 1/3 gov expenditure went on repaying debts
• peasantry still poor

Question 6

how did Vyshnegradsky go about achieving his aims

Answer 6

• introduced high tariff (30% value of imported raw materials)
• negotiated loans + increased indirect taxes
• mounted a drive to swell grain exports

Question 7

results of Vyshnegradskys actions

Answer 7

• 1881-92 - grain exports increased by 18%
  -‘92 -budget in surplus
  -peasants suffered -had to give grain to state
• famine (91-2) due to bad harvests - thousands died

Question 8

when was Vyshnegradsky dismissed

Answer 8

1892 after widespread famine

Question 9

who replaced Vyshnegradsky as finance minister

Answer 9

Witte - 1892-1903
- maintained protective tariffs+ heavy taxation
- sought further loans
- engineers/managers etc from west Europe to oversee industrial developments + advise

Question 10

outcome of Witte’s actions

Answer 10

• 1897 - Russia = 4th largest industrial economy
• exports/foreign trade increased
• railway network expanded

Question 11

agriculture and the land issue (1883-92)

Answer 11

• agriculture changed little following emancipation
• grain production comparatively low
• land bank benefits low
• famine showed peasants had too little land to prosper

Question 12

the emergence of the landed elite (after 1895)

Answer 12

• former serf owners
  -small/diverse group mostly noble status
• might be employed in: state service, Zemstva, professionals)
• retained previous wealth/status

Question 13

the emergence of the middle class (after 1895)

Answer 13

• growing class resulting from urban/ industrial expansion + education
• bankers, doctors etc

Question 14

the emergence of the urban working class (after 1895)

Answer 14

• around 2% of population by 1890s;
• some worked in towns + returned to villages at peak farming times
• growing class - by 1864 1/3 inhabitants of st Petersburg peasants by birth.
• poor living/working conditions

Question 15

cultural influence of the Russian orthodox church

Answer 15

• 70%of population orthodox believers
• religion/superstition important - Peasant culture
• church possessed strict censorship control

Question 15

the peasantry (after 1895)

Answer 15

• kulaks did well out of emancipation (some bought grain from poorer peasants in autumn + sold it back more expensive in spring)
• poorer peasants - low mortality rate + suffered more after emancipation

Question 16

what was the ecclesiastical commission

Answer 16

made after a report expressing concern over clerical poverty + behaviour in 1958
- looked into church organisation + practice (1862)

Question 17

what evidence suggested control of orthodox church over peoples lives was weakening

Answer 17

• less relevant for workers in industrialising towns
• in countryside, superstition was sometimes stronger than priest influence