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Draft:Modernization under Nicholas II

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Modernization under Nicholas II was a period of modernization and rapid economic development in the period from 1894 to 1917, expressed by one of the fastest increases in per capita GDP in the world, improved working conditions, improved living standards and an increased role of the industrial sector in the role of the economy.

Emperor Nicholas II and Grand Duke Nicholas Niikolaevich

During this period, numerous institutional changes are taking place, integration into the global economy is increasing, as well as the integration of most of the population into the domestic market, as well as the government is becoming a world leader in the state budget.[1]

Industry

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Industry in Russia began to develop under Nicholas I, but a full-fledged policy began only under Alexander II, the growth of industrialization was helped by British capitalist.[2] By the beginning of the 20th century, Russia occupied the 4th place in the world in industrial production, and the 1st place in the field of oil refining.[3] Areas such as steel and cast iron smelting increased 4 times, coal mining increased 8 times.[4] Russia was in a dominant position in terms of industrial production growth, even despite the predominance of the peasant population.[5]

Verkhneutinsky factory in Russia, 1913

The increase in industrial output was associated with an increase in the urban population, by 1914 its number was already 15% of the total population,[6] before that less than 2,000,000 were employed in industry.[7] This was largely due to the increase in social mobility after a series of reforms carried out between 1905 and 1911.[a] Electrification is beginning to acquire a parallel mass character, about 6,273 power plants have been opened in the country for all time, which illuminated cities and rural areas, in 1916 about 4.7 billion kilovolts per hour were produced.[8]

The French economist Edmond Thery [fr] concluded in 1914 about the results of the economic policy of the imperial government:[9]

Based on the results obtained since the beginning of the 20th century, I came to the conclusion that if the same trend continues until 1950, Russia will dominate Europe economically and politically.

Institutional changes

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Foreign capital

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Improving the standard of living and social programs

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Population growth

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Under the reign of Nicholas 2, the population of the Russian Empire increased by 60 million.From 1890 to 1915 the urban population doubled and the rural population grew by 1.5 times.[10] The reason attributed to such an explosive growth is the fall in crude death.[11] The Russian chemist and statistician Dmitry Mendeleev, in his work “Towards the understanding of Russia” estimated the following on the future of the Russian population:

Estimated population growth from the late 18th to the 21st century[12]
Years 1897 1900 1905 1910 1950 2000
Russia 128.2 134.1 144.5 155.6 282.7 594.3

Food and caloric intake

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The average caloric intake for an urban man was 4000, whilst a peasants average caloric intake totaled 3300.[b][13][14]Their diets were balanced and satisfied their needs for that time.

School life and literacy rates

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Primary school in Tsarist Russia

With the All-Russian census of 1897, it was concluded that only 20% of the Russian population were literate. [c] With this the government funding for education increased by ten fold [16] and by 1911-1920 43% of the population were literate with 69% of the urban population literate.[17]

Agricultural development

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Direct assistance to peasants

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The Stolypin reform had a huge impact on the development of this sphere, which allowed peasants to create individual farms and change their place of residence. Russia occupied the first place in the production of agricultural products in Europe and the second place in the world, it was given the nickname "the breadwinner of Europe».[18]

As a result of this reform, more than 90% of farms belonged to peasants,[19] the government also actively provided financial assistance and introduced the so-called "Agronomic Assistance" (Russian: Агрономическая помощь) program. Its essence was the elimination of illiteracy and assistance in managing their land, as well as subsidizing Zemstva.[20]

The peasant Sychev, who was able to become a representative in the Duma

The effects did not immediately show themselves, at first the number of agricultural listeners was small, but it grew incredibly quickly.[21] In 1912, researcher Yurovsky concluded:[22]

My general impression of the Mologsky District is as follows: I did not expect to notice anything like this in terms of agricultural progress here. The earth-arranging fever has already engulfed the entire mass of the population and there can be no question of any turns back to the community; One must be a deliberately unscrupulous person not to give oneself up to that joyful feeling that one experiences when going around the Smolensk hu- tors. I would send ideological opponents of land management to the Sychevsky district at the state expense to look at the farms there, and I am convinced that they would radically change their views on land management.

A bank owned by peasants

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The Peasant Bank was established in 1885, but its main achievements occurred in the period from 1905 to 1917. The main activity of the bank was to supply peasants with land, it offered loans for 90% of the price of land to a peasant, and in some cases even paid 100%.[23] In total, from 1906 to 1915, the bank issued 352.7 thousand loans for 1.071 million rubles, as a result of which 10.013 million dessiatins.[24]

Credit cooperation

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The greatest success was achieved by private and not only cooperatives, their activities helped peasants to get involved in the country's economy and significantly improved the well-being of the population.[25] Such rapid growth was caused primarily by the activities of agronomists and agricultural courses, the number of credit cooperatives increased 9.5 times from 1905 to 1913, and the number of commodity enterprises increased 15 times.[26] Cooperatives were also one of the funniest areas in the village's economy, with about 96% making a net profit of 1,950 rubles.[27] The number of loans has increased 5 times since 1905,[28] and the number of peasant investments has increased 7 times.[29]

A shift to Independent Farming

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In 1906 redemption payments were finally abolished and peasants of former serf families were finnally completely free. In this same year the state implemented a program aimed to support peasants funding their personal farms.[30] This policy was very successful; in the first three years of it 1.7 million households wanted to strengthen their land [31] and 1.1 million peasants sold almost 4 million dessiatins of land for no less than 444.7 million rubles.[32] By 1916,on average 93.3% of farms were personal and owned by peasants.[21]

Results of agricultural policy

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The results of the agrarian policy are characterized as successful, there is an active development of distant frontiers, wheat production increased by 77.1%.[33] The total grain production has almost doubled,[34] historians characterize 1914 as the heyday of the Russian economy.[35] in general, the export of the village increased by 3.5% per year, which was an indicator of the security of peasants during this period.[36]

The economy during the war

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Russia on the eve of the First World War

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On the eve of First World War, Russia had experienced a rapid economic growth in a small time span, [37] by 1914 Russia's GDP was already significantly higher than France and mainland Britain.[d] [38][39]

Economic aid to families of the mobilised

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Immediately after the declaration of war and the mobilisation of conscripts, the families of the mobilised would receive financial benefits. At the start of the war the total amount of benefits issued around 267 million rubles. However, by 1917 this summ reached 3 billion rubles. [40]

Modernisation during the Great War

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The fast industrialisation taking place in Russia did not stop as the country participated in the Great War. By 1916 the total volumes of industrial production exceed pre-war figures by 21%, and by the beginning of 1917 the total volumes of its industrial production were reduced by no less than 20%. [41] Likewise the great success that the Russian empire had in building railroads were in no way hindered. In fact Russia experienced a record in 1916 for the speed of the construction of railways- with 5.4 thousand kilometres of railway being built.[42]

Reference and Notes

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Reference

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  1. ^ Brazol 1958, pp. 93–100.
  2. ^ Davidov 2023, pp. 196–197.
  3. ^ Miltatuli 2017, p. 544.
  4. ^ Borisyuk 2023, p. 15.
  5. ^ Galinin 2015, p. 9.
  6. ^ Miltatuli 2017, p. 543.
  7. ^ Lieven 2006, p. 620.
  8. ^ Borisyuk 2023, pp. 17–18.
  9. ^ Thery 2008, p. 12.
  10. ^ Borisyuk 2023, pp. 40.
  11. ^ Gatrell 1986, pp. 50.
  12. ^ Mendeleev 1906, pp. 12.
  13. ^ Mironov 2012, pp. 353.
  14. ^ Mironov 2012, pp. 370.
  15. ^ Saprykin 2009, pp. 60.
  16. ^ Borisyuk 2023, p. 54.
  17. ^ Mironov 2012, p. 156.
  18. ^ Galinin 2015, p. 6.
  19. ^ Borisyuk 2023, p. 43.
  20. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 389.
  21. ^ a b Borisyuk 2023, p. 41.
  22. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 395.
  23. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 403.
  24. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 405.
  25. ^ Davidov 2023, pp. 428–429.
  26. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 432.
  27. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 438.
  28. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 439.
  29. ^ Oldenburg 2022, p. 485.
  30. ^ Borisyuk 2023, p. 40-41.
  31. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 364.
  32. ^ Davidov 2023, p. 367.
  33. ^ Thery 2008, p. 40.
  34. ^ Borisyuk 2023, p. 44.
  35. ^ Oldenburg 2022, p. 484.
  36. ^ Gregory 2003, p. 35.
  37. ^ Harrison 2005, pp. 236.
  38. ^ Harrison 2005, pp. 7.
  39. ^ Broadberry, Stephen; Klein, Alexander (2012-03-01). "Aggregate and per capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000: continental, regional and national data with changing boundaries". Scandinavian Economic History Review: Page 18. doi:10.1080/03585522.2012.651306. ISSN 0358-5522.
  40. ^ Davydov 2023, pp. 490–491.
  41. ^ Borisyuk 2024, pp. 345.
  42. ^ Borisyuk 2024, pp. 346.

Notes

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  1. ^ Stolypin reform, October Manifesto
  2. ^ The data collected for urban men is from 1900-1916 whilst the Peasants Caloric intake is calculated from 13 provinces of European Russia in 1896-1915
  3. ^

    As the well-known researcher of the traditional way of life of the Russian village M.M. Gromyko pointed out, in the statistical data of this period, in particular, in the data of the 1897 census, there was a significant understatement of the literacy level of the Russian peasantry for three reasons: 1) Some peasants (including Old Believers) preferred to hide their literacy, 2) According to the traditional teaching methods, "literates" first taught reading, and only then writing, as a result of which some of the formally "illiterate" could read freely, but could not write, 3) A significant proportion of peasants could read spiritual literature in Church Slavonic, but did not consider it necessary to study Russian literacy and were also considered "illiterate" [Gromyko 1991]. Taking all these circumstances into account, it turns out that in terms of literacy level, Russia is in the same group as Spain, Greece and Italy.

    [15]
  4. ^ Britain excluding its colonies.

Bibliography

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  • Mironov, Boris (2015). Российская империя: от традиции к модерну [The Russian Empire: from Tradition to Modernity] (in Russian). Volume 3. St. Petersburg State University. ISBN 978-5-86007-786-7.
  • Brazol, B. (1958). Царстваование Николая 2 в цифрах [The Reign of Nicholas 2 in numbers] (PDF) (in Russian).
  • Solovyov, Kiril (2023). Союз 17 октября. Политический класс России: взлет и падение [Union on October 17th. Russia's Political Class: Rise and Fall] (in Russian). ISBN 978-5-4448-2149-7.
  • Borisyuk, Andrey (2023). История России, которую приказали забыть. Николай II и его время [The history of Russia, which was ordered to be forgotten. Nicholas II and his time] (in Russian) (5th ed.). St. Petersburg: Питер. ISBN 978-5-4484-3841-7.
  • Gregory, Paul (2003). Economic growth of the Russian Empire. Moscow: Российская политическая энциклопедия. ISBN 5-8243-0291-X.
  • Oldenburg, Sergey (2022). Царствование императора Николая 2 [The Reign of Emperor Nicholas 2] (in Russian). Moscow: центрополиграф. ISBN 978-5-227-09905-1.
  • Davidov, Mikhail (2023). Цена утопии: история российской модернизации [The Price of Utopia: The History of Russian Modernization] (in Russian). Что такое Россия? (What is Russia?). Новое литературное обозрение. ISBN 978-5-4448-2136-7.
  • Malevsky-Malevitch, P. (1933). Russian and USSR compete handbook.
  • Miltatuli, Pyotr (2017). Россия в эпоху царствование Николая II [Russia in the reign of Nicholas II] (in Russian). Vol. 1. Moscow: Русский издательский центр имени святого Василия Великого. OCLC 1038064891.
  • Lieven, Dominic (2006). The Cambridge history of Russia. Volume 2: Imperial Russia, 1689-1917. Cambridge university Press. ISBN 0-521-81529-0.
  • Galinin, Vasili (2015). Капитал Российской империи. Практика политической экономии [Capital of the Russian Empire. Practice of Political economy] (in Russian). Moscow: Алгоритм. ISBN 978-5-4438-0998-4.
  • Markevich, Andrey; Harrison, Mark (2013). Первая мировая война, Гражданская война и восстановление: национальный доход России в 1913–1928 гг. [First World War, Civil War and Reconstruction:Russia's national income in 1913–1928] (in Russian). ISBN 978-5-244-01167-8.
  • Thery, Edmond (2008) [1914]. The economic transformation of Russia. ISBN 978-5-8243-0985-0.
  • Harrison, Mark (2005). The economics of World War I. ISBN 9780511497339.
  • Strumilin, Stanislav (1966). Очерки экономической истории России и СССР [Essays on the economic history of Russia and the USSR] (in Russian). Moscow.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gatrell, Peter (1986). The Tsarist Economy, 1850–1917. ISBN 9780511497339.
  • Mendeleev, Dmitri (1906). К познанию России [Towards the understanding of Russia] (in Russian). St. Petersburg.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Alston, Patrick (1969). Education and the State in tsarist Russia. ISBN 9780804706810.
  • Mironov, Boris (2012). Благосостояние населения и революции в имперской России: XVIII - начало XX века [Welfare of the Population and Revolutions in Imperial Russia: 18th - Early 20th Century] (in Russian). ISBN 978-5-7777-0545-7.
  • Borisyuk, Andrey (2024). Забытая война. Россия в 1914-1918 [The forgotten war. Russia in 1914-1918] (in Russian). Moscow: Вече. ISBN 978-5-4484-5078-5.
  • Saprykin, Dmitry (2009). ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНЫЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ [Educational potential of the Russian Empire: an Experience of Reconstruction.] (in Russian). Moscow. ISBN 978-5-98866-031-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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