This was changed when the rouble was put on the golden standard, many people and countries invested such as; factory owners from Bradford as well as Belgium, France and Britain. * The Witte system sponsored development by the government, the place emphasis on heavy goods production like steel and iron ore. Paragraph 2: * These reforms had a dramatic impact. * Coal, and iron ore production rose and by 1903 the Trans-Siberian railway was nearly completed. * There was large industrial growth in Petersburg, Moscow, Baku and Ukraine. * The cities grew very fast.
Finally, the ‘Witte System’ enforced extra taxes to the over taxed peasants, creating more funds. Already Witte was making major progress for the ‘economically backward’ Russia and he would go on to make further progress, as industrialisation was finally starting to emerge in Russia, which modernised income greatly in comparison to the grain export industry that they so heavily relied on. The Witte system made continued progress for the Russian economy by the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway line, which ran 7000km across the Russia Empire, from St Petersburg in the West to Vladivostok in the East. Due to the Trans-Siberian railway, communication was vastly improved as it connected the whole of the vast size of Russia. Also, as it reached the Pacific Ocean, it meant Russia could trade with Asian countries such as China and Japan, due to shipping ports, and could reach back to St Petersburg.
The railway gave Russia access to Siberia and its vast resources such as coal, oil and metal ores these were considered ‘capital goods’ and led to a 50% economic growth; However still trailing far behind the great European powers such as Austro-Hungary which had a 79% increase. However Witte increased taxes on the already financially crippled peasants further increasing their debt, as they still had to pay redemption fees alexander the ii inflicted upon them despite
The Crimean war (1853-6) proved a struggle for Russia as they faced inferior opponents, alike to the Russo-Turkish and Japanese wars. All three of these wars ended with Russia in a worse economic position than before, with loss of land. This caused anger and unrest amongst the Russian citizens as it illustrated the backwardness of Russian economy and society, leading to the Tsar Alexander 2nd introducing reforms and changes in an attempt to modernize Russia. The emancipation of the serfs in 1861 was an important reform as it forced change upon local government and coerced with the creation of the Zemstva. These reforms made a significant change to the government as a weakened sense of autocracy replaced the traditional span of control the Tsar ruled over, due to freedom of serfs which ultimately creates opposition.
Although Witte would have been strongly conservative, as he was hired by Alexander III, and would be expected to not care about helping the peasants who were in distress after the famine, he believed that the economy would only progress if the standards of living were made better. Therefore he had to come up with a solution to compensate for the peasants’ losses as well as improving Russia’s finance: by industrialising. Russia was in great need of refurbishing as it was still using equipment from the 18th and early 17th century, which caused them to be humiliated in the Crimean War; Alexander II introduced reforms to ease along the process of industrialisation but Witte wanted to able to compete again with the other Western powers. As well as this, industrialising would create more jobs for peasants to be able to work and earn money; this way Witte was able to solve two problems at once. Britain took 150 years to complete this process but he wanted to change Russia in the space of about 20 years.
Between 9,500,000 and 10,000,000 people were exiled as part of the dekulakisation drive. In 1929, 150,000 kulak families were exiled to SIberia. This figure rose to 240,000 in 1930, and rose to 285,000 in 1931. In some cases, 10 per cent of the peasants in a single village were exiled. The peasants who stayed at their collective farms suffered incredible hardship.
Much like Tsarist reforming leaders, Witte and Alexander II, a poor economic situation also significantly influenced Lenin’s reforms, showing a nuanced continuity between factors influencing reforms in the Tsarist and Communist state. The peasants were at first discontented by the reform, for” a tax of 10% was imposed upon the harvest” (Acton), leading to crop prices temporarily rising, causing a famine reminiscent of the Tsarist age, indicating little change. However a year later the grain harvest increased by 19 million tonnes, this proved to be significant as the impacts of the NEP allowed Russian society to become more self-sufficient, without the need for imports. The reform was also significant, as it encouraged the growth of a bourgeoisie in the form of NEP men; older Bolsheviks viewed them as a threat to the socialist government, yet they accepted that a middle class was a necessary step towards complete socialism. The view that Lenin’s reforms were significant, therefore is credible, for despite gaining a government that had been ravaged by two wars, and rapid inflation, after about eight years Lenin’s NEP encouraged great economic growth, thus consolidating the position of the Bolshevik government in Russian society based upon Lenin’s work as a reforming
* Aimed to improve conditions for the working class as Stalin believed the revolution was a working class one, and had seen how the peasants prospered but the working class did not under the NEP. NEP was a very slow industrialising plan, a new approach was needed as oil, coal, steel, iron and copper production was at a low level compared to other European countries. * Believed to be possible due to the fake ‘successes’ of collectivisation. * Stalin aimed to build a reputation that would surpass Lenin and show that he was against right-wing policies like the NEP of Bukharin. * Series of targets drawn up by the State Planning Committee, very extensive but the officials who set the targets had only a sketchy knowledge of the factory they were dealing with.
In 1890, Russia encouraged a ‘great spurt’ as their industry grew rapidly. A major reason for the exceptional growth was the increase in the output of coal in the Ukraine and of oil in the Caucasus. However, the motives of the tsarist government were military rather than economic. Economic expansion attracted the tsar and his ministers because it was a means of improving the strength of the Russian armed forces, as a growing industry would produce more and better guns, equipment and ships. An outstanding individual involved in Russia’s development was Sergei Witte.
Once serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861 its economic growth ran at an average of 4.6 percent between 1862 and 1900, speeding up over the years. As a result of Russia's newfound prosperity, the economic policies Alexander II implemented proved to be successful. He drew up plans for a network of railways which served to increase both Russia’s infrastructure and attack and defence capabilities. He also invested heavily in steel, weapons and textile factories to further his goal of making Russia industrially capable. As well as stabilizing the country economically, Alexander II also implemented a wave of liberal reforms in Russia during his reign.