Prior to the “five year plans”, Russia had mostly a peasant farming economy. The 1750 to 1914 period in Russia was met by a large increase in the available labor force. Coupled with an increase in population, Russia's emancipation of the serfs freed many of Russia's serfdom from perpetual slavery. However, the emancipation process was planned so as to put the freed serfs deeply in debt to the original owners of the land. In fact, many of the serfs were so deeply indebted that they relocated to Russia's cities in search of better work opportunities.
Conversely, the higher-value rouble helped increase the prices of goods. Witte's main method for raising the capital and modernisation would be the Trans-Siberian Railway, which from 1881 to 1900 increased from 13,000 to 33,000 miles. It was hoped it would encourage east to West migration of workers, to feed in to industry, however this did not happen. Instead, it helped growth and exports of Russia by making transportation of materials far easier. On the other hand, the growth in population compared with national output shows less production per head, and therefore less efficient production.
By collectivizing and industrializing the agriculture and industries. Stalin hoped to improve Russia’s economy through making production of food and materials more efficient. To assess how successful were Stalin’s industrial policies in developing the Russian economy one would have to measure the results by the production of goods and the quality of life as that is much to do with food production. By 1928, the USSR was 20 million tons of grain short to feed the towns. Industrialization was creating even more towns, increasing this problem.
In the period 1783 to 93 William Pitt was involved in many different reforms, in areas of finance, administrative and commercial. These were crucial in some way and contributed to Pitt trying to bring about a national revival in Britain. The American War of Independence had had a serious affect on Britain, by ruining government finances, due to the costs of war and the disruption to trade caused by the war. The main problem facing Pitt was the national debt; it had rose, by 91%, to £250 million, with the government expenditure exceeding income by £10.5 million per annum. In addition the interest on the debt alone was £9 million per year.
During the Nineteenth and Twentieth century the impressive leap in terms of industrialisation throughout Western Europe had moved the world forward, However Russia “could not generate enough capital to support rapid industrial development or to compete with advanced countries.” Russia’s incredibly diverse and expansive land made it very hard for Russian people to collaborate, as well as having difficulties with utilising Russia’s resources. This led to Russia being almost 100 years less industrially developed in the early Twentieth century The Russia that can be considered as Modern Russia would be that of the 1960s. There were massive changes to how Russia was viewed by the mid-20th century, such as it being a huge economic superpower, the high tension between America and the USSR resulting in the cold war, and the development of Nuclear weapons such as RDS-1 and ‘layer cake’: Russia’s hydrogen bomb. This means that the turning points should be judged by which moved Russia more towards the modern Russia they were known as in the 60s. Smitha talks of how “Russia fought the Crimean War with the largest standing army in Europe.” This being said, having the biggest army
In this essay I am going to look at these areas. By 1914 Russia is arguably seen to be on the path to progress, Its oil production was second in the world, its coal production had quadrupled, health services were established and was seen as the 5th largest industrial power. Stolypins’ land reforms had been passed and Russia’s agriculture was steadily modernising. However it is argued this was too little too late, Stolypins reforms would take at least 20 years to see a noticeable change he was assassinated in 1911 and the reforms lost momentum and, due to the beginning of the war, government funding lessened. War breaking out in 1914 meant the Russian economy had to change to be suitable for the Total war Russia was involved in.
‘The Tsar Liberator’ How valid is this description was this of Alexander II? In 1855 Russia was ruled by Alexander Romanov in the form of an autocracy in which the Tsar had absolute power. During this period the economic situation of the country was is ruins, due to the increasing size of the population in 1855 the population was 70 million and in 1900 it grew to 130 million, therefore the already limited 6% of ideal farming land throughout Russia was strained, by the vast amount of mouths to feed. In addition the Russian industry was considered backwards due to Britain leading the industrial revolution it was known as the workshop of the world. Furthermore the social climate fared no better with 80% of the population consisting of peasants, there was a huge divide between the rich and poor.
Figure 3 shows the changes of global economic power over time. There are many reasons for the shifts in economic power such as the Second World War and the collapse of the British Empire. In 1913, Britain had a GDP almost twice the size of The USA's and made up 37% of the world's economy. By 1950, Britain's economic influence had decreased, its GDP now making up only 7% of the global economy. During this period The USA had become the world's largest economic power, making up 27% of the world's economy compared to the 19% in 1913.
The first social revolution came about during a period of great change not only in Russia but throughout Europe. These changes developed across a wide spectrum, such as from religion to politics, from economic development and from changes in the societies of Europe as a whole. A lot of the change occurred on the back of the industrial revolution and the competition between the various powers in Europe to be the best, the strongest and the most advanced, both socially and technologically. This essay will try to give and insight into the background of the socialist revolution; what were the main triggers or causes which eventually led to the conflict, what were the main challenges which the Russian empire faced at the time. This will be explored alongside the ways in which developments in revolutionary methods were to the fore throughout Europe during this period.
In recent years, the Russian economy took a devastating hit during the global economic crisis from 2008 to 2009. They took a hit because oil prices decreased tremendously, which are one of Russia’s biggest exports and largest resource. Fortunately, the economic disaster was fixed World Bank, which led to high oil prices and the growth of the Russian economy. Moreover, Russia has gone on to reduce unemployment and has lowered inflation rates. It has also joined the World Trade Organization, which helps to reduce trade barriers for foreign goods and services, which will help to build allies in the future.