To What Extent Was the Russian Economy and Russian Society Transformed by the 1900’s?

486 Words2 Pages
During the reign of alexander III, there were many changes in the economy and society; there was a big boom in the Russian production. There was also a change in the society of Russia as there was a growing population, also there were allot more jobs to apply for due to the modernisation of Russia. I will explore the different factors that changed Russia by the 1900’s. Most of the change in Russia’s economy was due to the minister of finance, Sergei Witte. Sergei was a key member of the government under the rule of both Alexander III and Nicholas II. Witte’s largest project was to improve the transport across Russia; he did this by improving the Trans-Siberian Railway which was constructed between 1891 and 1902. The line stretched for over 6000 kilometres and was intended to open up the more remote parts of Russia, which would in turn make the production better all over Russia as the produce would be able to be transported quicker across the different industries. Obviously this factor improved the economy as it meant that the country would be able to produce more and quicker. This railway also opened up a range of different jobs, meaning that the unemployment of Russia plummeted. Although this factor of the changing in Russia was very substantial, it promised more than it delivered. Sections of the railway were still incomplete in 1914 and it did not greatly improve or increase east-west communications. Between 1881 and 1910, Russia’s trade with other countries dramatically increased very dramatically this is seen by the statistics as the exported goods is higher than the imported goods, also the productivity of natural resources dramatically increased as there was allot more iron, coal and oil being produced and sent from Russia to the rest of Europe. Although this was a large advantage to the economy of Russia, the grain production did increase, but it didn’t
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