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despite the inconclusive character of the emancipation legislation,
it did lead to irreversible changes in all spheres of russian life.
it accelerated the process of the cleavage of the peasantry: more
enterprising peasants increased their wealth and left the
patriarchal commune, while others grew destitute and turned into
dispossessed proletarians. as a result, mines and factories in
rapidly developing industrial regions gained a steady flow of cheap
wage labor. |
the natural economy was disintegrating, as a result, the
russian internal market抯 capacity increased, providing a powerful
boost to the growth of industrial production. by the early 1880s the
industrial revolution in russia had finally arrived. alongside the
older, traditional branches of industry, new ones were created: coal
mining, oil extracting, and machine building; the country was
covered by a network of railways. the new social classes of
bourgeoisie and industrial proletariat were rapidly developing. all
strata of society were experiencing change.
in
the final decade of the nineteenth century russia抯
industrialization experienced remarkable acceleration under the
guidance of sergei witte (1849?915). he was an economic planner and
manager of the type common in the governments of western europe and
the united states, but rare in the high officialdom of imperial
russia. his background was unusual for a tsarist minister, because
he was not a noble but had made his career in business and railway
administration. witte became the minister of finance under alexander
iii and continued in that post under nicholas ii until 1903.
in
1897 he established a gold standard in russia, thus fixing the value
of the rouble against other currencies and against gold. this
measure did much to add stability and prestige to russian economic
development and to attract foreign capital. witte put into effect a
massive state-sponsored program of railway building, including the
construction of the trans-siberian railway. the rapid growth of
railways depended on government orders for iron, coal, locomotives,
and equipment. all this boosted the development of russian heavy
industry and engineering. in the final decade of the nineteenth
century the russian government抯 strategy of economic development
yielded spectacular rates of industrial growth: about 8 percent a
year.
the
state in russia had always kept most important branches of industry
under its control, and it continued to exercise control in the new
conditions. in the early twentieth century special bodies were set
up that reflected the close relationship between the government and
leading capitalists, such as the shipbuilding council and the
congress of transport affairs. these organizations were comprised of
industrialists and government officials. they oversaw the allocation
of government orders, gave subsidies and tax benefits, and so on.
for
these reasons, the emerging russian bourgeoisie had an ambivalent
attitude toward the autocratic-bureaucratic regime. on the one hand,
as its wealth increased, it began to crave political power and found
itself in opposition to the autocracy. on the other hand, the
continual financial support from the ruling bureaucracy and the
dependence on government orders and other benefits made the
bourgeoisie抯 opposition fairly weak and inconsistent. because of
its political servility, the bourgeoisie commanded little respect in
russian society.
