Sergei Witte - The Great Spurt

Impact of the Witte system
1. Coal, iron and oil production rose.
  1. Russia still lagged behind other Great Powers.
2. 1903 - most of railway complete.
3. 1900 - half of industrial workforce employed in factories.
  1. Large cities grew at a phenomenal rate.
    1. Poor living and working conditions.
      1. Development of social unrest and radical alternatives.
Aim to make the Russian economy strong enough to maintain Great Power title.
1. Lacked industrialisation factors:
  1. Very small business class - class that was central to development of European economies in 19th century.
  2. Peasants did not have complete freedom of movement - limited migration of workers into cities.
  3. Economy did not have sufficent funds to invest in industrial development - couldnt produce enough surplus grain to raise money.
Witte System
1. Gov. placed emphasis on capital goods - iron and steel, coal and machinery.
2. Economic development financed from abroad. Also, Russias extra taxes were levied on already over-taxed peasantry.
3. Trans-Siberian Railway
  1. Run 700km across Russia - from St. Petersburg to Vladivostock
  2. Provided communication needed to explot Siberian economy.

Resource summary

	Created by charlotte151996 about 11 years ago