Economy + Witte

Economy + Witte

Economy focused on agriculture
1. Difficult to sell enough grain at export to raise money for large scale industrial development
2. Backward and unproductive
1881 – Russia was a great power of Europe, along with Britain, France, Germany and Austria-Hungary
1. Largest in terms of physical size and population but was the most underdeveloped economically
2. To maintain this the economy needed to be improved, modernised and increase wealth
Nikolai Bunge – Alexander III’s first finance minister
1. Introduced laws to reduce the tax burden on the peasants - 1882
2. Peasant bank 1882 – Loan facilities to peasants to help them increase the size of their landholdings and make them more productive
Ivan Vyshnegradsky replaced Bunge
1. Financed Russia’s economic development from foreign lands
  1. Most came from France and Britain by the late 1890’s
    1. Foundations laid for the rapid economic development of Russia
2. 1889 – Financial incentives for peasants to migrate to the Eastern lands of Siberia to farm
3. Took some pressure off land demand but could not prevent catastrophic famines in 1891
Minister of Finance Sergei Witte responsible for modernisation (1892-1914)
1. Russia needed to rapidly industrialise BUT: Lacked a large business class Lacked a large urban workforce Lacked enough money to invest in industrialis
2. Good development in coal, iron, petroleum and steel
3. Industrial expansion – “The Great Spurt”
4. Attempt to attract massive foreign investment
5. Peasants forced to pay extra taxes
6. Exports mainly agricultural produce
  1. Exports 453 million roubles. Imported 652 million roubles
7. Development controlled directly by the Government
8. Development of railways produced impressive growth statistics (but in comparison with other countries, not very good)

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	Created by Katie Mortley about 11 years ago