Development of the economy of the twentieth century. Economic development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century Three fundamental positions have emerged

As a result of economic development in the post-reform period (especially the industrial boom of the 90s of the 19th century, which ended by 1880-1890), the system of Russian capitalism finally took shape. This was expressed in the growth of entrepreneurship and capital, improvement of production, its technological re-equipment, and an increase in the number of hired labor in all spheres of the national economy. Simultaneously with other capitalist countries, a second technical revolution took place in Russia (acceleration of production of means of production, widespread use of electricity and other achievements of modern science), which coincided with. From a backward agrarian country, Russia by the beginning of the 20th century. became an agrarian-industrial power (82% employed in agriculture). In terms of industrial output, it entered the top five largest countries (England, France, the USA and Germany) and was increasingly drawn into the global economic system.
In modern science, there are three echelons of modernization:
1. Countries with a high level of capitalist development (England, France, USA).
2. Countries with a medium (Germany, Japan) and low-medium (Russia, Austria-Hungary) level of capitalist development.
3. Countries of weak development of capitalism (countries of Latin America, Africa, Asia).
At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. capitalism entered a new, monopolistic stage. Powerful production and financial associations (industrial monopolies and financial unions) were formed. Gradually, industrial and financial capital merged, and industrial and financial groups emerged. They took a dominant position in the economy: they regulated the volume of production and sales, dictated prices, and divided the world into spheres of influence. The internal and foreign policies of capitalist states were increasingly subordinated to their interests. The system of monopoly capitalism, changing and adapting to new historical realities, persisted throughout the 20th century.
The special nature of capitalism at the turn of the century was noted by many scientists and politicians, in particular the English economist John Hobson. According to his version (and also according to V.I. Lenin), the characteristic features of imperialism are:
1. the creation in industry of large associations, enterprises - monopolies (draw an analogy with modern TNCs - transnational corporations), dictating their own rules of the game in the market;
2. the formation, as a result of the merger of banking capital with industrial capital, of a new, more maneuverable and active type of capital, linking banks, enterprises, communications, and the service sector into a single system - financial;
3. the export of capital to other countries begins to dominate over commodity exports, which makes it possible to obtain super-profits through the exploitation of cheap labor, cheap raw materials and low land prices;
4. economic division of the world between unions of monopolies;
5. political, territorial division of the world between leading countries, colonial wars.
Monopolies are large economic associations that have concentrated in their hands most of the production and marketing of goods.
The process of formation of monopoly capitalism was also typical for Russia. It affected her economic, social and political life. Along with the manifestation of general patterns, Russia had its own characteristics of monopoly capitalism. This was due to a number of factors:
Firstly, historical: it switched to capitalism later than many European countries;
secondly, economic-geographical: a vast territory with different natural conditions and its uneven development;
thirdly, socio-political: the preservation of autocracy, landownership, class inequality, political lack of rights of the broad masses, national oppression;
fourthly, national: the different levels of economic and sociocultural state of the numerous peoples of the empire also predetermined the uniqueness of Russian monopoly capitalism.
In the process of monopolization in Russia, four stages can be distinguished:
1880-1890s - the emergence of the first cartels on the basis of temporary agreements on joint prices and division of sales markets, the strengthening of banks;
1900-1908 - creation of large syndicates, banking monopolies, concentration of banks;
1909-1913 - creation of “vertical” syndicates, uniting enterprises for the purchase of raw materials, their production and sales; the emergence of trusts and concerns; merging of industrial “banking capitals, creation of financial capital;
1913-1917 - the emergence of state-monopoly capitalism; merging of financial capital, monopolies with the state apparatus.
Russia is usually classified as the second echelon of modernization. There are different points of view among researchers on the question of the level of development of capitalism in Russia - average or weak-average. In addition, along with the opinion about the “catch-up” nature of Russian modernization (formational approach), there is also an opinion about the special path of development of Russia, about the uselessness and futility of the race for the leader (civilizational approach).
Peculiarities:
1. In Russia, railway construction began before the industrial revolution, being a powerful stimulus, on the one hand, for the industrial development of the country, and on the other, for the capitalist evolution of the entire national economy.
2. The system of Russian factory production in many industries took shape without going through the previous stages - crafts and manufacturing.
3. The formation of the credit system in Russia took place in a different sequence. By the beginning of the 20th century. this system was represented primarily by large and major joint-stock commercial banks, and the rapid growth of medium and small credit institutions occurred only during the pre-war industrial boom.
4. There was a rapid growth of various forms of economic organization of production - small-scale private capitalist, joint-stock, state-capitalist, monopoly, and then state-monopoly.
5. Russia was characterized not by the export, but by the import of capital.
6. A high degree of concentration of production and labor has been created.
7. An important feature of the capitalist evolution of Russia was that the autocratic state played a huge role in economic life and the formation of the main elements of new relations.
State intervention in economic life was expressed:
· in the creation of state-owned factories (military production), which were excluded from the sphere of free competition;
· in state control over railway transport and the construction of new roads (2/3 of the railway network belonged to the state);
· the fact that the state owned a significant part of the land;
· the existence of a significant public sector in the economy;
· in the establishment of protectionist tariffs by the state, provision of government loans and orders;
· in the creation by the state of conditions for attracting foreign investment (in 1897, a monetary reform was carried out (Witte), which eliminated bimetallism and established the gold backing of the ruble and its convertibility).
The state actively patronized the development of domestic industry, banking, transport, and communications. Significant foreign investment began to flow into the country. But the development of the Russian economy was negatively affected by the following factors:
- the multi-structure nature of the economy - along with the private capitalist, monopoly and state-monopoly, small-scale commodity (handicraft industry), semi-serfdom and natural-patriarchal (community) structures were preserved;
- unevenness and deep disproportions in the development of individual industries;
- dependence on external grain markets and foreign investment, as a result of which Russia suffered greatly from the crises of 1898-1904 and 1907-1910;
- a combination of high rates of economic development with low labor productivity (2-3 times lower than in Europe), a lag in production per capita and technical equipment of labor;
- the Russian bourgeoisie did not have access to power and was not free to make decisions; it never left the class framework of the guild merchants;
- the presence of powerful bureaucratic capital, which represented a huge state economy - colossal land and forest funds, mines and metallurgical plants in the Urals, Altai, Siberia, military factories, railways, a state bank, communications enterprises that belonged to the treasury and were managed by non-bourgeois people, but by feudal-bureaucratic methods.

Industry
Russia was characterized by cyclicality:
Crisis of 1900-1903 - falling prices, reduction in production, mass unemployment.
1901 - locomotive-building syndicate "Prodparovoz".
1902 - syndicates “Prodamet” and “Trubosale”.
1904-1908 - decline in the rate of industrial production (depression).
Since 1909, there has been an industrial boom associated with the growth of military orders and the widespread investment of financial (including foreign) funds. The share of domestic products on the world market has almost doubled.
2nd place in the world - oil production.
4th place - mechanical engineering.
5th - mining of coal, iron ore, steel smelting.
At the same time, Russia ranked 15th in the world in electricity production, and some industries (automobile and aircraft manufacturing) did not exist at all. In the production of industrial goods per capita, Russia lagged behind the leading capitalist countries by 5-10 times.
Agriculture
Despite the accelerated development of industry, the agricultural sector remained leading in terms of its share in the country's economy. 82% of its population was employed in this industry. It ranked first in the world in terms of production volume: it accounted for 50% of the world rye harvest and 25% of world wheat exports. Features of agriculture:
- grain specialization of agriculture, which led to agrarian overpopulation and land depletion;
- dependence on grain prices on the foreign market in conditions of increased competition from the USA, Argentina, and Australia;
- low capacity of the bulk of peasant farms, an increase in production was noted only in landowner farms and farms of wealthy peasants (no more than 15-20% of all peasants);
- the location of Russia is a “zone of risky agriculture”, which, with low agricultural technology, led to chronic crop failures and famine;
- preservation of semi-serfdom and patriarchal remnants in the village. The agricultural sector was only partially included in the modernization process. It was the problems of agriculture that became the main core of the economic, social and political life of the country at the beginning of the century.
Thus, Russia embarked on the path of modernization lagging behind Western Europe. The contradictions in the development of the Russian economy were associated precisely with the insufficient involvement of its individual sectors in modernization. A serious obstacle to economic development was the autocracy and the political dominance of the nobility.
Finance
Under the conditions of monopoly capitalism, the Russian financial system was determined by state and private forms of banking capital. The main place was occupied by the State Bank, which performed two central functions - emission and credit. He provided support to banking monopolies and was involved in government lending to industry and trade. The Noble Land and Peasant Land State Banks contributed to the strengthening of capitalist relations in agriculture. At the same time, with their credit policy they supported landownership.
A significant role was played by the system of joint-stock commercial banks, which took an active part in the development of the credit system.
In Russia, there was a concentration and centralization of capital by large joint-stock banks (Russian-Asian, St. Petersburg International, Russian for Foreign Trade, Azov-Don). They combined 47% of all assets. On their basis, a financial oligarchy emerged, closely connected with the bureaucracy and the large nobility. It penetrated into all spheres of the economy and had a strong influence on the socio-political life of the country.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The state financial system was in a difficult situation. Neither the establishment of a wine monopoly in 1895 nor the implementation of a monetary reform in 1897 helped. The state budget was burdened by the costs of maintaining the bureaucratic and police apparatus, a huge army, pursuing an aggressive foreign policy, and suppressing popular uprisings.
The crisis of 1900-1903 dealt a severe blow to public finances. The government treasury was virtually emptied by attempts to save unprofitable industrial enterprises and support the collapsing banking system. After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. and revolutions of 1905-1907. Russia's public debt reached 4 billion rubles. The government tried to reduce the budget deficit by increasing direct and indirect taxes and reducing spending on economic, military and cultural transformations. Large government foreign loans temporarily supported the financial system, but annual payments on them on the eve of the First World War reached a huge figure of 405 million rubles.
Transport
Unlike other sectors of the national economy, the transport system at the beginning of the 20th century. has not undergone significant changes. Railway transport occupied a leading place in the domestic transportation of goods and passengers. However, extensive government construction of railways was curtailed due to lack of funds. Attempts to organize private railway construction did not yield positive results. In terms of the overall provision of rail tracks, Russia lagged significantly behind the countries of Western Europe and the United States. The vast territory was not easy to cover with an extensive railway network. Construction in the 80s of the XIX century. railway in Central Asia (from Krasnovodsk to Samarkand) and the Great Siberian Railway (from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok) in 1891-1905. was a significant step in solving this transport problem.
Waterways continued to play an important role. The Russian river fleet outnumbered the flotillas of other countries and was well equipped. Its own merchant fleet was small. The bulk of Russian cargo was transported by foreign ships.
The highway network has increased very slightly. Russia remained a country of highways and country roads, where horse-drawn transportation predominated. At that time, a car was a luxury item for the privileged classes.
In general, for the Russian economy at the beginning of the 20th century. characterized by the coincidence of the processes of industrialization and monopolization. The government's economic policy was aimed at accelerated industrial development and was protectionist in nature. In many ways, the state took the initiative in the development of capitalist relations, using methods of economic recovery tested in other countries. At the beginning of the 20th century. Russia's gap with the leading capitalist powers was significantly reduced, its economic independence and the possibility of pursuing an active foreign policy were ensured. Russia has turned into a moderately developed capitalist country. Its progress was based on the powerful dynamics of economic development, which created enormous potential for further forward movement. It was interrupted by the First World War.
Reforms S.Yu. Witte
He had a significant influence on the domestic and foreign policy of the Russian government, actively contributed to the development of Russian capitalism and tried to combine this process with the strengthening of the monarchy. In his work, Witte made extensive use of scientific and statistical data. On his initiative, major economic events were carried out.
Under Witt, state intervention in the economy expanded significantly: in addition to customs and tariff activities in the field of foreign trade and legal support for business activities, the state supported individual groups of entrepreneurs (primarily associated with the highest government circles) and mitigated conflicts between them; supported some areas of industry (mining and metallurgy, distilling, railway construction), and also actively developed the state economy. Witte paid special attention to personnel policy: he issued a circular on the recruitment of persons with higher education, and sought the right to recruit personnel based on practical work experience. The management of industry and trade affairs was entrusted to V.I. Kovalevsky.
In general, major economic events were carried out on Witte’s initiative:
· strengthening the role of the state in the economy:
· introduction of uniform tariffs on railways;
· state regulation of domestic and foreign trade through the I tax system;
· concentration of most of the railways in the hands of the state;
· expansion of the public sector in industry;
· activation of the State Bank;
· introduction of a state monopoly on the trade in alcohol;
· strengthening private entrepreneurship:
· flexible tax legislation;
· combating the budget deficit;
· strengthening of the national currency (the monetary reform of 1897 abolished bimetallism and introduced the gold equivalent of the ruble);
· moderate protectionism towards foreign investors.
Witte proposed a number of measures aimed at destroying the community and turning the peasant into the owner of the land, as well as improving the situation of the workers. Witte's program did not find adequate support in the tsar's inner circle.
Despite the far from complete implementation of his plans, Witte did a lot to transform Russia into an industrial country. Under him, construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Chinese Eastern Railway began, finances were significantly strengthened, and the budget deficit decreased. The authorities did not have the foresight to follow the path of reforms “from above” and carry out the political modernization of the country. The next attempt to change the face of Russia was made “from below,” during the revolution of 1905-1907.
Taxes and duties of the peoples of Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century
The uneven distribution of taxes and taxes and their high amounts gave rise to persistent and numerous arrears observed among all categories of indigenous residents. For settled foreigners of the Yenisei province for 5 years (1895-1900), the arrears for state zemstvo duties averaged 62%, for private zemstvo duties - 71.4%. Among nomadic foreigners, these figures were 19.5 and 32.8%, respectively. The discrepancy between the size of taxes and the level of solvency of the rural aboriginal population gave rise to arrears for other types of tax payments. Sources note chronic arrears in the payment of per capita and quit taxes - the main type of taxation of settled aborigines. In the Yenisei province, arrears in per capita taxes amounted to 15.7%, and in quitrent taxes - 7.5%. The slight reduction in arrears in salary payments observed from time to time is not at all explained by the increase in the solvency of the natives, but by the shameless extortion of them by the tsarist authorities, especially when collecting local taxes. At the same time, the confiscation of property and its sale at auction, the arrest of ancestors and village elders, and other forms of administrative coercion, up to the sending of military commands, were widely practiced. But, despite these measures, arrears were constantly increasing. In the Tobolsk province, for example, after the transfer of some nomads to the category of settled people, the tax system fell even more heavily on foreigners. In 1891, arrears were calculated at 87,566 rubles, which was 140% of the annual salary. In 1901 - already 98,023 rubles. In the Yakut region in 1892, arrears in zemstvo payments amounted to 187,664 rubles. By 1900, thanks to the efforts of the administration, their size was reduced to 116,589 rubles, but further collection of arrears remained problematic for the local administration.
As a result, we note that during the period under review, taxes and duties of the indigenous population of Siberia were of a mixed nature in form and content. In the total taxation of the peoples of the region, local and personal responsibilities accounted for at least 50% of cash payments. The taxes and duties of settled aborigines in practice were no different from the tax duties of the Russian peasantry. However, the most typical form of tax obligations of nomadic and wandering foreigners - the absolute majority of the indigenous population - was yasak.

This text is an unedited version of the transcript, which will be edited in the future.

Story. 9th grade

Topic 1. Russia in 1900-1916.

Lesson 2. Economic development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century

Kobba D.V., candidate of historical sciences, teacher of State Educational Institution Gymnasium 1579

Economic development of Russia - agriculture, Witte's monetary reform, monopoly capitalism in the post-reform period

The topic of our lesson today is “Economic development of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century”, Witte S.Yu.’s monetary reform, capitalism at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries, monopolization of Russia, Russian industry at the beginning of the 20th century and the economic development of Russia in the post-reform period. Unsuccessful, to say the least, the Crimean War revealed the destructiveness of Russia’s economic backwardness from the developed capitalist countries of Western Europe. The subsequent reforms of Alexander II pushed the entrepreneurial activity of the Russian state, but the real impetus for economic growth was the beginning of the construction of the railway network in 1893. From 1895 to 1899, the annual increase in railway tracks in Russia was up to 3000 kilometers, and in the following years it was no lower 2000 kilometers per year. Such rapid construction, of course, dragged other industries along with it. The most striking event in the construction of railways in Russia during this period of time was the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The growth of industrial production during this period in Russia was the highest in the world: 8.1 percent - no developed capitalist country had such indicators. At the same time, Russia was seriously lagging behind the leading capitalist powers in such important indicators as labor productivity, social guarantees, and a number of other economic indicators.

A significant feature of the Russian economic system of that period of time should be recognized as the presence of a significant public sector. The so-called state-owned enterprises, engaged in the production of exclusively military products, such as the Obukhov plant, the Tula plant, and the Sestroretsk plant, had exceptional competitive advantages over other manufacturers. In addition, the state lobbied for the interests of a number of large enterprises and entrepreneurs or placed its orders with private enterprises close to the government or some ruling circles.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, foreign capital began to actively penetrate into the Russian economy. At the same time, there is even some specificity in the placement of capital by investor countries. Thus, in particular, French capital, as a rule, was placed in banks, and in total the French placed up to two billion gold francs of their capital in Russia before the First World War. German capital, as a rule, was machine-building: the Germans built industrial enterprises here, and many of these enterprises are still in operation. English capital, as a rule, was located in the extractive industries, primarily coal and oil.

At the same time, the main forms of capitalist enterprises, such as cartel, trust, syndicate, began to take shape in Russia. By the way, don't forget to look up what these terms mean. However, the main form of monopoly in Russia was the syndicate, that is, an agreement on the joint sale of goods. In Russia, such large monopolistic enterprises as Prodomet, Prodvagon, Prodsuhar, Gvozd or the Nobel syndicate were organized.

Let's summarize. We see that capitalist relations are developing in Russia, but at the same time, Russian capitalism had significant specifics. The first is the significant share of the state in the Russian economy. Well, the second is the active development of monopolistic forms of management, which were convenient for the autocracy.

1. Features of Russian capitalism and its economy at the beginning of the 20th century.

2. Major monopolies, banks, financial groups.

3. The impact of the First World War on the Russian economy. State regulation of the Russian economy.

Features of Russian capitalism and its economy at the beginning of the 20th century.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia ranked 5th in terms of industrial production (with Japan and France).

Features of Russian capitalism.

Russian capitalism was no different from Western European capitalism, but had its own characteristics. Russian capitalism can be called military-feudal, intertwined with a dense network of pre-capitalist relations. The peculiarity of Russian capitalism was a high degree of concentration of production and concentration of the working class. Thus, an enterprise with over 500 workers employed 54.6% of the Russian working class (USA - 33%). The peculiarity of Russian capitalism also boiled down to the fact that the import of capital prevailed over the export. The peculiarities of Russian capitalism have left their mark on the country's economy and its social development.

Russian economy at the beginning of the 20th century

So the World Crisis of 1900 - 1903. for many countries it ended in 1903, and in Russia it dragged on almost until 1910. The crisis hit with particular force those industries that developed most rapidly in the post-reform period - the coal, metallurgical, and oil industries.

And only the Russian-Japanese War brought revival in the military industry and heavy industry, but the production of light industry sharply decreased. Since 1909, a revival began in the Russian economy, which turned into an economic recovery. For 1900 – 1913 the average annual growth rate of large industry was 6.3%. During the period from the reform of 1861 to the beginning of the First World War, industrial production increased 12.5 times (in Germany 7 times, in France 3 times).

Agriculture in Russia remains the main industry. The owners of the land were nobles, peasants, merchants, clergy, and townspeople. A significant part of the land was owned by the state, but landowners remained the major owners of the land. After the abolition of serfdom in Russia, land leasing began to develop. In 1901, 19% of privately owned land was leased. For Russia there was a typical short-term form of land lease (for example, annual). The presence of feudal remnants in the countryside contributed to class and social contradictions, which were expressed in the aggravation of the class struggle between landowners and peasants.

Stolypin agrarian reform.

At the beginning of the 20th century, peasant uprisings occurred in the central provinces, the Volga region, and Transcaucasia. Therefore, the agrarian question comes to the fore. A new agrarian reform began to be developed in 1906. The reform was headed by Prime Minister Stolypin. The reform consists of 3 points:

1. Destruction of the community and the settling of the kulaks in the village.

2. Sale to peasants through the peasant land bank of landowners' lands.

3. Relocation of peasants to the outskirts and, above all, to Siberia.

The resettlement policy in some provinces failed. In 1911, about 60% of the resettled peasants returned. 40 million acres of land that belonged to Emperor Nicholas 2 were transferred to the peasant land bank.

In 1913, after the reform, record grain harvests were collected in Russia. By February 1917, peasants owned and leased 90% of all arable land in Russia.

• 1. Characteristic features of the Russian economy.
• - Agrarian-industrial nature of the economy: in the structure of national income, the share of agriculture was 51%, the share of industry - 28%, the share of transport and trade - 21%.
• - Extensive development path: economic growth was ensured through the economic development of new lands, construction of new industrial enterprises and railways.
• - High rates of economic growth: in the half century after the abolition of serfdom, the volume of industrial production increased 7 times, which was the highest figure in the world.
• - Multistructure of the economy: at the same time there existed natural-patriarchal, semi-serfdom, small-scale commodity, private capitalist and state capitalist economic structures.
• - The presence of numerous elements of feudalism that hampered the development of the economy: landownership, the labor system, communal landownership.
• - The large role of the state in economic life: the state owned 70% of all railways, 25% of large industrial enterprises, huge land and forest lands, a policy of protectionism, the provision of government loans and the placement of government orders in private enterprises.
• - High level of industrial monopolization: by 1914 there were 150 monopolies, the largest of which were the Prodamet, Produgol, Prodvagon, and Mazut syndicates.
• - Merger of financial and industrial capital and the formation of financial-industrial groups (financial oligarchy): the Russian-Asian Bank controlled the Putilov and Nevsky factories, the International Commercial Bank controlled the Sormovsky and Kolomna factories, etc.
• - Large share of foreign capital: 40% of investments in the economy were foreign, 75% of banking funds were controlled by foreign capital, a total of 230 foreign companies operated in Russia.
• - High degree of concentration of production and labor: more than half of all workers are employed in enterprises with more than 500 employees, the largest plants: Putilovsky, Nevsky, Russian-Baltic, Kolomensky, Sormovsky.
• - Uneven development of individual industries: generally advanced industry in the presence of backward agriculture; In industry, the most developed are the textile, metallurgical, and mining industries, with the mechanical engineering and chemical industries being underdeveloped.
• - Uneven distribution of productive forces across the country: the presence of seven industrial regions - Central Industrial (Moscow), Northwestern (St. Petersburg), Baltic, Western (Polish), Southern (Donbass), Baku, Ural.
• - The predominance of the export of capital over the import: Russia exported capital in small quantities to Persia and China, large financial resources were invested in the Russian economy by France, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, and the USA.
• - Weak technical equipment of production and low labor productivity compared to Western countries: in industry, labor productivity is 9 times less than in the United States.
• - Widespread small industry (crafts and trades): for 30 thousand large industrial enterprises there were 150 thousand small enterprises, many peasants were engaged in crafts.
• 2. Development cycles of the Russian economy.
• - In general, the Russian economy was of a market capitalist nature and therefore developed cyclically:
• - 1890s, industrial boom and the beginning of industrialization;
• - 1900-1903, economic crisis;
• - 1904-1908, stagnation, depression in the economy;
• - 1909-1914, economic recovery, continued industrialization.
• 3. Consequences of the economic crisis.
• - Temporary slowdown in economic development (depression).
• - Ruin of small and medium-sized enterprises (3 thousand).
• - Rising unemployment.
• - Growing social tension.
• - Monopolization in industry.
• - Incorporation of large enterprises.
• 4. Reasons for the industrial boom of 1909-1914.
• - Entry of a market economy after a period of stagnation into a stage of recovery.
• - Increase in government orders to industrial enterprises in connection with the rearmament of the army and navy.
• - Increase in income from grain exports due to productive years and high prices on the world market.
• - Increase in the purchasing power of the population due to the abolition of redemption payments from peasants and increased wages from workers.
• - Inflow of capital from foreign investors.
• 5. Factors that hampered the technical re-equipment of Russian industry.
• - Cheap labor.
• - Cheapness of natural resources.
• - Lack of capital among entrepreneurs.
• - Lack of qualified workers.
• 6. Reasons for the wide spread of small industry.
• - Insufficient level of development of the factory industry and stable demand for handicraft products.
• - Excess of working-age population in rural areas.
• - Seasonal nature of labor in agriculture.
• - The impossibility in most regions of agricultural labor to meet the needs of the family.
• 7. Economic policy of the state.
• - The economic policy of the state was contradictory.
• - On the one hand, the government promoted the development of industry, “imposing capitalism from above”:
  • 1) Investing in the development of heavy industry.
  • 2) Construction of railways.
  • 3) Policy of protectionism.
  • 4) Placement of government orders at private enterprises at prices above market prices.
  • 5) Allocation of loans to entrepreneurs by the State Bank.
  • 6) Attracting foreign capital.
• - On the other hand, the government supported the remaining elements of feudalism and restrained the development of the economy:
  • 1) Support for noble land ownership.
  • 2) Preservation of the peasant community and allotment land use (until 1906).
  • 3) Restriction of freedom of enterprise.
  • 4) The preservation of a huge public sector made the economy ineffective.
  • 8. Goals of economic policy S. Yu. Witte.
• - Industrialization of the country.
• - Creation of a market economy.
• - Integration of the Russian economy into the global one.
• 9. Economic policy measures S. Yu. Witte.
• - Minister of Finance in 1892-1903 Sergei Yurievich Witte carried out a number of important measures that accelerated the economic development of Russia:
  • 1) Accelerated construction of railways was carried out, including the Trans-Siberian Railway.
  • 2) A wine monopoly was introduced (1895) and indirect taxes were increased.
  • 3) The issuance of cash loans to entrepreneurs was established.
  • 4) A monetary reform was carried out (1897), which established the gold content of the ruble.
  • 5) A policy of protectionism was pursued to protect domestic producers.
  • 6) Conditions were created for foreign investment in the Russian economy.
  • 10. Results of the country’s economic development by 1914.

Positive:

• - The world's highest industrial growth rates.
• - 5th place in the world in terms of industrial production.
• - 1st place in the world in terms of agricultural production.
• - The largest grain exporter.
• - The presence of advanced elements of the capitalist economy (monopolies, financial and industrial groups).

Negative:

• - Incomplete industrialization and the predominance of agriculture in the structure of the economy.
• - Lagging behind advanced countries in labor productivity and industrial production per capita.
• - Absence of a number of important industries (machine tool building, automotive industry, chemical industry).
• - Backward agriculture, unresolved agrarian issue.
• - Preservation of pre-capitalist elements of the economy (community, landownership, subsistence farming).
• - High role of foreign capital.

Introduction

1. Russian economy at the beginning of the 20th century

2. Dynamics of economic growth

3. Russia and the world

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Russia's economy was multi-structured. All the main features of the highest stage of capitalism were typical for Russia, but they did not manifest themselves to the same extent. There was a high degree of concentration of production; on this basis, monopolies quickly developed in various forms (cartels, syndicates, trusts, and also concerns during the First World War). The concentration of industry led to the concentration of banking capital, to the formation of financial capital. Russia was the object of a large investment of foreign capital in the form of state, city and other loans, as well as investments in various sectors of the country's economy.

However, despite all this, Russia was a backward country in socio-economic terms.

1. Russian economy at the beginning of the 20th century

The Russian economy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was characterized by periods of boom and bust, but overall its development was steadily on an upward trajectory.

The years 1900-1908 in the Russian economy can be characterized as a period of some decline or, rather, stagnation, and this was not observed in all industries. The general development of industrial production still continued, but was very uneven. For example, iron smelting decreased by 3%, but steel production increased by 24%, oil production fell by a quarter, but coal production increased by 1.5 times. Over these years, the number of employed workers increased by 21%, and the total output of industrial products - by 37%, which can be assessed as a general increase in labor productivity. Overall, during the period from 1890 to 1913, labor productivity in industry increased fourfold.

In 1909-1913, a new economic boom began, which covered almost the entire national economy of the country. Industrial production increased at a particularly rapid pace. In this indicator, Russia was ahead of such developed Western countries as England, France, Germany, and the USA. During this period, the total average annual increase in industrial production was 9%. Iron production increased by 64%, steel - by 82%. Receipts from industrial production in the national income were almost equal to those from the agricultural sector, and industrial products covered 80% of domestic demand.

The fastest growing regions of the country were the Central, Northwestern, Ural, Donbass, Krivoy Rog, Baltic states, and Poland, in which up to 80% of all workers were concentrated and up to 75% of gross industrial output was produced.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the process of concentrating production at the largest enterprises was especially active. By 1912, approximately 75% of all the southern pig iron was produced at 9 metallurgical plants, which employed up to 80% of all steam engines and workers of all metallurgy in the southern region of the country, 65% of oil refining products were produced at 6 large plants. In Russia there were only 8 factories for the production of steam locomotives, 15 factories for the production of carriages.

In 1902, the largest syndicate was founded - “Society for the sale of products of Russian metallurgical plants” (“Prodamet”), its share capital amounted to 900 thousand rubles. At first, it united 14 factories to sell sheet and broadband iron; later the syndicate began to sell rolled products. After Prodamet united 30 factories, including the production of railway rails, this syndicate captured almost 90% of the entire metallurgical production of the Southern region.

At the beginning of the 20th century, such large syndicates were formed as “Prodparovoz” (Council of Locomotive Plants, 1901); “Gvozd” (1903); “Prodvagon” (1904), which covered up to 90% of all orders for railway cars; "Produgol" (1904), which in 1909 accounted for 60% of coal production in the Donbass. There was a fierce struggle between corporations for markets for similar products. Thus, in 1906, the “Roofing” syndicate emerged to sell Ural roofing iron. But by 1913, as a result of competition, Prodamet forced this company out of the market.

Trusts were typical companies in the oil industry. The largest of them was the Nobel brothers partnership, which was engaged in the extraction, processing, transportation and sale of final products. In 1912, in opposition to them, the Russian General Oil Corporation was founded, which managed to cover 27% of oil production in Russia. Its creators were the Russian-Asian and International Commercial Banks with their board in London.

In contrast to heavy industry, light industry lagged noticeably behind in the process of concentration of production. But here, too, cartels and syndicates arose, and the Knopp group, which united cotton factories, had signs of a trust. However, these associations did not occupy a predominant place in the industry as a whole.

In the food industry, several associations of a monopolistic type were also formed: the Yeast syndicate, the Agreement on Prices between flour millers, the already mentioned Sugar Refiners Society, and the salt monopoly under the flag of the Ocean shipping company. In 1913, the Tobacco Trust was founded, which controlled 80% of the capital of this industry. The Russian-Asian Bank was also directly involved in the creation of this trust. 20 associations were created in maritime and river transport. The Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (“Ropit”) dominated the Azov and Black Seas for many years.

One of the methods of behavior of corporations at the beginning of the 20th century was to contain production volumes and increase sales prices on the market for these products. The very first syndicate agreement in the Prodamet system contributed to an increase in iron prices. Later, “Prodamet” introduced the practice of paying bonuses to those enterprises that did not fully fulfill the standard (“quota”) for the production of metallurgical products determined by it. If the quota was exceeded, a fine was levied on the enterprise. In 1911, factories in the South that were part of Prodamet reduced rail production by 20%, while raising prices by 40%. This syndicate ensured that after its formation not a single new large metallurgical enterprise was built; on the contrary, existing plants were closed.

Large companies in the oil industry used the same methods. As a result of the conspiracy in 1902-1912, oil production in Russia decreased, and the price of a pound of oil increased from 6 to 38 kopecks, which significantly increased the profits of oil industrialists.

At the turn of the two centuries, foreign capital began to play a significant role in many sectors of the national economy. Thanks to his consistent policy, S.Yu. Witte achieved the removal of all obstacles to foreign investment, which, in his words, “serve as a cure for poverty.” During this period, Russia became the world's largest importer of capital. In total, over the last decade of the 19th century, the volume of foreign investment in the country’s industry and banking system increased from 214.7 million to 911 million rubles. Many investors recognized that the monetary reform of 1897 played a major role in this process, as a result of which a gold standard was established in Russia.

Witte’s policy of attracting foreign capital met with opposition in government agencies right up to the State Council, where fears were expressed that Russia would fall into “foreign bondage” and that Witte was allegedly “selling off national wealth.” He, in turn, constantly cited the example of the United States, whose economic successes were largely achieved through foreign investment, and yet was able to insist on establishing a most favored nation policy towards foreign investors.

Within a fairly short period, foreign, primarily European, capital literally poured into our country, although the total volume of foreign capital at the beginning of the 20th century was no more than 9-14% of the value of all industrial capital. If in 1888 there were only 16 foreign firms in the country, then in 1909 there were 269. Predominant investments were directed to the extractive industries: coal, oil, iron ore, metallurgy and railway construction, i.e. in those sectors where domestic investors were in no hurry to invest, primarily because of their slow returns. The largest share of foreign capital fell on the mining industry: in 1900, up to 70% of the share capital here belonged to foreigners.

The policy of the Russian government was aimed at ensuring that foreign investors preferred to import capital into the country rather than finished products, which were subject to high customs duties. Direct investment was especially encouraged, i.e. investments in direct production or the purchase of a controlling stake in Russian companies. The influx of investment also occurred in the form of government loans. By 1913, foreign investments were estimated at 7.6 billion rubles, including 1.7 billion private investments, while domestic investments amounted to 14 billion rubles, of which 3.6 were private. According to economists' calculations, the total volume of foreign capital in Russian industry for the years 1893-1913 amounted to about half of domestic investment. At the same time, investments from abroad were not accompanied by the creation of any closed formations - enclaves - in the Russian economy. On the contrary, all these capitals were very effectively assimilated with domestic ones, contributing to Russia’s rapid transition to industrialization.

As for the “sale of national wealth,” which Witte and other government officials were reproached for, then, according to economists’ calculations, by the beginning of the First World War, the profits of foreign companies transferred abroad amounted to 150 million rubles. per year, while the government paid only in the form of interest on government loans up to 220 million rubles.

Undoubtedly, the desire for high profits for foreign businessmen served as an incentive for their advancement to Russia. An attractive factor for them was the vast Russian sales market, cheap labor, rich deposits of natural resources - all this provided them with high incomes.

However, in general, the rate of profit of foreign companies was 4-7% on invested capital, which corresponded to the income of domestic companies.

Domestic and foreign trade has achieved noticeable success. The volume of domestic trade in 1913 was 18 billion rubles, or one and a half times more than in 1909. Foreign trade turnover also increased during this period by approximately 1.5 times and amounted to 2.6 billion rubles by 1913, and the volume of exports confidently exceeded the volume of imports - 1.5 and 1.1 billion rubles, respectively. The structure of exports has traditionally consisted of raw materials and agricultural products, and imports - of industrial goods: machinery, equipment, semi-finished products. Raw cotton was still imported, since its domestic production provided only half of the needs of domestic industry, as well as luxury goods, raw silk, tea, coffee, etc.

Income from the sale of bread accounted for about 44% of the value of all export revenues to the state budget, and income from the sale of livestock products - up to 22%. Before World War I, Russia was one of the leading grain exporting countries in the world. Of the total volume of exported grain, approximately 30% was exported to Germany and about 20% to England. The share of foreign merchant ships in maritime transport was still large. The foreign trade surplus served to strengthen the state budget. In addition to income from foreign trade, among the sources of the state budget are income from the wine monopoly and taxation system, from state-owned railways, as well as indirect taxes.

Government revenues increased from RUB 1.4 billion. in 1897 to 3.1 billion rubles. in 1912. The Russian ruble remained one of the strongest currencies in the world. Even during the years of the Russian-Japanese War and the revolution of 1905-1907, the exchange of credit notes for gold continued. The total amount of taxes per capita of the country was two times lower than in Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, and four times less than in England.

But budget expenses grew much faster than revenues. The money was spent on a huge bureaucratic apparatus, on maintaining landowners' farms, on military needs and paying interest on foreign loans. On January 1, 1914, Russia's public debt in internal and external debts amounted to about 9 billion rubles.

As in previous years, the credit system led by the State Bank, which stored the country's gold reserves, carried out money issues and basic settlement operations, was of great importance. A large network of joint-stock commercial banks was formed around the State Bank, whose main task was to finance the entire economy of the country.

A special place among them was occupied by land (mortgage) loan banks. Two of them were state-owned: the Noble Land and the Peasant Land, and ten were private. These banks issued loans to landowners and acted as intermediaries in the process of buying and selling land, especially during the Stolypin agrarian reform. For the middle and petty bourgeoisie there were mutual credit societies and city banks.

Hal July 1914, there were 47 joint-stock commercial banks in Russia, of which 13 were in St. Petersburg, 8 in Moscow, and the remaining 26 were in the provinces. Capital banks spread their branches and branches throughout the country, their number almost tripled between 1900 and 1913. Particular activity was characteristic of three “pillars” - the Russian-Asian, St. Petersburg International and Azov-Don banks, which owned almost half of all banking assets in the country.

One of the areas of successful development of banks was their active intervention in the activities of enterprises in various industries. Thus, the Russian-Asian Bank controlled the activities of a number of military enterprises, railways, including the Moscow-Kazan, Tobacco Trust, Russian General Oil Corporation, etc. The St. Petersburg International Bank exercised control over the Russud and "Russud" shipbuilding plant companies. Naval" in Nikolaev, over enterprises of the metallurgical, mining, glass, textile industries, railway companies, and the Ocean salt monopoly. The international bank was closely associated with the Nobel Brothers Trust and the Anglo-Dutch Oil Trust. The Azov-Don Commercial Bank influenced Prodamet and Produgol, financed some Ural metallurgical enterprises, the Sulina Metallurgical Plant and mercury mining in the Donbass, railway companies, and textile enterprises. There are two main groups among St. Petersburg banks. The first of them was controlled by French capital, and included the Russian-Asian, Private Commercial, Russian Commercial and Industrial and Siberian Trade Banks. The second group, along with the Russian Bank for Foreign Trade, the St. Petersburg Accounting and Loan Bank, included German capital.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the bright stars of domestic financiers and industrialists began to shine - such as bankers Putilov, Vyshnegradsky, Kaminka, manufacturers Nobel (oil industry), Ryabushinsky and Knopp (textile), Brodsky (sugar), Vtorov (trade in Siberia and light industry) , Stakheev (grain trade). Large sugar producers Bobrinsky, Tereshchenko, Yaroshinsky emerged from among the landowners.

The dynamic development of the Russian national economy at the turn of the century brought the country, in many indicators, to 4th-5th place in the world after the USA, England, Germany and France. And although the overall economy remained agricultural, the pace of development of the industrial sector was very impressive. For example, the volume of production of investment goods increased 7 times over the years 1893-1913, with the production of cast iron - 5 times, steel - 13 times, coal production - 6 times. The volume of production of consumer goods grew at an equally rapid pace: cotton processing increased 7 times, sugar production - 4 times, etc.

It should be noted that at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian entrepreneurship was gripped by a feeling of uplift and creation. Everywhere in production there was a process of reconstruction, new enterprises and industries were created, new regions were developed, and accelerated mechanization of production was carried out. So, if in 1860 the cost of mechanical equipment in the country as a whole was estimated at 100 million rubles, in 1870 - 350 million rubles, then in 1913 it amounted to 2 billion rubles.

The Russian economy experienced very high rates of production of investment goods - almost twice as high as the rate of production of consumer goods; 63% of technical equipment in industry was produced at domestic enterprises. The growth rate of industrial output and labor productivity was the highest in the world, averaging 9% per year from 1880 to 1913. French economist E. Théry wrote: “By the middle of this century, Russia will dominate Europe both politically, economically, and financially.”

However, in many respects the Russian economy lagged behind other countries. Domestic mechanical engineering accounted for only 7% of total industrial production. Russia was forced to purchase a large amount of industrial equipment abroad, almost half of the agricultural machinery consumed. Despite the significant growth rates of labor productivity, in terms of this indicator Russia lagged behind the United States by 10 times. The gap in favor of Western countries was especially large in terms of energy availability.

And yet it should be emphasized that Russia before the First World War was not a backward country, as was often noted in the literature. It was an agrarian-industrial country with an average level of development. It was by no means threatened with the fate of a “semi-colony” for more developed Western countries; its share in the world economy in 1913 was 7%.

The social structure of the Russian population has changed noticeably, which has grown by 40 million people over 20 years - from 125 million to 165 million, i.e. by 32% (not counting Poland and Finland). The urban population increased from 16.8 million to 26.5 million people, or by 70%, and its share - from 13.4 million to 18%. The number of hired workers increased from 10 million to 18 million people, including industrial workers - from 1.5 million to 4.2 million people. By 1913, the length of the working day throughout the country had decreased from 11-12 to 9.5-10 hours. The average wage in the manufacturing industry for 1904-1913 increased from 205 to 264 rubles. per year, and at the machine-building plants of St. Petersburg it reached 511 rubles. per year, i.e. approximately 43 rub. per month, with the average monthly subsistence level of an urban working family being 25-30 rubles.

Even in terms of such a development indicator as the level of education, Russia was confidently moving forward. During the reign of Nicholas II, expenditures on education increased from 25.2 to 161.2 million rubles, i.e. more than 6 times. Public education has achieved significant success.

In 1908, a law introducing compulsory primary education was passed. In 1915, 51% of all children aged 8 to 11 had completed primary education, and 68% of military conscripts could read and write. The number of students in secondary educational institutions was 733 thousand, in universities - 40 thousand. Among all students in the country, 37% were women, which was one of the highest rates in the world. Almost half of higher educational institutions were supported by money from Russian entrepreneurs, and tuition fees were 30-100 times lower than, say, in the USA, and up to 70% of students did not pay for their studies at all.

Statistical forecasts showed that at such a pace, Russia could by the middle of the 20th century become the strongest power in the world in military, financial and economic terms, and by 1985 the country's population would have reached 400 million people, including 260 million Russians. In reality, in 1985 there were 276 million people in the USSR, of which 137 million were Russians.

The Russian economy was developing very quickly, but political structures could not keep up with such a pace. The country was still ruled autocratically, reminiscent of Moscow's rule in the 17th century.

1. Dynamics of economic growth

Russia, as is known, belonged to the number of states of the “catching up” type of economic development, having embarked on the path of modern industrial growth later than the leading countries of Western Europe and the USA. The history of the origin and growth of domestic industry was inextricably linked with the organic process of decomposition of the natural economy and the development of commodity-money relations in agriculture. Even in the pre-reform era, two lines of industrial progress emerged. The first was associated with the use of Western forms of large-scale industrial (manufacturing) production based on the use of forced labor of serfs. The mining and metallurgical industry of the Urals, as well as industries where noble entrepreneurship manifested itself (distilling, cloth, linen, beet sugar, etc. production) developed along this path. This path ultimately turned out to be a dead end, and with the abolition of serfdom, the “noble” industry either withered away or switched to the rails of a new economic system, which was based on private enterprise and wage labor.

And the second model of industrial growth, which originated in the pre-reform era, became the main line of economic growth in the late imperial period. It was based on the emergence of industrial enterprises based on the hired labor of serfs, whom the landowners transferred to cash rent. In search of funds to pay it, such peasants either went to the cities or were engaged in latrine trades in their villages. The Russian cotton industry, in particular, grew along this path. It was the peasant textile industry, the emergence of which at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. was the result of the destruction of the natural economic system and served as the basis for the formation of the country's industrial development. Working for a wide consumer market, relatively independent (compared to heavy industry) from government orders and foreign investments, growing from peasant “light shops” to textile mills equipped with the latest Western technology, the textile industry, concentrated primarily in the Central region, served as the key to the organic and autonomous industrial growth of the country.

And although the share of textile production gradually decreased with the emergence of other industrial sectors (primarily heavy industry) in the post-reform period, until 1913 it remained the largest branch of Russian industry. By that time, its share accounted for about 30% of the gross value of industrial products (Table 1).

As a result of rapid industrial growth, the volume of industrial production for 1887-1913. increased by 4.6 times. Heavy industry developed especially dynamically - metalworking and the mining industry - metallurgy, coal and oil mining. Changes in the industrial structure were decisively influenced by the extensive railway construction of the 1860-1880s, which required the creation of a number of new industries.

In terms of the most important economic indicators, Russia has moved significantly closer to the leading Western countries. In terms of absolute volumes of iron ore production, iron and steel smelting, volume of mechanical engineering products, industrial consumption of cotton and sugar production, it took fourth or fifth place in the world, and in oil production at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. even became a world leader thanks to the creation of the Baku oil industrial region. The length of the Russian railway network was the second in the world, second only to the United States.

The dynamics of the 1890s were temporarily interrupted by the economic crisis of 1899-1903, which began as a stock market crisis that led to the collapse of a number of large businessmen, such as the railway builder P.G. von Derviz and the famous philanthropist S.I. Mamontov. Then the crisis spread to the manufacturing sector, especially affecting heavy industries such as metallurgy, metalworking and mechanical engineering, oil production and refining. Having intensified competition to the limit, the crisis caused the death of many enterprises that were weak financially, organizationally or technically. During the economic crisis of 1900-1903. About 3 thousand factories and plants closed, unable to find sales for their products on the domestic market. The light industry, which managed in 1900-1908, was less affected by the crisis. increase production output by 1.5 times (this was due to the increase in the purchasing power of peasants who were freed from redemption payments in 1905).

The impetus for a new industrial boom was a series of fruitful years. In 1909, the gross grain harvest amounted to 4.7 billion poods, almost 1 billion more than in 1908. The subsequent years until the World War were also characterized by high grain harvests. In 1909, after a long period of stagnation, a new industrial boom began in Russia; in 1909-1913. the volume of industrial production in the country increased 1.5 times. The metalworking industry developed at the fastest pace, its production increased by 89%, in textile production - by 47%. As a result, the share of heavy industry products in the total output of industrial products, which had fallen during the crisis and depression of 1904-1908, rose again and by 1914 was close to 40%.

The organizational structure of industry has also changed noticeably. Crisis of 1899-1903 gave impetus to the development of monopolistic (oligopolistic) associations. In the 1900s, monopolies, operating, as a rule, in close alliance with banks, established themselves in all major sectors of Russian industry, especially in heavy industry, which was sorely lacking a market for its products.

Industrial booms of the late 19th century and 1909-1913. significantly advanced the country along the path of industrial development. According to calculations carried out by staff of the League of Nations as part of a comparative study of the processes of industrialization and the development of international trade, Russia's share in world industrial production, which was in 1881-1885. 3.4%, increased by 1896-1900. up to 5.0%, and by 1913 - up to 5.3% (Table 2).

Meanwhile, the shares of advanced industrial states, with the exception of the United States, have increased since the end of the 19th century. began to decline. Russia consistently outpaced them in terms of industrial production growth rates, as a result of which its gap with Great Britain decreased in 1885-1913. three times, and from Germany - by a quarter. Nevertheless, the difference remained very significant: on the eve of the World War, Russia produced industrial products 2.6 times less than Great Britain, and 3 times less than Germany. As for France, in absolute terms of gross industrial production, Russia had already come close to it by the early 900s, surpassing it in the production of a number of key types of industrial products: mineral fuel, steel, machinery, cotton fabrics, etc.

Much less noticeable were the shifts in calculating industry output per capita, which was to a large extent explained by the extremely high rate of population growth in the country. The growth of the population, and especially the rural population, reduced the success of Russian industrialization to almost nothing. Russia's share of world industrial production (5.3% in 1913) was far from matching its share of the world's population (10.2%). Of certain types of industrial products, the only exceptions were oil (17.8% of world production) and sugar (10.2%). In terms of industrial production per capita, Russia continued to be at the level of Italy and Spain, inferior many times to the advanced industrial powers.

And at the beginning of the twentieth century. Russia continued to remain an agrarian-industrial country with a significant predominance of agricultural production over industrial production. At the same time, in agriculture, where in a number of positions (wheat, rye, flax, hemp, etc.) it occupied a leading position, per capita production in Russia was lower than in a number of European agro-industrial and industrial countries. -agricultural (Great Britain, Germany) countries.

The figures for the growth rate of national income show encouraging dynamics. In 1885-1913. The average annual growth of the gross national product in Russia was noticeably higher than in Western European countries: 3.4% versus 2.7%. But as a result of a higher rate of population growth (1.6% per year versus 1.1%), due to the huge predominance of rural residents in the overall population structure and the generally low productivity of agricultural labor, the average annual increase in the per capita national product in Russia was only slightly higher than the corresponding figures in Western Europe: 1.75% versus 1.6%. But still, these figures indicate that the acceleration imparted to the development of the domestic national economy by its dynamic components prevailed over the inhibitory effect of unfavorable factors of economic growth.

Table 3 gives an idea of ​​the structure of the people's wealth in pre-revolutionary Russia on the eve of the World War, which reflects the corresponding calculations of the Soviet economist A.L. Weinstein.

As can be seen, the cost of the main elements of national wealth associated with industrial production and its infrastructure (industry, transport and communications) was still almost twice as low as the funds reflecting the traditional structure of economic activity (agriculture).

Russia, while still significantly lagging behind the economically developed countries of the West, at the same time was by no means a “banana republic”. On the eve of the World War, the country entered a trajectory of healthy economic growth, which, had war and revolution not occurred, could have brought the empire into the ranks of the leading industrial powers of the world and provided it with a peaceful, evolutionary model of economic development.

1. Russia and the world

Nicholas II oriented the Russian government towards continuing the foreign policy of his father, Alexander III. The originality of the foreign policy strategy of Alexander III “The Peacemaker” was the desire to avoid any military conflicts with other powers in order to concentrate efforts and resources on solving domestic political and economic problems.

Russia's foreign policy experienced a number of zigzags at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Having barely recovered from the bitter “customs war” of the 1890s, Germany and Russia took steps to move closer together. The German Emperor Wilhelm II, being a cousin of Nicholas II, persistently played the “family card.” The German Foreign Ministry sought to distract Russia from European issues and direct its efforts to the Far East; it maneuvered subtly during the period of the Russo-Japanese War and the signing of peace after it. In July 1905, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II signed an alliance treaty in Bjerke. Since Russia concluded the same agreement with France back in 1892, the question formally arose of “closing the triangle.” However, the contradictions between France and Germany were extremely deep. The essence of the problem rested on the growing aggressiveness of Germany and its main ally Austria-Hungary, dissatisfied with their small share in the “colonial pie.”

In 1894-1895 Japan began, and in 1897 Germany continued, territorial seizures in China, which served as a signal for the British, French, and Portuguese, who occupied a number of ports on the Chinese coast. Russia did not stand aside, but it - unlike others - focused not on military, but on political methods. Taking advantage of the friendship treaty concluded with China in 1896, which gave Russia the right to build the Chinese Eastern Railway, it secured the lease of Port Arthur and Dalny. This caused a sharp reaction from Japan. In January 1904, the Japanese attacked the Russian squadron near Port Arthur without declaring war.

A number of unfavorable factors (underestimation of the enemy’s military strength, surprise of the first strike from Japan, stretched Russian communications, unfinished rearmament of the army, serious operational and tactical blunders of the command of Russian troops, etc.) led to Russia’s defeat in the war. In August 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, according to which Japan ceded South Sakhalin from Russia, the lease of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the South Manchurian Railway.

With the appointment of A.P. Izvolsky as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1906, relations with European countries became a priority for Russian foreign policy. Izvolsky proclaimed the concept of “equilibrium”. Conducting a course “equidistant from London and Berlin” became increasingly difficult.

Germany's economic expansion in the Near and Middle East affected the interests of both Russia and England. In 1907, Russia and England signed an agreement to resolve controversial issues in Iran, Afghanistan and Tibet.

In 1908, with the aggravation of the Balkan issue, tensions between Russia and Austria-Hungary increased. In the national liberation struggle of the Slavic and Orthodox peoples against Turkish and Austrian rule, Russia acted as their natural ally. The Austrians' aggressive aspirations against Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina were based on their confidence in German support. Austria's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina sharply worsened Russia's relations with the Austro-German bloc. The policy of “balance” advocated by I.P. Izvolsky, failed - by the logic of events, Russia found itself “tied” to the Entente - England and France.

In 1910, S.D. became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Sazonov. Under him, support for the liberation movement of the Balkan peoples was strengthened. Russia contributed to the creation and strengthening of their national statehood and the containment of Ottoman aggression. At the same time, Russia's role as an arbiter in Balkan affairs increased. Neither Germany and Austria-Hungary, nor England wanted to agree with this role. With their interference in intra-Balkan affairs, they completely confused all the contradictions between the countries of the region. This confusion entailed the threat of a global military conflict, which became inevitable due to the uncompromising position of the leaders of the opposing blocs - England and Germany.

The world was steadily sliding towards military catastrophe. First of all, this was associated with the growing aggressiveness of Germany and Austria. In Germany, talk did not stop about the need to redivide the world, armaments grew at a frantic pace: if in 1913, in comparison with 1900, the English naval budget increased by 18.6%, the French - by 17.5%, then the German one rose by 37.5%. In 1912, German Minister of War Falkenheim openly proclaimed that "the historical task of the German nation - world domination can only be achieved by the sword."

The role of the United States in starting the war is poorly covered in historical literature. American capital gradually and prudently made efforts to organize a clash of European powers - so that, having become gigantically stronger due to military-industrial supplies to the warring parties, at the right moment it would appear before weakened competitors as the “chief manager” in resolving international issues. At the same time, Germany, England, and the United States were waiting for every possible weakening of one of the most promising competitors - Russia.

At the end of July 1914, Austria began military operations against Serbia. Bound to Serbia by allied duty and historical obligations, Russia could not stand aside - Nicholas II issued a decree on general mobilization.

4. Foreign capital in Russian industry

One of the features of the Russian economy at the beginning of the 20th century was a large external debt, the growth of which was facilitated by both the presence of budget deficits and extensive financing of railway construction.

From 1901 to 1914, nine government loans were received abroad. Russia received large loans during the Russo-Japanese War and the first Russian revolution: in 1904 - for 300 million rubles, in 1905 - four loans worth almost 600 million rubles. Despite this, the financial situation by 1906 was very tense. There was a looming threat of the collapse of the gold currency and the transition to unlimited issuance of paper money. A huge but unprofitable loan received in 1906 nevertheless helped the government get out of financial difficulties.

By providing loans to the Russian government, the financial capital of foreign countries received various benefits: consent to preference for making industrial orders in the country that provided the loan, concessions in trade agreements, etc.; loans were also used as an instrument of foreign policy.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, in addition to loans, foreign investments became widespread. Since the 90s of the 19th century, an era of intense influx of foreign capital in its production form began in the coal, metallurgical, oil industries, transport and other industries. Money was now more willingly invested in industry than in government loans, since in this case they received incomparably greater profits, over 10% for the capital expended. Loans provided approximately half of this norm.

The import of capital into Russia accelerated the development of industry. Foreign capital was directed mainly to railway transport and heavy industry: metallurgy, mining. The role of foreign capital in the creation of railways and the mining industry in the southern regions of the country was very significant. In southern Russia it played a large role in the metallurgical and coal industries; in the Urals - in the gold and platinum industries, oil and chemical, electrical and coal industries, etc. Foreigners owned such large enterprises as the Goujon, Bromley factories, and a number of enterprises in the electrical, chemical and other industries.

In terms of the amount of capital imported to Russia, France was in first place (32%), England was in second (25%), followed by Germany (16%), Belgium (15%), the USA (6%), etc. French capital was invested in heavy industry and the credit system; France was Russia's main creditor for government loans. French capital accounted for about a third of all foreign capital invested in Russian joint stock companies.

English capital was directed mainly into the raw materials industries (oil, gold, copper, lead, etc.), as well as into public utilities. German capital was placed mainly into enterprises in the electrical industry, chemical industry and joint-stock banks, although to a lesser extent than French.

Belgium directed the bulk of capital investments exported to Russia to mining enterprises, as well as to utilities, engineering, chemicals, etc.

The United States occupied fifth place in terms of investment in the Russian national economy. American capital also participated in the Russian Joint Stock Company of Lubricants and Other Chemical Products, in two life insurance enterprises, etc.

In addition to investments from the countries mentioned above, there were in Russia - albeit insignificant - Dutch, Swiss, Swedish, Danish, Austrian, Italian and Norwegian capital.

Foreign capital also took some part in agriculture, the export of oil from Siberia, the sale of agricultural machinery and implements, etc.

After some delay in the flow of capital during the crisis of the 1900s, the founding of joint stock companies began to grow again. Thus, in 1900, there were only 1,595 joint-stock companies (Russian and foreign) operating in Russia, with a fixed capital of 2.4 billion rubles at their disposal; of these, there were 269 foreign companies with 691 million rubles, which accounted for 28.8% of the total amount of fixed capital of joint-stock companies. For the period 1900 - 1914. the number of joint-stock companies increased significantly, reaching 2,163 companies with a fixed capital of almost 4 billion rubles, of which foreign capital in the amount of 1.34 billion rubles was invested in 327 enterprises, i.e. foreign capital was invested in one seventh of all enterprises in the amount of a third of the total fixed capital of all joint-stock companies. In addition, about 250 million rubles. foreign capital accounted for the share of banks.

Foreign capital played a large role in the Russian banking system. Before the First World War, the largest St. Petersburg banks were in close connection with French and other foreign banks. The first role in banks, as in industry, belonged to French capital, followed by German, English, and Dutch. Owning important positions in the largest joint-stock banks, foreign capital influenced the Russian banking system: in all commercial banks in the country its share was approximately 1/3.

Receiving large profits from investments in Russian industry, foreign investors took part of it out of Russia (for example, in the form of export of raw materials), and they reinvested the other part of the profit into industry.

If we consider the entire amount of foreign capital invested in the Russian economy, then at the beginning of 1914, Russia's public debt was approximately 4 billion rubles, foreign capital investments in industry and banks amounted to 1.6 billion rubles. In addition, the government had obligations on guaranteed railway loans in the amount of approximately 1.2 billion rubles. The debt of cities on loans issued in Russia, but sold abroad, amounted to about 400 million rubles. In the hands of foreigners were mortgage sheets of the Noble Bank and certificates of the Peasant Bank in the form of bonds worth about 200 million rubles.

Thus, direct government debt on loans, investments in industry, banks, trade, guaranteed loans, loans from cities and land banks sold abroad, etc. reached about 8 billion rubles. This figure determines the entire amount of foreign capital in Russia on the eve of the First World War.

Conclusion

It is still necessary to indicate the real state of Russian industry at the beginning of the First World War.

For a number of reasons, Russia turned out to be unprepared for war, both economically and in military-strategic terms. Russia ranked fifteenth in electricity production, fifth in steel production, sixth in coal mining, and seventh in copper smelting in the world. In 1913, Russia's share of world industrial output was 2.5%, while the US share was 38.2%, England - 12.1%, France -6.6%. In 1913 All types of industrial products per capita were produced in Russia 11 times less than in the USA, 8 times less than in England, 4 times less than in France.

Before the First World War, Russian mechanical engineering was significantly inferior to that of developed capitalist countries. The share of mechanical engineering in Russia in 1913. accounted for 3.5 - 4% of the industry's global output, while the US share was 50%, Germany - 20.6%, and Great Britain - 11.8%. Russia ranked fourth in the world in terms of production volume in mechanical engineering.

The key branch of mechanical engineering, machine tool building, was poorly developed. A significant part of the machinery, equipment, apparatus, instruments was imported from abroad. The need for wagons, steam locomotives and electric locomotives, hoisting machines, merchant ships, pumps, machines for tanneries and soda factories was satisfied almost completely by our own production, for electrical machines and accessories - by 65%, for sewing machines - by 64%, for internal engines combustion - by 48%, in machines for processing wool, cotton - by 23%, in steam engines - by 12%.

Pig iron smelting per worker per year was 205 tons in Russia, 239 in France, 356 in England, 404 in Germany, and 811 tons in the USA. Thus, the level of labor productivity in the Russian metallurgical industry was almost 4 times lower than in the USA, almost 2 times lower than in Germany and England.

The national economy had a great need for non-ferrous metals: copper, zinc, lead, aluminum, nickel, etc. In pre-war times, the country's needs were satisfied almost entirely only by domestically produced copper; the need for zinc, lead, and aluminum was covered mainly by imports.

The insufficient development of metallurgy in Russia before the war forced the import of metal from abroad; in 1913 6 million poods were imported (mainly from England and Germany), and in 1914 - 9 million poods. During the war, the supply of metal, as well as fuel to industry and the entire national economy, was the bottleneck of the war economy.

The textile industry played a large role in the Russian economy. Among its industries, the main place belonged to the cotton industry, which employed about 70% of textile workers. The growth rate of the Russian cotton industry in the pre-war years corresponded approximately to the rate of this industry in the United States and Germany; however, the level of labor productivity in this industry was almost 2 times lower than in England and several times lower than in the USA.

The production base for the deployment of the war economy in Russia was very weak. There were few military factories; they were technically backward, low-productivity and poorly specialized. Many types of weapons were not produced at all. Mortars and anti-aircraft guns were not produced; machine guns, rifles and ammunition for them were produced in insufficient quantities.

Already in the first war year, the Russian army's need for rifles amounted to 5 million units, then it increased to 8 million, and the productivity of domestic rifle factories was only 525 thousand rifles per year. Things were bad with the artillery. Despite the excellent quality of domestic artillery systems, there were not enough guns. There weren't enough shells. It was even worse with the production of explosives, gunpowder, and pharmaceuticals. Many inventions of Russian scientists and engineers were not used.

The Russian aviation industry lagged far behind advanced countries in technical and economic terms. Before the war, there were only four aircraft factories and two workshops in this industry.

The automobile industry was in its infancy, represented by three factories that produced cars along with other products. The main enterprise of the industry was the Russian-Baltic plant in Riga, which in 1913. produced 127 cars, and in 1914. - 300.

Before the First World War, Russia had a total public debt of 9.9 billion. rubles, and the internal debt was approximately equal to the external one. Before the war, Russia was in second place after France in terms of public debt. The state debt of the latter was 13.2 billion rubles, England - 7 billion rubles, Germany - 2.5 billion rubles. The total national wealth of pre-war Russia was determined to be about 140 - 150 billion rubles.

The First World War and the subsequent fundamental changes in the political system and government structure of our country turned the further development of the Russian economy and industry in a completely different, new direction for it.

Bibliography

1. Ananich B.V. Russia and international capital. 1897 - 1914. - Leningrad. Ed. "Science" 1970.

ISBN 5-7205-0408-7

1. Voshchanova G.P., Godzina G.S. History of Economics: Textbook. - Moscow: INFRA-M, 2001.

ISBN 5-16-000306-1

1. Konotopov M.V., Smetanin S.I. History of Economics: textbook for universities.-Moscow: 3rd updated edition. Academic Project, 2001.

ISBN 5-8291-0072-X

1. Timoshina T.M. Economic history of Russia: Textbook / Ed. Prof. M.N.Chepurin.-9th ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: JSC Legal House Justitsinform, 2003.