The modernization of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century covered all spheres of society. Somewhere it proceeded with less success, and somewhere with more. Her potential was huge. Prime Minister Stolypin is known for several winged expressions. One of them affected the development of the country's economy. Once in the Duma, Pyotr Arkadievich said that a country needs twenty years of peaceful life to become a world leader in most respects. Unfortunately, the war that began in 1914 destroyed these prospects.
The development of Siberia
Important prerequisites for Russian modernization were a massive outflow of the active population to the east, to undeveloped Siberian lands. The state supported these people (for the most part peasants). Also, the new Siberian Railway contributed to this process. The resettlement movement was badly damaged during the Russo-Japanese War, when the country was not up to the peaceful development of the economy. However, after the conflict ended, migration resumed with renewed vigor.
The peculiarities of Russian modernization (the beginning of the 20th century) consisted in the successful agrarian reform of Stolypin and Krivoshein, thanks to which hardworking peasants could acquire their own efficient economy, which they had dreamed about since the end of serfdom.
The immigrants received state subsidies, which could be 400 rubles (the size depended on the size of the economy). The peasants moved in special wagons that were prepared in order to transport the belongings of the owner. In the new villages and villages, storage facilities for grain, trading shops and other vital infrastructure were organized. New farms differed from old ones using modified tools. Harvest in such areas was richer and better. Siberian agrarians created the granary of the country. Excess grain went on sale abroad.
Agricultural Innovations
The peculiarities of Russian modernization (the beginning of the 20th century) in the village also consisted in the emergence of an organized cooperative movement. Even the strongest business executives found it difficult to get comfortable in a new place alone. Therefore, cooperatives were created. The neighbors helped each other in case of problems. The new orders were much more effective than archaic communities.
Over the period from 1906 to 1914, about 3 million 700 thousand people moved to Siberia, according to various estimates. Two-thirds of them eventually remained in their new homeland. The Siberian Railway, which in the early years of its operation was unprofitable, began to generate a steady income due to demand. On the eve of World War I, 50 million pounds of bread and 5 million pounds of butter were supplied from the eastern regions of the country. The agricultural lands of Western Siberia were swampy and not developed, so the government annually issued amounts for land reclamation. The effective interaction of active citizens and the state consisted of the features of Russian modernization (early 20th century).
Russia in 1913
The peak of development of the Russian economy occurred in 1913 (this was the last peaceful year of the tsarist state). Therefore, it is precisely this period that is referred to as the heyday of the economy under the monarchy.
Improving living standards and the possibility of self-realization affected the demographic situation. On the eve of the war, the population of the empire was almost 173 million people. Peasant families with a dozen children were the norm.
The country's national income rose to an indicator of 7% of the world level. Ahead were only the USA, Germany, and also Great Britain. In terms of economic growth (also 7% per year), Russia was the first in the world.
However, Russia was inferior to Western leaders in such an important figure as labor productivity. She was 5 times lower. The peculiarities of Russian modernization (the beginning of the 20th century) consisted in an accelerated growth rate, which meant that many areas simply could not keep up with such a step.
Rail Development
As at the end of the 19th century, a railway network grew. In 1906, a branch was opened from Orenburg to Tashkent. This made it possible to facilitate the transportation of high-quality Uzbek cotton to European markets, which gave a significant profit to entrepreneurs and the state in the form of taxes to the treasury. Even in the first two years of the war, they managed to build a road along the Kola Peninsula. She walked to Murmansk. It was a strategically important ice-free port on the northern borders of the country. Through it, the supply of resources continued.
Locomotives invented by domestic engineers in the 1910s were not inferior in quality to the American or European counterparts. What is modernization? What are the features of Russian modernization? This, of course, is a constant increase in freight traffic. Every year they increased by 8%. Modernization led to the fact that the first electrified section of the railway appeared in Petrograd. However, the quick revolution and civil war threw the country back. Many of the successes of the tsarist economy were forgotten or specifically deleted from the mass consciousness by the efforts of Soviet censors.
Communication sphere
All periods of Russian modernization that took place before the 20th century did not lead to such rapid growth and development in all spheres of life. This is clearly visible in the progress in the field of communication services. At industrial enterprises, in state institutions, newspapers, at the post office, etc., new devices appeared. In 1910, about 200 million telegrams were sent across the country. The number of mailings reached two billion.
What is modernization? What are the features of Russian modernization? She had to meet the needs of society. In the field of communications, the country is faced with its key feature - a huge territory. Due to the large area, Russia could not fully provide itself with everything necessary for quick and easy communication between people. A case in point is the war with Japan, when regiments for weeks got to the front in the Far East, which had the most sad consequences.
These were the many features of Russian modernization. The table shows its key differences.
Features of modernization of Russia at the beginning of the XX century| Positive features | Negative traits |
| Rapid economic growth | Poor development of regions |
| Private Enterprise Development | Low per capita income |
| The advent of new technologies | Loans abroad |
Sectors of the economy
Domestic features of industrial modernization consisted of nine percent growth in most areas of the national economy. Over the past five years of the empire’s peaceful life, the number of enterprises of various plans has grown by a third.
Here are some more indicators. Between 1893 and 1913, the smelting of iron and steel increased 13 times, coal production 4 times, Central Asian cotton processing 7 times, etc. The most important and promising sectors of the economy were formed. It was a textile, forestry, food and metallurgical industry. These areas brought the greatest profit.
In Russia, at the beginning of the 20th century, the food industry produced the most alcohol (consumed only in the domestic market), sugar and flour (exported).
Regional Development
In the European part of Russia there were more than 90% of the country's enterprises. The main area was the central region, which included the Moscow, Yaroslavl, Tver, Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod provinces. Siberia also developed rapidly. In 1914, the development of the important Kuznetsk coal basin began in the Tomsk province.
Due to economic growth, a new region has been formed. It was the Altai province, in which Novosibirsk quickly developed, being on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Monopolies and trade
By the beginning of the war, about two hundred large monopolies existed in the country. They have taken place in industries such as banking and large industries.
Foreign and domestic trade has drawn in two million people. The main partners of Russia in the international market were England and Germany. It is noteworthy that food products were exported from the country. At the same time, even despite the Baku oil field, the country lacked fuel due to the sharp growth of industry and its needs.
The famous French economist E. Thierry, on the eve of the war, considered that if not for the revolution, then by the middle of the 20th century Russia would be the world economic leader. In the last years of the monarchy, it became a developed agrarian-industrial country.