History at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries dramatically changes its direction: industrialization, rationalism, and nationalism become decisive. Even the very concept of "civilization" fundamentally changes its meaning. The works of the notorious K. Marx appeared, for which the whole development of human society is inextricably linked with the exploitation of some people by others.
Ulyanov-Lenin in the same period said that a true civilization is possible only at a time when the exploiters will be completely destroyed. In a word, the time was difficult. What was characterized by our Russia at the turn of the 19-20 centuries? The history of the country in this period is tragic, complex, full of fatal contradictions.
The danger of a new world order
At the turn of these centuries, the whole existence of mankind was in great question, as the prerequisites for the most terrible wars in its history arose. In many respects this happened because capitalism came to the stage of monopoly. Large manufacturers gradually became related to the rulers, there was a widespread merger of capital. Not only the economy, but also the politics of many states began to obey the interests of traders.
Unfortunately, Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries did not escape the same process. It is especially important to note that monopoly capital was formed in our country under the influence of the following factors: firstly, the transition to capitalism in Russia occurred late; secondly, uneven land development also played a role; thirdly, the complete disempowerment of the workers and peasants remained, and stratification between the social layers of the country increased.
What happened in the public life of that period?
In the social and
political structure of Russia there were slow but significant changes. The estates were extremely heterogeneous. The nobility, although it was relatively few in number, still continued to nominate its people to all managerial posts. But in the period described by us, the nobles were more and more willing to make contact with the bourgeoisie.
This distinguished Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Briefly discussing this topic, we can come to the conclusion that the peasantry was "on the cutting edge" of the revolutionary movement, but this is not so. Why?
At least 80% of the total population was represented by peasants. Under the influence of capitalist trends, their composition became more and more heterogeneous: about 20% of their total number accumulated funds and land, becoming, in essence, an analogue of small landowners; but the bulk of the people lived in a way that was relevant for the 15-16th century.
From their midst came a huge number of workers who constantly nourished the life of large cities. But all the peasants, regardless of their "appearance", were united by the agrarian question. In fact, all of them were tied to their land, the loss of which turned into ruin even for the most wealthy of them. So the peasants were least interested in major social upheavals: they were politically neutral, they were not particularly interested in loud slogans. Everything changed during the First World War, when constant requisitions and government loans put many of them on the brink of survival.
As for the bourgeoisie, it grew in a quantitative sense, but the political role of this social stratum was insignificant. Its role was simple: the large, prosperous bourgeoisie demonstrated their loyalty to the autocratic power, while the small and medium advocated minor changes in the
political life of the country.
Working class
Worst of all was the working class. By 1913, workers accounted for about 20% of the country's population, and the conditions of their life and work were sometimes really “bestial,” inhuman. In principle, until 1906, no one was even interested in somehow protecting their rights. So Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries has not far gone from Russia of the 18th century. All the same principles of agriculture, lack of technology and neglect of human life ...
Important! Despite the fact that at present many Western and pro-Western historians insist that the workers in Western Europe and the United States had much better living and working conditions, this is far from the case: the improvement of the position of the Western proletariat occurred precisely after 1917, when the government, frightened by the real possibilities of the lower classes of society brought to despair, she made them numerous concessions.
Officialdom
Separately, it must be said about how the bureaucratic social layer lived and developed in that period. In fact, it was these people that were controlled by Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Thanks to officials in Russia, state monopoly was formed when even small orders for the needs of the country were placed exclusively at “their” enterprises, which often inflated the cost of work tenfold.
The bureaucratic monopoly was especially evident in relation to banks: they gave profitable loans exclusively to their own enterprises, which greatly impeded the development of industry and production. Thus, this layer is closely associated with the big bourgeoisie, landowners and nobility, whose interests were defended everywhere. This distinguished Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Socio-economic development in
Western Europe went much faster, since in these states banks were much more willing to give money to the private sector and small industrialists who could create and test new production methods.
Clergy
This was another privileged estate. Theoretically, it was supposed to follow the moral principles of society, but in reality it turned out that the clergy was almost exclusively engaged in supporting the autocracy. In general, Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was a country surprisingly patriarchal and religious. The church continued to exert a tremendous influence on the minds of uneducated peasants.
The emergence of the intelligentsia
This layer was special, as it was formed from other societies, and at the same time did not have any obvious link to the economic component. In general, the intelligentsia is a domestic social phenomenon that manifested itself especially vividly only during the time of Alexander II.
Repeatedly, many researchers in their works put forward the theory that Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries came to the "abyss of revolution" only because of this estate, but in fact it was not. Oddly enough, the intelligentsia at that time was infinitely far from revolutionary ideas. On the contrary, representatives of this stratum supported the ideas of a democratic society, and they stood for gradual changes and the transformation of the socio-political stratum without sharp, bloody upheavals.
Another thing is that by the beginning of the twentieth century, many intellectuals, feeling their absolute helplessness in the matter of real transformations, began to consider violence "an inevitable evil", without which it will not be possible to do.
The role of foreign capital
As at the present time, Russia was an attractive target for foreign investment, since huge raw material reserves and almost free labor made it possible to get huge profits without any special costs. In such conditions, foreign capital was actively merging with domestic, which contributed to the further enrichment of officials and the social stratification of society.
So, what was Russia like at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries? In short, it was a state with an incredible socio-economic stratification of society, a lack of interest from the ruling circles in real changes and reforms. At the same time, the country urgently required immediate modernization and industrialization. All this was to be carried out in a patriarchal, conservative society, with a constant and chronic lack of money in the treasury.
The crisis in the face of contradictions
After the crisis of 1900-1903, the country turned out to be "on the beans", there was basically no money. After the war with Japan, foreign debt rose to four billion gold rubles. The amount at that time is simply unbelievable. The government tried to reduce the deficit of the state budget by increasing tax burden, reducing the cost of economic, military and cultural programs. Investments for some time made it possible to keep the economy afloat, only on the eve of World War I, annual payments amounted to 450 million rubles.
Actually, only for the sake of writing off part of the debt, the government of Nicholas entered the war on the side of the Entente. The step is ill-conceived and led to disastrous consequences. This is what characterized Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: socio-economic development proceeded at a snail's pace, and the power that was stiffened in the dogmas of the last century acted too slowly and thoughtlessly.
“Product issue”
How was Russia provided with products at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries? Agriculture developed exclusively in an extensive way, the peasants did not even have primitive equipment, and a pair of tractors would not have been gathered across the whole country. Yields were low, but they didn’t like Russia on the world market: it sold a huge amount of grain at bargain prices, doing real dumping. People in the state itself didn’t get this grain, cases of hunger were something familiar.
This is how Russia lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: the economy was based on the rampant exploitation of cheap human resources, factories were built exclusively on foreign subsidies, which were “mastered” by the same officials, as a result of which there was practically no real development.
State domestic policy
All Nikolai’s policies were based on great power principles. The whole system of government was aimed at ensuring that Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (history has shown the fallacy of this path) continued to remain an autocratic country. Against this background, the social gap between the various layers of Russian society continued to deepen.
Former landowners continued to receive the best land, while the peasantry huddled on the worst, infertile plots. Officials supported their banks and production at the cost of practically robbing their country, and the real industry stood.
The beginning of reorientation to the domestic manufacturer
That was Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A general characteristic may make you think that the state has not done anything to maintain its production. Unfortunately, in most cases this was true, but over time the situation began to change. Too slow, but still progress was.
So, a progressive customs tariff was introduced (1891), in 1900-1903 the state tried to support domestic industry and the banking system (you can guess where the money went). The government even tried to control the nascent movements of peasants and workers by organizing their legal associations.
Political reform
In 1905, a constitutional democratic party was finally formed, the creation of which was insisted by all the progressive figures of that era. The party “pushed” the idea of ​​creating a parliament with two chambers, as well as restoring the principles laid down in the judicial reform of 1864 .
Parliamentarians sought a complete abolition of the
redemption payment for peasants (this is a real relic of slavery in the 20th century!), Discussed the allotment of land to those in need, proposed a ban on overtime, irregular work of workers, and also insisted on the introduction of real criminal liability for those entrepreneurs who violate labor regulations.
That was Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (summary). Grade 9 of a comprehensive school studies the same issues, but the educational program provides an incomplete analysis of the reasons that led to the grandiose social upheavals of that time.