The beginning of the industrial revolution in Russia was associated with the assertion of capitalism in the country. The development of this historical stage contributed to the introduction of machine production in the factory with the formation of the working class.
The industrial revolution in Russia began with the introduction of steam energy and working machines, first in the light industry, with a gradual transition to other areas of production. The mechanization captured the heavy transport industry, and then agriculture.
Features of the industrial revolution in Russia consisted in various forms of replacement of manual labor. At the same time, mechanization was introduced both in manufactory and craft industries, and contributed to the creation of completely new industries.
The beginning of the industrial revolution in Russia contributed to the transfer of the capitalist economy to the industrial level. The final phase of the approval of machine production was the regular release of “machines by machines”. The beginning of the industrial revolution in Russia contributed to the creation of an adequate material and technical base adequate to the emerging capitalist system.
The first half of the 19th century was accompanied by the process of decomposition of feudalism and the formation of a capitalist structure. It should be noted that he was characterized by extreme inconsistency. This, to a greater extent, was due to the diversity of all socio-economic conditions in the country with a huge territorial scale and the interfering development of the ruling class of landowners under the leadership of the king.
The most pronounced progress of capitalism was in the industrial sphere. It was in it that the capitalist manufactory took the place of the main form of production. In advanced industries, optimal conditions were formed for the founding of the first factories.
The second quarter of the 19th century is characterized as the final stage in creating the prerequisites for the industrial revolution in the country.
An important factor that was nearing the beginning of the industrial revolution in Russia was the coexistence of the state on the world market alongside developed Western countries, where the production revolution was developing quite rapidly by then. The development of the industrial economy of these countries contributed to increased demand for exported Russian grain and technical raw materials.
In the 50s of the 19th century, external and internal factors ripened, bringing the decline of serfdom closer. At the same time, the industrial revolution is gaining momentum in the United States and Europe.
With the start of large-scale construction of railways and steam ships in these countries, the pace of production is increasing. Events in other countries have a significant impact on Russia with its feudal serfdom, which was experiencing a deep crisis. In the economic structure of the country in the 50s, the bourgeois system finally strengthened in the main spheres of the economy. At the same time, Russia remains deeply drawn into the capitalist market of the world.
The abolition of serfdom in the country took place under the acute political and economic necessity of forming new forms of economy on a capitalist basis. The irreconcilable struggle of the people against the feudal system was of great importance.
The developing industrial revolution provoked not only changes in the organization of the production process through the introduction of technology, but also entailed significant changes in Russian society.
The development of the industrial revolution in the first few decades after the reform was extremely uneven. High rates of formation of the machine industry were observed in large urban centers, while in the periphery the development of production took place against the background of the continued preservation of remnants of serfdom.