After serfdom was abolished in Russia, all the prerequisites for modernization and rapid economic growth appeared. In the late XIX - early XX centuries, an industrial revolution took place in the country. He put Russia on a par with the most developed economic countries in the world (England, USA, France and Germany).
Rail Development
One of the most important indicators of economic development in the state at that time was the development of railways. The prerequisites for the modernization of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were precisely the appearance of an accessible transport network.
The first railway line appeared in the country under Nicholas I (from Moscow to St. Petersburg). At the beginning of the 20th century, the railway is a strategically important resource. A well-developed network made transportation of goods across a vast country much cheaper and more efficient.
The beginning of modernization in Russia in the 20th century left behind about 3 thousand versts of railways. In no country in the world has the network been so long. The amount of cargo carried over several decades after the era of the reign of Alexander II increased 4 times.
What exactly did the intensive construction of the railways give? It opened for industry and trade new markets of domestic Russia. In dozens of provincial and remote provinces there were a great many resources awaiting their development. Not a single entrepreneur could afford to build a plant far from developed transport infrastructure. If this was done by the state, then the enterprise survived due to large subsidies, which means that it worked at a loss.
With the advent of new railways, the beginning of modernization in Russia in the 20th century has gained an accelerated pace. The economic turnover between the provinces has become more intense, and entrepreneurship has become widespread. The most diverse sections of the population were drawn into it - from educated nobles to hardworking peasants who left the community.
Trans-Siberian Railway
As early as 1891, the implementation of an incredible project at that time began in Russia. It was the construction of the Great Siberian Route, or the Trans-Siberian Railway. The longest railway in the world was to connect the extreme east of the country with the central provinces. At the ceremony of laying the first section was the heir to the throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich, who himself scored the first wheelbarrow of land. Ten years later, the path was closed, and soon trains went along it. For the first time, a person could get from the Atlantic coast of Europe to the Pacific frontier of Russia without transfers or ferry crossings . On average, 642 miles of new roads were built per year.
With the advent of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the economic modernization of Russia in the early 20th century acquired a new round. Now the inhabitants of the country have all the means for the development of vast Siberia. Stolypin's agrarian reform allowed peasants to settle on new lands and receive tax breaks to create their own economy. The railway, on the other hand, facilitated the journey from European provinces to the Far East.
Economic ties between regions
The peculiarities of modernization of Russia in the beginning of the 20th century consisted in the fact that with the advent of strong and stable trade relations between distant regions, industry began to develop with renewed vigor. Even the laying of the Trans-Siberian Railway alone required enormous resources, the production of which was undertaken by private entrepreneurs. These were: metallurgy, production of sleepers, woodworking, the chemical industry, the creation of fuel for steam locomotives (coal mining, oil refining), etc. The beginning of modernization in Russia in the 20th century was also characterized by the absence of state monopolies in most sectors of the economy, which unleashed talented hands private organizers.
The construction of new bridges, as well as the production of wagons and steam locomotives, accelerated several times. As a result, the beginning of modernization in Russia in the 20th century gave the country the second longest railway network in the world (second only to the United States).
Famous railway workers
Railways attracted not only entrepreneurs, but also talented government officials. For example, the Minister of Railways in 1895-1905. was Mikhail Ivanovich Khilkov, who was from the Rurikovich clan. He achieved the heights of his career thanks to his enormous industriousness. The future minister was first a stoker in the United States, a mechanic in the UK, and then established himself in the homeland as a capable administrator. In addition, the career of Sergei Witte, one of the most famous figures of the era, was connected with the railways.
Sectors of the economy
Other features of modernization of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were the redistribution of the market. All industrial production of the country was divided into several sectors. The main shares were in the textile (26%), food (24%) and mining (21%) industries.
Throughout the country, new economic areas with their own unique production arose. Especially striking was the growth in southern Russia. It produced oil, iron ore, coal, and smelted cast iron. Social modernization in Russia was associated with the unprecedented emergence of factories. The proletarian class was expanding. From 1894 to 1905, more than 440 new industries and enterprises appeared in the country alone in the metallurgical sphere.
As before, the center of shipbuilding remained St. Petersburg, where new classes of ships were being built at shipyards. In the south, the role of the main port passed to Nikolaev. Modern ships were also actively built and commissioned here.
The economic growth
The peculiarities of modernization in Russia were the accelerated growth rate, which any economies of the world could envy. According to this indicator, the country was in the group of leaders (along with the United States, Japan and Sweden). The gold mine has become the newest sphere of oil production, in which Russia was completely a world leader thanks to the discovery and development of the huge Baku field.
In other sectors of the economy, domestic production consistently occupied 4th or 5th place (iron ore mining, steel and cast iron smelting, mechanical engineering, sugar production, etc.).
All-Russian Industrial Exhibition
At the beginning of the 20th century, the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition opened in Nizhny Novgorod (by analogy with well-known European events). It was here that Russian industry held a demonstration of its success. The event became a landmark, they prepared for it for a long time. It is enough to mention that the first electric tram was launched on the expanses of all of Russia specifically for the exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod.
The event was funded by Emperor Nicholas II. Among the organizers of the exhibition were the most successful entrepreneurs of that time: Savva Morozov, Savva Mamontov, etc. Successes were shown here and new tasks for modernizing Russia were formulated at the beginning of the 20th century.
In Nizhny Novgorod, innovative developments were demonstrated. For example, visitors for the first time saw a hyperboloid shell tower, Shukhov rotunda, Popov radio, as well as the first domestic car (Frese and Yakovlev car). Some pavilions were dedicated to specific regions. For example, the partnership of the Nobel brothers demonstrated panoramas of oil fields and oil refineries in Baku. The difficulties of modernizing Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were discussed. Also concluded contracts and agreements between various manufacturers and industrialists.
Problems
Despite all the successes listed above, there were also problems of modernization of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The country lagged behind world leaders in terms of per capita production. This indicator hit especially hard on the end consumer. Because of this, the turnover in foreign trade was low (1 billion 286 million rubles). This figure was 5 times lower than that of the United States or England. In general, it was equal to the level of tiny Belgium.
The problems of modernizing Russia at the beginning of the 20th century consisted in the fact that the country was poor in the general level of capital within the economy. To further develop industry, the state and entrepreneurs needed funds. They were received through loans in other countries. About half of domestic capital in those years was received on credit. Foreign investors raised entire regions from scratch. Such, for example, was the Donbass basin. It was equipped at the expense of English and French investors.
Government debt
At the same time, the share of foreign money in the economy steadily decreased with the beginning of the new century. The peculiarities of Russian modernization consisted in the fact that the state was increasingly crediting on the domestic market, because of which its external debt was falling, and internal, on the contrary, was growing. For comparison - at the same time in France they spent up to a third of the budget on paying government loans, while in Russia - only about 15%.