19th early 20th century. The Russian bourgeoisie in the late 19th-early 20th century: composition, size, interests. For their huge contribution to the development of national culture and art, the Bakhrushins were sometimes called "professional philanthropists"
Tour reception. The guide can make a reference to the beginning of his story by pointing to the drawings of the Tomsk and Narym lands on the 1st stand.
Excursion text. As the sparsely populated region was populated, the number of temples increased. If in the first century of Russian settlement in the Middle Ob region there were only about a dozen churches in a few Russian villages and settlements (yurts) of baptized foreigners, then with the course of life and an increase in the number of villages and their inhabitants, the number of churches grew.
Most of the temples were in the most settled, populated, southern regions of our region - especially near Tomsk (the territory of the modern Tomsk region). In the northern part of the province, with its sparsely populated churches, sometimes they were hundreds of miles away from each other.
Especially many new ones appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when a mass of peasants moved from the European part of the country to Siberia to free lands. The peasants themselves or with the help of the treasury, charitable foundations or wealthy people built new and rebuilt old churches. By 1914, in the north of the Tomsk province (the territory of the modern Tomsk region), there were 117 churches, including 69 rural ones.
Moreover, they were built not only in the volost centers, but also in some villages.
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And if not a church, then a prayer house, a chapel, local residents tried to equip (icons were placed in the chapels, but there was no altar - belonging to the church).
Topic 3. Temples of Narym (optional)
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Additional Information. The center of Orthodox life in the north of the province was the oldest settlement on the territory of the Tomsk region - Narym. In the 19th - early 20th centuries it was a provincial town, the center of northern trade and the animal and fish industry (now the village of Narym, Parabelsky district).
The first church in Narym, wooden, in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, one of the earliest in the Narym-Tomsk Ob region, was built in the 1610s. At the turn of the century, there were three church buildings in Narym: two stone ones (old, new cathedrals) and a wooden cemetery one - in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, built in 1893.
The cathedral church of the city of Narym in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (“the old cathedral”). Mid 19th century. The temple is stone with two altars. The chapel in the name of St. Basil the Great was consecrated in 1788. Closed by order of the diocesan authorities due to the threat of the collapse of the coast in 1883.
The cathedral church of the city of Narym in honor of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord (“new cathedral”). Beginning of XX century. The side aisles were consecrated in honor of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos and in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Built in 1823.
Topic 4.The fate of rural temples in the Middle Ob region in the 20th century (optional)
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Additional Information. Some of these temples, built 100-150 years ago, have been preserved on Tomsk soil. Most of these beautiful structures were destroyed by time and people - in the 1930s, when a deliberate policy was pursued in our country to destroy temples and religion. Churches were demolished, converted into clubs, schools, warehouses…. Some, alas, already a few of them, deprived of cupolas, domes, and now stand in the villages. Only a few of the remaining church buildings since the 1980s have been registered as historical and cultural monuments and are now protected by the state. Since the 1990s, work began on the restoration of the surviving temples. Restored ancient churches again serve the Orthodox people (in the village of Togur, the village of Molchanovo, Petukhovo, Spasskoye).
logical transition. One of the temples is in Spassky (Kolarovo), built back in the 18th century, was once famous for the fact that there was one of the miraculous icons widely revered in the region - the Savior Not Made by Hands.
STAND 4. WITH A MIRACULOUS ICON…
Estimated story length: 8 min.
Topic 1.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Cherdatsky
Tour reception. The guide, located between the 3rd and 4th stands in the course of the story about rural churches with miraculous icons, shows on the map of the 3rd stand the location of the villages of Cherdatsky, Bogorodsky, Spassky, Semiluzhensky, Yarsky.
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There were several churches in the Tomsk region, especially famous for their sacred relics - miraculous icons. People from afar came here to venerate shrines, and long religious processions were organized from here so that residents of other villages could satisfy their spiritual thirst and the needs of faith.
One of these temples, relatively small, wooden, stood in the village. Cherdatsky, taiga, Mariinsky district. In the Cherdat Church, an icon of the Mother of God of the Milk-Giver was kept painted on canvas pasted on a board: “The Most Holy Mother is depicted on it with wonderful ... colors worthy of heavenly beauty, sitting in a garden under olive trees surrounded by bars. In his shuitz (left hand) he holds and nourishes with his milk the Eternal Infant of His Son. The icon was given in 1714 by Metropolitan of Tobolsk and All Siberia Ioan Maksimovich as a blessing to the yasak princes of the Chulym Tatars who had converted to Orthodoxy. This image was revered as miraculous, saving the peasants of the taiga region from their formidable misfortune - an epidemic disease of cattle.
Topic 1.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Semiluzhensky (Semiluzhny)
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Other miraculous icons, known for their signs and wonders, were located in churches that were closer to Tomsk: in the village. Semiluzhny - the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in the village. Bogorodsky (now the village of Staraya Shegarka) - the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, in the village. Spassky - The miraculous image of Christ the Savior, in p. Yarsky icon of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. These icons have been venerated since the 18th century, when they were painted or miraculously revealed.
The testimonies of contemporaries about the appearance of these sacred relics of the Tomsk land have been preserved. So, an old Siberian legend recorded a story about the miraculous appearance of the image of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on Tomsk land. “... The described icon appeared on July 7, 1702 in the village. Krestinina, the current Semiluzhenskaya volost, in the house of the widow Prokopyeva, to the Tomsk soldier's son Grigory Rozhnev. Rozhnev was ill; There was no longer any hope for his recovery. But suddenly, those present at the bedside of the dying man came into indescribable amazement when Rozhnev got out of bed completely healthy.
But those present were even more astonished when they saw the image of St. Nicholas, standing on a shelf among other icons. The widow did not have such an image, and no one from outsiders brought it to her. No one lit candles in front of him, but meanwhile a candle of pure wax burned before the image with a bright flame.
The next day, Rozhnev told his confessor the following: “When I was lying in an illness, I imagined a horde of unclean spirits who were looking for my death. Frightened, I turned to the Lord and prayed for intercession. Suddenly a door opened in the hut, an extraordinary light shone in the room, the demons fled, and in the air I saw the icon of St. Nicholas. No one supported the holy image, it was carried by some unknown force and, having passed through the room, stood with other icons in its usual place. With a staff in his hands and in bishop's clothes, an old man, similar to the one depicted on the icon, walked behind the image.
Approaching the bed, the elder touched me with a rod, and I felt healed from the disease. To my words - who he is - the elder answered: “I am Archbishop Nikolai, Miracle Worker of Lycia, a quick helper to Christians. My icon was in the house of a neighbor, Ilya Krestinin, but because of the wickedness of him and his family, she left with me from there. With honor, take it to the village of Semiluzhnaya: I want my image to stand there and be revered ...
The holy icon was immediately transferred to the prayer house in vil. Semiluzhnaya, and Rozhnev, having appeared in Tomsk to the clergy and authorities, spoke about a miraculous phenomenon.
Miracles that happened repeatedly from St. icons, prompted Tomsk residents to bring it to Tomsk annually for prayer singing, which began from the same 1702 ”([On the appearance of the miraculous image of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on Tomsk land] (“Siberian Observer”, 1902)
Topic 3.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Spassky (optional)
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Additional material. There is the following legend about the miraculous image of Christ the Savior: In 1666, the inhabitants of the village of Spassky commissioned an icon painter of St. Nicholas to be painted for their chapel. The latter set to work and drew the outline of the saint's face. But the next morning on the board was the outline of the Image of Christ the Savior Not Made by Hands. The icon painter tried three times to erase the contour and paint the image of St. Nicholas, but in vain: the face of Christ reappeared. In view of such a sign, the icon of the Image Not Made by Hands was painted. Mass of signs and wonders from St. Icons, and especially the cessation in Tomsk of an epidemic disease on people and livestock, prompted the inhabitants of the city to petition for permission to bring the holy image to the city every year. This petition was granted by His Eminence Anthony, Metropolitan of Siberia, in 1733, and since that time an annual religious procession to Tomsk has been established.
Topic 4.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Yarsky (optional)
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Additional material. There was such a legend about the miraculous icon of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the village of Yarskoye, on the spot where the church was later erected, a large bird cherry tree grew, on which once local peasants saw the icon of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos. The icon was extremely dilapidated, which is why the peasants lowered it into the Tom River, but it immediately ended up on a tree, in the old place. Up to three times they launched St. image, and three times by an invisible force he returned from the river to its former place. In view of such a miraculous sign, the inhabitants of the village of Yarsky asked the highest spiritual authorities for permission to build a chapel in honor of the Mother of God.
When they received this permission, they chose from their midst a pious and trustworthy collector and, handing him the revealed icon, sent him with it to collect money for the construction of a chapel. The collector went east to the current Irkutsk province and there, going from city to city, from village to village, he passed beyond Baikal. Here in one of the villages he fell ill and died. Soon the Mother of God appeared in a dream, in the form of a girl in a white robe, to the owner of the house in which the assembler died, and ordered him to deliver the icon to his parish church and hand it over to the priest. The same phenomenon happened to the priest, who was instructed to send the icon to the Tomsk Territory, to the village of Yarskoye. The revealed icon was brought back to the Yarskoye solo, and a chapel was built on the site of its appearance, and later a church.
The rumor, first about the miraculous appearance of the icon of the Entry into the Church of the Mother of God, and then about its return from Transbaikalia with the assistance from above, spread through the surrounding villages, was the reason that people began to flock in large numbers to worship this saint. icon and for prayers before it.
Since 1857 St. the icon was brought to Tomsk every year with the usual procession ceremony.
Topic 5.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Bogorodsky
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About the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria in the village. Bogorodsky there was such a legend. At the place where later arose with. Bogorodskoye (now - Staraya Shegarka, Shegarsky district) in the 17th century was a dense, impenetrable forest. Tatar hunters often heard church bells ringing here.
In the middle of the 17th century, natives of Tomsk built a settlement on this site, the inhabitants of which also repeatedly heard the bells and the ringing of bells, in view of which they decided to put up a chapel in honor of the Mother of God and sent one of their fellow villagers to order the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria in Tobolsk to the famous icon-painting priest Fr. Vasily, who, with fasting, prayer and abstinence, painted the ordered image.
When the image was taken to its destination along the river. Ob, a strong storm arose near Surgut: there was no hope of salvation. Those who sailed fell before St. icon and with tears asked the Mother of God for their salvation. Suddenly the wind died down, the waves calmed down, and there was complete silence. The image was safely brought to the village, which was named after the brought icon of Bogorodsky.
Modern history of Russia Shestakov Vladimir
Chapter 1. Russian Empire at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries
§ 1. Challenges of the industrial world
Features of the development of Russia in the late XIX - early XX century. Russia entered the path of modern industrial growth two generations later than France and Germany, a generation later than Italy, and about the same time as Japan. By the end of the XIX century. The most developed countries of Europe have already completed the transition from a traditional, basically agrarian society to an industrial one, the most important components of which are a market economy, a rule of law state and a multi-party system. The process of industrialization in the XIX century. can be considered a pan-European phenomenon, which had its leaders and its outsiders. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic regime created the conditions for rapid economic development in much of Europe. In England, which became the first industrial power in the world, an unprecedented acceleration of industrial progress began in the last decades of the 18th century. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain was already the undisputed world industrial leader, accounting for about a quarter of the total world industrial output. Thanks to its industrial leadership and status as a leading maritime power, it has also gained a position as a leader in world trade. The UK accounted for about a third of world trade, more than twice the share of its main rivals. Great Britain maintained its dominant position in both industry and trade throughout the 19th century. Although the model of industrialization in France differed from that in England, the result was equally impressive. French scientists and inventors held leadership in a number of industries, including hydropower (turbine construction and electricity generation), steel smelting (open blast furnace) and aluminum, automotive, and at the beginning of the 20th century. - aircraft construction. At the turn of the XX century. there are new leaders of industrial development - the United States, and then Germany. By the beginning of the XX century. the development of world civilization has accelerated sharply: the achievements of science and technology have changed the face of the advanced countries of Europe and North America and the quality of life of millions of inhabitants. Thanks to the continuous growth of output per capita, these countries have achieved an unprecedented level of prosperity. Positive demographic changes (decrease in the death rate and stabilization of the birth rate) free the industrial countries from the problems associated with overpopulation and the establishment of wages at a minimum level that ensures only existence. Feeded by completely new, democratic impulses, the contours of civil society appear, which receive public space in the subsequent 20th century. One of the most important features of capitalist development (which in science has another name - modern economic growth), which began in the first decades of the 19th century. in the most developed countries of Europe and America - the emergence of new technologies, the use of scientific achievements. This can explain the sustainable long-term nature of economic growth. So, between 1820 and 1913. the average rate of productivity growth in the leading European countries was 7 times higher than in the previous century. During the same period, their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) more than tripled, while the share of those employed in agriculture decreased by 2/3. Thanks to this leap to the beginning of the XX century. economic development acquires new distinctive features and new dynamics. The volume of world trade grew 30 times, the global economy and the global financial system began to take shape.
Despite the differences, the countries of the first echelon of modernization had many common features, and most importantly, a sharp reduction in the role of agriculture in an industrial society, which distinguished them from countries that had not yet made the transition to an industrial society. The growth of agricultural efficiency in the industrialized countries provided a real opportunity to feed the non-agricultural population. By the beginning of the XX century. a significant part of the population of industrialized countries was already employed in industry. Due to the development of large-scale production, the population is concentrated in large cities, urbanization is taking place. The use of machines and new sources of energy makes it possible to create new products that continuously enter the market. This is another difference between an industrial society and a traditional one: the emergence of a large number of people employed in the service sector.
No less important is the fact that in industrial societies the socio-political structure was based on the equality of all citizens before the law. The complexity of this type of society made it necessary for the general literacy of the population, the development of the media.
Huge Russian Empire by the middle of the XIX century. remained an agricultural country. The vast majority of the population (over 85%) lived in rural areas and was employed in agriculture. The country had one railway St. Petersburg - Moscow. Only 500 thousand people, or less than 2% of the able-bodied population, worked in factories and plants. Russia produced 850 times less coal than England, and 15–25 times less oil than the United States.
Russia's lag was due to both objective and subjective factors. Throughout the 19th century the territory of Russia expanded by about 40%, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Finland became part of the empire (although in 1867 Russia had to sell Alaska to the USA). Only the European territory of Russia was almost 5 times larger than the territory of France and more than 10 times larger than Germany. In terms of population, Russia was in one of the first places in Europe. In 1858, 74 million people lived within its new borders. By 1897, when the first All-Russian census took place, the population had grown to 125.7 million people (excluding Finland).
The vast territory of the state, the multinational, multi-confessional composition of the population gave rise to problems of effective manageability, which the states of Western Europe practically did not encounter. The development of the colonized lands required great efforts and funds. The harsh climate and the diversity of the natural environment also had a negative impact on the pace of the country's renewal. Not the last role in Russia's lagging behind European countries was played by the later transition to free ownership of land by peasants. Serfdom in Russia existed much longer than in other European countries. Due to the dominance of serfdom until 1861, most of the industry in Russia developed on the basis of the use of forced labor of serfs in large manufactories.
In the middle of the XIX century. signs of industrialization in Russia are becoming noticeable: the number of industrial workers increases from 100 thousand at the beginning of the century to more than 590 thousand people on the eve of the liberation of the peasants. The general inefficiency of management, and first of all the understanding by Alexander II (emperor in 1855–1881) that the country's military power directly depends on the development of the economy, forced the authorities to finally abolish serfdom. Its abolition in Russia took place about half a century after most European countries did it. According to experts, these 50-60 years is the minimum distance Russia lags behind Europe in economic development at the turn of the 20th century.
The conservation of feudal institutions made the country uncompetitive in the new historical conditions. Some influential politicians in the West saw Russia as a "threat to civilization" and were ready to help weaken its power and influence by all means.
"The beginning of the era of great reforms". The defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) quite clearly showed the world not only the serious lag of the Russian Empire from Europe, but also revealed the exhaustion of the potential with which feudal-serf Russia entered the ranks of great powers. The Crimean War paved the way for a series of reforms, the most significant of which was the abolition of serfdom. Since February 1861, a period of transformations began in Russia, later called the era of the Great Reforms. Signed by Alexander II on February 19, 1861, the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom forever eliminated the legal affiliation of the peasants to the landowner. They were awarded the title of free rural inhabitants. Peasants received personal freedom without ransom; the right to freely dispose of their property; freedom of movement and could henceforth marry without the consent of the landowner; enter into various property and civil transactions on its own behalf; open commercial and industrial enterprises; move to other classes. Thus, the law opened up certain opportunities for peasant entrepreneurship, and contributed to the departure of peasants to work. The law on the abolition of serfdom was the result of a compromise between various forces, for this reason it did not fully satisfy any of the interested parties. The autocratic government, responding to the challenges of the time, undertook to lead the country to capitalism, which was deeply alien to it. Therefore, she chose the slowest path, made maximum concessions to the landowners, who were always considered the main support of the tsar and the autocratic bureaucracy.
The landlords retained the right to all the land that belonged to them, although they were obliged to provide the peasants with land near the peasant farmstead, as well as a field allotment, for permanent use. The peasants were given the right to buy out the estate (the land on which the yard stood) and, by agreement with the landowner, the field allotment. In fact, the peasants received allotments not for ownership, but for use until the land was completely redeemed from the landowner. For the use of the land received, the peasants had to either work off its value on the lands of the landowner (corvée), or pay dues (in money or products). For this reason, the right of peasants to choose their economic activity, proclaimed in the Manifesto, was practically impossible. Most of the peasants did not have the means to pay the landowner the entire amount due, so the state contributed money for them. This money was considered debt. The peasants had to pay off their land debts with small annual payments, called redemption payments. It was assumed that the final settlement of the peasants for the land would be completed within 49 years. Peasants who were not able to immediately redeem the land became temporarily liable. In practice, the payment of redemption payments was delayed for many years. By 1907, when redemption payments were finally completely abolished, the peasants paid over 1.5 billion rubles, which, as a result, far exceeded the average market price of allotments.
According to the law, the peasants were to receive from 3 to 12 acres of land (1 acre is equal to 1,096 hectares), depending on its location. The landlords, under any pretext, sought to cut off the surplus land from the peasant allotments; in the most fertile black earth provinces, the peasants lost up to 30-40% of the land in the form of “segments”.
Nevertheless, the abolition of serfdom was a huge step forward, contributing to the development of new capitalist relations in the country, but the path chosen by the authorities to eliminate serfdom turned out to be the most burdensome for the peasants - they did not receive real freedom. The landlords continued to hold in their hands the levers of financial influence on the peasants. For the Russian peasantry, the land was a source of livelihood, so the peasants were unhappy that they received the land for a ransom that had to be paid for many years. After the reform, the land was not their private property. It could not be sold, bequeathed or inherited. At the same time, the peasants did not have the right to refuse to buy land. The main thing is that after the reform, the peasants remained in the power of the agricultural community that existed in the village. The peasant did not have the right to freely, without agreement with the community, leave for the city, enter the factory. The community protected the peasants for centuries and determined their whole life, it was effective in the traditional, unchanging methods of farming. Mutual responsibility was maintained in the community: it was financially responsible for collecting taxes from each of its members, sent recruits to the army, built churches and schools. In the new historical conditions, the communal form of land use turned out to be a brake on the path of progress, holding back the process of property differentiation of the peasants, destroying the incentives for increasing the productivity of their labor.
Reforms of 1860-1870s and their consequences. The liquidation of serfdom radically changed the whole character of public life in Russia. In order to adapt the political system of Russia to the new capitalist relations in the economy, the authorities had first of all to create new, all-class administrative structures. In January 1864 Alexander II approved the Regulations on zemstvo institutions. The meaning of the establishment of the Zemstvos was to connect new layers of free people to the management. According to this provision, persons of all classes who owned land or other immovable property within the uyezds, as well as rural peasant societies, were granted the right to participate in the affairs of economic management through elected vowels (i.e., those with the right to vote), who were part of the uyezd and provincial zemstvos meetings convened several times a year. However, the number of vowels from each of the three categories (landowners, urban societies and rural societies) was not the same: the advantage was with the nobles. For everyday activities, district and provincial zemstvo councils were elected. Zemstvos took over the care of all local needs: the construction and maintenance of roads, the provision of food for the population, education, and medical care. Six years later, in 1870, the system of elective all-estate self-government was extended to cities. In accordance with the "City Regulations", a city duma elected for a period of 4 years according to the property qualification was introduced. The creation of a system of local self-government had a positive impact on the solution of many economic and other issues. The reform of the judiciary has become the most important step along the path of renewal. In November 1864, the tsar approved a new Judicial Charter, according to which a unified system of judicial institutions was created in Russia, corresponding to the most modern world standards. Proceeding from the principle of equality of all subjects of the empire before the law, a classless public court was introduced with the participation of jurors and the institution of sworn attorneys (lawyers). TO 1870 new courts were created in almost all provinces of the country.
The growing economic and military power of the leading Western European countries forced the authorities to take a number of measures to reform the military sphere. The main goal of the program outlined by Minister of War D. A. Milyutin was to create a mass army of the European type, which meant reducing the excessively high number of troops in peacetime and the ability to quickly mobilize in case of war. January 1st 1874 signed a decree on the introduction of universal military service. Since 1874, all young people who have reached the age of 21 began to be called up to serve military service. At the same time, the service life was halved, depending on the level of education: in the army - up to 6 years, in the navy - 7 years, and some categories of the population, for example teachers, were not drafted into the army at all. In accordance with the objectives of the reform, cadet schools and military schools were opened in the country, and peasant recruits began to be taught not only military affairs, but also literacy.
In order to liberalize the spiritual sphere, Alexander II carried out an education reform. New higher educational institutions were opened, a network of elementary public schools was deployed. In 1863, the University Charter was approved, which again granted higher education institutions broad autonomy: the election of rectors and deans, the obligatory wearing of uniforms by students was abolished. In 1864, a new school charter was approved, according to which, along with classical gymnasiums, which gave the right to enter universities, real schools were introduced in the country, preparing students for admission to higher technical institutions. Censorship was limited and hundreds of new newspapers and magazines appeared in the country.
The “great reforms” carried out in Russia since the early 1860s did not solve all the tasks facing the authorities. In Russia, the educated representatives of the ruling elite became the bearers of new aspirations. For this reason, the reformation of the country went from above, which determined its features. The reforms undoubtedly accelerated the economic development of the country, liberated private initiative, removed some vestiges and eliminated deformations. Socio-political modernization carried out "from above" only limited the autocratic order, but did not lead to the creation of constitutional institutions. The autocratic power was not regulated by law. The great reforms did not touch upon the issues of either the rule of law or civil society; in their course, mechanisms for the civil consolidation of society were not developed, many class differences remained.
Post-reform Russia. The assassination of Emperor Alexander II on March 1, 1881 by radical members of the anti-autocratic organization Narodnaya Volya did not lead to the abolition of autocracy. On the same day, his son Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov became Emperor of Russia. Even as Tsarevich, Alexander III (emperor 1881-1894) believed that the liberal reforms carried out by his father weakened the autocratic power of the tsar. Fearing the escalation of the revolutionary movement, the son rejected the reformist course of his father. The economic situation of the country was difficult. The war with Turkey demanded huge expenses. In 1881, Russia's public debt exceeded 1.5 billion rubles with an annual income of 653 million rubles. Famine in the Volga region and inflation aggravated the situation.
Despite the fact that Russia retained many of the features of its cultural appearance and social structure inherent only to it, the second half of the 19th century. became a time of accelerated and noticeable cultural and civilizational transformation. From an agrarian country with low-productive agricultural production by the end of the 19th century. Russia began to turn into an agrarian-industrial country. The strongest impetus to this movement was given by the fundamental restructuring of the entire socio-economic system, which began with the abolition of serfdom in 1861.
Thanks to the reforms carried out in the country, an industrial revolution took place. The number of steam engines tripled, their total power quadrupled, and the number of merchant ships tenfold. New industries, large enterprises with thousands of workers - all this became a characteristic feature of post-reform Russia, as well as the formation of a wide layer of wage workers and the developing bourgeoisie. The social face of the country was changing. However, this process was slow. Wage workers were still firmly connected with the countryside, and the middle class was small and poorly organized.
And yet, since that time, a slow but steady process of transforming the economic and social organization of the life of the empire has been outlined. The rigid administrative class system gave way to more flexible forms of social relations. Private initiative was liberated, elected bodies of local self-government were introduced, legal proceedings were democratized, archaic restrictions and prohibitions were abolished in publishing, in the field of stage, music and fine arts. In desert places far from the center, during the lifetime of one generation, vast industrial zones arose, such as the Donbass and Baku. The successes of civilizational modernization most expressively acquired visible outlines in the guise of the capital of the empire - St. Petersburg.
At the same time, the government launched a railway construction program relying on foreign capital and technology, and reorganized the banking system to introduce Western financial technologies. The fruits of this new policy became visible in the mid-1880s. and during the "big push" of industrial production in the 1890s, when industrial output increased by an average of 8% per year, which exceeded the highest growth rates ever achieved in the Western countries.
The most dynamically developing industry was cotton production, mainly in the Moscow region, the second most important was the production of beet sugar in Ukraine. At the end of the XIX century. large modern textile factories are being built in Russia, as well as a number of metallurgical and machine-building plants. In St. Petersburg and near St. Petersburg, the giants of the metallurgical industry are growing - the Putilov and Obukhov plants, the Nevsky shipbuilding and Izhora plants. Such enterprises are also being created in the Russian part of Poland.
A great merit in this breakthrough belonged to the railway construction program, especially the construction of the state Trans-Siberian Railway, begun in 1891. By 1905, the total length of the railway lines in Russia amounted to over 62 thousand km. The green light was also given to the expansion of mining and the construction of new smelters. The latter were often created by foreign entrepreneurs and with the help of foreign capital. In the 1880s French entrepreneurs obtained permission from the tsarist government to build a railway connecting the Donbass (coal deposits) and Krivoy Rog (iron ore deposits), and also built blast furnaces in both areas, thus creating the world's first metallurgical plant operating on supplies raw materials from remote deposits. In 1899, there were already 17 factories operating in the south of Russia (before 1887 there were only two), equipped with the latest European technology. Coal and iron production skyrocketed (whereas in the 1870s domestic iron production met only 40% of demand, in the 1890s it served three-quarters of the vastly increased consumption).
By this time, Russia had accumulated significant economic and intellectual capital, which allowed the country to achieve some success. By the beginning of the XX century. Russia had a good gross economic performance: in terms of gross industrial production, it was in fifth place in the world after the United States, Germany, Great Britain and France. The country had a significant textile industry, especially cotton and linen, as well as a developed heavy industry - the production of coal, iron, steel. Russia in the last few years of the XIX century. even ranked first in the world in oil production.
These indicators, however, cannot serve as an unambiguous assessment of Russia's economic power. Compared with the countries of Western Europe, the standard of living of the bulk of the population, especially peasants, was catastrophically low. The production of basic industrial products per capita lagged behind the level of the leading industrial countries by an order of magnitude: 20–50 times for coal, and 7–10 times for metal. Thus, the Russian Empire entered the 20th century without solving the problems associated with lagging behind the West.
§ 2. The beginning of modern economic growth
New goals and objectives of socio-economic development. Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was at an early stage of industrialization. The structure of exports was dominated by raw materials: timber, flax, furs, oil. Almost 50% of export operations were occupied by bread. At the turn of the XX century. Russia annually supplied abroad up to 500 million grains. Moreover, if for all the post-reform years the total volume of exports increased almost 3 times, then the export of bread - 5.5 times. Compared to the pre-reform era, the Russian economy developed rapidly, but a certain brake on the development of market relations was the underdevelopment of the market infrastructure (lack of commercial banks, difficulty in obtaining loans, dominance of state capital in the credit system, low standards of business ethics), as well as the presence of state institutions that did not compatible with a market economy. Favorable state orders tied Russian entrepreneurs to the autocracy, pushed them into an alliance with the landowners. The Russian economy remained multi-structural. Subsistence farming coexisted with the semi-feudal landlord, small-scale farming of the peasants, private capitalist farming and state (state) farming. At the same time, having embarked on the path of creating a market later than the leading European countries, Russia widely used their experience in organizing production. Foreign capital played an important role in the creation of the first Russian monopoly associations. The Nobel brothers and the Rothschild company created a cartel in the Russian oil industry.
A specific feature of the development of the market in Russia was a high degree of concentration of production and labor: the eight largest sugar refiners concentrated at the beginning of the 20th century. in their hands 30% of all sugar refineries in the country, the five largest oil companies - 17% of all oil production. As a result, the bulk of the workers began to concentrate on large enterprises with more than a thousand employees. In 1902, over 50% of all workers in Russia worked at such enterprises. Before the revolution of 1905–1907 there were more than 30 monopolies in the country, including such large syndicates as Prodamet, Gvozd, Prodvagon. The autocratic government contributed to the growth of the number of monopolies, pursuing a policy of protectionism, protecting Russian capital from foreign competition. At the end of the XIX century. duties on many imported goods were significantly increased, including for cast iron they were increased by 10 times, for rails - by 4.5 times. The policy of protectionism allowed the growing Russian industry to withstand competition from the developed countries of the West, but it led to increased economic dependence on foreign capital. Western entrepreneurs, deprived of the opportunity to import manufactured goods into Russia, sought to expand the export of capital. By 1900, foreign investments accounted for 45% of the total share capital in the country. Profitable state orders pushed Russian entrepreneurs into a direct alliance with the landowning class, doomed the Russian bourgeoisie to political impotence.
Entering a new century, the country had to solve in the shortest possible time a set of problems relating to all the main spheres of public life: in the political sphere - to use the achievements of democracy, on the basis of the constitution, laws to open access to the management of public affairs to all segments of the population, in the economic sphere - to implement industrialization of all industries, to turn the village into a source of capital, food and raw materials necessary for the industrialization and urbanization of the country, in the sphere of national relations - to prevent the split of the empire along national lines, satisfying the interests of peoples in the field of self-determination, contributing to the rise of national culture and self-consciousness, in the sphere of external economic relations - from a supplier of raw materials and food to become an equal partner in industrial production, in the sphere of religion and the church - to end the relationship of dependence between the autocratic state and the church, to enrich the philosophy, work ethic of Orthodoxy, taking into account the developments in the country of bourgeois relations, in the field of defense - to modernize the army, to ensure its combat capability through the use of advanced means and theories of warfare.
Little time was allotted for solving these priority tasks, because the world stood on the threshold of a war unprecedented in scope and consequences, the collapse of empires, the redivision of colonies; economic, scientific, technical and ideological expansion. In the conditions of fierce competition in the international arena, Russia, not gaining a foothold in the ranks of the great powers, could be thrown far back.
Land issue. Positive shifts in the economy have also affected the agricultural sector, although to a lesser extent. The feudal land ownership of the nobility was already weakened, but the private sector was not yet strong. Of the 395 million acres in the European part of Russia in 1905, communal allotments amounted to 138 million acres, treasury land - 154 million, and private - only 101 million (approximately 25.8%), of which half belonged to peasants, and the other - to landowners. A characteristic feature of private landownership was its latifundial character: approximately 28,000 owners held three-quarters of the entire landownership, an average of about 2,300 dessiatins. for everyone. At the same time, 102 families owned estates of more than 50 thousand dessiatins. each. For this reason, their owners rented out lands and lands.
Formally, leaving the community was possible after 1861, but by the beginning of 1906 only 145,000 farms had left the community. Collections of basic food crops, as well as their yields, grew slowly. Per capita income was no more than half that of France and Germany. Due to the use of primitive technologies and lack of capital, labor productivity in Russian agriculture was extremely low.
One of the main factors behind the low level of productivity and income of the peasants was the egalitarian communal psychology. The average German peasant economy at that time had half as much crops, but 2.5 times more yield than in the more fertile Russian Chernozem region. Milk yields also differed greatly. Another reason for the low productivity of basic food crops is the dominance of backward systems of field cultivation in the Russian countryside, the use of primitive agricultural implements: wooden plows and harrows. Despite the fact that the import of agricultural machinery grew from 1892 to 1905 at least 4 times, more than 50% of the peasants of the agricultural regions of Russia did not have improved equipment. The landowners' farms were much better equipped.
Nevertheless, the rate of growth in the production of bread in Russia was higher than the rate of population growth. Compared with the post-reform period, the average annual yields of bread increased by the beginning of the century from 26.8 million tons to 43.9 million tons, and potatoes from 2.6 million tons to 12.6 million tons. Accordingly, over a quarter of a century, the mass of marketable bread increased more than twice, the volume of grain exports - 7.5 times. In terms of gross grain production, Russia by the beginning of the 20th century. was among the world leaders. True, Russia won the glory of the world grain exporter due to the malnutrition of its own population, as well as the relative smallness of the urban population. Russian peasants ate mainly plant foods (bread, potatoes, cereals), less often they consumed fish and dairy products, and even less often - meat. In general, the calorie content of food did not correspond to the energy expended by the peasants. In the event of frequent crop failures, the peasants had to starve. In the 1880s after the abolition of the poll tax and the reduction of redemption payments, the financial situation of the peasants improved, but the agricultural crisis in Europe also affected Russia, and bread prices fell. In 1891–1892 severe drought and crop failure swept 16 provinces of the Volga and Chernozem regions. About 375 thousand people died from starvation. Failures of various scale also occurred in 1896-1897, 1899, 1901, 1905-1906, 1908, 1911.
At the beginning of the XX century. in connection with the steady expansion of the domestic market, already more than half of the marketable grain went to domestic consumption.
Domestic agriculture covered a significant part of the needs of the manufacturing industry in raw materials. Only the textile and, to some extent, the woolen industries were in need of imported raw materials.
At the same time, the presence of many remnants of serfdom seriously hampered the development of the Russian countryside. Huge sums of redemption payments (by the end of 1905 the former landlord peasants paid more than 1.5 billion instead of the initial 900 million rubles; the peasants paid the same amount instead of the initial 650 million rubles for state lands) were pumped out of the village and did not go to development of its productive forces.
Already from the beginning of the 1880s. more and more clearly emerged signs of growing crisis phenomena, causing an increase in social tension in the countryside. The capitalist restructuring of the landowners' farms proceeded extremely slowly. Only a few landlord estates were centers of cultural influence on the village. Peasants were still a subordinate class. The basis of agricultural production was low-commodity family peasant farms, which at the beginning of the century produced 80% of grain, the vast majority of flax and potatoes. Only sugar beets were grown on relatively large landlord farms.
In the old-developed regions of Russia there was a significant agrarian overpopulation: about a third of the village was, in essence, "extra hands".
The growth in the size of the landowning population (up to 86 million by 1900), while maintaining the same size of land allotments, led to a decrease in the share of peasant land per capita. Compared with the norms of Western countries, the Russian peasant could not be called land-poor, as was commonly believed in Russia, however, under the existing system of land use, even having land wealth, the peasant was starving. One of the reasons for this is the low productivity of peasant fields. By 1900, it was only 39 pounds (5.9 centners per 1 ha).
The government was constantly involved in agricultural issues. In 1883–1886 the per capita tax was abolished, in 1882 the "Peasant Land Bank" was established, which issued loans to peasants for the purchase of land. But the effectiveness of the measures taken was insufficient. The peasantry constantly did not collect the taxes required of it, in 1894, 1896 and 1899. the government provided the peasants with benefits, fully or partially forgiving arrears. The sum of all direct fees (state, zemstvo, secular and insurance) from peasant allotment lands in 1899 amounted to 184 million rubles. However, the peasants did not pay these taxes, although they were not excessive. In 1900, the amount of arrears was 119 million rubles. Social tension in the countryside at the beginning of XX. turns into real peasant uprisings, which became the harbingers of the impending revolution.
New economic policy of power. Reforms S. Yu. Witte. In the early 90s. 19th century In Russia, an unprecedented industrial boom began. Along with the favorable economic situation, it was caused by the new economic policy of the government.
The leader of the new government policy was the outstanding Russian reformer Count Sergei Yulievich Witte (1849–1915). For 11 years he held the key post of Minister of Finance. Witte was a supporter of the comprehensive modernization of the national economy of Russia and at the same time remained in conservative political positions. Many of the reform ideas that were put into practice in those years were conceived and developed long before Witte headed the Russian reform movement. By the beginning of the XX century. the positive potential of the reforms of 1861 was partially exhausted and partially emasculated by conservative circles after the assassination in 1881 of Alexander II. As a matter of urgency, the authorities had to solve a number of priority tasks: stabilize the ruble, develop communication routes, find new markets for domestic products.
A serious problem by the end of the XIX century. becomes scarce. Last but not least, it was connected with the population explosion that began in the country after the abolition of serfdom. The decrease in mortality while maintaining a high birth rate led to a rapid population growth, and this becomes by the beginning of the 20th century. a headache for the authorities, as a vicious circle of excess labor is formed. The low incomes of the majority of the population made the Russian market low-capacity and hindered the development of industry. Following the Minister of Finance, N. H. Bunge, Witte began to develop the idea of continuing agrarian reform and eliminating the community. At that time, in the Russian countryside, the leveling and redistribution community prevailed, which carried out the redistribution of communal lands every 10–12 years. The threats of redistribution, as well as striping, deprived the peasants of incentives for the development of the economy. This is the most important reason why Witte turned from "a Slavophile supporter of the community into its staunch opponent." In the free peasant "I", the liberated private interest, Witte saw an inexhaustible source of development of the productive forces of the countryside. He managed to pass a law limiting the role of mutual responsibility in the community. In the future, Witte planned to gradually transfer the peasants from the communal to the household and farm economy.
The economic situation called for urgent action. The obligations assumed by the government for redemption payments to the landlords, abundant financing of industry and construction from the treasury, high costs of maintaining the army and navy led the Russian economy to a serious financial crisis. At the turn of the century, few serious politicians doubted the need for deep socio-economic and political transformations that could relieve social tension and bring Russia into the ranks of the most developed countries in the world. In the ongoing discussion about the ways of the country's development, the main issue is the question of priorities in economic policy.
The plan of S. Yu. Witte can be called industrialization plan. It provided for the accelerated industrial development of the country within two five years. The creation of one's own industry was, according to Witte, not only a fundamental economic but also a political task. Without the development of industry, it is impossible to improve agriculture in Russia. Therefore, no matter what efforts this may require, it is necessary to work out and unswervingly adhere to the course for the priority development of industry. The purpose of Witte's new course was to catch up with the industrialized countries, take a strong position in trade with the East, and ensure a surplus in foreign trade. Until the mid 1880s. Witte looked at the future of Russia through the eyes of a convinced Slavophile and opposed the breaking of the "originally Russian system." However, over time, in order to achieve his goals, he completely rebuilt the budget of the Russian Empire on new principles, carried out a credit reform, rightly counting on accelerating the pace of the country's industrial development.
Throughout the 19th century Russia experienced the greatest difficulties in circulation of money: the wars that led to the issuance of paper money deprived the Russian ruble of the necessary stability and caused serious damage to Russian credit in the international market. By the beginning of the 90s. the financial system of the Russian Empire was completely upset - the rate of paper money was constantly declining, gold and silver money was practically out of circulation.
The constant fluctuations in the value of the ruble came to an end with the introduction of the gold standard in 1897. The monetary reform as a whole was well conceived and carried out. The fact remains that with the introduction of the gold ruble, the country forgot about the existence of the recently “cursed” issue of the instability of Russian money. In terms of gold reserves, Russia bypassed France and England. All credit notes were freely exchanged for a gold coin. The State Bank issued them in quantities strictly limited by the actual needs of circulation. Confidence in the Russian ruble, extremely low throughout the 19th century, was fully restored in the years leading up to the outbreak of the World War. Witte's actions contributed to the rapid growth of Russian industry. To solve the problem of investments needed to create a modern industry, Witte attracted foreign capital in the amount of 3 billion gold rubles. At least 2 billion rubles were invested in railway construction alone. The railway network was doubled in a short time. Railway construction contributed to the rapid growth of the domestic metallurgical and coal industries. Cast iron production increased almost 3.5 times, coal mining - 4.1 times, the sugar industry flourished. Having built the Siberian and East China railways, Witte opened the vast expanses of Manchuria for colonization and economic development.
In his transformations, Witte often encountered passivity and even resistance from the tsar and his entourage, who considered him a "republican." Radicals and revolutionaries, on the contrary, hated him "for supporting the autocracy." The reformer did not find a common language with the liberals either. The reactionaries who hated Witte turned out to be right; all his activities inevitably led to the elimination of the autocracy. Thanks to "Witte's industrialization", new social forces are gaining strength in the country.
Having begun his state activity as a sincere and staunch supporter of unlimited autocracy, he ended it with the author of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which limited the monarchy in Russia.
§ 3. Russian society in the conditions of forced modernization
Factors of social instability. Due to accelerated modernization, the transition of Russian society from traditional to modern at the beginning of the 20th century. accompanied by extreme inconsistency and conflict of its development. New forms of relations in society did not fit well with the way of life of the overwhelming majority of the population of the empire. The industrialization of the country was carried out at the cost of multiplying "peasant poverty". The example of Western Europe and distant America undermines the previously unshakable authority of the absolutist monarchy in the eyes of the educated urban elite. The influence of socialist ideas on politically active youth is strong, the possibility of participation in legal public politics is limited.
Russia entered the 20th century with a very young population. According to the first All-Russian census in 1897, about half of the 129.1 million inhabitants of the country were under 20 years old. The accelerated growth of the population and the predominance of young people in its composition created a powerful reserve of workers, but at the same time, this circumstance, due to the propensity of young people to rebellion, is becoming one of the most important factors in the instability of Russian society. At the beginning of the century, due to the low purchasing power of the population, industry entered the stage of a crisis of overproduction. Entrepreneurs' incomes have fallen. They shifted their economic difficulties onto the shoulders of the workers, whose number has increased since the end of the 19th century. grew. The length of the working day, limited by the law of 1897 to 11.5 hours, reached 12-14 hours, real wages decreased as a result of rising prices; for the slightest fault, the administration mercilessly fined. Living conditions were extremely difficult. Discontent grew among the workers, the situation got out of control of the entrepreneurs. Mass political actions of workers in 1901–1902. took place in St. Petersburg, Kharkov and a number of other large cities of the empire. Under these conditions, the government showed a political initiative.
Another important factor of instability is the multinational composition of the Russian Empire. At the turn of the new century, about 200 large and small peoples lived in the country, different in language, religion, level of civilizational development. The Russian state failed, unlike other imperial powers, to reliably integrate ethnic minorities into the economic and political space of the empire. Formally, there were practically no legal restrictions on ethnicity in Russian legislation. The Russian people, which accounted for 44.3% of the population (55.7 million people), did not stand out much among the population of the empire in terms of their economic and cultural level. Moreover, individual non-Russian ethnic groups even enjoyed some advantages compared to Russians, especially in the field of taxation and conscription. Poland, Finland, Bessarabia, the Baltic States enjoyed a very wide autonomy. More than 40% of hereditary nobles were of non-Russian origin. The Russian big bourgeoisie was multinational in composition. However, responsible state posts could only be held by persons of the Orthodox faith. The Orthodox Church enjoyed the patronage of autocratic power. The heterogeneity of the religious environment created the ground for the ideologization and politicization of ethnic identity. In the Volga region, Jadidism acquires political overtones. Unrest among the Armenian population of the Caucasus in 1903 was provoked by a decree on the transfer of the property of the Armenian Gregorian Church to the authorities.
Nicholas II continued his father's tough policy on the national question. This policy found expression in the denationalization of the school, bans on the publication of newspapers, magazines and books in the native language, restrictions on access to higher and secondary educational institutions. Attempts to forcibly Christianize the peoples of the Volga region resumed, and discrimination against Jews continued. In 1899 a manifesto was issued limiting the rights of the Finnish Diet. Office work in Finnish was prohibited. Despite the fact that the requirements of a single legal and linguistic space were dictated by objective modernization processes, the tendency towards rough administrative centralization and Russification of ethnic minorities strengthens their desire for national equality, the free performance of their religious and folk customs, and participation in the political life of the country. As a result, at the turn of the 20th century there is an increase in ethnic and interethnic conflicts, and national movements become an important catalyst for the maturing of a political crisis.
Urbanization and the labor question. At the end of the XIX century. about 15 million people lived in Russian cities. Small towns with a population of less than 50,000 people predominated. There were only 17 large cities in the country: two millionaire cities, Petersburg and Moscow, and five more that overstepped the 100,000 mark, and all in the European part. For the vast territory of the Russian Empire, this was extremely small. Only the largest cities, by virtue of their inherent qualities, are capable of being genuine engines of social progress.
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Emperor Alexander III, having ascended the throne, set the strengthening of autocratic power and state order as his main task. The ideology of the internal political course was formulated by staunch conservatives - the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod K. Pobedonostsev and the publisher of Moskovskie Vedomosti M. Katkov.
On April 29, 1881, Alexander III issued the Manifesto on the Strengthening of the Autocracy, which proclaimed the inviolability of power and the cessation of the further development of reforms. The persecution of the liberal press begins, the supervision of universities, which were deprived of autonomy, was strengthened. Zemstvos and city dumas lost many rights and were placed under the control of governors. In the localities, the institute of zemstvo chiefs is created from the nobles. To support the nobles who could not adapt to the market economy, the Noble Bank helped mortgage and remortgage land.
Based on the convenience of administration and tax collection, the government of Alexander III left the peasant community unchanged, which was increasingly beginning to suffer from a lack of land.
To control the activities of the owners of factories and factories, a factory inspectorate is created. In 1882 - 1886. Alexander III issues a number of factory laws. Compulsory pay-books were introduced, and the manufacturers had to pay in money, not in products. Night work for women and teenagers was banned. Such steps could not but restore the Russian bourgeoisie against the autocratic power.
The reactionary domestic policy could not help but provoke rude Russification, with infringement of the rights of all foreigners, especially Jews. Pogroms swept across the country, which did not have any serious consequences.
In the difficult conditions of the formation of capitalism, S.Yu. Witte became a talented statesman and reformer. Starting his career first as a railway engineer, and then becoming the Minister of Railways, in 1892 he was appointed Minister of Finance by the Emperor. In this position, he successfully carried out a number of reforms, which became a time of successful support for Russian entrepreneurship.
The main and most successful was the monetary reform. The state treasury introduced a gold "exchange ruble" for which credit notes could be exchanged. This allowed Russian entrepreneurs to participate more actively in international trade transactions, since not a single foreign bank accepted Russian paper money. Despite the fact that the gold content of such a ruble was reduced, it was readily accepted by all European banks.
In order to reduce the flow of low-quality vodka products, the state introduced a monopoly both on the production of alcohol-containing vodka products and on its sale. At the same time, strict control was introduced on the sale on holidays and Sundays. The state treasury received an additional income of more than 500 million rubles. rubles annually.
An active attraction of foreign capital in the development, first of all, of the heavy and manufacturing industries begins. (Thus, the Nobel brothers earned their capital in the oil exploration of Baku. A part of the capital belonging to A. Nobel in his will will become the basis of the International Nobel Prize). In the light and food industries, foreigners were admitted with great reservations (obligatory adoption of Orthodoxy and marriage to Russian noblewomen).
The introduction of a protective customs tariff for Russian goods and an increase in customs fees for imported goods (up to 33%) created favorable conditions for Russian producers.
Getting acquainted with the history of the development of capitalism in the countries of Western Europe and the USA, S.Yu. Witte comes to the idea of a faster pace of development of the railway network in Russia. The raw material base of Siberia and the Far East is becoming inaccessible due to the lack of good communications. The river and road systems could not be used all year round. This direction caused increased investment in the construction of railways. The heads of the city Dumas were not aloof either. Thus, the head of the Cherepovets City Council, I.A. Milyutin, showed particular interest, who proved the need to build a railway line from Vologda to Cherepovets. According to him, the economic potential of the city should be used not only to develop its own production, but also become part of the national economic development.
From 1895 to 1899 3,000 kilometers of railways begin to be put into operation in Russia every year. In 1891, the construction of the Great Siberian Route from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok began. If the total length of railways in 1881 was about 23,000 km, then by 1904 it was over 60,000 km. Russia came in second place after the United States in terms of the length of railways.
S.Yu. Witte, understanding the need for state support for the Russian producer in the transition period, at the same time believed that such support would be needed only at the initial stage of the formation of the capitalist mode of production. As soon as the basis of market relations is strengthened, the Russian bourgeoisie will have to independently resolve the issues of production and marketing.
In 1899, an economic crisis broke out in Russia, for which no one was ready, it continued until 1903, which could not but affect the fate of S.Yu. Witte. He was accused by the new Emperor Nicholas II of inability to resolve issues, and was dismissed. Although Witte did not completely retire from public life. They will prepare a draft treaty with Japan and the Manifesto of October 17, 1905.
Rapidly developing sectors of the economy led to the formation of certain industrial centers. In the northwest - St. Petersburg, where mainly machine-building enterprises operated. The textile and food industries were connected with the center in Moscow. The southwestern region was known as the region of metallurgy. There was still the Ural center, but it no longer played an important role in the development of industry.
Despite the successful development of the country's economy, especially in industry, Russia remained in the second echelon of developed capitalist countries.
A special type of capitalism in Russia played a certain role. Among European countries, Russia was the last to embark on the path of developing new relations in the economy. Russia went this way through reforms, without revolutionary upheavals. All Western Europe, except for England, has gone through revolutions. If in England the existing constitutional-monarchist rule allowed the transition to capitalism in an evolutionary way, then the preservation of autocratic power in Russia, which decided to change the economic foundations in the country through reforms, indicated its peculiarity. At the same time, Russia did not have colonies owned by the countries of Western Europe, but actively uses foreign capital to develop the economy.
A distinctive feature is the short path of the industrial revolution. If England took a hundred years, then Russia by the 80s of the XIX century completed the industrial revolution.
The most famous not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe is the Putilov plant, which has no analogue in terms of technical equipment of production. The concentration of production, and then capital, reached a high level. Various forms of monopolies are being created, the number of which by the beginning of the 20th century was 50. (“Prodamet”, “Produgol”, “Prodvagon”).
A new banking system is being formed, in which commercial banks begin to play a prominent role. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 40 commercial joint-stock banks, 192 mutual credit banks, and 255 urban public banks operating in the country.
Problems in agriculture become a feature of the development of capitalism in Russia. The communal peasant economy, having most of the land in the country as a whole, did not become the basis for successful development. First of all, this was due to the weak interest of the peasants in the results of their labor, low technical equipment, high taxes and taxes. And although in 1881 redemption payments from peasant plots were lowered, and in 1882 the Peasant Land Bank was established, the poll tax was abolished - all this could not raise the peasant communal economy.
According to the Regulations of 1861, the peasants who contributed their share of the redemption sum could dispose of their allotments, but in 1893 they were deprived of the right to sell and pledge land. The landlord households, deprived of free labor, were unable to organize hired labor. By the beginning of the 20th century, only 570 landlord farms were successfully developing their estates.
An interesting feature is the development of private peasant farms, which begin to compete with the landlord economy. Thus, by the beginning of the 20th century, peasant farms produced 78.4% of grain, while landlord farms only 21.6%. Private peasant farms, especially in Siberia, create cooperatives both for the sale of products and for the purchase of agricultural machinery. In 1908, the first congress of cooperators took place, which set new tasks for the development of the cooperative movement.
Features of Russia's economic development also affected the social structure of the country. According to the population census in 1913, out of 160 million people, 66.7% were peasants, there were 6.4 million hired workers.
The foreign policy of Emperor Alexander III is characterized by the desire to take Russia away from military conflicts. In 1884, an agreement was reached with England on the delimitation of spheres of influence in Central Asia, where Russia marked the borders of the Russian Empire with Turkestan. Alexander III managed to smooth out the conflict between Germany and France, which he would save more than once from a military attack. France becomes a reliable partner and ally of Russia in Europe, despite its republican form of government. As soon as the military-political bloc of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (Triple Alliance) begins to take shape in Western Europe, France will sign a secret treaty with Russia.
On October 20, 1894, Emperor Alexander III died suddenly at the age of 49 from heart hypertrophy.
The eldest son of Alexander III, Nicholas II, ascends the Russian throne. Unfortunately, being a crown prince, Nikolai Alexandrovich was not allowed by his father to solve state problems. Possessing excellent human qualities and kindness, nevertheless, he was not ready to accept and understand the problems of the Russian Empire, which he was to rule. In the year of his father's death, he marries Hesse, Princess Alice of Dormstadt, who converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Alexandra Feodorovna, who had a certain influence on the emperor.
On January 6, 1895, Nicholas II, at a meeting with representatives of the Russian public, uttered the famous words: “Let everyone know that, devoting all my strength to the good of the people, I will protect the beginnings of autocracy as firmly and unswervingly as my late, unforgettable parent guarded it.” Such a speech caused disappointment among representatives of liberal circles, but the revolutionaries used it very well for their agitation.
In May 1896, on the eve of the coronation in Moscow, on the Khodynka field, where military exercises were constantly taking place, treats began to be distributed, crowds moved around the field, which, according to official data, led to the death of 1389 people, 1301 people were injured.
Since 1899 unrest began among students. On February 8, 1899, the police broke up a demonstration of students who demanded "academic freedom". The result of the speech was the decision of the government of Nicholas II to send politically unreliable students into soldiers. Talented professors are expelled from universities, such as S. Kovalevskaya, who leaves for Stockholm, M. Kovalevskiy leaves for Paris, P. Vinogradov for Oxford. The mediocrity of teaching took students away from science and inclined them towards political, most often verbal struggle.
The support of the throne, the Russian army more and more carried the alienation of officers from soldiers, losing their best traditions. In the army and navy, the theft of quartermasters is flourishing, which will have a negative impact on the course of the Russo-Japanese and the First World Wars.
The role of the political police is growing, which turns the protection of state power into a struggle against the entire Russian society. By deepening the split between state power and the people, by sowing distrust, the police allow the revolutionary forces to use this situation in their agitational propaganda.
In an effort to establish itself in the Far East, Russia leases the Liaodong Peninsula for 750,000 gold rubles, on which the Port Arthur fortress was built. A railway (CER) was laid to it, which improved the position of the non-freezing naval base. Japan, which itself was not averse to gaining a foothold in the Far East, enters into negotiations with Russia. The intervention of England, which did not want to carry out a successful policy of Russia, changed Japan's attitude to the negotiations. Taking advantage of Russia's ill-conceived, adventurous decision to develop timber in Korea, Japan is preparing for war.
On January 27, 1904, the Japanese fleet fired on the Russian squadron in the roadstead, causing damage to two battleships "Tsesarevich", "Retzivan" and one cruiser "Pallada". In the morning of the same day, the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" were attacked in the port of Chemulpo. In an unequal battle, having received many holes, the Korean gunboat was blown up, and the Varyag, whose officers and sailors did not want the Japanese to board, was flooded. All this created the superiority of Japan at sea. The Russian military forces were weakened by the difficulty of transferring troops to the Far East, the sluggishness of the military apparatus, embezzlement and theft.
The energetic Admiral S.O. is appointed Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Makarov, who could turn the tide. But in the very first battle, the flagship Petropavlovsk exploded on a mine and sank. His entire headquarters, the commander himself and the battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin, who was on the ship, perished.
The fighting on land was also unsuccessful for the Russian army. The Japanese army crossed the Yalu River in April 1904, entered Manchuria, and in May 1904 laid siege to Port Arthur from land. The battle near Laoyang ended in the defeat of the Russian army. In October 1904, a quickly assembled squadron under the command of Admiral Rozhdestvensky from the Baltic was sent to help Port Arthur. The besieged fortress, despite two offensives (in October and November), survived. By December 1904, the Japanese army outnumbered the besieged defenders by 5 times. On December 3, 1904, the talented commander General R. Kondratenko died. Despite the difficult situation, the garrison did not want to surrender the fortress, and spoke out against surrender. Contrary to this desire, on December 20, 1904, General Stessel surrendered the fortress to the Japanese, which held out, despite the superiority of the enemy forces, for 157 days and withstood six assaults. In May 1905, the destruction of the Russian squadron in the Tsushima Strait and the defeat of the Russian army near Mukden ended the Russian-Japanese war, except for 4 battleships that surrendered to the Japanese. Russian society was shocked and outraged by the revealed facts of unprofessional actions, theft and betrayal.
On August 23, 1905, a peace treaty was signed in Portsmouth (USA), according to which Russia recognized the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur, the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the introduction of Korea into the sphere of influence of Japan for Japan. The war cost Russia the loss of 400 thousand dead, wounded and prisoners, and more than 3 billion rubles.
The situation inside the country became even more aggravated by the autumn of 1904. The economic crisis caused an intensification of the actions of the working class in all the industrial cities of the country. The peasantry, striving for a redistribution of the land, does not cease to be agitated. The Russian bourgeoisie occupies a special place in the dissatisfaction with the existing government. Playing an increasingly significant role in the country's economy, it is not allowed by the autocracy to govern the country. The Russo-Japanese War, which ended tragically for Russia, further increased the indignation against the government of Nicholas II.
At the beginning of January 1905, workers of many enterprises of the city began to strike in St. Petersburg, demanding the introduction of an 8-hour working day and higher wages. The meeting of city entrepreneurs rejected all demands. Then, in the officially authorized organization “Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg”, which was headed by priest G. Gapon, the idea arose to write a petition to Emperor Nicholas II with the problems of the working class. With this petition, it was decided to go to the Winter Palace.
On January 9, 1905, over 140 thousand workers with their families, portraits of the sovereign, icons went to the Winter Palace. An attempt to get to the palace was stopped by special army units and shot. According to official figures, 96 people were killed and 333 wounded. This event entered the history of Russia under the name "Bloody Sunday".
The news of this event swept across the country, causing strikes and strikes of workers in the cities, unrest of the peasants, ending in the destruction of landowners' estates. Later, Nicholas II received a delegation of workers, but stated that "... it is criminal to tell me about your needs with a rebellious crowd." On February 4, 1905, the Moscow governor-general, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, died from a terrorist bomb.
The performances of the workers do not stop. A significant fact was the creation in May 1905 in Ivanovo-Voznesensk of the Council of Workers' Deputies, which assumed the functions of power in the city. Having existed for 72 days and dispersed by the troops and the police, he left an interesting example of the working class's attempt at independent state activity.
On June 14, 1905, the sailors of the battleship "Prince Potemkin - Tauride", standing on the roadstead in the port of Odessa, rebelled. The rebels killed the officers, took possession of the ship, and only 12 days later, when the coal supply ran out, the ship surrendered to the Romanian in the port of Constanta. Unrest of soldiers and sailors was noted not only in the garrisons, but also in the elite, guards Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments. In their speeches, the soldiers and sailors demanded the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, the solution of the agrarian question, and the granting of civil and political rights.
In August 1905, a Manifesto was issued with a promise to convene the State Duma, which was created only as an advisory body under the emperor.
By October 1905, the situation was aggravated by railroad strikes, and then became general. More than 2 million workers took part in the strikes, and 2,500 plants and factories stopped working. The Russian intelligentsia also joined the workers.
Emperor Nicholas II either fell into despair or demanded decisive measures to restore order in the country. Repressions did not help, the period of transition to concessions came.
On October 17, 1905, prepared by S.Yu. Witte, the Manifesto "On the Improvement of the State Order" was published, in which the emperor promised to introduce in the country civil liberties of conscience, speech, meetings and unions, legal parties. The main point of the Manifesto was the convocation of the State Duma with its legislative right. It was a decisive turn from unlimited autocratic power to a constitutional form of government. The Russian bourgeoisie is moving away from the revolutionary movement and has been given the opportunity to take part in the government of the country. The first Russian revolution ended with a compromise between the authorities and the people.
The illegal parties remained dissatisfied with the Manifesto, which prepared the last action of the workers in Moscow, which changed nothing. The strike of workers, which began on December 7, 1905, grew into an uprising that engulfed the working suburbs - Presnya (Krasnaya Presnya). The uprising was suppressed, while the inhabitants of this suburb suffered, who fell under the shells of cannons during the shooting of the barricades.
On December 11, 1905, the law on the procedure for elections to the State Duma was issued. The elections were associated with the creation of 4 curia from all classes: landowning, city, peasant and worker. One elector accounted for 90,000 workers, 30,000 peasants, 4,000 townspeople and 2,000 landowners. The total number of the Duma was determined at 524 deputies.
The new Minister of Internal Affairs, P.A. Stolypin, is entrusted with stopping the protests of workers and peasants.
The Manifesto of October 17, 1905 created the opportunity for the creation of legal political parties in Russia. The largest and most influential party that united broad circles of the liberal intelligentsia, progressive zemstvo leaders was the "People's Freedom Party", better known as the "Constitutional Democratic Party" (cadets). After the first founding congress, which was held from October 12 to 18, 1905 in Moscow, the process of organizational building of the party begins. By April 1906, 346 cadet organizations had been established throughout the country. The total number of members of the Cadet Party exceeded 60 thousand people.
Professor of History P.N.Milyukov became the main theoretician and leader of the party. The program of the Cadets provided primarily for a parliamentary constitutional monarchy (of the English type). At the same time, a mandatory system of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. The government becomes responsible not to the sovereign, but to the Duma. Universal suffrage, observance of civil and political rights of the individual. With regard to economic issues, the Cadets believed that the workers had the right to strikes and strikes and were not prosecuted under criminal law. At the same time, there should be mandatory health and life insurance for workers at the expense of the enterprise. Compulsory primary education for the children of workers at the expense of the enterprise. As regards the agrarian question, the Cadets were in favor of expanding the number of private peasant farms. It was proposed to replenish the lack of land through the nationalization of state lands.
The program of the Cadets was the most radical version of the liberal-bourgeois solution of the main issues of Russian reality. The tragedy of the party consisted primarily in the fact that the autocratic government did not want to go for radical reforms, and the socialist parties took advantage of this, having managed to captivate the masses with loud but impossible promises.
The more right wing was occupied by the moderately liberal party "Union of October 17" (Octobrists), which arose in 1906. This party united the moderate circles of the commercial and industrial class. The well-known industrialist and financier A.I. Guchkov becomes the leader of the party. The Program of the Octobrists said: "The Russian Empire is a hereditary constitutional monarchy, in which the emperor, as the bearer of supreme power, is limited by the decrees of the fundamental laws." At the same time, laws can be adopted only "with the consent of the people's representation" and the approval of the sovereign. Citizens of Russia are guaranteed equality before the law without distinction of sex, nationality or religion, freedom of conscience, the press, freedom of assembly, the abolition of passports, free movement within the country and free travel abroad. On the problem of economic questions, the Octobrists showed a certain restraint, especially on the labor question. It was proposed to call on Russian industrialists to revise and improve labor legislation, develop insurance assistance, allow trade unions, but all this is only within the framework of existing laws. With regard to the agrarian issue, the program noted support for private peasant farming. The lack of land was supposed to be solved through the nationalization of part of the landlords' land on the terms of remuneration.
The program of the Octobrists aroused controversy among commercial and industrial capital itself. A group of entrepreneurs left the party, headed by the well-known head of a whole family of entrepreneurs, P.P. Ryabushinsky, who founded the movement of "progressives". Turbulent revolutionary events did not allow Ryabushinsky to create a party. Ryabushinsky's opinion is known about the disastrous consequences for the country of infatuation with socialist ideas. This takes time and great effort.
The tragedy of the Octobrist party was connected with the insufficient political experience of the Russian bourgeoisie. Being the main social pillar of the liberal movement in the country, the bourgeoisie was unable to organize this movement. The thoughts about the liberal movement of the representative of the Russian commercial and industrial estate I.I. Shchukin are interesting. In a letter to A.I. He writes to Guchkov: “Your will, and the most cunning and well-intentioned attempts to restore the Tatar-Byzantine chambers in the European modern style seem to me an unrealizable illusion ... Injured from childhood, driven and forgotten, Russian liberalism fearfully looks around, timidly, as if stealthily, now ascends to the political field…”
The organization of the Russian Assembly, which has been operating since 1901, decided to create a monarchist party. In November 1905, it published its program, in which it expressed its commitment to an unlimited monarchy. In the same year, the party "Union of the Russian People" was created, headed by the famous monarchists V. Purishkevich and A. Dubrovin, who put forward the program slogans "Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality." S.Yu. Witte figuratively called the monarchist parties "revolutionaries on the right". In terms of composition, these parties were not numerous, but they developed noisy and noisy activities.
Among the illegal, socialist parties, the party of social revolutionaries (SRs), which declared itself in January 1902, becomes the largest. Having put populist ideas as the basis of their activities, they considered themselves the party of the peasantry. The organizational problem was of little concern to the Social Revolutionaries, since only in 1906 was the leadership scheme determined: the congress and the council of the party. At the same time, independent combat organizations operated. To achieve the goal, terror tactics are chosen as a way to cause mass discontent and a movement that will end in a socialist revolution. "Socialism as a way of systematic organization of all production by society and for society" (V.M. Chernov) The Socialist-Revolutionaries viewed socialist society as a union of self-governing production associations in industry and agriculture with a wide network of cooperation. The state was assigned the role of a center coordinating the activities of self-government bodies. The Socialist-Revolutionaries solved the main question of land only through the complete transfer of land to the peasants (“socialization of the land”) and its division by eaters.
The active participation of the Social Revolutionaries in the February Revolution of 1917, the split in June at the first Congress of Soviets into the "right" headed by B. Savenkov and the "left" headed by M. Spiridonova, weakened the party. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks banned the "right" party of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, and collaborated with the "left" party until July 6, 1918, when they no longer needed the support of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. This day will go down in history as the "rebellion of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries." In fact, there was no rebellion, it was a prepared operation by the Cheka to discredit the party. Soon the Socialist-Revolutionary Party will be banned.
Another socialist party, less well-known, will be the Social Democratic Party (Sdeks), which proclaimed Marxism as its ideological basis. At the first congress in 1898 in Minsk, a Manifesto was adopted on the creation of the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDLP) in Russia. Soon all nine congress delegates were arrested, but this event becomes known to one of the leaders of the organization "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class", who was in Siberia, in exile -V. Ulyanov. It was he who developed the idea of creating such a revolutionary party, which would be soldered by strict discipline and the main principle of "democratic centralism" - the subordination of the minority to the majority.
V. Ulyanov writes a number of works, where he considers the creation of his newspaper to be the beginning of the party's activity. Iskra became such a newspaper, which was printed abroad, and then illegally arrived in Russia. In 1903, according to the documents of engineer Lenin, he went abroad. First in Brussels, and then in London, the second congress of the Russian Social Democrats is taking place.
The main question of the party program is presented in the projects of G. Plekhanov and V. Ulyanov (Lenin). The congress adopts a program in Lenin's draft. It consisted of two parts: a program - a minimum and a program - a maximum, which assumed the accomplishment in Russia first of a bourgeois-democratic, and only then of a socialist revolution, through the conquest of power by the working class. All other requirements were moderate. But on the issue of membership in the party, there was a split into the "Bolsheviks" headed by V. Ulyanov-Lenin and the "Mensheviks" headed by Y. Martov (Zederbaum). Lenin was a supporter of strict discipline, and the decisions of the Central Committee of the party were to be executed without discussion. Martov, on the other hand, offered the right of a party member to his point of view and looked for ways to find compromises in order to avoid bloodshed. In October 1917, through a military coup, the Bolsheviks will come to power in Russia, the Menshevik Party, like other parties, will be banned, and Y. Martov will emigrate abroad, where he will write a number of works that reveal the essence of Bolshevism.
The anarchist party, which proclaimed the foundations of the future society as a “free union of free communes,” did not find wide support, and this party was also subsequently banned by the Bolsheviks.
On February 20, 1906, a regulation was issued on the State Council, which was to become the upper house of the Duma and was empowered to approve all bills developed by the lower house. In the State Council, 98 members were elected, and 98 were appointed by the emperor.
Elections to the first State Duma were held in February-March 1906 in a difficult situation of the first Russian revolution, which had not yet subsided. The leader of the RSDLP (b) Lenin, who still hoped for a mass popular uprising, was especially opposed to the elections.
478 deputies were elected to the Duma, of which 176 seats were taken by the Cadets. The first meeting was held in the Tauride Palace and immediately there were speeches of a radical order. A particularly protracted discussion unfolded on the agrarian question, where the Trudovik peasants proposed the introduction of not only the alienation of part of the landowners' land, but also the introduction of equalized land tenure. The work did not go further than discussions, and Nicholas II, using his right, on July 9, 1906, dissolved the Duma.
There are changes in the leadership of the country. Emperor Nicholas II removes I. Goremykin from the post of Prime Minister and appoints P. A. Stolypin to this position, who becomes famous in the fight against revolutionary terror. 30 people were killed, 60 people were injured. P.A. Stolypin was not even wounded.
New elections were announced. 518 deputies were elected to the Second State Duma, of which 65 were Social Democrats. On February 28, 1907, the first meeting of the Duma opened. The preponderance of forces turned out to be on the side of the left, since they were often supported by the Cadets (222 deputies).
On March 2, Stolypin delivered a report on the agrarian reform project. This project became the object of criticism and attacks of the left faction, to which P.A. Stolypin replied: “They need great upheavals, we need great Russia.” The discussion of the project stopped. Upon receiving news that Social Democratic deputies were conducting anti-government agitation outside the Duma, the police demanded an investigation, but the Duma refused to revoke their parliamentary immunity. On the night of June 3, all deputies from the Social Democratic Party were arrested, and the Duma was dissolved. After the dissolution of the Duma, the regulation on the new electoral law was promulgated.
The new electoral law changed the number of electors from the peasants and the inhabitants of the national outskirts. In the autumn of 1907, during the elections to the third State Duma, the majority of seats were taken by the “Octobrists” (154) and A.I. Guchkov was elected chairman. This Duma was the first to work for the entire allotted five-year term. Land laws were adopted, developed by P.A. Stolypin, to reorganize the army and navy, to increase funds for public education.
The solution of the agrarian question or "land management" followed the path of preserving landownership, and a path was found for the development of peasant farming.
The first thing that was now allowed to a peasant - a community member, was a free exit from the community. Now it was not necessary to decide the fate of the peasant who wished to leave the community by a majority vote of the peasant assembly. At the same time, it was possible to go to the “cut” or “farm”. As for the “cut”, in this case the peasant remained in the village, but the community was obliged to allocate scattered plots to him as property. Since the peasant community was already suffering from a shortage of land, another way provided for the allocation of land to the peasant under the "farm", when the peasant was allocated land and housing was transferred. The Duma deputies expressed their fear that strong masters who helped the weak would leave the community. P.A. Stolypin replied to this: “We are writing laws for the whole country, it is necessary to keep in mind the reasonable and strong, and not the drunken and weak.” The development of the farm economy took root in Belarus, Lithuania, and Siberia.
The second direction of solving the land issue was Stolypin's proposal to resettle the peasants of the central provinces, where the shortage of land was especially felt, to Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia. Resettlement was often associated with bureaucratic red tape, and not everyone was able to take root in the new natural and economic conditions, but resettlement provided an opportunity to develop new lands and bring knowledge of land cultivation to these areas.
Strengthening the position of the Peasant Bank and the opportunity to take out a loan (at 6% per annum) to a peasant private economy or purchase land through the bank, expanding land ownership. At the same time, the bank saved peasants from usurers (kulaks), who strangled peasant farms with interest-bearing debts.
An important change, at the suggestion of Stolypin, was the law of October 5, 1906 to equalize peasants in civil rights with other estates. Now it was possible to change not only the place of residence, but also the occupation. Peasant families could send their talented sons to study.
On September 1, 1911, P.A. Stolypin was mortally wounded by an anarchist and Okhrana agent D. Bagrov during a performance at the Kiev Theatre. Before his death, Stolypin developed some additions to the state system. He believed that it was necessary to strengthen the role of local self-government, restore the patriarchate, create new ministries: labor, social security, nationalities.
By 1914, thanks to the reforms of P.A. Stolypin, the number of owners who cultivated 18 million acres of land increased by more than two million.
On the eve of the First World War, Russian agriculture experienced a period of growth. Thus, the yield of rye rose from 30-35 poods to 51 poods per tithe, the yield of wheat reached 57 poods per tithe. From 1909 to 1911, grain worth 750 million rubles began to be exported from Russia annually. Increased production of industrial crops (potatoes, sugar beet, cotton)
There is a further successful development of cooperatives that help in the acquisition of equipment. So, in 1908, agricultural machinery was purchased for 54 million rubles, and in 1912 already for 311 million rubles.
Before the First World War there was a general economic recovery. In 1913, goods were exported for 1.520 million rubles, and imported for 1.374 million rubles.
The activity of the Fourth State Duma begins on November 15, 1912 with a preponderance of right-wing forces. The Octobrist M. Rodzianko was elected chairman, and I. Goremykin was again appointed prime minister. On the eve of the war, all factions of the State Duma expressed their readiness to put aside all internal disputes and unite to repulse the enemy. The leader of the Kadet Party, P.N. Only the Social Democratic Party declared the need to defeat its government in the war. This is how the idea of V.Ulyanov-Lenin about the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil one was expressed.
The Fourth Duma is working in conditions of ever greater need for close cooperation between the government and the bourgeoisie. Fearing the unification of moderate members of the government with the Duma members, on September 3, 1915, the fourth State Duma was dissolved by Emperor Nicholas II.
By the end of the 19th century, it became clear that the positive transformative potential of the reforms of 1861 was partially exhausted after the death of Alexander II in 1881. a new cycle of reforms was needed.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. world society has entered a new phase of its development. Capitalism has become the main world system, having reached the imperialist stage in the advanced countries. Russia, which entered the path of capitalist development later than the Western countries, fell into the second group, along with such countries as Japan, Turkey, Germany, and the USA.
In the early 90s. In the 19th century, an industrial boom began in Russia, which lasted for several years and was very intensive. Heavy industry developed especially rapidly, and by the end of the century it accounted for almost half of all industrial output in value terms. In terms of the total volume of heavy industry products, Russia was among the first countries in the world.
The revival in industry was accompanied by rapid railway construction. The government correctly assessed the importance of the railways for the future of the economy and spared no expense to expand their network. Roads connected the outskirts rich in raw materials with industrial centers, industrial cities and agricultural provinces with seaports.
In agriculture, too, there have been certain shifts. This was expressed in the expansion of sown areas, the growth of gross crop yields, higher yields, the use of fertilizers, machinery, etc. But on the whole, the agrarian sector was strikingly behind the industrial sector, and this lag more and more took the form of the most acute contradiction between the needs of the bourgeois modernization of the country and the inhibitory influence of feudal survivals.
The speed with which Russia developed was very high, already developed Europe contributed to this. She provided assistance, shared experience, and also directed the economy in the right direction. After the economic boom 90 X years, Russia experienced a severe economic crisis in 1900-1903, then a period of long depression in 1904-1908. From 1909 to 1913, the Russian economy made another dramatic leap. The volume of industrial production increased by 1.6 times, the process of monopolization of the economy received a new impetus, as a result of the crisis, weak, small enterprises went bankrupt, which accelerated the process of concentration of industrial production. As a result, temporary business associations were replaced by large monopolies; cartels, syndicates ("Produgol", "Prodneft", "Roof", "Copper", etc.). At the same time, the banking system was being strengthened (Russian-Asian, St. Petersburg International Banks).
The export of capital from Russia did not receive much scope, which was explained both by a lack of financial resources and the need to develop the vast expanses of the country, but in the end Russia joined the struggle for spheres of influence, which led to a war with Japan, one of the second-tier countries .
At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was a moderately developed country. Along with a highly developed industry in the country's economy, a large proportion belonged to the early capitalist and semi-feudal forms of economy - from manufacturing to patriarchal subsistence. The Russian village became a concentration of remnants of the feudal era. The most important of these were large landed estates, and working off was widely practiced, which is a direct relic of corvée. Peasant shortage of land, the community with its redistribution hampered the modernization of the peasant economy.
A question was brewing, which later became the main one in Russian history - this is the “Agrarian Question”. This issue became the cause of controversy among historical and public figures who offered their own methods for resolving the issue.
The question of land has repeatedly arisen throughout the history of Russia, but it became especially acute in the 19th century. The unresolved agrarian question hampered the development of the country and caused Russia to lag behind the leading capitalist powers.
And this was understood by both our sovereigns and other political figures. Alexander I and Nicholas I recognized the seriousness and urgency of this issue and paid attention to it. Confirmation of this is the decree on the "Free Plowmen" and the reform of Count Kiselyov.
A real step in the history of solving the agrarian question was the reform of 1861. The personal liberation of the peasantry from serfdom was of great importance. There are various estimates of this period in the life of the country. Some historians believe that the reform was carried out solely in the interests of the nobility, while other historians, partially recognizing this, speak of the main thing: "Russia made a leap in its economic development."
Direct participation in the economic development of the state was taken by such figures as Sergei Yulievich Witte (1849-1915) and Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin (1862-1911).
Witte S.Yu. proved with his policy the incredible: the viability of feudal power in the conditions of industrialization, the ability to successfully develop the economy without changing anything in the system of state administration. However, Witte's plans were not destined to come true. The first blow to them was dealt by the world economic crisis, which sharply slowed down the development of industry; the influx of foreign capital decreased, the budget balance was disturbed. Economic expansion in the Far and Middle East, in itself associated with high costs, also exacerbated the Russian-English contradictions and brought the war with Japan closer. With the outbreak of hostilities, there could no longer be any talk of any consistent economic program.
The accelerated industrialization of Russia could not be successful while maintaining the traditional system of power and existing economic relations in the countryside.
In 1896, Witte withdrew his support for communal land ownership. In 1898, he made the first attempt to achieve a revision of the agrarian course in the committee of ministers, which was thwarted, however, by V. K. Plehve, K. P. Pobedonostsev, and P. N. Durnovo. By 1899, with the participation of Witte, laws were developed and adopted to abolish mutual responsibility. But communal land ownership proved to be a hard nut to crack. In January 1902, Witte headed the Special Conference on the needs of the agricultural industry, thereby, it would seem, taking the general development of the peasant question to his Ministry of Finance. Witte's opponents from the landlord camp accused him of ruining agriculture with his policy of encouraging industry.
The main reason for the backwardness of agriculture was the survival of serfdom in the countryside. The redemption for the land took more money out of the pocket of the peasants than the creation of industry. The agrarian crisis did its job. But Witte's policy has already been added to all this.
The incompleteness of the reform of 1861, the global agrarian crisis and Witte's industrialization, taken together, really led agriculture at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries to a deep crisis. By the end of the 19th century, both Witte and his opponents started talking about "overstrain of the payment forces of the rural population." These words reflected the sincere and deep concern of the authorities. Both the development of industry and the state budget rested on the solvency of the peasants.
In 1903, Witte was removed from the levers of government and was removed from his post as finance minister. But, while in the background, he made various attempts to promote the industrialization of the state and solve agricultural problems. In 1905, Witte was assigned to negotiate peace with Japan. He made an agreement with Japan. This agreement was not humiliating and did not provide for any major concessions for Russia. Upon returning to St. Petersburg for the conclusion of the Treaty of Portsmouth, Witte received the title of count. In the autumn of 1905, Witte, at a meeting with "public figures", discussed the candidacy of P. A. Stolypin for the post of Minister of the Interior. Since that period, they have been in the political arena at the same time.
Political changes at the end of the 19th century were predominantly evolutionary in nature. At this time, there was an expansion of the electoral rights of citizens, stable political parties were formed, which led to the strengthening of political systems and the establishment of the principles of parliamentarism. At the same time, mass democracy arose, which contributed to the strengthening of nationalism in most European states.
The turn of the XIX-XX centuries. was marked by the triumph of the ideas of the national state. Mass democracy and mass political parties are gaining strength, nationalist sentiments in society, and the imperialist expansion of powers. The strengthening of nationalism was one of the prerequisites for serious international conflicts.
Main events:
Main events:
- The Formation of a Mass Society.
One of the phenomena of the era of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries was the emergence of a mass society.
Social development is characterized by the strengthening of social movements that have become the leading factor in the socio-political life of Europe and the USA. The labor movement began to play an enormous role, gradually assuming an increasingly more organized character. The response of the leading states to the growth of protest movements was the policy of social reformism, which provided for the smoothing out of social contradictions.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. in the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, remnants of a traditional society were preserved, which was experiencing crisis phenomena in the economy, politics, and ideology.
Education, science, culture
Main events:
At the beginning of the XX century. The West dominated almost all regions of the world, and its values influenced various spheres of human life. The processes that began during the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries were generally completed at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Many European states turned into colonial empires, whose possessions far exceeded the metropolitan countries. As a result of the development of the transport system, a single world economic space has been formed. The formation of the world market as a global economic system began.