Tsar: Economic Continuity and Change

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  • Alexander II
    • Tsar: Economic Continuity and Change
      • Alexander III
        • Vyshnegradsky
          • Finance minister from 1887-92
          • Increased import tarrif by 30% to boost home production
            • Grain exports by forcing peasants to sell grain to the state
              • He needed to balance the budget so he negotiated foreign loans- eg. from France in 1888
            • Finance Minister 1892 - 1903
          • Strengths
            • Grain exports increased by 18% (1881-91)
            • By 1892 the Russian budget was in surplus
          • Limitations
            • Peasants suffered from heavy taxation, high goods prices and grain requisitions
      • Nicholas II
    • Von Reutern Reforms
      • Because Russia did not have a wealthy middle class industrialisation was led by the state in order to catch up with the west
        • Tax Farming was abolsihed which meant that companies could no longer buy the right to collect taxes
          • The treasury was reformed and new arrangements for collecting taxes, audting the accounts of government departments, and budgeting.
            • Banks and credit facilites made available
              • Government subsidies were offered to private companies to develop railways
                • Government gauranteed annual dividends to encourage foreign investment
                  • Government support was offered for the development of the cotton industry
      • Finance minister from 1862-78
      • Strengths
        • The cotton industry and minnign both expanded
          • There were some improvements in agriculture
      • Limitations
        • Slow growth
        • The Russian currency was unstable and wnt towards paying off debts
        • Indirect taxation kept the peasantry poor and domestic market small.
  • Resulted in the Great Famine (1891 - 92)
    • Bad harvest - over 350,000 deaths
  • Witte
    • Finance Minister 1892 - 1903
    • Sought additional loans from abroad
      • Increased investment in mining, oil, and banking
  • Strengths
    • By Russia had the second longest railway track in the world - 62, 000 kilometer
      • Railway built a link to the far east
        • Railway development stimulated heavy industries and reduced transport costs for manufactuers and provided government revenue
          • By 1914 Russia had become the fifth-largest industrial power
        • Coal growth from 3.2 tonne to 25.4 tonne  from 1880 - 1910
  • Limitations
    • The cost of industrialisation was high and russia became dependent on foreign investment
      • It had increased nearly ten fold from 1880 to 1900

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