It was hoped that agrarian reform would reduce demand for labour in the countryside, hence increasing urbanisation as people flooded into the towns and cities looking for work.
However, a strike at the Lena gold fields in 1912 emphasised that there was still a great deal of discontent. POST THIS STRIKES BECAME MORE POLITICAL + IN RESPONSE TO POLITICAL DISCONTENT RATHER THAN ABOUT MONEY
Hundreds of the protesters were killed by army and police. It was clear that opposition to the Tsarist state was again on the increase.
- RAILWAY TRACKAGE DOUBLED – linked grain-growing areas/ opened up russia’s interior & allowed more extensive exploitation for russia’s raw materials
- Stimulus for development 0of iron
- & coal
- Permitted development of new industries along rail network
- TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY: industrial & psychological boost
- 2nd largest railway in world 1913
- Witte – introduced new rouble (strengthened currency)
- Main areas of industry were baltic coat, baku coalfields, krivoi rog etc.
- Heavy industry increased considerably. The production of iron and steel rose by 50 per cent and by the outbreak of World War One, Russia was the fourth largest producer of steel, coal and iron. (183 million in 1890 – 671 million 1900)
- 1913: russia was self sufficient & able to compete w/usa on int. level (2nd world in oil production)
- Growth of 8.5% p/a
- Comparative growth: 1894-1913 Italy 121% Russia 50%
- Foreign trade in 1913 £ millions – GBR 1,223 Russia 190
AGARIAN REFORMS
Stolypin wanted to reform agriculture in order to modernise Russia and make it more competitive with other European powers.
He hoped that reorganising the land would increase support for the Tsar among unskilled farmhands.
- Instead of collective of scattered strips, peasants should have one whole land
This would reduce the threat of the Social Revolutionaries. Stolypin believed the key to success was to increase the number of peasant landowners, which would result in a more invested peasantry. (KULAKS)
Redemption Payments (loans from the state) were abolished. Loans for peasants to buy land became available with the introduction of Peasants’ Land Banks.
Mirs (communities of peasant farmers) could no longer stop individuals from leaving to buy private land. Mirs that did not cooperate were to be dissolved. Peasants were also given financial incentives to move to remote areas of Siberia in an attempt to open up the countryside.
Siberia became prosperous in grain + dairy BUT ONLY 3.7 million peasants of 97 million actually emigrated
Agricultural output increased by a third, while peasant land ownership increased by 30 per cent. The number of Kadets increased dramatically and they were increasingly supportive of the Tsar.
- Stolypin: needed 20 years of peace for reforms to have large effect – war prevented, but legislation encourage land transfers & development of larger farms
- Hereditary ownership of land: 20% 1905 – 50% 1915
- Grain production rose annually from 56 million tons in 1900 = 90 million in 1914
- 1909: Russia – world’s leading grain exporter
FAILURES
- 1913: 1.⅗ million applications for consolidation of farms had been dealt with
- 1914: 10% of land transferred from communal to private ownership
- 1914: 90% of peasant holdings were still in traditional strips w/conservative peasants reluctant to give them up traditional practices & security of mir
- Landowners reluctant to give up land & division of land often brought legal battles
- 50% of land remained in hands of nobility
Fewer than one per cent achieved kulak status, and many were forced to leave their farms and join the bands of migrant workers where working and living conditions were even worse.