Farming and villages: the base of the economy
In the 1880s about 80 percent of people in the Russian Empire were farmers. Many lived in village communities (obshchina) that shared and re-divided land. After 1861 peasants paid redemption payments for their freedom, so most stayed poor. The state sold grain abroad to earn money. When the harvest failed in 1891-92, a big famine followed.
The census of 1897 counted about 125 million people in the empire, with only about 13 in 100 living in towns.
Railways: the engine of growth
Rail length grew from about 1,500 km (1860) to about 23,000 km (1880) and over 50,000 km (1900). Railways did four jobs: moved grain to ports, moved coal and iron to factories, carried soldiers, and opened distant lands.
The biggest project was the Trans-Siberian Railway, begun in 1891 to join European Russia with the Pacific coast. It took more than 10 years to build the main line and is among the longest railways in the world.
Iron and steel for rails created demand for even more mines and mills, so the railway pulled other industries along.
Industrialisation: new factory regions
Industrialisation means making goods in big factories with machines instead of by hand at home. In Russia it grew fastest in the 1890s, when industry grew by around 8 percent per year in some years.
- South (Donbas, Krivoy Rog): coal and iron, with big plants helped by foreign investors.
- Baku: oil, among the world's top producers around 1900.
- Urals: older iron and copper works.
- Moscow, Ivanovo: cotton cloth. St Petersburg: machines and ships.
Sergei Witte, finance minister from 1892, used taxes on villages, high duties on foreign goods, foreign loans and a gold-backed rouble (1897) to speed this up. Foreign investors, from France, Belgium, Britain and others, built many plants.
Urbanisation and workers
Urbanisation means more people living in towns. Peasants came for work, often for part of the year, and still kept a village home. St Petersburg and Moscow each reached about one million people in the 1890s.
Workers lived in crowded barracks or rented corners, worked 11-12 hours a day, and earned little. The first factory laws (1882, 1885) and inspectors helped a bit. These conditions gave birth to strikes and, later, to workers' parties.
Results and Try it
By 1900 Russia was among the five biggest industrial countries by output, yet most people were still farmers and poor. The boom was fast but unequal. Rail and factories gave jobs and power; hunger and low pay gave anger.
- In 3D: in the last step, pick each sector and say which is bigger, growth or hardship.
- Maths: railway length rose from 23,000 km to 50,000 km. By what factor? (about 2.2)
- Map in your head: pick a product in your home (cloth, oil, steel). Which Russian region would have made it around 1895?
Key formulas and definitions
- Industrialisation: making goods in large factories with machines
- Urbanisation: more people living in towns and cities
- Railways: about 23,000 km (1880) to over 50,000 km (1900)
- Trans-Siberian Railway: begun 1891
- Witte: finance minister 1892-1903; gold rouble 1897
- Famine of 1891-92: bad harvest and poor villages
Worked examples
1. Why did railways help factories grow?
Step 1: Factories need coal, iron and buyers. Step 2: Railways moved these cheaply over long distances. Step 3: Building rails also needed iron and steel, so more mines and mills opened.
2. Railway length rose from 23,000 km (1880) to 50,000 km (1900). By how many km did it grow?
50,000 - 23,000 = 27,000 km in 20 years, about 1,350 km per year.
3. Name one benefit and one cost of fast industrialisation.
Step 1: Benefit: new jobs, new cities, and a stronger state. Step 2: Cost: low pay, crowded barracks, and heavy taxes on villages. Step 3: So growth was real, but unequal.
4. If 13 of every 100 people lived in towns in 1897 and the empire had about 125 million people, about how many lived in towns?
13% of 125 million = 0.13 x 125 = 16.25 million, so about 16 million.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Russia was already a mostly urban, industrial country in 1890. Most people still farmed.
- Mixing industrialisation (factories) with urbanisation (people moving to towns). They go together but are not the same.
- Forgetting Witte's role (1892-1903) or saying he started the railways. Railways began earlier; Witte pushed them hard.
- Saying everyone gained. Wages were low and the 1891-92 famine shows hardship.