THE “GREAT SPURT” 1892-1903 Driven by Sergei Witte 1
Feb 23, 2016
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THE “GREAT SPURT” 1892-1903Driven by Sergei Witte
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In Russia after the Great famine of 1891, the reason for hundreds of thousands dead, as the government
was blamed for incompetence.
With it’s backwards economy compared to
other accelerating European nations and its
ancient outlook on Tsarism, a small middle class with a
huge gap in its public classes.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903History Research Topic
The Poor State of Russia
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Then from 1892-1903 the process of
industrialisation began, which was driven by
one man, Sergei Witte the Minister of Finance,
he opened Russia’s factories to large
numbers of European experts to help guide Russia through the
industrial revolution.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903History Research Topic
The Reformer
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He helped create a stable currency, especially from the Gold rubble. Sergei
Witte used foreign loans and investments to build
railways, speeding up transportation and
developing industry.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903History Research Topic
What did he introduce?
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So the 1890s saw the ‘Great Spurt’ of
modernisation and industrialisation in Russia,
from the increase in production of coal in
Ukraine, oil in Caucasus, Iron, chemicals,
engineering petroleum and steel industries; were all
established within 10 years.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903History Research Topic
The Great Spurt
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A new social and industrial working class
appeared, with a modern economic position
holding better living conditions; more
peasants were leaving poverty and a large move
of people from stricken farms to huge developing cities increased such as
Moscow and St Petersburg.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903
History Research Topic
From poverty to working class
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Despite Russia’s rapid modernisation and social institutions, its politics remained in age of Tsarism.
The growth of the new industrial working class demanded better working and living conditions and political rights, since workers didn’t effectively gain from the industrial revolution, wages remained as low as currently.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903History Research Topic
The effects.
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And as the government attempted to print more money, inflation struck.
There were no trade unions, no working support, workers could be fired and hired at the whim of the employer.
There was absence of workers protection and
wages. Hence the demands for political and social reform
saw the formation of a number of political parties
that turned to extreme measures to demand
reformation.
The Great Spurt 1892-1903History Research Topic
The start of political conflicts