Russia at the turn of 19-20 centuries: socio-economic development

History at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries dramatically changes its direction: industrialization, rationalism and nationalism become decisive. Even the very notion of "civilization" radically changes its meaning. The works of the notorious K. Marx appeared, for which the entire development of human society is inextricably linked with the exploitation of some people by others.

Ulyanov-Lenin at the same time said that real civilization is possible only at a time when the exploiters will be completely destroyed. In short, the time was difficult. What was characteristic of our Russia at the turn of the 19-20 centuries? The history of the country during this period is tragic, complex, full of disastrous contradictions.

The Danger of a New World Order

At the turn of these centuries, the entire existence of mankind turned out to be a big question, as the prerequisites for the most terrible wars in its history arose. In many respects this was due to the fact that capitalism has approached the stage of monopolism. Large producers gradually became related with the rulers, there was a universal fusion of capital. The interests of traders began to obey not only the economy, but also the policy of many states.

Unfortunately, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries Russia did not escape this process. It is especially important to note that monopoly capital was formed in our country under the influence of the following factors: first, the transition to capitalism in Russia occurred late; Second, uneven land development played a role; Thirdly, the complete lack of rights of the workers 'and peasants' stratum was maintained, and stratification between the social strata of the country increased.

What happened in the public life of that period?

In the social and political structure of Russia, there have been slow but significant changes. The class composition of the population was extremely heterogeneous. The nobility, although relatively small, still continued to nominate its people to all management posts. But in the period that we described, the nobles were increasingly willing to contact the bourgeoisie.

This was different for Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Briefly discussing this topic, one can come to the conclusion that the "peasantry" was on the "edge" of the revolutionary movement, but this is not so. Why?

Not less than 80% of the total population was represented by peasants. Under the influence of capitalist trends, their composition became more and more heterogeneous: about 20% of their total number accumulated funds and lands, becoming, in effect, analogous to small landlords; But the bulk of people lived in a way that was relevant for the 15th and 16th centuries.

From their environment, a huge number of workers emerged, who constantly fueled the lives of large cities. But all the peasants, regardless of their "species", united the agrarian question. In fact, they were all tied to their land, the loss of which turned into ruin even for the most prosperous of them. So the peasants were least interested in major social upheavals: they were neutral politically, they were not particularly interested in loud slogans. Everything changed during the First World War, when constant charges and state loans put many of them to the brink of survival.

As for the bourgeoisie, it grew in a quantitative sense, but the political role of this social stratum was insignificant. Its role was simple: a large, well-to-do bourgeois demonstrated loyalty to autocratic power, while the petty and middle bourgeoisie advocated minor transformations in the political life of the country.

Working class

The worst was for the working class. By 1913, workers accounted for about 20% of the country's population, and the conditions of their life and work were sometimes truly "beastly", inhuman. In principle, until 1906, no one was even interested in protecting their rights at least somehow. So Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was not far from Russia in the 18th century. All the same principles of agriculture, the lack of technology and the neglect of human life ...

Important! Despite the fact that many Western and pro-Western historians now insist that workers in Western Europe and the United States have much better living and working conditions, this is far from being the case: the improvement of the position of the Western proletariat occurred precisely after 1917, when the government, Frightened by the real possibilities of the lowered society to despair, has made them numerous concessions.

Office

Separately, it should be said about how the bureaucratic social stratum lived and developed at that time. In fact, it was these people who were ruled by Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Thanks to officials in Russia, state monopoly was formed, when even small orders for the needs of the country were placed exclusively at "their own" enterprises, which often overestimated the cost of works tens of times.

The bureaucratic monopoly was particularly evident in relation to banks: they provided lucrative loans exclusively to their own enterprises, which hampered the development of industry and production. Thus, this layer is closely connected with the big bourgeoisie, the landlords and the nobility, whose interests were defended everywhere. This was different for Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Social and economic development in the countries of Western Europe went much faster, as in these countries banks were much more willing to give money to the private sector and small industrialists who could create and test new methods of production.

Clergy

It was another privileged class. Theoretically, it had to follow the moral foundations of society, but in fact it turned out that the clergy were engaged almost in the support of the autocracy. In general, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russia was a country that was surprisingly patriarchal and religious. The Church continued to exert enormous influence over the minds of uneducated peasants.

The emergence of the intelligentsia

This layer was special, as it was formed from other societies, and did not have any clear link to the economic component. In general, the intelligentsia is a domestic social phenomenon, which manifested itself particularly clearly only in the time of Alexander II.

Repeatedly, many researchers in their writings put forward the theory that Russia at the turn of the 19-20th century approached the "abyss of the revolution" only thanks to this estate, but in fact it was not. Ironically, the intelligentsia at that time was infinitely far from revolutionary ideas. On the contrary, the representatives of this stratum supported the idea of a democratic society, and they advocated gradual changes and the transformation of the socio-political stratum without sharp, bloody upheavals.

It is another matter that by the beginning of the twentieth century, many intellectuals, feeling their absolute helplessness in the matter of real transformations, began to regard violence as an "inevitable evil", without which it would not be possible to do without.

The role of foreign capital

As at the present time, Russia was an attractive target for foreign investment, as huge raw materials and practically free labor allowed to receive huge profits without any special expenses. In such conditions, foreign capital actively merged with the domestic, which further enriched officials and social stratification of society.

So, what was Russia at the turn of the 19-20 centuries? To put it briefly, it was a state with an incredible socio-economic stratification of society, a lack of interest of the ruling circles in real changes and reforms. At the same time, the country urgently demanded immediate modernization and industrialization. It was necessary to conduct all this in a patriarchal, conservative society, with a constant and chronic shortage of money in the treasury.

Crisis in the face of controversy

After the crisis of 1900-1903 the country turned out to be "on beans", there was no money in principle. After the war with Japan, foreign debt rose to four billion gold rubles. The amount for those times is simply incredible. The government tried to reduce the deficit of the state budget by increasing tax burden, reducing the cost of economic, military and cultural programs. Investments for a while allowed to keep the economy afloat, only on the eve of the First World War, annual payments amounted to 450 million rubles.

Actually, just for the sake of writing off part of the debt, the government of Nicholas entered the war on the side of the Entente. The step is ill-conceived and has led to disastrous consequences. This is what Russia was characterized at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: social and economic development was going on at a snail's pace, the power that had become stale in the dogmas of the last century was too slow and ill-considered.

"Product issue"

How was Russia provided with products at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries? Agriculture developed extremely extensive way, the peasants did not even have primitive equipment, the whole country would not have accumulated a pair of tractors. Yields were low, but at the same time on the world market Russia was not liked: it sold a huge amount of grain at bargain prices, doing the real dumping. This grain was lost by people in the state itself, the cases of hunger were something usual.

So Russia lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: the economy was based on the rampant exploitation of cheap human resources, the plants were built exclusively on foreign subsidies, which were "mastered" by all the same officials, as a result of which there was practically no real development.

Domestic policy of the state

The whole policy of Nicholas was based on great-power principles. The whole system of government was aimed at ensuring that Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (history showed the error of such a path) continued to remain an autocratic country. Against this background, the social gulf between various strata of Russian society continued to deepen.

The former landowners continued to receive the best lands, while the peasantry was on the worst, infertile allotments. Officials supported their banks and production at the cost of almost plundering their country, and the real industry was standing.

The beginning of reorientation to the domestic manufacturer

This was Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. General characteristics can make you realize that the state did nothing to maintain its production. Unfortunately, in most cases this was indeed the case, but over time the situation began to change. Too slow, but still there was progress.

So, a progressive customs tariff (1891) was introduced, in 1900-1903 the state tried to support the domestic industry and the banking system (you can guess where the money went). The government even tried to keep under control the nascent movements of peasants and workers, organizing their legal associations.

Political reforms

In 1905, finally formed a constitutional-democratic party, the creation of which insisted all progressive figures of that era. The party "pushed" the idea of creating a parliament with two chambers, as well as restoring the principles laid down by the judicial reform of 1864 .

The parliamentarians tried to completely abolish the redemption payment for the peasants (this is a real remnant of slavery in the 20th century!), Discussed the granting of land to those who need it, proposed the prohibition of overtime, non-standard labor of workers, and insisted on the introduction of real criminal liability for those entrepreneurs who Violate the provisions on labor.

This was Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (short content). The 9th grade of the general education school is studying the same questions, but the educational program gives an incomplete analysis of the reasons that led to the tremendous social upheavals of that time.