Tsar Nicholas II Economic Policies (1894-1905)

Count Sergei Witte

- Appointed minister of Finance in 1892 by Alexander III and is seen as the most successful economic minister of the Tsars - Held his position till 1903 until he was foolishly replaced in 1903 by Nicholas II

The Gold Standard (1897)

- Russia had been struggling with currency issues throughout the 19th century - Witte floated the rouble (Russian currency) on the Gold standard - This stabilised the currency and increased international confidence in the Russian economy - The impact of this was huge and cannot be understated it incentivised european powers to invest in Russia - HOWEVER it led to massive interest loans they had... and Witte put this burden on the peasantry

Assessment of Nicholas II Economic Policies

- There were both successes and failures to Nicholas II's economic policies - However the argument can be taken that non of these failures or success can be attributed to Nicholas II - His father Alexander III appointed Witte and it was he who orchestrated and deployed these economic reforms - Think along the lines of: Economic growth was achieved, but at what cost - Economic policies followed can be indirectly contributed to the revolutions of 1905, as they were not coupled with political reform

Pressure on the peasantry

- Witte began formulating some ideas to help peasants increase production which would later be used by Stolypin after the 1905 revolutions - In 1898 he advocated for the re-settlement of peasants to the outskirts of the empire - Oversaw the Special Conference on the needs of Rural Industry - HOWEVER: Witte failed to dedicate enough energy to reforming agriculture

Investment

- Witte incentivised foreign investment into Russia particularly from France and Britain with 10 fold increases - This was due to his adoption of the Gold standard - HOWEVER: the drawback of this was massively increased state debt - 20% of government spending went to just servicing debts by 1905

Economic pressure on peasantry and workers

- Witte increased direct tax as well as indirect taxes on common good the peasants bought i.e alcohol and salt - To pay these increased taxes peasants had to sell more grain which Witte then in turn sold abroad to pay off Russian debt - Wages of Russian workers were kept low so that industry could reinvest their profits rather than pass them on to the workers - This led to industrial growth but unhappy workers

Industrialisation

- Witte saw the tripling of production in coal, iron, and oil thanks to the increased capital available - Railways increased from 7,000km in 1890 to 60,000km in 1905 - The completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway was a milestone widely publicised - Heavy industry output increased by over 400% between 1890 and 1910 - HOWEVER: rapid industrialisation had its drawbacks and can be seen as a key reason for the rise of opposition against Tsarism - New Working Class of Russian society was created who were 60% literate, therefore more capable of sharing ideas and resisting collectively - because of the speed of industrialisation, working conditions could keep up and standards of living plummeted in cities - Industrialisation also created a larger middle class, this strengthened social class began to vocalise opinions about representative governments and a constitution