Russian empire. An honest look
Emperor Nicholas II with troops
This article was written in response to Oleg Egorov's article "Nicholas II and the Victory in the First World War."
To be honest, the article itself is of little interest, since it does not operate with facts. There is a set of clichés: "backward country", "archaic state system", "economic backwardness" ... The author has a point of view and brings evidence to it. This cannot be condemned, but if you rely on hard facts, then the point of view can change.
Therefore, we will try to assess the state of the Russian Empire before the First World War with an open mind, based on facts.
Economy
There is an American economist specializing in the economic development of the Russian Empire and the USSR, Paul Gregory. He gives the following assessment of the economy of the Russian Empire before the First World War:
“Russia on the eve of the First World War was one of the main economic powers. It ranked fourth among the five largest industrialized countries. The Russian Empire produced almost the same volume of industrial products as Austria-Hungary, and was the largest producer of agricultural products in Europe. "
Paul Gregory notes:
“In 1861, the volume of production in Russia was about half of the American, 80% of the volume of production in Great Britain and Germany, and only slightly lagged behind the French. In 1913, according to this indicator, Russia almost caught up with England, significantly surpassed France, twice ahead of Austria-Hungary and reached 80% of the production volume in Germany. "
That is, from 1861 to 1913, the growth rates of the Russian economy were higher than in France, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary and were equal to those of Germany.
Some might say that this is just the point of view of Paul Gregory. However, there is research from the Groningen Growth and Development Center led by Angus Maddison. These studies provide us with an opportunity to assess the GDP of leading countries in different eras. For example, in 1900, the GDP of the German Empire was 162 million international Giri-Khamis dollars, for the Russian Empire this figure was $ 335 million, and in 154 the GDP values for Germany and Russia were $ 049 million and $ 1913 million, respectively. the calculation shows that the GDP of Germany has grown by 237 times over 332 years, and by 232 times in the Russian Empire. That is, if these figures are correct, then the Russian GDP in 351-13 grew faster than the German one.
Thus, evaluating the economy of the Russian Empire before the First World War, we can conclude that Russia was inferior in terms of economic indicators to only a few countries and developed quite dynamically, gradually catching up with its competitors.
Education
Ilya Muromets - the first heavy bomber in the world
The main capital of any country in the world is human. And the most important source of human capital formation is the education system.
The imperial government acted as the main guardian of public education. The emphasis in education was on quality. Russian classical education - a gymnasium - prepared minds for public service and the intellectual sphere. The students of the gymnasium received an excellent education that surpasses the level of modern liberal arts universities. At the same time, the gymnasium students mastered mathematics at a level better than the students of modern mathematical special schools. These were not elite educational institutions, but provincial gymnasiums scattered throughout the country.
This system allowed the Russian Empire, despite the insufficient breadth of education coverage of the population, to remain among the most developed states on the planet. Russian scientists were included in the golden fund of world science. The names of Mendeleev, Butlerov, Borodin, Sechenov, Lobachevsky, Mechnikov, Timiryazev, Michurin, Vernadsky, Pavlov, Tsiolkovsky were known to the whole world. By the beginning of the twentieth century, only the breadth of coverage of the country's population with education was insufficient.
However, under Emperor Nicholas II, this situation is radically changing.
So, according to open sources, in the period from 1896 to 1910, 57 thousand primary schools were opened. The number of primary education institutions has doubled compared to the previous time period. 1,5 thousand lower vocational schools, 600 city schools, 1 secondary educational institutions have been created, 323 men's higher educational institutions and 20 women's universities are being opened.
Under Nicholas II, a separate system of higher education for women was created. According to this indicator, the Russian Empire is far ahead of Europe, where universities set quotas for the education of women.
During the reign of Nicholas II, the total expenditures on education and culture increased by 8 times and more than 2 times outstripped the expenditures of France and 1,5 times - of England.
In 1908, compulsory primary education was introduced. By 1916, the proportion of literate youth in the Empire was at least 85%.
Also, during the reign of Nicholas II in Russia, the scale of the higher education system, outstanding for that time, was achieved: 105 universities with 127 thousand students.
The engineering school and higher education in Russia in general in terms of the number of students came out on top in Europe (second in the world after the United States).
Publishing and reading were encouraged in the Russian Empire.
In 1913, the Russian Empire published 34 thousand titles of books with a total circulation of 119 million copies. In Europe, it ranks 2nd after Germany, but Germany's 1st place is due to the fact that a third of German printing houses work on Russian orders.
During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, the expenses of the Ministry of Public Education increased 2,5 times and, accordingly, their share in the country's budget increased from 2% to 4%.
Healthcare
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia was in second place in Europe in terms of the number of doctors.
By 1915, 33,1 thousand doctors of various specialties worked in the country. According to this indicator, the country was second only to Germany (34,1 thousand) and Japan (36,6 thousand).
In 1898, free medical care was introduced in the Russian Empire. To get it, it was enough just to be a citizen of the country.
The Swiss F. Erisman wrote the following about our medicine:
"The medical organization created by the Russian zemstvo was the greatest achievement of our era in the field of social medicine, as it provided free medical care, open to everyone, and also had a deep educational value."
Welfare of the people, social sphere, rights and freedoms of citizens
Trans-Siberian Railway - construction began in 1891 under Emperor Alexander III
The national income of Russia from 1894 to 1914 increased from 8 billion rubles to 24 billion, that is, in 20 years it increased threefold. The amount of taxes per capita in Russia was two times less than in Austria, France and Germany, and four times less than in Great Britain.
The real wage of a worker in Russia (taking into account Russian prices) in 1913 was 85% of the US level and was the second in the world.
American President William Taft, who ruled America in 1909-1913, spoke about the working legislation of the Russian Empire:
"Your Emperor has created such perfect labor legislation that no democratic state can boast of."
Indeed, by 1913, the following were introduced: rationed working hours, compensation in case of accidents, insurance of workers for disability and old age.
The authorities of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 1th century proclaimed many freedoms for the citizens of the country, including: freedom of speech, press and assembly, freedom of religion and support for various religions and confessions. At this time, there are about 000 print media in the country.
The demographic indicators of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century were also outstanding.
So, during the reign of Nicholas II, the country's population increased by 60 million people. And this is exactly that wonderful human capital, the acute shortage of which the country is experiencing now!
Land issue
If we look at the problem objectively, we can see that by 1917 there was no dominance of landowners in the field of agriculture.
By 1917, the area under crops of peasant farms accounted for 89,3% against 10,7% of landlord farms, for cattle - 94,2% against 5,8%, for sheep breeding - 94,3% against 5,7%; horse breeding - 93,8% versus 6,2%; for pig breeding - 94,9% versus 5,1%.
The volume of production of agricultural machinery from 1897 to 1912 increased almost sixfold.
The peasantry in Siberia by 1913 was already noticeably more prosperous than in the European part of Russia, according to B. Brazol, he owned up to 100% of arable land.
Russia, according to 1913 data, was the world's largest exporter of grain, flax, eggs, milk, butter, meat, sugar.
Also, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia ranked 1st in the world in terms of the number of horses, cattle, sheep and one of the first in terms of the number of goats and pigs.
Finance
Golden Nikolaev ruble - introduced in 1897
In 1897, Russia officially introduced the gold standard.
Since that time, credit rubles were freely exchanged for gold coins at a fixed rate. This has significantly increased the reliability of Russia in the eyes of foreign investors.
As Paul Gregory writes:
"A distinctive feature of Russian politics in the last quarter of the nineteenth century was its deliberate pursuit of financial stability in order to attract foreign capital."
And this goal was successfully achieved.
If before the introduction of the gold standard, the inflow of foreign investment into the Russian economy in 1885-1897 amounted to about 43 million rubles a year, then in 1897-1913 it reached an average level of 191 million rubles a year. The result is an increase of almost four times.
There is a point of view that foreign investments and large loans in the foreign market were a mistake of the government of the Russian Empire, as they made the country dependent on foreign creditors. Gregory cites a figure of 11% of all net investment in foreign capital. On a national scale, this is not much. The country could have survived the fall of this figure even by 2 times.
According to Paul Gregory:
“Russia started industrialization with surprisingly high levels of domestic savings. This meant that foreign finance had to play only a supporting role in increasing the level of domestic capital accumulation ”.
Thus, the "gold standard" and the attraction of foreign investment is rather a success, and a considerable success.
It should also be noted that in 1917 the Russian gold reserve was the largest in the world and amounted to about 1 tons, and the ruble was the third currency in the world, second only to the dollar and pound sterling.
Conclusion
Paul Gregory, assessing the economy of the Russian Empire, says the following:
“Russia in the 1870s had a sufficiently balanced economy to participate in the industrial revolution. The steps to be taken were fairly obvious: land reform, railroad construction, and educational improvements. "
But it was precisely in these spheres that truly revolutionary changes took place in the country at the end of the XNUMXth and the beginning of the XNUMXth centuries.
By 1913, the Russian Empire took 2nd place in the world in terms of the length of railways.
Peasants in 1916 sowed (on their own and leased land) 89,3% of arable land and owned 94% of the livestock of farm animals.
The progress in the field of education was mentioned above ...
Thus, it can be argued that at the beginning of the twentieth century, large-scale modernization is taking place in Russia, both in the field of economics and in the social sphere.
The economy is rapidly moving from feudal to capitalist. New social strata are being formed: the intelligentsia (doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers and technicians), the proletariat, the industrial and economic elite.
Only the question of the political system remains unresolved, since the old autocratic model of power based on the class of large landowners-landowners by the beginning of the twentieth century had already outlived its own and did not find support in the public consciousness.
And in these conditions, Emperor Nicholas II takes a completely reasonable step and begins a gradual movement towards a constitutional monarchy, trying bloodlessly to solve the problem, which was resolved very dramatically in France and Great Britain. And, I must say, he almost succeeded ...
And they would have succeeded in full, if not for the war ...
But the war should have been won, which is not denied by the respected Oleg Yegorov.
There was no military defeat by 1917. There were failures, but there were also victories: in Galicia, at Przemysl, at Besovets, in the Caucasus, there was a Brusilov breakthrough. These successes should not be viewed with disdain, because it was our Motherland who fought for its future. And who knows, maybe without these victories there would have been no successes of the twentieth century, and maybe there would not have been an independent Russian state in which we still have the happiness of living ...
We need to overcome the opposition of the Soviet Union to the Russian Empire.
Both are our Motherland, and it doesn't matter what it was called and who ruled it. It is important to recognize that both versions of our country have their own achievements and disadvantages. And it is important to respect those people who, with their work, and sometimes at the cost of their lives, moved our country to progress in any era.
And one of these people is undoubtedly Emperor Nicholas II. After all, if we honestly evaluate the information that was given above, then we must admit that he left behind a completely viable country:
- with excellent demographic indicators;
- with high rates of economic growth;
- with good medicine;
- with excellent education;
- with advanced science and engineering school;
- with stable finances.
A country that, in terms of its level of development, was inferior to only a few countries in the world: the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, but that's all. We were ahead of China, India, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Brazil ...
Where are we now?
And shouldn't we admit that the Russian Empire had a much greater weight and level of development in the world than the modern Russian Federation?
And that the economic and scientific breakthrough that was made by the Soviet Union in the twentieth century was provided with the resources that the Russian Empire was able to accumulate and, first of all, its wonderful system of education and science, which prepared excellent personnel for the new country. And cadres, as you know, decide everything ...
Let's end this article with the words of Paul Gregory:
“From my point of view, if Russia after the war had kept on the path of a market model of development, the growth rates of its economy would have been no less than before the war. In this case, the pace of its development would be ahead of the average European one.
There is, however, every reason to believe that by overcoming many institutional obstacles (by completing the agrarian reform, improving the system of legislation in the field of business regulation), the growth rates of post-war Russia would exceed pre-war indicators.
Any of the proposed scenarios theoretically defines the position of that hypothetical Russia as one of the most developed national economies - not as rich as, say, Germany or France, but close to them. "
There is, however, every reason to believe that by overcoming many institutional obstacles (by completing the agrarian reform, improving the system of legislation in the field of business regulation), the growth rates of post-war Russia would exceed pre-war indicators.
Any of the proposed scenarios theoretically defines the position of that hypothetical Russia as one of the most developed national economies - not as rich as, say, Germany or France, but close to them. "
One can only dream of such a scenario for modern Russia, because unfortunately, there are no real prerequisites for such a development today. It is hoped that they will appear over time.
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