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History Witte Economic

Sergei Witte played an important role in the economic development of late 19th century Russia through his roles directing the railway system and later as Minister of Finance from 1892 to 1903. He encouraged expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, devalued the currency to promote trade, placed Russia on the gold standard, and promoted industrialization through foreign investment. However, he paid less attention to developing agriculture and more advanced industries, relied heavily on foreign capital, and failed to address the socioeconomic issues that contributed to the 1905 Russian Revolution.

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Farhana Jaidi
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95 views2 pages

History Witte Economic

Sergei Witte played an important role in the economic development of late 19th century Russia through his roles directing the railway system and later as Minister of Finance from 1892 to 1903. He encouraged expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, devalued the currency to promote trade, placed Russia on the gold standard, and promoted industrialization through foreign investment. However, he paid less attention to developing agriculture and more advanced industries, relied heavily on foreign capital, and failed to address the socioeconomic issues that contributed to the 1905 Russian Revolution.

Uploaded by

Farhana Jaidi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK OF WITTE TO THE ECONOMIC PROGRESS IN

RUSSIA.

Nadiah and Farhana (11/4/2020)

 In 1889, Witte was placed in charge of the Russian railway system


 He encouraged the expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway and organized the
construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
 In 1896, he also carried out successful negotiations with Chinese representatives,
gaining the consent of china for the construction of the Chinese-east railway which
would expedite the building of the railway to Vladivostok
 In 1893, Witte was appointed as Minister of Finance. 
  Witte devalued Russia's currency to promote international trade, erecting high tariffs
to protect Russian industry, and placing Russia on the gold standard giving the
country a stable currency for international dealings
 He was an active supporter of industrialization, declaring that he was capable of
driving the Empire to an elite club of highly developed industrial countries
 Witte also played an important role in helping to increase the speed of Russia's
industrial development
  Witte relied on foreign investors to supply much of the money to finance industrial
growth
 Witte removed existing barriers to make it easier for foreigners to invest in Russia’s
industrial and manufacturing sectors.
  Witte believed in the need for political reforms to go with this economic growth.
 In 1897, he implemented a reform of the national currency 
 He entered the state monopoly for the trade of alcohol which resulted in a quarter of
all incomes of the imperial treasury

His failures:

- some 30 percent of capital invested in Russia came from abroad


- This dependence on foreign capital left Russia in constant debt to other countries so
that any crisis in Europe threatened Russia financial stability

He put less importance on the urgent needs of agriculture Didn't improve state of agriculture
industry even though taxes on peasants were 80% of governments income
-
- Witte paid little attention to more advanced and sophiscated industry
- Modern equipment such as machine tools and electrical goods were imported from the
west, making servicing difficult and costs higher.
- He concentrated in projecting Russia’s industries were might, rather essentials. The
trans-Serbian railway is one example
- also exploiting metallurgical resources (metals) of the Ukraine in Russia rather than
exploiting Urals that was rich for iron ore.
- The period 1900-1906 was a period of depression, in which some of the achievements
of the witte era were undone.
- - in 1902, over 2000 businesses closed, including a third of the great iron mines in
Krivoi rog
- It was meant to encourage migration to areas where workers were needed but by 1914 it
was partially finished = migration didn't increase much
- Witte raised taxes to provide money for developments which affected the peasants = less
likely to buy consumer goods
+ government ran up large debts
-
1. They haven’t solve the issues of the 1905 revolution
2. SW aimed to gain back the loyalty of the workers but it could not solve the pie 1905
evolutions problems of workers such as long working hours and low wages, the killing of
the 270 strikes in Lena goldfield on April 1912 led to waves of strikes nationwide.

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