Economic, social and political policies
How successful were the economic, social and political policies of the Tsar’s government from 1894-1914?
In 1894, Nicholas II ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Alexander III. Woefully unprepared for such a role, Nicholas II has been characterized as a naive and incompetent leader. At a time of enormous social and political change in Russia, Nicholas held fast to the outdated, autocratic policies and opposed reform of any kind. His inept handling of the military matters and insensitivity to the needs of his people helped to fuel the 1914 Russian Revolution.
It can be argued that the most successful economic policies were of those, set by Sergei Witte; however, these policies had successes and failures. Sergei Witte, a finance minister from 1892 to 1903, was the architect of Russian industrialisation. Witte believed that, because Russia was so far behind other countries, the state had to play a large role in stimulating industrial growth. He launched Russia into an age of Russia into an age of heavy industry, using the railways as a starting point. Some successes of Witte’s policies were that Russia was modernising from a position that was further behind the economies of other countries. The economic modernisation allowed Russia to equip their armed forces with more sophisticated weaponry and compete as a World power. These successes allowed the Tsar to gain support for his regime. To compare, there were many failures of Witte’s policies which could cause a threat to the tsarist regime. The Russian political system did not modernise and educational opportunities remained limited for the minority, this caused there to be an increased political opposition to the Tsarist system of government. Witte increased direct and indirect taxes in Russia, which helped boost the economy by squeezed the peasants causing a widespread anger which lead to strikes becoming more common in Russia cities. Another man who helped the economy was Peter Stolypin.
In 1894, Nicholas II ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Alexander III. Woefully unprepared for such a role, Nicholas II has been characterized as a naive and incompetent leader. At a time of enormous social and political change in Russia, Nicholas held fast to the outdated, autocratic policies and opposed reform of any kind. His inept handling of the military matters and insensitivity to the needs of his people helped to fuel the 1914 Russian Revolution.
It can be argued that the most successful economic policies were of those, set by Sergei Witte; however, these policies had successes and failures. Sergei Witte, a finance minister from 1892 to 1903, was the architect of Russian industrialisation. Witte believed that, because Russia was so far behind other countries, the state had to play a large role in stimulating industrial growth. He launched Russia into an age of Russia into an age of heavy industry, using the railways as a starting point. Some successes of Witte’s policies were that Russia was modernising from a position that was further behind the economies of other countries. The economic modernisation allowed Russia to equip their armed forces with more sophisticated weaponry and compete as a World power. These successes allowed the Tsar to gain support for his regime. To compare, there were many failures of Witte’s policies which could cause a threat to the tsarist regime. The Russian political system did not modernise and educational opportunities remained limited for the minority, this caused there to be an increased political opposition to the Tsarist system of government. Witte increased direct and indirect taxes in Russia, which helped boost the economy by squeezed the peasants causing a widespread anger which lead to strikes becoming more common in Russia cities. Another man who helped the economy was Peter Stolypin.