Witte's Benefit to Russia
Witte was a revolutionary in the sense that he was the first man in a
tsarist government that stood up for the working classes. His ideas
were mainly built on the work of such writers as Vyshnegradsky, and
much of what he achieved can be attributed to his predecessors and
their work. Throughout his career as Minister Of Finance he
consistently surprised the opposition with his reforms and although he
fought to protect tsarism, he was like nothing any one had seen
before.
He was an enlightened man who realised that if Russia was to grow
economically it had to come to terms with the many problems that faced
the tsarist regime.
His plan was to aid Russia’s development through industrialisation,
but he was not going to make the mistakes made by other nations. His
vision was to rapidly industrialise with force, and cut out the
impoverished instability that came with the 1st phase of
industrialisation. He felt if this dangerous phase could be
controllably rushed then Russia’s powers would increase dramatically
and efficiency could be reached sooner.
Probably the most important development to occur under his Ministry
was the construction of the 9600km Trans Siberian Railway. Work, which
began in 1891 was finally finished in1903 (some sources suggest 1905).
When it was complete it stretched for 5,785 miles, and increased
Russia’s total miles of track from 13,270 in 1881 to 43,850 miles in
1913. Connecting the remotest parts of Russia to the west was
imperative and had many knock on effects. For example it meant that
infrastructure had to be improved, if not only slightly, so workers
and aristocrats...
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2000 million Roubles of foreign money had been invested into the
country.
In conclusion it is safe to say that for a certain period of time,
Witte did more for the modernisation of Russia than any one before
him. He provided a new perspective on how to govern and dramatically
increased efficiency within the country. From 1893 to 1903 iron steel
and oil productions tripled and industrial growth was respectable when
compared with other European nations. It was even higher than
Germany’s growth rate, where theirs was 84.2% and Russia’s was 96.8%.
It is unquestionable in my mind that without Witte’s vital
contribution the switch from backward, medieval Russia to modern
industrialising Russia would have taken years more to come, if at all.
Witte had his down sides, but what he did for the people was
miraculous.