Russian empire map 1914 countries composition. Composition of the Russian empire
What was Russia like in 1914, on the eve of the First World War, which dramatically changed the vector of its development? In terms of most objective indicators, it occupied a not quite honorable place in Europe next to the then Spain or slightly ahead of it.
Judge for yourself, by 1914 86% of the country's population lived in rural areas, agriculture produced 58% of the national economy, i.e., contrary to the myth spread by Govorukhin about food abundance in tsarist Russia, one peasant could hardly feed himself and plus 0.2 citizen. In this situation, the export of agricultural products was carried out according to the cynical principle, formulated back in the early 90s of the XIX century. Minister of Finance Visegrad: "We will not finish eating, but we will take it out." ( the indicators of the Russian agriculture in 1913 will be shown below)
The well-known agronomist and publicist wrote in 1880 about what the export of grain turned out to be for the Russian peasantry Alexander Nikolaevich Engelhardt:
____ “When last year everyone was jubilant, rejoicing that there was a poor harvest abroad, that the demand for bread was high, that prices were rising, that export was increasing, some of the men were not happy, they looked askance at sending grain to the Germans, and at the fact that the masses of the best bread is burnt for wine. The peasants kept hoping that they would prohibit the export of bread to the Germans, they would prohibit burning bread for wine. “What kind of order is this,” the people interpreted, “all the peasantry buys grain, and the grain is being carried past us to the German. The price of bread is expensive, no one can approach it, whatever the best bread is burnt for wine, and from wine all evil comes
[...]
Wheat, good clean rye, we send abroad, to the Germans who will not eat any rubbish. We burn the best, pure rye for wine, and the most bad rye, with fluff, fire, sivets and all the waste obtained when cleaning rye for distilleries - that's what a man eats. But not only does the peasant eat the worst bread, he is still malnourished. If there is enough bread in the villages, they eat three times; it has become derogatory in bread, the breads are short - they eat twice, they lean more on vermilion, potatoes, hemp seed is added to bread. Of course, the stomach is full, but bad food makes people lose weight, get sick, the guys grow tighter, just like it happens with bad-fed cattle ... "
____
Do the children of a Russian farmer have the kind of food they need? No, no and NO. Children eat worse than the calves of the owner with good livestock. "
In no other developed capitalist country in the world at that time, the gap between the distribution of incomes of various strata of the population was not as deep as in Russia. 17% of the population belonging to the exploiting classes of town and country, had a total income equal to the income of the rest 83% residents of the country. In the village 30 thousand landowners had as much land as 10 million peasant families.
Russia in 1901-1914 was the arena for the investment of foreign capital, and its internal market was an object of division among the international financial monopolies. As a result, by the beginning of the First World War were in the hands of foreign capital such major industries as: metallurgical, coal, oil, electric power.
Russia was linked to the West by a chain of onerous loans. Foreign financial capital almost completely controlled its banking system. In the main capital of the 18 largest Russian banks - 43% - were the capital of French, British and Belgian banks. Russia's external debt has doubled over 20 years by 1914 and amounted to 4 billion rubles. or half of the state budget. During the 33 years preceding the First World War, Russia went abroad in the form of interest on loans and dividends to foreign shareholders twice as much as the cost of fixed assets of the entire Russian industry.
Foreign economic dependence inevitably led to foreign policy dependence on the creditor countries. The external result of a sharp increase in such dependence by the beginning of the XX century. became a whole series of unequal economic and political treaties: 1904 with Germany, 1905 with France and 1907 with England. Under treaties with France and England, Russia had to pay its debts not only in money, but also with "cannon fodder", adjusting its military-strategic plans to please them (instead of the more advantageous for Russia of delivering the main blow in the upcoming war against the weaker Austria-Hungary , she had to apply it across Germany in order to alleviate the position of France). The French and British governments, using "allied treaties" with Russia, forced the tsarist government to place its foreign military orders only at their enterprises.
Russian industrialists and bankers, being closely associated with foreign capital, very often slipped into outright high treason. So, in 1907, in the agreement of the well-known Russian private enterprise of the military-industrial complex, the association Putilov factorieswith a similar German company Krupp, among other things, it was envisaged to familiarize the German partners with the conditions and requirements of the Russian War Ministry for the weapons produced.
However, even the usual business activities of Russian capitalists often did damage to Russia. So, in 1907, the manager of the largest coal monopoly in Russia - "Produgol", in the next annual report noted with regret that "periods of coal hunger are very rare, and with them the period of high prices"... Unlike coal, other Russian monopolies managed to keep hunger for their products much longer. Thus, in 1910 the metallurgical monopoly Prodamet organized the “metallurgical famine”, which lasted until the outbreak of the First World War. In 1912, the oil monopolies Mazut and Nobel carried out a similar operation.
As a result, in 1910-1914. metal prices increased by 38%, exceeding the world prices by 2 times, for coal by 54%, and for oil by 200%.
The tsarist government did not even try to limit this robbery of the country by domestic and foreign monopolies, which the Council of Ministers directly stated in 1914, adopting the decision "On the inadmissibility of influencing industry in order to adapt it to demand."
The reasons for this patronage of the "knights of profit" were very simple. During this period, there was an intensive merging of the ruling semi-feudal elite with domestic and foreign capital. For example, the governor of the Caucasus, Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, was the owner of a large stake in oil companies. The grand dukes were shareholders of the Vladikavkaz railway, the director of the Volga-Kama bank Bark in 1914 became minister of finance, etc.
The then Russian bourgeois parties zealously defended the interests of the large monopolies and, of course, not only because of ideological considerations. For example, the Azov-Don Bank financed a party of "cadets", 52 trading companies in Moscow - "Soyuz 17 October" ("Octobrists").
There flourished "sycophancy" before the West, a disdain for the concrete achievements of Russian scientists and inventors. In this regard, it is enough to recall the adventures of a number of international adventurers from science in Russia at that time. One of them, a certain Marconiwho contested the primacy of A.S. Popova in the invention of radio.
He was not alone in his claims. In 1908, a certain del Proposto, using the blueprints of a submarine designed by the Russian engineer Drzewiecki, which he had in his hands, tried to get a lucrative contract for its production.
Favorable for all sorts of international adventurers, the tsarist officials greeted domestic inventors with icy indifference. Michurin in 1908 G. noted with bitterness: "Here in Russia, they treat everything Russian with disdain and distrust, towards all the original works of the Russian people." The same attitude was faced in 1912. Tsiolkovskywho applied to the General Staff with the airship project and received an answer that he could deal with it "without any expenses from the treasury."
And if in this way the ruling elite belonged to the thinking elite of society, then one can imagine the level of its attitude towards the common people, which was expressed in social legislation. Adopted in the late 90s of the XIX century. legislative limitation of the working day to 11.5 hours continued to operate until the February Revolution of 1917, while in the USA, Germany, England, France the working day at the beginning of the 20th century. averaged 9 hours and did not exceed 10. The wages of Russian workers during this period were 20 times less than that of American workers, although labor productivity in various industries was 5-10 times less.
The Workers' Insurance Act of 1912 covered only one-sixth of the working class. The benefits for the injuries received were scanty, and even it was necessary to prove that they were received through no fault of their own. The allowance was paid for 12 weeks, and then live as you know. The life and health of a worker in tsarist Russia was valued cheaply. At the state Obukhovsky arms factory in the shops was posted "Worker Injury Assessment Table"... The lump sum payments for injuries received were as follows: for loss of vision in one eye - 35 rubles, both eyes - 100 rubles, complete hearing loss - 50 rubles, loss of speech - 40 rubles.
Even more acute in Russia at that time was the peasant question, which was trying to solve Stolypin, based on their ideas about the relationship of the Russian peasantry with agriculture, which further aggravated the relationship between the peasants and the authorities.
The failures of the basis of Stolypin's political line - reforms in the agrarian sphere - by 1911 became obvious to everyone. All the main components of this reform, namely, the liquidation of the community and the massive resettlement of peasants beyond the Urals to vacant lands, suffered a clear failure. In 1910, 80% of the peasants were still part of the communities, although after all that had happened they were pretty ruined and angry. Of those sent in 1906-1910. beyond the Urals 2 million 700 thousand. immigrants more than 800 thousand returned completely ruined to their former residence, 700 thousand were beggars in Siberia, 100 thousand died of hunger and disease, and only 1 million 100 thousand... somehow got a foothold in a new place.
Thus, the socio-political tension in the Russian countryside, to remove which, in words, the Stolypin reforms were aimed, not only did not disappear, but increased even more. Tsarism could not find a reliable political support in the village, which it so strived for. This is actually what Stolypin paid for with his life.
After its reforms, indicators in grain production per capita in 1913 year were as follows:
in Russia - 30.3 pounds
in the USA - 64.3 pounds,
in Argentina - 87.4 pounds,
in Canada - 121 poods.
About the notorious grain exports to meet half of Europe:
- in 1913, foreign Europe consumed 8336.8 million poods five main grain crops, of which own collection amounted to 6755.2 million poods (81%), and net grain imports - 1581.6 million poods (19%), including 6.3% - share of Russia... In other words, Russian exports satisfied only about 1/16
needs of foreign Europe in bread.
Continuing to consider the position of Russia in 1914, one inevitably comes to the problem of Russia's participation in the First World War, which began on August 1, 1914.
From all of the above, it clearly follows that Russia could not have had any independent role in this major event in world history. She and her people were assigned the role of cannon fodder. And this role was determined not only by the lack of political independence of Russia on the eve of the First World War, but by the meager economic potential with which Russia entered the war. The huge Russian Empire with a population of 170 million people, or the same number in all other countries of Western Europe put together, entered the war with an annual production of 4 million tons of steel, 9 million tons of oil, 29 million tons of coal, 22 million tons of coal. tons of commercial grain, 740 thousand tons of cotton.
In 1913, the share of Russia in global production was 1.72%, the share of the United States - 20%, England - 18%, Germany - 9%, France - 7.2% (these are all countries with a population 2-3 times less than Russia).
The consequences of such scarcity were felt very quickly. On the eve of the war, the Russian military industry produced 380 thousand poods of gunpowder a year, and already in 1916 the Russian army needed 700 thousand poods of gunpowder, but not a year, but a month. Already in the spring of 1915, the Russian army began to feel a catastrophic shortage of ammunition and, above all, shells, the pre-war reserves of which were shot in the first 4 months of the war, and the current production did not make up for their shortage. This was the main reason for the defeat of the Russian army along the entire front line during the spring-summer campaign of 1915.
Military industry Tsarist Russia could not cope with the supply to the front not only of ammunition, but also of small arms, primarily rifles, of which before the war there were 4 million units in warehouses, and 525 thousand were produced annually by all arms factories of the empire. It was assumed that all this amount will be enough until the end of the war. However, reality overturned all calculations. By the end of the first year of the war, the annual need for rifles was 8 million pieces, and by the end of 1916 - 17 million. It was not possible to fill the shortage of rifles even with the help of imports until the very end of the war.___
The materials used were K.V. Kolontaeva, I. Pykhalova, A. Aydunbekova, M. Sorkina ___ _
As the famous émigré writer said, a staunch monarchist Ivan Solonevich:
“Thus, old émigré songs about Russia, as a country in which rivers of champagne flowed in the banks of pressed caviar, are handicraftly processed fakes: yes, there was champagne and caviar, but for less than one percent of the country's population. The bulk of this population lived at a beggarly level. "
Plan
Introduction
1 Territory and location of settlements
1.1 Territory of Russia and other states
2 Administrative divisions by 1914
2.1 Viceroyalty
2.2 General Government
2.3 Military Governorship
2.4 City authorities
3 Other divisions
Bibliography
Introduction
Map of the Russian Empire 1912
By 1914, the length of the territory of the Russian Empire was 4383.2 versts (4675.9 km) from north to south and 10,060 versts (10,732.3 km) from east to west. The total length of land and sea borders was 64,909.5 versts (69,245 km), of which land borders accounted for 18,639.5 versts (19,941.5 km), and sea borders accounted for about 46,270 versts (49 360.4 km).
These data, as well as the figures for the total area of \u200b\u200bthe country, calculated from topographic maps at the end of the 1880s of the General Staff by Major General I.A.Strelbitsky, with some subsequent refinements were used in all pre-revolutionary editions of Russia. Supplemented by materials from the Central Statistical Committee (CSK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, these data give a fairly complete picture of the territory, administrative division, location of cities and towns of the Russian Empire.
Territory and location of settlements Territory of Russia and other states Administrative division by 1914
Administratively, the Russian Empire by 1914 was divided into 78 provinces, 21 regions and 2 independent districts. Provinces and regions were subdivided into 777 counties and districts and in Finland into 51 parishes. Counties, districts and parishes, in turn, were divided into camps, departments and divisions, numbering 2523 and 274 Lensmanship in Finland.
Politically important territories (capital and border) were combined into governorships and general governorships. Some cities were allocated into special administrative units - city governments.
2.1. Viceroyalty
1. Caucasian (Baku, Elisavetpol, Kutaisi, Tiflis, Black Sea and Erivan provinces, Batumi, Dagestan, Kars, Kuban and Terek regions, Zakatala and Sukhum districts, Baku city government).
2.2. General Government
1. Moscow (Moscow and Moscow province)
2. Varshavskoe (9 Vistula provinces)
3. Kievskoe, Podolskoe and Volynskoe (Kiev, Podolsk and Volyn provinces.)
4. Irkutsk (Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces, Transbaikal and Yakutsk regions)
5. Priamurskoe (Amur, Kamchatka, Primorsky and Sakhalin regions)
6. Stepnoye (Akmola and Semipalatinsk regions)
7. Turkestan (Transcaspian, Samarkand, Semirechensk, Syr-Darya and Fergana regions)
8. Finnish (8 Finnish provinces)
Military Governorate Kronstadt City Governments
1. St. Petersburg
2. Moscow
3. Sevastopol
4. Kerch-Yenikalskoe
5. Odessa
6. Nikolaevskoe
7. Rostov-on-Don
8. Baku
3. Other divisions
The Russian Empire was also divided into departmental districts, consisting of a different number of provinces and regions: 13 military, 14 judicial, 15 educational, 30 postal and telegraph districts, 9 customs districts and 9 districts of the Ministry of Railways.
Bibliography:
1. See: Strelbitsky I.A. Calculation of the surface of the Russian Empire in its general composition during the reign of Emperor Alexander III and the Asian states adjacent to Russia. SPb., 1889.
2. See: Jubilee collection of the Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. SPb., 1913.
Along with the collapse of the Russian Empire, the majority of the population preferred to create independent national states. Many of them were never destined to remain sovereign, and they became part of the USSR. Others were incorporated into the Soviet state later. And what was the Russian Empire at the beginning XX century?
By the end of the 19th century, the territory of the Russian Empire was 22.4 million km 2. According to the 1897 census, the population was 128.2 million, including the population of European Russia - 93.4 million; Kingdom of Poland - 9.5 million - 2.6 million, Caucasian region - 9.3 million, Siberia - 5.8 million, Central Asia - 7.7 million. Over 100 peoples lived; 57% of the population were non-Russian peoples. The territory of the Russian Empire in 1914 was divided into 81 provinces and 20 regions; there were 931 cities. Some of the provinces and regions were united into general governorships (Warsaw, Irkutsk, Kiev, Moscow, Amur, Steppe, Turkestan and Finland).
By 1914, the length of the territory of the Russian Empire was 4383.2 versts (4675.9 km) from north to south and 10,060 versts (10,732.3 km) from east to west. The total length of land and sea borders is 64,909.5 versts (69,245 km), of which the land borders accounted for 18,639.5 versts (19,941.5 km), and the sea borders - about 46,270 versts (49,360 , 4 km).
The entire population was considered subjects of the Russian Empire, the male population (from 20 years old) swore allegiance to the emperor. The subjects of the Russian Empire were divided into four estates ("states"): the nobility, the clergy, urban and rural inhabitants. The local population of Kazakhstan, Siberia and a number of other regions stood out as an independent "state" (foreigners). The emblem of the Russian Empire was a two-headed eagle with royal regalia; the state flag - a cloth with white, blue and red horizontal stripes; the national anthem - "God Save the Tsar." National language - Russian.
Administratively, the Russian Empire by 1914 was divided into 78 provinces, 21 regions and 2 independent districts. Provinces and regions were subdivided into 777 counties and districts, and in Finland - into 51 parishes. Counties, districts and parishes, in turn, were divided into camps, departments and sections (2523 in total), as well as 274 Lensmanship in Finland.
Politically important territories (capital and border) were combined into governorships and general governorships. Some cities were allocated into special administrative units - city governments.
Even before the transformation of the Grand Duchy of Moscow into the Russian Kingdom in 1547, at the beginning of the 16th century, Russian expansion began to go beyond its ethnic territory and began to absorb the following territories (the table does not indicate the lands lost before the beginning of the 19th century):
|
Territory |
Date (year) of accession to the Russian Empire |
Data |
|
Western Armenia (Asia Minor) |
The territory was ceded in 1917-1918 |
|
|
Eastern Galicia, Bukovina (Eastern Europe) |
In 1915 it was ceded, in 1916 it was partially recaptured, in 1917 it was lost |
|
|
Uryankhai Territory (Southern Siberia) |
Currently in the Republic of Tuva |
|
|
Franz Josef Land, Emperor Nicholas II Land, New Siberian Islands (Arctic) |
Archipelagos of the Arctic Ocean, fixed as the territory of Russia by the note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
|
|
Northern Iran (Middle East) |
Lost as a result of revolutionary events and the Civil War in Russia. Currently owned by the state of Iran |
|
|
Tianjin Concession |
Lost in 1920. Currently, the city of central subordination of the PRC |
|
|
Kwantung Peninsula (Far East) |
Lost as a result of defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Currently, Liaoning Province, PRC |
|
|
Badakhshan (Central Asia) |
Currently, the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous District of Tajikistan |
|
|
Hankou Concession (Wuhan, East Asia) |
Currently, Hubei Province, PRC |
|
|
Transcaspian region (Central Asia) |
Currently owned by Turkmenistan |
|
|
Adjarian and Kars-Childyr sandzhaks (Transcaucasia) |
In 1921 they were ceded to Turkey. Currently Adjarian Autonomous Okrug of Georgia; Illy Kars and Ardahan in Turkey |
|
|
Bayazet (Dogubayazit) sandzhak (Transcaucasia) |
In the same year, 1878, ceded to Turkey following the results of the Berlin Congress |
|
|
Principality of Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia, Adrianople Sandjak (Balkans) |
Abolished by the results of the Berlin Congress in 1879. Currently Bulgaria, Turkey's Marmara region |
|
|
Kokand Khanate (Central Asia) |
Currently Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan |
|
|
Khiva (Khorezm) Khanate (Central Asia) |
Currently Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan |
|
|
including the Aland Islands |
Currently Finland, Republic of Karelia, Murmansk, Leningrad regions |
|
|
Tarnopolsky District of Austria (Eastern Europe) |
Currently, the Ternopil region of Ukraine |
|
|
Bialystok District of Prussia (Eastern Europe) |
Currently Podlaskie Voivodeship of Poland |
|
|
Ganja (1804), Karabakh (1805), Sheki (1805), Shirvan (1805), Baku (1806), Cuba (1806), Derbent (1806), the northern part of Talysh (1809) Khanate (Transcaucasia) |
Vassal khanates of Persia, seizure and voluntary entry. Sealed in 1813 by a treaty with Persia following the results of the war. Limited autonomy until the 1840s. Currently Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic |
|
|
Imeretian kingdom (1810), Megrelian (1803) and Gurian (1804) principalities (Transcaucasia) |
Kingdom and Principalities of Western Georgia (since 1774 independent from Turkey). Protectorates and voluntary entry. Secured in 1812 by a treaty with Turkey and in 1813 by a treaty with Persia. Self-government until the end of the 1860s. Currently Georgia, Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti, Guria, Imereti, Samtskhe-Javakheti regions |
|
|
Minsk, Kiev, Bratslav, eastern parts of Vilensky, Novogrudok, Beresteysky, Volyn and Podolsk voivodeships of the Commonwealth (Eastern Europe) |
Currently Vitebsk, Minsk, Gomel regions of Belarus; Rivne, Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kiev, Cherkassk, Kirovograd regions of Ukraine |
|
|
Crimea, Edisan, Dzhambayluk, Yedishkul, Small Nogai Horde (Kuban, Taman) (Northern Black Sea region) |
Khanate (independent from Turkey since 1772) and nomadic Nogai tribal unions. Annexation, secured in 1792 by treaty as a result of the war. Currently, Rostov region, Krasnodar region, Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol; Zaporozhye, Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa regions of Ukraine |
|
|
Kuril Islands (Far East) |
Ainu tribal unions, bringing to Russian citizenship, finally by 1782. Under the treaty of 1855, the South Kuriles in Japan, under the treaty of 1875 - all the islands. At present, the Severo-Kuril, Kuril and South Kuril urban districts of the Sakhalin region |
|
|
Chukotka (Far East) |
Currently Chukotka Autonomous Okrug |
|
|
Tarkov shamkhalstvo (North Caucasus) |
Currently the Republic of Dagestan |
|
|
Ossetia (Caucasus) |
Currently the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania, Republic of South Ossetia |
|
|
Big and Small Kabarda |
Principality. In 1552-1570, a military alliance with the Russian state, later the vassals of Turkey. In the years 1739-1774, under the contract - a buffer principality. Since 1774 in Russian citizenship. Currently Stavropol Territory, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Chechen Republic |
|
|
Inflyantskoe, Mstislavskoe, large parts of the Polotsk, Vitebsk voivodeships of the Commonwealth (Eastern Europe) |
Currently Vitebsk, Mogilev, Gomel regions of Belarus, Daugavpils region of Latvia, Pskov, Smolensk regions of Russia |
|
|
Kerch, Yenikale, Kinburn (Northern Black Sea Region) |
Fortresses, from the Crimean Khanate by agreement. Recognized by Turkey in 1774 by treaty as a result of the war. The Crimean Khanate gained independence from the Ottoman Empire under the auspices of Russia. Currently, the urban district of Kerch of the Republic of Crimea of \u200b\u200bRussia, Ochakovsky district of the Nikolaev region of Ukraine |
|
|
Ingushetia (North Caucasus) |
Currently, the Republic of Ingushetia |
|
|
Altai (Southern Siberia) |
Currently Altai Territory, Altai Republic, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk regions of Russia, East Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan |
|
|
Kymenigorda and Neyshlotskiy flax - Neyshlot, Vilmanstrand and Friedrichsgam (Baltic States) |
Flax, from Sweden by treaty as a result of the war. Since 1809 in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. Currently Leningrad region of Russia, Finland (region of South Karelia) |
|
|
Junior zhuz (Central Asia) |
Currently, the West Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan |
|
|
(Kyrgyz land, etc.) (South Siberia) |
Currently the Republic of Khakassia |
|
|
Novaya Zemlya, Taimyr, Kamchatka, Commander Islands (Arctic, Far East) |
Currently Arkhangelsk region, Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk region |
Recently, a game called « Suchcountry fucked up!» Paradoxically, but true: as a rule, two countries mourn - Russian empire and the USSR.
(map of the Russian Empire within the borders of 1914)
(USSR map within the borders of 1980)
Regrets about the USSR seem more or less logical. The memories of the older generation about the country that first launched a person into space and where there was no sex are still fresh in their memory. But the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Russian Empire seems to me to be mostly based on meager scraps of knowledge from school textbooks on history and myths.
I noticed that The media are actively creating an idealized image of the Russian Empire in the public mind. Here is a typical picture of tsarist Russia (in the spirit of the clips of the "White Eagle" group): ears of fat fields, hardworking and meek peasants with a scythe in their shoulders and enlightened smiles, noble officers, a stern but merciful monarch with wise eyes and, of course, crunching French roll.
The myth, of course, was not created from scratch. It is supported by facts. As a rule, the year 1913 is taken as the starting point. It is believed that this year the Russian Empire reached the peak of its economic and political development. And it would have prospered further, and would have taken over the whole world, but the Bolsheviks prevented. In 1914, as you know, a civil war broke out, and the great empire collapsed.
Let's start right down the list. Fiery fields of ears, i.e. economy. Demography and life expectancy are considered one of the main indicators of the country's economic development. Adherents of the myth about the golden age of Russia point out that during the reign of Nicholas II there was a demographic explosion. The population of the country grew by 50 million people and reached 180 million. However, these 180 million lived extremely shortly. At best, they lived to be 30 years old with a penny. And children died more often than calves. Roughly the same situation, by the way, is observed in Africa. Despite extremely low living standards and high mortality rates, the population of Africa is steadily increasing. I am by no means comparing Russia with Africa. I am simply arguing that population growth cannot be considered a sure indicator of economic prosperity.
Further. Industry was growing rapidly in Russia. The number of workers in 16 years has grown by more than one and a half times. Production in metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and coal mining has tripled. The length of the railways has almost doubled. It was then that the grandiose Trans-Siberian Railway was built - an achievement that even the Bolsheviks with the BAM could not surpass. And in oil production, Russia came out on top in the world.
However, researchers for some reason forget to indicate the corresponding indicators for other countries. I will not bore you with numbers. I will only say that labor productivity in Russia was 10 times lower than in America. The per capita national income in Russia in 1913 was 11.5% of the American one.
Another strong argument. Russia actively exported bread and fed all of Europe. However, famine happened regularly in the country. Under Nicholas II, 5 million people died of hunger.
Nevertheless, Russia was one of the five most economically developed countries. The state was huge and ranked second after the British Empire.
In 1908, a bill was introduced to the Duma introducing free universal primary education. The authorities really dealt with the problem of eliminating illiteracy. In 1895, Nicholas II ordered the allocation of significant sums to help scientists, writers and publicists. It was under the tsarist regime that people-icons of Russian culture appeared - Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky and others. However, according to the results of the population census, there were barely 20% literate in Russia.
The second point is hardworking peasants with a slanting fathom in their shoulders and enlightened smiles. Yes, the peasants, one might say, were the whale that supported the Russian Empire. They constituted the absolute majority of the population. Here is an expressive infographic from the time:
However, the Russian peasant was not an epic hero-philosopher. The Russian peasant was an ordinary person with all human weaknesses. As every student knows, the peasant was not free, i.e. was the property of the landowner. And not only the peasant. In Russia at that time there was no private property at all. Absolutely everything, including people, belonged to the king. And he graciously allowed his subjects to live and use the land and the benefits that she gave birth to. Since the peasant was not free, his hard work was, to put it mildly, forced. Nevertheless, despite all the horrors that Soviet textbooks described, the power of the landowners over the serfs was legally limited. For the willful murder of a serf, the landowners were sent to hard labor. The peasants themselves had a mustache: many fled from bondage to the Don, to the Cossacks, and staged peasant riots, ravaged landowners' estates and killed their former owners. And many were satisfied with the existing state of affairs. We got used to it for so many years.
Third point. Noble officers. Those. army. By 1913, it numbered more than 1,300,000 people. The fleet was one of the most formidable and powerful at that time. The impressive victories won in the First World War are proof of the strength of the Russian army. At the same time, there was a sorely lack of uniforms and ammunition. The soldiers and some of the officers hated the service, and many of them happily supported the February Revolution.
Fourth point: wise, strict, but merciful monarch. Modern monarchists often point to the extreme modesty of Nicholas II in everyday life. Like, he even wore darned pants. Under Nikolai, the most advanced labor legislation at that time was created in Russia: rationing of the working day, insurance of workers for disability and old age, etc. The Russian tsar was the initiator of the first international conference on disarmament. Under the command of Nicholas, the Russian army won many glorious victories in the First World War. And the king's spending on charity became the talk of the town. Nicholas's uncle complained that his nephew had given out to the poor a substantial part of the Romanovs' inheritance. However, at the same time, the tsar received the nickname "rag" for the fact that in making a decision he obeyed his German wife more than ministers. Let's not forget about Rasputin. And about Sunday 1905, for which the tsar received the second nickname "Bloody". In general, the tsar was not bad. But far from ideal, as modern monarchists paint it.
Supporters of the myth of the golden age of Russia in 1913 usually quote this quote:
« If the affairs of the European nations from 1912 to 1950 proceed in the same way as they went from 1900 to 1912, Russia by the middle of this century will dominate Europe both politically and economically and financially.and ”(Edmond Téry, \u200b\u200bFrench economist).
And now a quote from opponents:
“The fact of the extreme economic backwardness of Russia in comparison with the rest of the cultural world is beyond any doubt. According to the figures of 1912, the national income per capita was: in the USA 720 rubles (in gold terms), in England - 500, in Germany - 300, in Italy - 230 and in Russia - 110. So, the average Russian - even before the First World War war, was almost seven times poorer than the average American and more than twice as poor as the average Italian. Even bread - our main wealth - was scarce. If England consumed 24 poods per capita, Germany 27 poods, and the United States as much as 62 poods, then Russian consumption was only 21.6 poods, including all this and fodder for livestock. At the same time, it should be taken into account that bread occupied such a place in the diet of Russia as nowhere else in other countries. In rich countries of the world, such as the USA, England, Germany and France, bread was replaced by meat and dairy products and fish, fresh and canned "(monarchist I. Solonevich)
I do not aim to prove that tsarist Russia was a backward country, which was on the verge of catastrophe and which the Bolsheviks saved. Or, on the contrary, a prosperous empire destined to take over the world and destroyed by Lenin. I want to say that tsarist Russia was normal country ... With their achievements and their problems. Undoubtedly great. AND in the public consciousness, its photoshopped, advertising image is created.
This ideal Russia is contrasted with modern — corrupt, ruined, lost its former greatness and power ... People then, of course, were different - noble, moral and highly spiritual. This myth is actively exploited in the fresh film "Admiral". Director Andrei Kravchuk admits that there are many historical inaccuracies in the film. But historical truth is in second place here. The director wanted to show us what, in his opinion, is so lacking in modern Russia: a sense of duty, dignity, honor, conscience.
The myth of Tsarist Russia (and the USSR) is imbued with nostalgia for the lost paradise. And it seems to me that there was no paradise. Paradise is basically impossible, at least on this planet.
We're nostalgic for a country that didn't exist. Created by our imaginations. Photoshopped advertising Russia is slipped into modern society as an example to follow, as a beacon to strive for. In other words, the past is proposed as the future. Very strange in my opinion. So Mizulina wants to inscribe Orthodoxy in the Constitution as "the basis of the national and cultural identity of Russia." Isn't it a revival of the basic moral concept of the Russian Empire "Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality"?
The reason for crying for tsarist Russia, IMHO, - dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality... And the need to find a standard to be equal to, a reference point to strive for. In short, find a way and an idea... Therefore, society looks back at the past, trying to find clues there. However, in this quest, one should not idealize the past, however great. Otherwise, the way forward may become the way back. Lessons can be learned from the past and learned from mistakes.
Royal Russia - a stage passed that needs to be considered, but cannot be returned.
