Introduction

Abstract

RUSSIA on the eve of the First World War could scarcely be regarded as an industrial country. Farming was still the occupation of the overwhelming majority of the population. Possibly two-thirds of those in employment were to be found in agriculture, and agriculture contributed almost one-half of the national income. Large towns existed, but they were few in number. In 1914 the urban population was only some 18 per cent of the total. Foreign trade, too, reflected the agrarian-based nature of the Russian economy. Finished manufactured products formed only some 5.6 per cent of total exports in 1913, while foodstuffs and agricultural semi-manufactured goods were in excess of 70 per cent. Imports of manufactures, by contrast, amounted to 22 per cent of the total. Agricultural productivity in this agricultural society was extremely low, and, in consequence, per capita incomes were small. Indeed, Russian national income per head was one of the lowest in Europe. The estimates in Table 1 (which are no more than rough guides) clearly demonstrate Russia’s relative backwardness. In per capita terms, the United States was more than six times as wealthy as Russia in 1913, England about four and a half times, France three and a half, and Germany three times. Italy had a per capita income probably double that of Russia, while that of Austria-Hungary was also substantially higher. For figures comparable with Russia it is to nations like Romania and Bulgaria that we must turn.