Conclusion

Abstract

In considering Russia’s industrial mobilization during the First World War, it can be concluded that politics and economics were so intertwined that neither proved to be the decisive or more fundamental factor. The politics of industrial mobilization were shaped in important ways by the general level of, and contradictions within, Russia’s economic development. But the nature and direction of that development cannot be properly understood without reference to the political system. Similarly, the ways and degree to which political conflicts, generated by industrial mobilization, were resolved profoundly affected which sections of the population, regions and industries would bear the brunt of sacrifices or reap the profits of war.