XI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2019

The most important issue for the Russian state in the period of the late XIX - early XX centuries was the modernization of the country: the transformation and liquidation of some structures in economic, political and social spheres of society.

S.Yu. Witte made a great contribution to the industrial modernization of Russia in the late XIX – early XX centuries. He headed the financial department in a difficult time for the state when the financial and economic situation of the country was seriously weakened by the famine of 1891-1892, unprecedented in scale. It was necessary to look for ways out of the crisis.

One of the ways to overcome the crisis was democratization, profound social structural changes, granting personal liberties and opportunities for the development of market relations and private entrepreneurship. Following this course meant to limit the role of autocracy – infeasible task within the existing political system. Opposition supporting this course was extremely weak and could not have any influence on domestic politics. Tsarism, in turn, continued its traditional policy – government intervention into economy, monetarist ways of its improving avoiding any profound social transformations [3].

Economic policy of S.Yu. Witte was mixed. Like his economic policy, Witte himself seemed to be a complex and controversial figure, a man with a strong will, an outstanding organizer, authoritative and prominent.

Witte supported state regulation of the economy. He stood for productive forces, but not exchange value. Having defined his own system of values, he set the priority of general economic results over private ones. He also stood for strengthening of Russian autocracy which, in his opinion, would lead Russia to prosperity.

Witte’s economic views resulted in monetary reform which played a very important role in the economic growth of the country, accelerated the development of national productive forces.

S.Yu. Witte’s policy in the field of industry and trade was presented in the program of the Ministry of Finance which was approved in 1893. The main attention in the program of Russia’s industrial development was paid to providing a favorable conditions for the development of domestic industry, protecting it from competition with foreign goods on the domestic market. S.Yu. Witte also suggested a significant expansion of commercial and technical education [4].

In the second half of the 1990s, Witte’s economic program began to acquire more and more distinct contours. His policy of industrializing the country caused discontent of the local nobility. Both the liberals and the conservatives were categorically opposed to his methods of implementing this course which affected the vital interests of agrarians.

It should be noted that Witte’s industrial policy was rather contradictory, since it used the means and conditions generated by the feudal nature of the government system existing in Russia for the industrial development of the country. The conservatism of Witte’s policy consisted in the fact that it contributed to the strengthening of reactionary absolutist regime.

The social and economic situation in Russia in the end of the XIX century was characterized by crop failures, inflation and rising prices for essential goods, disorganization of money circulation, crisis and depression of industrial production, unemployment, rising fines. The government, facing the most acute social and economic contradictions which caused national crisis, general public discontent and strikes, was forced to start developing laws on factory labor [5]. S.Yu. Witte made a great contribution to the development of the laws on factory legislation.

Список литературы и источников:

1. Полное собрание законов Российской империи [Электронный ресурс]. – URL: http://nlr.ru/e-res/law_r/descript.html (дата обращения 06.04.18).

2. Всеподданнейший доклад министра финансов С. Ю. Витте Николаю II о необходимости установить и затем непреложно придерживаться определенной программы торгово-промышленной политики империи. 1899 г., не позднее февраля [Электронный ресурс]. – URL: http://az.lib.ru/w/witte_s_j/text_0090.shtml (дата обращения 07.04.2018).

3. Лаверычев В.Я. Царизм и рабочий вопрос в России (1861-1917). М., 1972.

4. Лутохин Д.А. Граф С. Ю. Витте, как министр финансов. Петроград, 1915.

5. Туган-Барановский М.И. Русская фабрика в прошлом и настоящем. Т.1. - СПб.: Пролетарий, 1900.