1905 Revolution

1)Why was modernisation needed?
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia was in bad condition. It was still mainly agricultural compared to other industrial countries. In order for Russia to become a great power in the twentieth century, they needed to modernise and industrialise. The industrialization of a country is the base for being a military power so the country has plenty of ships, weapons and other important military equiptment in order to be strong enough to oppose other countries. Also, Russia needed to modernise because being an agricultural country was not working out very well for them. Their methods were obsolete and couldn't support the increasing Russian population. Modernisation and industrialisation was needed to improve Russia so they can be more sufficient and stong.

2)Why was modernisation dangerous to the Tsar?
Maintaining the tsarist autocracy in a modnernised Russia would be difficult. Most other modern countries has democracies and parliaments where the monarch had limited power. Industrialisation created social tension and the working class, having moved to the cities, might be able to revolt since they are concentrated in one area.
The workers would need to be educated, and this means they might challenge the government. Also the growth of the middle class would effect how the people see the government and they might want to change it to a representative government.

3)How did Witte try to build up industry?
His plan was to make a huge investment in industry to create a spiral of upward industrial growth. He thought that railways would be very important in industrialisation, providing communication between cities, and would need materials to be made. Witte took money from peasants by increasing taxes. Also the workers wages were low so all money possible could go to industrialisation.

4)How successful was Witte's economic policy?
Things looked okay at first, but took a turn for the worse in 1902. Russia's industry fell apart. The peasants had no money to spend on things because they had been taxed so much. The workers also had no money, and then they lost their jobs. There were bad harvests and strikes. Peasants were very close to starvation. Peasants protested and there was widespread violence, and the governments response was to use force to suppress the peasants.