The Development of Capitalism in Russia

The riches of Russia were as impressive as its size. By the turn of the century the dukedom of Moscow had grown into an empire of 26.5 million square kilometres — more than a hundred times the size of Great Britain, nearly three times that of the USA, one-sixth of the world’s land surface. Its population topped 125 million.1 The resources of soil, forest, minerals and human labour made Russia’s productive potential fabulous. The actual production figures show Russia to be second in the world in grain production and first in exports. The indices of industrial advance, for example, of the production of steel and textiles, use of mechanical power, etc., put Russia among the top five world powers — very substantial, if never heading that list.2