The Russian economy in the 19th century

Read the text

Lovely May

The poem to enjoy. Try to learn it by heart.

Word origin

At leisure 1. Read the article without a dictionary, try to retell it.

PUPIL: Just a doll

When we see a group of young pupils sitting in a classroom, they look a bit like little dolls, and that’s why the word pupil came from the Latin term pupilla, «a little doll». And then we have the other English

word pupil, the pupil of your eye. When we look at another person’s eye, we often see a minute image of you reflected there, and this miniature picture also reminded the Romans of a pupilla or «little doll». And so pupilla contributed the word pupil to us with a second meaning, the pupil of your eye — «little man of the eye».

2. Translate the proverbs, think of Russian equivalents, give
a situation using them.

— It is never too late to learn.

— Lost time is never found again.

Far up in the deep blue sky Great white clouds are floating by, All the world is dressed in green, Many happy birds are seen, Flowers bright and sunshine dear Show that lovely May is here

Unit 18

Pre-text exercises

1. Find the transcription of new words in a dictionary:

empire, coast, feudal, peasant, serf, landlord, encourage, subsistence, textile, authority, emancipation, agriculture, majority. Try to read them fluently.

2. Word-building
Compile and translate:
hope n. + -less →
un + skilled a. →
il + literate a. →
eventual a. + -ly →
to emancipate υ. + -tion →
agriculture n. + -al →

The Russian empire grew enormously during the 19th century, covering land from Poland in the West to the Pacific coast in the East. The population also grew quickly. In economic terms, this meant an increase in two of the four factors of production: land and labour. You might think then, that the Russian economy at this time was booming. But until the 1860s, this was not true at all. Compared to other important powers like Britain, France and America, Russia’s economy was hopelessly underdeveloped. Why was this so?

The main problem was Russia’s feudal economic system. Almost 80 per cent of the population were peasants. They either worked on land owned by the state, or they were serfs. Serfs worked on land that belonged to a small number of wealthy landlords. In return for a small piece of land and a place to live, serfs had to work for their landlords. In fact, the serfs didn’t just work for their landlords — they belonged to them. This system did not encourage economic growth. Peasants’ labour was used in subsistence farming for their families or working to maintain their landlord’s estate. Without surplus goods, there were no profits or savings. With no savings, domestic investment for growth was not possible. Russian agriculture still used the most basic technology, and almost the whole workforce was unskilled and illiterate.

In addition, the empire’s industrial base was poorly developed. Before 1850, there were relatively few factories, mostly producing textiles. Some factories were run by the state, but many were run on the estates of landlords. Industrial technology was basic, and engineering education was not encouraged by the authorities.

To make matters worse, the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 had weakened the Russian economy even more. Eventually, the Russian authorities realized that they had to do something about the economy. The empire was now surrounded by modern industrial powers. Russia had to make an economic leap into a new age.

The first step was the emancipation of the serfs. Tsar Alexander II finally made this happen in 1861. This meant that the population was no longer tied to the land and could provide labour for industry. With

foreign investment, Russia began to build up its industries. The iron and steel industries grew rapidly. Mining of raw materials increased and industrial centers developed along the Don and Dnepr rivers. The output of the iron and steel industries helped to build a huge railway network, including the Trans-Siberian railway.

Words:

empire — империя subsistence — существование

Pacific — тихоокеанский unskilled — неквалифицированный

boom — бум illiterate — неграмотный

not at all — вовсе нет to enlarge — расширять

feudal — феодальный Crimean war — Крымская война

serf — крепостной to surround — окружать

landlord — помещик leap — скачок

Post-text exercises

Working on the text

I. Find answers in the text:

I. What was the tempo of the economic growth in Russia during the
XIXth century? 2. What was the population growth during this period?
3. What are main factors of production growth? 4. Was the Russian
economy booming in this period? 5. Can we compare the economic
growth in Russia and other European powers until the 1860s? 6. What
was the economic system of Russia in this period? 7. What was the social
position of majority of rural (сельский) population? 8. Land belonged
to serfs, didn’t it? 9. Did this system encourage the economic growth?
10. When was the emancipation of serfs?

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29