Government, Industry and Rearmament in Russia, 1900–1914
The Last Argument of Tsarism

Peter Gatrell examines the ability of the tsarist government and Russian industrialists to respond to the multiple challenges of war, revolution, political reform in the early 20th century.

Peter Gatrell (Author)

9780521466196, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 March 1994

426 pages, 3 maps 43 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.606 kg

"Peter Gatrell has produced a detailed and voluminous study of the Russian defense industry....Peter Gatrell's work is of primary importance to economic historians who want an up-to-date critique of the tsarist defense industry in the period leading up to World War I....The conclusions are judicious and are supported by thorough documentation some it resting on work in the Russian archives. Gatrell's study is unlikely to change our view of the late tsarist regime, but it does enrich it considerably." Daniel W. Graf, The Journal of Military History

This book provides an economic historian's perspective on major questions that confront all students of Russian history: how stable were the economic and administrative structures of late-imperial Russia, and how well prepared was Russia for war in 1914? The decade following the Russo-Japanese War witnessed profound changes in the political system and in the industrial economy. The regime faced challenges to its authority from industrialists, caught in the throes of recession, and from parliamentary critics of tsarist administration. Peter Gatrell provides a comprehensive account of the attempts made by government and business to confront these challenges, examining the organisation and performance of a key industry and showing how decisions were reached about the allocation of resources, and the far-reaching consequences these decisions entailed.

1. Defence and the economy on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War
2. War and revolution, retrenchment and recession
3. The defence burden, 1907–14
4. The economics and politics of industrial recovery
5. The armaments industry: the search for identity and influence, 1908–14
6. The economics and politics of defence procurement
7. Military preparedness on the eve of the first world war.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]