The need to modernise their backward economy was the most important reason why the rulers of Russia introduced reforms. How far do you agree with this view of the period from 1855 to 1964?

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‘The need to modernise their backward economy was the most important reason why the rulers of Russia introduced reforms.’  How far do you agree with this view of the period from 1855 to 1964?

Throughout the 1855-1964 period, both the communist and tsarist rulers of Russia viewed reform as an important tool of Government. Reforms were used by each regime to solidify their position of power, sometimes out of necessity rather than choice such as Alexander II’s implementation of the Emancipation Act. The need to modernise their backward economy had been highlighted by Russia’s continual failure in war throughout the period, and it was an important reason for reforms being introduced throughout the period.

A clear show of continuity throughout the period is the shared desire the rulers of Russia possessed in wanting to reform the economy. They needed to modernise their backward economy  not only for security purposes, but to maintain their autocracy. Defeat in the Crimean War had shown Alexander II needed to act to address the industrial backwardness of the Russian economy, a weakness further highlighted following Russia’s embarrassment in the Russo Japanese war under Nicholas II. Witte’s Great Spurt and Stalin’s initial 5 year plans occurred through a desire for Russia to improve industrial output and heavy industry respectively, which suggests that the need to modernise Russia’s backward economy was at the forefront of their thinking. Whilst this is true to some degree, focus under Witte in particular was on key industries in specific areas, namely to boost the economy for military purposes, as opposed to the need to produce consumer goods. Clear parallels can be seen under Stalin where he expressed the need for Russia to catch up with the West in 10 years ‘’or else they will crush us’’, which suggest that the most important reason for introducing economic reform was to improve Russia’s standing on the world stage, and not simply to boost their domestic economy. In contrast however, Lenin’s abandonment of war communism for NEP was in part to address the backward state that the Russian economy found itself in following the First World War, and the agrarian reforms of Stolypin  and Khrushchev were also implemented with a similar intent as agricultural advancement was needed to boost industry. In both cases, agricultural advancement did result in improved productivity which resulted in a boost for the Russian economy, an important reason for such reforms being implemented in the first place.

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The need to modernise their backward economy was undoubtedly an important reason why the rulers of Russia introduced reforms, however it is not the most important reason as most reforms were to address problems highlighted by war.

The rulers of Russia also introduced reforms as a result of political tension within the country. In particular, following the assassination of Alexander II by the People’s Will, Alexander III’s succession of harsh reforms were implemented with the underlying aim of undoing the work of his father to avoid the ‘dangerous spread of ideas’. The Fundamental Laws introduced by Nicholas II ...

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